Carlisle & District Rambling & Fellwalking Club
Walk & Event Reports
Sunday 5th June 2016
B Walk
Gamblesby - Hartside - Busk
9 Miles Grade 2
Leader: Ian Rowley
Reports by Ian Rowley & Peter Flynn
Photos by Ian Rowley, Peter Flynn
Lauren Sarasini
Ian's Report
The walk, taken from the Penrith Ramblers anniversary booklet was described as “strenuous” but we Carlisle Ramblers are clearly made of sterner stuff although all eleven walkers were more than ready for refreshment and re hydration by the end of this fine expedition.
Starting from the picture postcard perfect village of Gamblesby the walk took a fairly direct route up a green lane towards the summit of Fiends Fell. There were close encounters along the way with four legged friends and group of traii bikes and we also passed several unfortunate sheep – victims of the traffic on the busy A 686 which was crossed twice on the walk, fortunately with no casualties.
Heat haze prevented distant views from the summit but the fine moorland scenery and the accompanying songs of Curlews and Skylarks made for a pleasant lunch.
Descending past the two wheeled speed merchants assembled at Hartside Café we felt a little underdressed without crash helmets and leathers. We followed the interestingly named Loo Beck crossing over an impressive recently restored stone bridge.
Some route finding was required to get us to the “delightful” Busk Rigg farm which closely resembled the set from channel four’s Scrapheap Challenge. We also encountered an interesting totem pole with a face that reminded several walkers of other regular members of the club (your suggestions on a postcard to John Mckay)
At the end of beautiful day of bright sunshine and almost no breeze tea was taken at the Melmerby Bakery café which was compared favourably to the Ritz tea room. Thanks to everyone who made this a great day.
Ian
Peter's Report
Many years ago – in a previous existence – I had cause to regularly travel the road between the Newcastle area and Devon, and the easiest way was Hartside and then down the M6. I had tackled the road in every possible kind of weather, but today was the first time I had ever had a chance to explore the fells around the area. We started at the beautiful village of Gamblesby, and headed up a rough track climbing steadily towards Hartside, across the A 686 and onto the summit of Fiends Fell. This is the name given originally to what is now Cross Fell, visible in the distance, and was given the name because of the Helm Wind, a strong, cold dry wind that is reputed to have caused a certain kind of madness, and which was so evil that only the devil and his mates could have been responsible for it. Satan, however, reckoned without St Paulinus who erected a cross on the summit and drove the evil spirits away, though the wind and the Helm Bar - a strange bank of cloud that accompanies it - are still very much in evidence. The fiends, if they were still around, would be riding high powered motor bikes which are the main feature of the area and provide a constant background hum. Despite this, the walk, especially towards the tops, was beautiful, gorgeous day, stunning views and some lovely valleys to descend. This was a superb piece of quite complicated walk leading by Ian and Christine taking us over areas that are familiar from the road but otherwise unexplored.
Peter
