Martindale, Brown Rigg, Arthur's Pike, Brock Crag, Cumbria
[ 15.1 km] Thu 22 Dec 2011

NY 4355 1917
Plan for the worst hope for the best was going through my mind as I drove north along the M6 motorway. I was in fog for quite a while and the prospects for cloudy weather on the hills had been forecast by the Met office. Being the shortest day of the year it was still dark when I arrived at St Peter’s Church, Martindale where I parked my car. I followed an indistinct path east past the Church which connected with the main path to Howtown. It was a nice wide path which must have originally been a communication track as the gradient had been well engineered. After rounding the Steel End I dropped down to the river and a stone footbridge. The buildings at Mellguards seem to be second homes or holiday homes as there was nobody about or signs of life. Through a gate and ill fitting gate-latch I followed the track along the wall and base of the mountain.

It wasn’t all that high but gave nice views towards Ullswater. The weather was overcast but relatively little wind at this altitude. It was easy walking as I passed Bonscale and Swarthbeck. The path headed up, passing Barton Park before reaching a junction. I could have turned right along a distinct path but it vanished in to mist and I wasn’t all that sure if it was going where I wanted to be. I continued straight on before turning right across open ground to try and find the main path up to Brown Rigg. It is marked on the map as a bridal path but is very indistinct in places. I headed up towards the mist then turned right to cross open ground to Barton Fell and the main path to Arthur’s Pike.

As I reached the Pike the weather cleared a bit and there were signs of sun on the distant fells. It was now quite windy so I found some shelter behind a rock to stop and eat my sandwiches. I followed a nice path down to the old sheepfold in Swarth Beck then headed up the valley in my continuing quest to find the ancient stone circle marked on the Ordnance Survey maps. I’ve tried before and failed, even using grid co-ordinates taken from the maps and transferred to my GPS unit. The 1:50K and 1:25K maps show different locations and there are no stones at either position. After crossing one of the false positions I noticed a couple of vertical stones ahead. They looked like old gate posts but there were no fences or walls anywhere. When I reached them they marked the outer boundary of the stone circle which was quite well defined but all the stones were at ground level, hence difficult to find. If you read this and want to find the circle the correct co-ordinates are NY 45659 19210 or Lat 54.565183 N, Long 02.841930 W.

I continued across open ground to Brock Crag where I stopped briefly to take in the magnificent location and views. I wanted to descend back to Mellguards but there was no obvious descent route. I knew there were some steep tracks up/down the fell as I’d used one some years ago.

I headed north a while and then could see the way down. It was quite steep at first but the gradient eased as I approached the Mellguards buildings. I returned to the car the same way I’d walked out to this spot. I was surprised to see only one more car parked there when I got back.