for centuries and is one of the oldest of this species in OPEN ACCESS WALKS Cumbria, though no match for the eternal Borrowdale Yews at Seathwaite which were a hundred years old in Cumbria when the Islamic prophet Muhammad was born! At the union follow on up the road by the gate with Mark Richards ‘Roughet Hill’ (rough clearing hill) swinging leftward watch for the footpath sign right ‘Brackenthwaite’. Roughet Hill farm stands further up the hill backed by a modern mast. Go through the gate and after 25m a second field-gate at the barn-end, now with the hedge 4 Cardunneth Pike left advance to a kissing-gate and on to a gate in a wall, traverse the ensuing field to a wall with waymark post from Castle Carrock guiding right to a gate entering the old farm yard at Brackenthwaite (bracken filled clearing). Notice the vernacular barn to the right with lintel date-stone 1700 - clearly the collection of barns here represent at least three hundred years continuity of stock farming endeavour. A set of gates lead on past the main farm entrance and along the access road. The writer spotted a Massey Ferguson combine rusting next to the Dutch-barn on the right, of the precise kind he drove harvesting wheat and barley some forty years ago! At the right-hand downward bend branch off at the gate, signed ‘Albyfield’. Rise up the pasture hollow to a gate and follow on down the next pasture to the barn access to Albyfield (cultivated ground belonging to the old and now lost Danish settlement, otherwise known as Alby). Stride on through the open farmyard along the access road and, at a crossways, continue forward along the gated field-road, after the second gate entering a metalled lane, which marches attractively on into Cumrew (combe-head mountain path). The The Armstrong Cairn on the Cardunneth Pike tumulus place-name presumably meant the ancient path to the significant Bronze Age tumulus on the scarp-top above, Starting point: Castle Carrock village street in the vicinity of The Cardunneth Pike - to be visited later in the walk. Weary Sportsman Inn GR 5435540 – the memorable marriage of fell foot pasture and heather moor, with one immensely generous Cumrew is an old village with a high proportion of viewpoint to savour, described in its two constituent parts. new and renovated homes. One might think one was entering a prosperous futuristic village where the Part 1 (7 km/4.4 ml) sun shone every day. After the stately Cumrew House Stride the fell foot pastures and lanes via the Reservoir, with its monkey puzzle tree pass into the lane leading Brackenthwaite, Albyfield and Cumrew to Newbiggin. A rolling to St Mary’s parish church, in cohesively re-built in landscape of sandy knolls and ridges, known as eskers, formed 1890. Go through the entrance gate and pass to the by rushing melt water flowing north under a cap of ice. right of the tower finding a wicket-gate at the far end of the churchyard. Descend the bank planted with From the right-angled bend in the main village street bear off young trees and on by two galvanised kissing-gates into Geltsdale Road passing The Weary (formerly known as The to join a farm track to gain the valley road. Turn left, Weary Sportsman - evidently fishing is hard in these parts!) and watchful of traffic, seeking a gate and bridleway sign the Duke of Cumberland, for the past ten years this ‘local’ has been left after some 500m. This gate can be wet, even in dry closed but the sign remains and there is talk of a re-opening. One seasons. The reason will become evident as you walk may walk on either side of the reservoir, though it remains well alongside the rutted track to a gate beneath Foulsike screened by a high wall and trees for much of the way. The first Wood. The shallow stream running down the ensuing option is to turn right immediately after the new housing estate of valley is periodically exposed to the cross-passage of Sid’s Field, opposite Ralph Cottage (named after a Victorian son of trail-bikers their tyres, divert the stream into track ruts the Watson family, with their colonial India links), where a footpath and so down to the road. A man with a spade or the sign directs up a confined and frequently wet lane to join the back next cloudburst will restore the flow no doubt! Ford road to the tip of the reservoir enclosure. the gill and head on under the bank to a hand-gate at The better walk requires one to wander further up the street rising the foot of Bove Wood, alive with rabbits. Follow on by to a gate and sign right, from where a quiet track leads onto the three further gates and a reedy pond to meet the lane Tottergill access roadway and on to the lake’s end. Note that a at Newbiggin Townhead. matter of 100m up the open concrete track left towards Tottergill Should this point be reached at lunchtime then one may be (fox hill stream) one may spot a very old oak tree. Crippled, tempted to divert right to visit The Bluebell, a lovely little gnarled, with a massive girth there is no doubt it has been here hostelry serving Thwaites cask ale and really tasty bar snacks. Part 2 (9 km/5.6 ml) to Castle Carrock Reservoir. Geltsdale is an anciently settled valley. The river-name means ‘wild water’ confirming this Climb with the old bridleway which historically will have short river’s habit of rising rapidly when suddenly charged been an important highway running through the head of by dale-head thunder storms. At the head of the side valley Geltsdale to Hallbankgate and into Tynedale. The M6 of of How Gill, was from Victorian times until the 1930s the its day. Gaining the watershed traverse the ridge running scene of intensive coal mining, the Earl of Carlisle exploiting northern to Cardunneth Pike and Hespeck Raise. a high quality seam at the Gairs. It was here that the famous Turn left, go through the gate (OC signboard) from where locomotive ‘The Rocket’ built by George Stephenson ended its a bridleway track climbs steadily. After two further gates working life. The woodland of Knotts and Binney Banks is an entering Open Access land - part of the Croglin estate, a well- ancient continuity, indeed the site of an Iron Age community managed grouse moor. As the track levels pass between two has been discovered here. While the great combe gathering old lime kilns either side of the opening valley, confirmation ground of Old Water is part of the RSPB’s Geltsdale Estate and of the underlying geology, carboniferous limestone. The near is the haven of Hen Harrier; incidentally the rare Black Grouse skyline, above the left-hand kiln quarry, is lined with shooting is common on the cattle-grazed slopes ahead under Talkin butts. Continue until after a fence on the right becomes a Fell. wall and the track starts to decline take the left-hand forking Backtrack to the stile and cross, in June the ground here is track, winding uphill past a shooting box onto the level a mass of cotton grass. Follow the wall right, where this ends fell-top. Note the tumulus on the brow left, not accorded continue straight ahead, pathless passing a lonesome cairn monument status on maps, but to the untrained eye it has all to slip through the broken wall and descend to the large the characteristics. The ridge-top track winds merrily on with cairn on the lower brink. Bear right to the smaller cairn and several limestone sink hollows to the right slipping through drift down the slope the heather currently part burnt and two crossing walls to arrive at a wall junction gate. While the bear half-left over the brow into rank heather down to the track continues unfettered along the ridge, the impetus to fence/wall, keep left descending to a double stile, the broken visit the scenic scarp-edge of Cardunneth Pike should not be wall defended by two wire fences, the near being formerly too meekly resisted. Bear left keeping tight company with electrified, hence the insulating pipes on the stile! Descend the wall, periodically adorned with widow gardens, actually to the gate in the dip below. One may choose to go through the facing of shooting butts. here and after 100m slip through the gap in the right-hand Coming to the scarp edge bear right keeping to the evident wall and cross the rabbit-infested pasture to meet the green path to reach the tumulus mound. Surmounting the great track at the gate (OA signboard). heap of stones is a quaint family cairn re-built in 1961 by However, the primary route keeps within the rough pasture one Thomas Armstrong. This sense of family mausoleum is along a sheep trod with the continuing wall left. At the crest consistent with the heritage of Cardunneth Pike. The hill- with a hurdle-gate left, right veer right through the heather to name derives from the earthworks of a Dark Age defended visit the bield on the right-hand minor rocky top top. Backtrack site above Cumrew called Dunwalloght Castle, and meant the to cross the hurdle-gate entering the old quarried enclosure, pike of Dunwalloght, showing the same verbal contraction as the carboniferous limestone was principally converted into Roughet. The mass of stones some 25m in diameter, though agricultural lime (see the double-arched lime llikn above re-modelled in tiny part to create wind shelters in the last Tottergill. Bear right and venture to the lower quarry hollow hundred years, is a Bronze Age burial site (circa 2000 BC), a wherein find a classic convex fold exposure, it featured as an crude Victorian excavation revealed several cremation urns, illustration in the pocket Observer’s Book of Geology as a more may yet linger beneath the three metre high mound. classic example. Wander back south to the highest point by a The view can take you breath away, forget your Helvellyns further large outcrop of confused orientation. Descend west and Blencathras, stand here on a suitable afternoon with the with the recently re-built field-wall close left to a gate after a sun illuminating the immense vale and the far off Pennine, bield. Go through and quickly reach the gate and exiting the Lakeland fells and Scottish hills in sharp outline and you’ll Open Access land. judge yourself in heaven, especially with a setting sun. Ray Davies and the Kinks said it for Cardunneth in their song Now upon a footpath continue with a wall left by a further ‘Waterloo Sunset’. Continue along the edge path to meet the gate and then wall-stile/gate from where the footpath veers next rising wall. Turn right and follow this by some limestone right with a well-built wall right. A further wall-stile/gate sinks to reach the Ordnance Survey column beside the ridge- leads onto a green track down to a gate into the road at Garth top gate. Go through and follow the quad-bike track along Head. Note in the pasture ahead a low ridge, this is a sandy the ridge to a wall-corner, keep the wall to your right to a stile esker, which has a bigger brother across the valley above some 20m short of the wall junction. Talkin Head, which originally was connected as a long sand deposit feature formed under a capping of ice during the Now continue along the ridge with the wall and fence left ice age, formed by a melt water river running south to north on a single trod path, descending slightly towards Hespeck contra to the present valley drainage. Turn left and descend Raise (the second word means burial tumulus, the former with the road back into Castle Carrock. is an unknown corruption). A stile is encountered at the dip, though you are encouraged to make a brief spur to the If you are looking for the actual castle held in the place- prominent and slender cairn on the easternmost rise of the name one will be somewhat disappointed, as there is only knoll. This is a viewpoint par excellence of Geltsdale with a vague moat outline in the pasture behind the church. The Talkin Fell ahead and Cold Fell rising right above Tarnmonath preponderance of Celtic names in the area suggest that Fell, further right is the wild valley of Old Water and further ‘Carrock’ derives from the Welsh ‘careg’ meaning the defended right still New Water. One must assume the names alludes to rock, and is possibly transposed from Hespeck Raise on Castle water extraction, as Carlisle City have long drawn supplies Carrock Fell. from the Gelt, with an subterranean aqueduct running down > copyright Mark Richards 2009 <