Cow Green Reservoir, Maize Beck, Meldon Hill, Cumbria
[19.4 km] Wed 30 Jan 2013

NY 8108 3091
I had a windy drive to the start of the walk and when I arrived at the remote car park by Cow Green Reservoir the weather looked poor. The sun rise managed to create a small area of colour in the sky to the SE but it didn’t last long.

I set off south along the reservoir access road in very windy conditions and as the wind was coming from the west I knew I’d soon be walking straight in to it. Up to my left was the old weather station surrounded by a tatty fence. It was too dull to photograph so I hoped to record it on my return. I reached the reservoir dam and had a brief view across it all the way to Great Dun Fell in the distance and its summit Radar Station. I continued along the track to the farm at Birkdale. It is occupied but nobody seemed to be home.

The farm was the subject of the 1973 TV film documentary “Too Long a Winter” by Barry Cockcroft. It was an amazing film but the true hero of the film was at another farm Low Birk Hat and solo-farmed by Hannah Hauxwell.
As I passed the farm the wind increased and the rain started. At Grain Beck the path I was heading for left the farm track and headed over a foot bridge across the river. It is also part of the Pennine Way long distance path. This section runs between Middleton-in-Teesdale to Dufton. The path was partly covered in snow and very wet along most of its route. Up to the left I had a quick look at an old stone ruin which the map calls ‘Moss Shop (ruined mine)’.

Adjacent was a military warning pole and fallen red flag. It denotes the boundary of the military firing and exercise range. I was now walking into a very windy snow blizzard which reduced the visibility considerably. I was hoping to get down to Maize Beck but missed the turn off and found myself heading along a faint quad bike track.

I continued through snow drifts and very wet ground. Many of the rivers and ditches I had to cross were full of snow and I had to be very careful to so I didn’t fall though. I’d pre-set the planned route on my Garmin GPS so I knew where to turn right and head straight up the hillside.

With no paths of any kind I had to pick my way carefully between the mud bank, peat hags and rock outcrops. I was in cloud so didn’t have any distant views. Eventually I reached flatter ground and reached Meldon Hill summit and the demolished trig point. It still lay there on the ground just as I’d seen it earlier this month.

The wind was still blowing fiercely so I didn’t hand around. I headed off for the ruin at Meldon Hall and thankfully now had the wind behind me. My descent to the shooting hut below Kettlegrain Syke was wet but uneventful. I’d been this way before and knew the terrain. At the shooting hut the walk back to the car was uneventful but there were still several miles to go. It was new raining quite heavily and when I reached the old weather station site I managed to get a photo and soak the camera. Back at the car park my car was the only one there.

Shooting Hut near Birkdale

Weather Station