St
Peters Church Martindale -
Steele Knotts - Pikeawassa - Christy Bridge - Beda
Fell - Beda Head - Angletarn Pikes - Angle Tarn -
Brock Crags - Boredale Hause - Place Fell - Hart
Crag - Place Fell Tarn - Low Moss - Garth Heads -
St Peters Church Martindale
This was my third walk in the Lakes in 2009 but this
time it was with Mark. The last time we walked in the
Lakes it was 10 months ago when we completed the Eastern
Martindale Fells. For today’s walk we decided to complete
the rest of the fells in the local area by walking
the Western Martindale Fells.
Starting
from the car park at St Peters Church we headed steeply
out of Martindale passing
through the crags
of Birkie Knott to gain the ridge of Steel Knotts.
Then it was a short walk along the ridge – ascending
and descending the grassy hummocks – to the rocky
outcrop of Pikeawassa (432 metres). It was
a cloudy day today
and quite dull at times but we still had fairly good
views. From the summit there were good views to Ullswater
and Hallin Fell. However the fells to the east around
Loadpot Hill were shrouded in cloud. We were lucky
that we did not have to walk in cloud today! The
descent back to Martindale was extremely steep
to start with
as it followed a wall for a short distance. However
once we joined the main path the going improved.
We
then walked along the road – crossed Christy Bridge
– and started the ascent of Beda Fell.
The ascent
was slow to start off with but seemed to get better
as
we gained height along the ridge path. The ridge
passes Low Brock Crags and Allen Crag before arriving
at Beda
Head (509 metres). Again there were good views
back to Ullswater. As we continued along the
long ridge
of Beda Fell we negotiated many small grassy hills.
The path passes Bedafell Knott and Heckbeck Head
before arriving at Angletarn Pikes (567 metres).
There are
two peaks at Angletarn Pikes both with good views.
After a short stop we descended down to Angle Tarn
and then followed a path around the tarn to Brock
Crags (561 metres) – this being our fourth Wainwright
of
the day.
From
Brock Crags we descended to Cat Crag and then followed
a path to Angletarn Beck. We then passed
Dubhow Brow and Rake Crag on a good path to Boredale
Hause.
At this point we paused to have some lunch and
contemplated the ascent of Place Fell which we
could see in front
of us.
The
ascent of Place Fell was slow but was on very well
worn paths!! It did not take us long
before
we were
at the cairn on Round How. From here the path
is an easy one to the summit of Place Fell
(657 metres)
–
our fifth and final Wainwright of the day.
The summit is quite rocky one and it also has
a triangulation
pillar. The views again were good in most directions.
The descent from Place Fell was via Hart Crag,
Place
Fell Tarn, Low Moss, and the path below High
Dodd to Garth Heads. We then joined to road
back to
St Peters
Church.
It
was a good day’s walk with five new Wainwright’s
to tick off the list. Unfortunately due to
the low cloud and dark conditions the photographs
were not at their best!
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