Day 11. Dufton to Alston. Cross Fell and its reputation.

I was anxious about this section. Firstly because of its length at 20 miles following an equally long day the day before and secondly because of the reputation that Cross Fell has. The guidebook had this to say: …today is the toughest day on the Pennine Way. It’s the longest leg, includes the highest point and has 3000 feet of ascent up the loftiest ground in England outside the Lake District. Plus route-finding can be tricky and some sections are exposed.”

I need not have worried; I don’t think it was the hardest day so far. I think that accolade goes to Tan Hill to Middleton across Sleightholme Moor. Today was helped by superb weather; clear skies but not hot; little wind and what there was kept me cool and there were fine views across the Eden Valley to the Lake District.

Today’s climbing was up Great Dun Fell, Little Dun Fell and Cross Fell.  Great Dun Fell is unmistakeable because it has a huge radar dome on its top; this is part of the air traffic control system for Northern England and Southern Scotland.  There has been a radar station here since Wainwright’s day (but not the current golf ball arrangement) and inevitably Wainwright was somewhat critical of its presence. He said this of Great Dun fell “The summit of great Dun Fell is unique. Happily there is no other so defaced, so debased. A monstrous miscellany of paraphernalia, most conspicuous being four tall masts, disgraces it. It is… quite the ugliest of all summits.” I don’t suppose he ever flew anywhere.  I didn’t find it such an eyesore; I felt it was quite photogenic in this morning’s sunshine.  

Great Dun Fell in the mid distance

Great Dun Fell radar station

Great Dun Fell also has the accolade of the highest road in England and a very fine bit of tarmac it is too.
 

The highest road in England

Much of the climbing was done before lunch as I got to the summit of Cross Fell just before noon and ate some of my lunch (bit early) on the wonderfully constructed summit cairn.

 

Cross Fell summit cairn

Cross Fell summit cairn

That was it for the climbing and now it was downhill, more or less, all the way to Alston. The descent was by an old miners track known as the Corpse Road which was the road connecting Garrigil, through which I travelled later, over the Pennines to Kirkland in the Eden Valley. Called a Corpse Road because that was the route bodies would be taken to find consecrated ground.

 

Shortly after leaving the summit of Cross Fell I came to Greg’s Hut. This is an old Miners hut that was restored in 1968 / 70 by the Mountain Bothies Association into a mountain shelter. Interestingly Wainwright describes it as it was before it was restored and describes a “cottage with fireplaces which makes a good shelter and bivouac in emergency”. It is now a typical mountain hut with two rooms, a stove and a sleeping platform. No fuel for the stove though, so bring your own.

 

Greg's hut, named after John Gregory who died in a climbing accident in the Alps in 1968.

The Corpse Road is long. Another of those tracks that has mostly been upgraded by the Grouse shooting community into a gravel road that is very tedious to walk on. The Grouse breeders were very much in evidence today with Gin traps laid at the side of the path, presumably to catch some predator or another of their precious birds.  Note that the traps were covered in wire cages so as to prevent birds (such as Hen Harriers) landing on them.

The road took me to Garrigil, a very sleepy little village, where I thought I spotted a café but, no, it was an artist’s studio.

We are now camped in quirky little site built on the site of a former lead mine, complete with lit up mine shaft and drainage sough. The shower facilities are second to none, very top notch, but no pot washing facility – work in progress.

So, back to that reputation of Cross fell. It is, officially, the coldest place in England, Wainwright called it a “surly beast” and described how it its summit is a plateau with an absence of landmarks other than a multitude of cairns most of which “serve no good purpose”. In 1747 the Gentleman’s magazine said Cross Fell is 10 months buried in snow and 11 months in cloud. Why the Gentleman’s Magazine would be interested in such a thing, I will never know.

Meanwhile, Catherine had a very gentle day with a ride to Pooley Bridge from Appleby in Westmoreland. The latter is a delight, whilst the former is just part of that vast expanse of themepark that is called the Lake District – nonetheless, Ullswater looked splendid. Curiously, the roads seem somewhat reminiscent of those cycled around Kent, including a transit across the motorway – in this case M6, rather than M25.

Another view of Great Dun Fell. I couldn't resist this one.

Pennine Way Marker stone

 AW