Walk 533m 1000' ascentTime Taken 95 minutes197. Souther Fell 1713'

Route taken by Phil (G4OBK) Judy (XYL) and friend Geoff on 10th May 2011

An easy walk and short ascent on our last day of a short break staying at Keswick Country House Hotel. We were to activate Souther Fell LDW-163 from the Mill Inn at Mungrisdale.

I had weighed up this summit and decided that adding it to the Blencathra round to be completed  in July would be too much, so we decided to have a leisurely day, bag Souther Fell (watching out for the legendary ghosts of Roman Centurions on the summit - none were seen) before returning to the Mill Inn where we had permission to park our cars.   

It took 40 minutes to reach the summit, and within 20 minutes we were leaving, arriving back at the pub at 1150am for an early lunch. 

The first contact was with Julian G4ILO, the founder who conceived Wainwrights On The Air in March 2009. Julian had taken a trip up Gowbarrow Fell LDW-181 from his home in Cockermouth and as this was less than six miles away from Souther Fell he was extremely strong. 

Judy & Phil on Souther Fell LDW-163 for Wainwrights On The Air

The take off, despite being at 522m ASL, was not brilliant due to the higher surrounding fells, however we did work as far south as Lancaster into the receiver of Sue G1OHH and also to Colin G4UXH, who we were to visit later that day  when we called at his house in Milnthorpe on our way back to Yorkshire. 

After a pleasant hour and a cuppa with Colin we finished off our trip in Richmond were we treated ourselves to some new walking boots from the Altberg Boots Factory Shop. Judy purchasing a pair of the Tetheras and me a pair of the Mallerstangs.   Writing this many moons after the activation of May 2010 - we have been delighted with the Altberg boots.  

Walk 52 12m 4225' ascentTime Taken 8 hours191. Catbells 1480'192. Maiden Moor 1886'193. High Spy 2142'194. Dale Head 2470'195. Hindscarth 2385'196. Robinson 2418'

Route taken by Phil G4OBK, Judy (XYL) and friend Geoff on 9th May 2011

This walk was something different....

As members of The Wainwright Society we were to celebrate AWs 1931 Lake District Tour and at the same time raise money for The Calvert Trust Charity.  


So. in early 2011 we applied to walk the section of his 1931 route from Keswick Moot Hall to Newlands Hause, taking in the summits of Catbells,  Maiden Moor, High Spy, Dale Head, Hindscarth and Robinson.  I was pleased that our application to do this section was accepted and we departed from Moot Hall at 9.20am, reaching the summit of the popular Catbells LDW-189 after 4.3 miles at exactly 11.00am.  The enjoyment of the day was enhanced as I had yet to activate all six summits for WOTA. 


The day had started fine and warm but we soon donned our coats as we proceeded on the well hewn paths beyond Maiden moor when it became cold and then damp. Thankfully the numbers of walkers thinned out considerably once we had descended beyond Catbells. Geoff had gone ahead and had mistakenly passed the hard to determine summit of Maiden Moor so we needed to call him back to gather at the few stones on the highest point where we completed our radio activation.  As the weather deteriorated it wasn't good for the photography, however as usual, we continued to capture what we could. 

The view into Littledale prior to climbing Hindscarth LDW-073

After our final climb up to Robinson and the activation I counted 45 contacts in the log for the day. We didn't linger and made our way off on what was probably not the correct route. 

Geoff clearing the beck coming off Robinson

As this was a linear walk we had put Geoff's car out earlier in the day at Newlands Hause, so from there we drove down the The Bridge Inn at Buttermere. On our way down the hill we were surprised to see a young lost badger on the verge trying to find its burrow. We left it in the hope it would found its mother and home but I still wonder whether we did the right thing. maybe we ought to have done something else such as contacting the police to see if they could put us in touch with Badger Watch or the RSPCA. 

As a contribution to a book which The Wainwright Society published to mark the 80th anniversary of the 1931 Challenge we had all to write about our experiences of our Challenge in poetry or prose.


This was Judy's contribution for Maiden Moor, based on her experiences on the walk:

We look across from Catbells at the rocky outcrop that is Maiden Moor

At least the path seems obvious

But the wind is getting up and there are spots of rain as well as sun

We pass a mother with two young sons, she has a potty hanging from her rucksack

(be prepared!)

There are lots of young bilberry plants underfoot with promise of fruit to come

And – oh good – I’ve found a walking pole basket to replace the one lost yesterday!

We reach the tiny cairn which marks the top, where we disturb two Herdwicks

Unlike Catbells there are no other people here

Just sheep, skylarks and a wheatear – so peaceful

Without the cairn we wouldn’t have known where the top is on this flat expanse

Although the top is bleak the views are beautiful –

Bassenthwaite and the end of Derwentwater

Just one complaint - No maidens!

© Copyright Judy Catterall

Walk 519.25m / 2200' ascentTime Taken 5 hrs 45 mins189. LDW-152 Blea Rigg1775'190. LDW-150 Tarn Crag 1804'

Route taken on 8th May 2011 by Phil G4OBK, Judy (XYL) and friend Geoff

We met up with Geoff on one day one of a short break and parked at the lay-by on the A591 at NY 342076.   We started walking at 12.15 pm and headed up the Easedale Road to Easedale Tarn.  

On the path to Blea Rigg LDW-152 for Wainwrights On The Air 

After a gradual ascent up the tarn another 800 feet was gained in 45 minutes to place us on the summit of Blea Rigg LDW-152.  


On our walk up to the summit we had en-route contacts with several other WOTA activators who were on the fells that day including M1MPB, G4WHA, 2R0XSD, 2E0MIX and G1OPV.  I made 10 contacts on 2m FM from the summit, the total being boosted by the other activators on fells within VHF range.

Phil G4OBK, XYL Judy and friend Geoff at the Bridge below Tarn Crag LDW-150

The airwaves around Grasmere remained full of WOTA stations as we then proceeded on to our final summit of Tarn Crag LDW-150. This involved a with a 270ft descent and re-ascent.  A 40 minute stay produced 16 contacts which included 5 summit to summit contacts. 


We left the summit at 1624 hrs reaching Grasmere 90 minutes later. 

Walk 505m / 2300' ascentTime Taken 4 hours 45 mins187. LDW-197 Buckbarrow 1388'188. LDW-093 Seatallan 2270'189. LDW-135 Middle Fell 1909'

Route taken by Phil G4OBK and friend Geoff on April 3rd 2011

Parking Spot for Buckbarrow

Our final day in Wasdale and so we focussed on another linear walk to take in the three Wainwrights of Buckbarrow, Seatallan and Middle Fell. After a cordial conversation with a local farmer out on his quad bike at our parking spot near Harrow Head we set out on our route to where Geoff's car was parked at Netherbeck Bridge. 

Geoff as ever was raring to go, to get finished and return home to his place near Malvern. The weather on the day was starting in a similar manner to the day before, with mist above 1500'.  

It took just 34 minutes to reach the top of Buckbarrow LDW-197 with the route curving to the right and then back left near the top to surmount the crags.  

Tosh Tarn seen on our ascent to Buckbarrow

With the screening offered by Illgill Head and Whin Rigg across the other side of Wast Water the more distant contacts on VHF were rmissing, with Sue G1OHH in Lancaster being the furthest south. To their credit in an effort to contact Buckbarrow, Mark MM1MPB/M and Geoff GM4WHA/M had done their sums by looking at a terrain profile. They knew that a contact on VHF from Annan was unlikely with the gear that I was using so they had gone mobile and had driven out on the Galloway Coast near Sandyhills so as to be sure of making a contact. I received a 3x1 report from both operators!

On our walk up to Seatallan we met someone for a chat who is "slightly famous" - none other than David Powell -Thompson who acted as the researcher on Julia Bradbury's Wainwright Walks, leading and accompanying her and the crew in the making of several of the programmes. David lives in Nether Wasdale and we had met him the previous year when we took part in the 80th anniversary recreation of Wainwrights first walk in the Lake District up Orrest Head.  We enjoyed discussing our ascent of Yewbarrow two days previous, a fell which David thought was marvellous. I had to agree - it is one fell which I must revisit. 

David Powell - Thompson

We reached Seatallan LDW-093 (which also qualifies for SOTA) just under an hour after leaving Buckbarrow and from here the ham radio session was more successful. The first contact was with M0BLF/P on Coniston Old Man and we followed that with another summit to summit QSO with my good friend Iain MM3WJZ/P who was on Corserine SS-033 in Scotland.  Contacts were also enjoyed into Wales, the Isle of Man and the usual suspects to the south Bob G6ODU and Brian G4ZRP were also logged, who we had been unable to hear from the lower summit of Buckbarrow. 

Operating in the mist in the shelter on Seatallan

27 contacts were completed including Mark and Geoff who had now returned back to base in Annan. We lingered in the shelter for over an hour before descending to the boggy moor north of Greendale Tarn where we started our climb up to Middle Fell LDW-135. 

Greendale Tarn in the col between Seatallan and Middle Fell

Our activation of Middle Fell was completed in 20 minutes with 18 stations being logged. The nearest I got to a summit to summit contact was with Dave GW0UPO/M who was sat in his car on The Great Orme at Llandudno but that did not count for SOTA as he was inside his vehicle.  The walk directly down to Geoff's car at Netherbeck Bridge, was quite tricky in places, with some scrambling involved. If there was a path we did not find it. Our Wasdale Tour ended at 2.30pm but we needed to return to the dale later in the summer to climb the Wainwrights of Lingmell, Sca Fell, and Slight Side. 

Walk 49. 5.5m / 2300' ascentTime Taken 5 hours184. LDW-156 Whinn Rigg 1755'186. LDW-129 Illgill Head 1998'

Route taken by Phil G4OBK and friend Geoff on April 2nd 2011

After the previous gruelling day when we suffered the gales, rain, mist and an injury on Wainwrights western fells to the north of Wasdale, I decided we needed something much easier - after all I did not know how my knee would hold out after my fall the previous day.  With two cars at our disposal we undertook a linear walk along the ridge to the south east of Wast Water taking in the summits of Whinn Rigg (LDW-156) and Illgill Head (LDW-129/LD-029).  A well used path ran above the screes of Wast Water which was boggy in places. 

There was room to park a car roadside near to The Lodge and Youth Hostel at NY 143043. The other car was parked in the layby at Brackenclose road end.

After 75 minutes we reached the summit of Whinn Rigg which was unremarkable, although 18 contacts were made on VHF for Wainwrights On The Air. I had a good line of sight path on VHF to the south. We were in mist and after a short wander off course when we left we reached Illgill Head in around 50 minutes after departing Whinn Rigg. This Marilyn summit is the one supporting the Wast Water screes and looks impressive when viewed from the top of the dale: 

Illgill Head viewed from the track leading to our B&B at Burnthwaite Farm at the head of Wasdale

From Illgill Head I completed 20 contacts for SOTA/WOTA including Summit to Summit conversations with Mike 2E0YYY/P who was on SP-015 The Cloud in Cheshire and Barry MW6BDV/P on NW-018 Moel Llyfnant in Wales. After enjoying a stay of 50 minutes and our lunch when the sun finally appeared, we made our way down to Brackenclose to finish our walk before 3.00pm.

With a dose of Ibuprofen and Paracetamol inside me I was relatively comfortable all day walking with my knee injury, and  relieved that it appeared I would be able to continue fellwalking for the rest of the summer season when I hoped to complete the 214 Wainwrights.

After a poor meal and service the previous night at The Wasdale Inn we took the trouble that evening to drive down to The Strands Inn at Nether Wasdale where we enjoyed a much better dinner than the previous night. 

Walk 4810m / 5250' Time taken 10 hours 10 mins178. LDW-032 Kirk Fell 2631'179. LDW-008 Pillar 2927'180. LDW-023 Scoat Fell 2759'181. LDW-028 Steeple 2687'182. LDW-026 Red Pike (Wasdale) 2710'183. LDW-124 Yewbarrow 2057'

Route taken by Phil G4OBK and friend Geoff on April 1st 2011

Barn at Burnthwaite Farm B&B with Great Gable behind

Friday April 1st - gales, swirling mist, rain and the most challenging walk of our stay in Wasdale. A day without views but like fools, we went for it when we should have done something easier and left this grueller for another day...


I finished up with a knee injury which took six months to heal properly but we did achieve our objective of climbing and activating these six Wainwrights from Wasdale, albeit rather late in the day by the time we were done.  Kirk Fell, Pillar, Scoat Fell, Steeple, Red Pike (Wasdale) and the formidable Yewbarrow. We never saw a soul all day and we didn't take any photographs either - survival was paramount in the gales and the use of a camera was impossible. The wind was sufficiently strong to blow me off my feet on top of Kirk Fell and force us both into crawling on all fours to makes progress across the top of Scoat Fell. 

Kirk Fell © MIchael Graham under CCL 

After breakfast we went to position my car at Overbeck Bridge in Wasdale which was used to get back to The Wasdale Head Hotel for our dinner, when we came down off Yewbarrow late in the day. We knew that the walk in itself would leave us short on daylight time and we did not want to have an extra three mile walk at the end of the day in the dark.  The Wasdale Head Inn stopped serving food at 8.00pm so we had to get back by then to get fed.

After returning from the car drop we were walking from the rear of Burnthwaite Farm by 09.30am local time. The path soon turned north and started the unrelenting climb via Highnose Head to the shelter on top of the 2631' high Kirk Fell LDW-032/LD-014.  As we climbed the wind became stronger with visibility being down to a few yards in the swirling mist.  I was ahead of Geoff and rounding the summit of Kirk Fell when I was suddenly, without warning, blown completely off my feet  whilst I was attempting to get into the shelter. I crawled back to alert Geoff to the risk as he appeared out of the mist, and we both crawled into the shelter to take cover and rest.   The first station logged that day for WOTA and SOTA from Kirk Fell was John G0TDM in Penrith. 
We had no problem navigating via GPS to the summit of Pillar in the mist. There was a fair scramble after that down to the Black Sail Pass...I think we were on the right "path" if you could call it one. We had 10m visibility at best.  Pillar came and went - we had our lunch there and stayed 30 minutes making 18 contacts on 2m FM with the rucksack special and Yaesu VX-170.  Moving off downhill we reached Wind Gap - the wind there was no worse than anywhere else despite the name,  it was just b****y strong.  It was here that I made a navigational error, I'm not sure how I went wrong but we finished up descending over 300 foot down Green Crags when we should have been climbing up towards Scoat Fell from Wind Gap.  It was on this unnecessary descent that I fell, either banging or twisting my knee in the process, it was hard to tell. I picked myself up with that initial burning pain you get when you bash yourself hard. A couple of minutes recovery and we were on our way again, limping but it could have been a lot worse. The Ibuprofen and Paracetamol helped...After another scramble to get back to where we should have been above Green Crags we found the path but as we arrived on LIttle Scoat Fell the wind became more fierce as we rounded the summit. The only way to make progress to the stone wall to conduct the radio activation (which runs across the top of the fell) was to go down on all fours. We made the wall - our sanctuary, got down behind it and reflected on the madness of what we were doing....the flask came out and some food, and we got on with making more contacts with our Wainwright's On The Air Chasers.

Scoat Fell seen from the cairn on Steeple - © Copyright Michael Graham CCL Geograph

Steeple is attached to Scoat Fell via a link path on a ridge in the gap between the two fells. No wonder when I spoke to Derek 2E0MIX in Whitehaven on the radio from Scoat Fell that he warned us that we could taking a big risk walking across the gap between the two fells as we could get blown off.  We took heed and appropriate care, approaching gingerly, but there was nothing to fear as the gap was not facing into the wind direction and so it was relatively calm as we crossed the ridge.  To get to Red Pike (Wasdale) we walked back across the gap and crossed a grassy area coming down off Little Scoat Fell.  This area was inset with slabs of rock, one large slab we came across was shaped just like a coffin....ummm.  The wind had now abated and Red Pike came and went (17 contacts on 2m FM). We made our way over some crags and the mist finally cleared. We were now above the col of Dore Head looking at Stirrup Crag and the long top of Yewbarrow (LDW-124). At this point we realised we had lost the path again in the mist some way back and  made our way down some crags to the crossroads of paths which is Dore Head. 

Stirrup Crag from Dore Head  ©CCL M Graham Geograph

Stirrup Crag was our route up Yewbarrow and it looked and indeed was a formidable climb. If there was an alternative way we didn't see it. The climb started easily on some loose scree until we came across a ten feet high "chimney like" gap between rock faces. We shimmied up it but only just, and started the 1 Km walk across the top of Yewbarrow to the highest point arriving at 6.20pm local time.  My first CQ call found G1OHH in Lancaster coming back. We were glad to hear Sue's voice. We also spoke to Geoff GM4WHA/M in his car on his way back to Annan. He didn't think we would manage the last summit, and yes, we were tight on time.  We left the summit over Bull Crag and Great Door - a scree slope with grass sides in parts which we took to on the hairy bits of the scree. We reached the car at Overbeck Bridge at 7.42pm - Yewbarrow took some getting off. We knew the Wasdale Head Hotel stopped serving food at 8.00pm, and we were there by then. That wasn't true as it was after 9.00pm when they served up our steak and ale pie - what lousy service, which I later reported on Trip Advisor.  From reports later in 2011 the pub has seemingly sorted out its problems!


Over a pint we reflected on our testing day - six Wainwrights bagged, 87 contacts completed, not a single person met whilst walking the fells, and no summit to summit contacts whatsoever - we were the only activators out on the Lakeland Fells, Pennines and North Wales that day. The chasers were very active with six operators making contact with my station G4OBK/P on all six summits. These operators were:


Malcolm M0XAT (Seaton), Sue G1OHH (Lancaster), Colin 2E0XSD (Frizington), Geoff G4WHA (Penrith), John G0TDM (Penrith) and Gareth M0MOL (Barrow).


It is always more enjoyable when thinking back on a arduous day on the fells when the weather has been bad and there has been no visibility. We had beaten the elements but I had an injury which fortunately did not turn out to be permanent; we vowed to have an easier day tomorrow by bagging two Wainwrights on the south side of Wastwater - Whin Rigg LDW-156 and Illgill Head LDW-129/LD-029. 

Walk 476m / 2250ft ascentApprox time taken 4 hours 15 mins176. LDW-112 Harter Fell (Eskdale) 2146'177. LDW-176 Green Crag 1604'

Route taken by Phil G4OBK and friend Geoff on 31st March 2011

Hinning House Close Car Park - Dunnerdale

After heading home from the Lakes the previous Monday we were back around lunchtime on the Thursday of the same week....I drove through Little Langdale and the Wrynose Pass and met Geoff at Cockley Beck Bridge. We drove down Dunnerdale to park up at the Hinning House Close car park (no charge) to start our walk up to Harter Fell and then across Ulpha Fell to Green Crag, our second Wainwright of the afternoon.  We then planned to head for Wasdale for the next three days and climb some of the bigger tops above there. 


It was a steady walk up to the jagged top of Harter Fell with little scrambling. What an interesting summit - fantastic views into Eskdale on t'other side and a super view of the Wainwright of Grey Friar and the Coniston Fells to the west. 

Ready to leave Harter Fell for the next target Green Crag

There are lots of nooks and crannies to explore on the summit itself which we used to good effect providing shelter from the wind during the radio operation.  An extra bonus was that this one was good for SOTA too as LD-028 and LDW-112 for WOTA.  I managed 17 quick contacts in 15 minutes, the most amazing contact was with G4ZRP in The Wirral. Brian was running a mere 16 millwatts "fleapower". I was running 5 watts and vertical. 

Harter Fell from the flank of Green Crag

We now needed to cross Spothow Gill which meant we would lose 1000 feet of the height gained climbing Harter Fell and then have to put another 500 feet on getting to the top of Green Crag LDW-176.  There was no clear path on the ground and a wire fence in the bottom of the Gill which we had to climb. It was here that I dipped one leg into the beck by mistake and went down to the knee. A wet foot and nothing more - I could live with that!  (Geoff had his turn in Wasdale 3 days later - served him right for laughing at me!). I mistook Long Crag in the distance as Green Crag but as we closed in I realised we needed to go around Long Crag - Green Crag was half a mile further on.  The lower fell proved less successful on VHF (2m FM) as you would expect but I still managed 14 contacts.  It was getting late and time we legged it back to Dunnerdale and on to our B&B at the head of Wasdale. 

Geoff on a windy Green Crag with Harter Fell in the background

The path back was more defined once we reached the bridleway at SD 214985. We passed under Kepple Crag and Brandy Crag on a forest track to reach the cottage of Birks where some teenagers had been mistakenly locked out of the house by their parents.  A few friendly words and we were off back to the car and Wasdale. We checked in at Burnthwaite Farm and had our meal at The Wasdale Head Inn - home of the worlds most famous liar.  We were looking forward to walk No. 48 the next day, which with the weather forecast would not be easy and this proved to be the case....so please read on. 

Walk 468.5m / 2450ft ascentTime taken 6 hours174. Ullscarf 2382' Calf Crag 1762' (Previously visited)175. Steel Fell 1814'

Route taken on 28th March 2011 by Phil G4OBK, XYL Judy and friend Geoff

Our last day of a three night break staying at Keswick. We wanted a moderate walk which would still allow time for the drive home, in our case back to North Yorkshire and for Geoff back home to Malvern.

Ullscarf LDW-075 and Steel Fell LDW-146 had not yet been climbed so I worked out a route from the Wythburn Car Park at the south end of Thirlmere.  Car parking there proved to be free - the money machine was not in service through the winter, presumably due to the lack of people likely to park there and the national parks decision to employ seasonal staff.

Harrop Tarn with Tarn Crags behind

Judy & Geoff at the ladder stile

We left the car park at 0928z on the road which is seemingly not as shown on the 2005 1:25000 OS Map - we were walking some distance west of the road as shown on the map. I couldn't work this out - maybe my GPS was having a bad day.  A bridleway took us up to (the shallow) Harrop Tarn and continued up Mosshause Gill on a most enjoyable route. There were some enormous erratic boulders on this route including the Binka Stone. We climbed a ladder stile (pictured) at NY 304136 and made our way over access land (no path) between Standing Crag and Tarn Crags to the top of Ullscarf, a flat topped uninspiring fell, so uninspiring indeed that I did not take an photograph there when we arrived at 1122z after a steady walk of  3 miles and climb of 1800 feet.

After a 30 minute rest and radio stop we set off for Calf Crag - a summit we climbed the previous May when we were walking Wainwright's Coast to Coast.  As "Chief Navigator" I got this part of our walk badly wrong today and we climbed higher then we needed due to my lack of concentration. After following the wall which runs along the top of Greenup Edge we continued on to the top of Birks (This is not to be confused with Birks near Patterdale) before realising that we had a scramble to get back down to cross Brownrigg Moss and ascend up to Calf Crag. Geoff had his own ideas about the descent and went off to the right, we kept left and met again at the top of Calf Crag. Was he miffed that I had gone wrong with my navigation so went off his own way? He didn't say!  We would have done right to follow the route we had taken from Greenup Edge up to Calf Crag when we walked the C2C. We crossed, so why I felt going up over Birks was a good idea I still do not know.

The ridge walk from Calf Crag across to Steel Fell

After another 30 minute break on Calf Crag LDW-154 where we had lunch, we were off to the last summit of the day Steel Fell, a mere 40 minutes away.  A defined path existed on the ground and we had excellent views en-route across Dunmail Raise to the Helvellyn range. 

Judy (XYL) and Phil G4OBK/P on Steel Fell LDW-146

A 20 minute stay, more contacts, and we were soon heading off down the steep path back to Steel End and the car park after another cracking walk.

Geoff walks off Steel Fell into Thirlmere...

For Wainwright's On The Air I made 25 contacts on VHF (2m FM) which included a contact with Terry G0VWP,  our friend from York who was on the summit of Whitfell LDW-032,  when I was operating from the summit of Steel Fell.

Walk 45 9.5m / 4950' ascentTime Taken 8 Hours 15 minutes169. Grasmoor LDW-020 2795'170. Wandope LDW-051 2533'171. Whiteless Pike LDW-106 2165'172. Rannerdale Knotts LDW-209 1165' (Car assisted)173. Whiteside LDW-084 2320'

Routes taken on 27th March 2011 by Phil G4OBK and friend Geoff

The path leaving the linited parking area below Rannerdale Knotts



Grasmoor on our ascent

This was the day when we met up with Derek 2E0MIX in the saddle between the summits of Grasmoor and Wandope on what was a day of two walks. In retrospect we may have been better off climbing Whiteside by crossing Gasgale Gill after bagging Grasmoor - instead we did the circular walk finishing with the lowly Rannerdale Knotts before driving the short distance to the car park at Lanthwaite Green Farm where we tackled the formidable Whiteside LDW-084 as a walk in its own right.

After driving from Keswick we left the small car park near Hause Point by the side of Crummock Water at 0840z and soon encountered several groups of male and family Army Cadets coming down off Grasmoor - they must have started before 0700z. They told us that they were heading back to Crummock Water for a dinghy exercise next. We added extra mileage by using the footbridge at Dale Howe - not necessary.  I should have looked at the map, the beck can be easily forded at NY 1666 1875. 



Derek 2E0MIX operating from Wandope LDW-051





The path then heads north over Lad Howes and gets steeper after that. An unrelenting climb follows and we reached the Grasmoor shelters at 1020z after 2.5 miles walking and 2500 feet of climbing! It would have been easier had I visited this summit from the east when I completed Walk 35 The ColedaleHorseshoe in 2010. Grasmoor is SOTA LD-009 and LDW-020 for WOTA and in my opinion is not a very pretty mountain. At an height of 2795' the take off was excellent and 22 contacts were completed on VHF with summit to summit contacts with Scotland and Wales. We left the summit at 1055 after contacting Derek 2E0MIX/P who was heading towards us from the Wandope direction, which is where we headed next.  

Crummock Water as we came down from Whiteless Pike

We met up below Crag Hill and went a tad far south whilst chatting to Derek before retreating up to the cairn on Wandope LDW-051 where I completed 14 contacts including talking to Terry G0VWP/P who was on Muncaster Fell LD-055 and GW4UPO/M in his car on The Great Orme - not counted for SOTA as you need to be people powered on the summit to qualify.

Geoff and I bid our farewells to Derek who was continuing with his own activation and made off downhill to Whiteless Pike LDW-106, finishing this leg of our walk with LDW-209 Rannerdale Knotts from which we had an excellent view down Crummock Water when we arrived at 1350z. Contacts from here were mainly local however I was delighted to exchange reports with Colin G4UXH in Milnthorpe and surprisingly with Robin GM7PKT/P on SOTA CS-017 Meall Ghaordaidh. This mountain is a Munro North West of Killin in Central Scotland.



One of the gullies traversed coming off the summit of Whiteside

Returning to my the car we drove 3 miles north and started our walk up Whiteside LDW-084 at 1440z. It took us exactly one hour to reach the summit and take shelter behind some rocks. This was a steep walk on a shaley surface and we covered 1.25 miles with 1800 ft of ascent to reach the top. The WOTA activation generated only seven contacts and we left the summit within 10 minutes to follow the same route back down to the car.  I was gratified to have made 67 contacts from the five Wainwrights climbed in the day as we made our way back to Keswick for our dinner.

Walk 4413.3m / 4700ft ascentTime taken 10 hours163. Seathwaite Fell LDW - 123 1972'164. Great End LDW - 005 2986'165. Scafell Pike LDW - 001 3209'166. Allen Crags LDW - 042 2575'167. Glaramara LDW - 044 2569'168. Rosthwaite Fell LDW - 149 1808'

Route taken on 25th March 2011 By Phil G4OBK and friend Geoff

The route taken on this walk to Scafell Pike was unusual to say the least, however when we set out LDW-001 was not on the agenda.  When we topped out for lunch on Great End LDW-005 we realised the Pike was within reach so we went for it...

Our day started at  9.20am when we left the line of parked cars at Seathwaite to head for Stockley Bridge with the other fellwalkers bound for England's highest mountain. 

Stockley Bridge with LDW-117 Base Brown in the background

Our target was Great End LDW-005 before returning to Seathwaite via the ridge across Glaramara LDW-044, but first we needed to climb and activate Seathwaite Fell LDW-123. This fell sits between Great Gable and the Allen Crags/Glaramara ridge. It is one of those fells which has a "double top". We made for the northern summit. This isn't the highest point but it has the best view down into Borrowdale, which is why it was chosen as A Wainwright's named summit in the Southern Fells pictorial guide.  We couldn't see a clear track leaving the main path in Styhead Gill so we struck out to the summit at NY 22778 10652. There were a few minor scrambles - an easy ascent. 

Cairn on Seathwaite Fell LDW-123 with Green Gable in the background

As this photo shows the weather for March was perfect.  Eight contacts were made from the summit, mostly to the western Lakeland although G0TDM and G4WHA in Penrith also made it into the log.  The Gables screen the felltop to the north making it a difficult path in that direction, and to the south is no better with the much higher Great End, Esk Pike and Bow Fell getting in the way. 
Our route up on to Great End was one of the most interesting and scenic I've taken since I started climbing the Wainwright's. We crossed over Great Slack and made our way around the east side of Sprinkling Tarn, where there were a couple of abandoned backpacker tents pitched - presumably these were the "base camps" for some climbers we later saw on the crags below Great End. We crossed the bridlepath south of the tarn and then climbed diagonally up an area shown on the map as The Band where we found a minor path which doubled back and which took us to the top of Great End where we had lunch.  

Geoff concentrates on his scramble up The Band with Sprinkling Tarn below

Geoff and Phil on Great End LDW-005

The hordes of people who walk past Great End of their way to the Pike really miss out - it's a great vantage point. A super place to take out the map and identify all there is to see around.  We met a chap called David Owen here, and in conversation discovered he was also a member of The Wainwright Society, as both Geoff and I am. David told us he had finished the 214 some years previously and now concentrated on checking out individual summits from the pictorial guides  - taking his time exploring on his own, at leisure.  Great End LDW-005 at almost 3000 feet is good for radio - sixteen contacts were logged.  We could see Scafell Pike not far above us, and decided as we were so close that we ought to visit and this we did. Fortified from our packed lunch the walk across to LDW-001  took us just 45 minutes. It was only around 1.25 miles but is the sort of terrrain where you need to watch where you are putting your feet making progress slow. The radio effort took some time up - there was no shortage of callers and it was 50 minutes before we could move off once we finished off the pile up of 34 contacts.  Amongst the callers was G4ZRP - Brian on the Wirral using a mere 50mW to complete the contact and summit to summit contacts were had with Alex G7KSE/P on Harter Fell and G6MML/P Val on SP-011 Freehold's Top. After speaking to Brian G4ZRP on the radio who had a better knowledge of the Southern Fells than we did, we decided against continuing on to Scafell, so returned back towards Great End to find our way on to our three remaining Wainwrights of the day - Allen Crags, Glaramara and Rosthwaite Fell (Bessyboot).  Time was getting on due to our walk over to Scafell Pike and we knew as it got towards late afternoon that we could end up have to use our torches.

Pike o'Stickle and other Langdale Pikes - seen from High House Tarn

We reached Allen Crags LDW-042 at 3.45pm, Glaramara LDW-044 at 5.00pm and  Bessyboot at 6.12pm local time.  The paths across to Glaramara were straightforward, albeit they did not follow the OS marking, but that is to be expected.  Coming off Glaramara was due north, entailing a respectable downwards scramble before curving east with no clear paths on the ground visible,  to cross Great Hollow and Rosthwaite Cam before we passed to the west side of Tarn at Leaves to climb to the final summit cairn of Bessyboot LDW-149.  27 contacts were split between the three final summits.

6.00pm on Rosthwaite Fell...the light is going with one summit yet to activate and three miles left to walk

As dusk came in we were on our way down along Combe Gill. By the time we reached Thorneythwaite Farm it was dark but we found our way on to the unmarked footpath which comes out in Seatoller campsite (a placed I camped at in 1968), before exiting on to the Seathwaite road. It was now dark but this didn't matter as we made or way back to Geoff's car which we reached at 7.30pm after a long but memorable day on the fells.  
Credit to all the radio hams for the support by making contact with us during our round.  Especially Mark MM1MPB in Annan, Geoff G4WHA and John G0TDM in Penrith who made contact with us on all six summits. In total 83 contacts were completed in the day.  

Route Profile

Walk 438m / 2650ft ascentTime taken 290 minutes161. Bakestall LDW-100 2208'162. Great Calva LDW-095 2264'




Route to Bakestall and Great Calva by Phil G4OBK, XYL Judy and friend Geoff on 24th March 2011

 

Parking area at Dash Farm track end

Our monthly trips to Lakeland had continued through the winter and now as we entered spring we secured another good value half board three night deal at The Keswick Country House Hotel. On this trip Geoff and I were fortunate enough to meet Derek 2E0MIX when we activated the fells around Grasmoor on the same day. More on that in a later blog.

We thought this walk would be easier than it actually was after starting out quite late in the day. The weather was dry and pleasant after leaving Keswick where we had left our bags, prior to parking my car near to the Peter House Farm parking area. I had tried to establish whether it was possible to drive along the gated tarmac road towards Skiddaw House, which is part of the Cumbria Way and didn't find out if this was permissable so we walked the full length of it, leaving the car at 1240pm. We reached grid reference 261319 one mile and 20 minutes later to discover several cars parked up where the tarmac came to an end at the track leads up to Dash Farm and Cow Wath. Oh well, such is life. We continued on the now unsurfaced track up towards Whitewater Dash waterfall and then turned up right before the fence to climb to Bakestall. The climb is on grass up Birkett Edge.

A good view down the valley of Dash Beck from Whitewater Dash to Binsey LDW-190 (SOTA LD-041)

It is steep in places but not unrelenting, with a few easy sections in it. We were running late so I went on ahead to start the WOTA activation, reaching the top at 2.45pm before the other two arrived.



G4OBK/P on Bakestall

Take off was poor to the south with Bakestall lying right behind Skiddaw. As a result several regular chasers were missing from my log of ten stations. I had given plenty of notice though and this brought out two other activators.


The first contact from Bakestall was with Derek 2E0MIX/P on Base Brown LDW-100 and then I later worked Julian G4ILO/P who was a mere 2.5 miles away from me on Great Sca Fell, LDW-114. In less than half an hour we were on our way back down Birkett Edge and back to the Whitewater Dash area. We then followed the Cumbrian Way down to Dead Beck at 283304 where we found a good clear path (surprisingly) up the moorland to the cairn on top of Great Calva LDW-095 where we enjoyed the spring sunshine. It was a pleasure to be out on the fells in just our T shirts in March. I knew Julian G4ILO would be waiting for me on his next summit so we tried to push on as best we could, reaching the summit at 3.30pm.


The take off from Great Calva away from the bulk of Skiddaw was much better and the rucksack special reached out to the south and into Northern Ireland. The first contact was summit to summit though with Julian G4ILO having reached his destination onto Brae Fell LDW-134. All the regulars were worked, except Sue G1OHH, who was in Portugal I believe at the time. I've worked into Ireland before from the Northern Fells on 2m FM and made it again today into the station of David GI4SNA - a man I know is a VHF specialist with efficient antennas, hence our DX QSO. Contact was also made with GW0WTT in Flint and regular chaser Mark MM1MPB in Annan to give me 4 countries from the 14 stations logged on Great Calva.

On Great Calva with Judy XYL working G4ILO/P Julian on the nearby summit of Brae Fell LDW-134

Dash Farm with the Uldale Fells from where Julian G4ILO was operating, behind it

The route back to Peter House was easy to follow - we followed the fence down to Dry Gill (which it was) although towards Whitewater Dash it got tricky as it involved some scrambling down the gully. We arrived back at my car at 5.30pm to return to Keswick and check in at the hotel.  

Geoff and I had planned a challenging walk for the next day and we were grateful for the good MWIS weather forecast which was pinned up in reception when we got to the Country House Hotel. Meanwhile Judy planned to undertake a leisurely walk around Derwentwater in the morning and be back in Keswick for lunchtime.