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BB1639
: He Who Shall Not Be Named
Wednesday
9th November 2016
Well,
he who shall not be named won. In a state of shock
and fatigue (some of us had been up half the night)
we met and agreed. He shall not be discussed nor
shall his name pass our lips. Except to note that
John was not with us and the suspicion was that he had
to go down to the bookies with his wheelbarrow to collect
his winnings.
Given
the late start, Bryan’s suggestion was that we
head up the Kentmere Valley to the Nan Bield Pass then
make a decision on what next. We (Terry, Robin,
Martin and I) agreed.
It
was very overcast as we headed up the Valley but not
precipitating. We took a wide berth but we were
definitely not worrying the rams who were far more interested
in food than butting us.
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Upper
Kentmere Valley
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Rams
snouts in trough
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We
soon hit the snow. Having fallen in the night
(unlike He Who), it was still very soft and progressively
deep underfoot. A good 6 inches must have come
down and drifting had made deeper pits.
Kentmere
Reservoir and the surrounding hills looked like something
straight out of a Wainwright sketch book.
bw.jpg)
Yes,
this is a genuine photo taken today. Honest.
Bryan
passes the fell ponies
As
we neared the top of the Nan Bield Pass, the clouds
began to clear.
Approaching
the top of the Nan Bield Pass
We
reached the Nan Bield shelter and were surprised to
find it occupied. Not that it mattered as it faces north
and the weather was clearing from the south. We
scrorped off the snow to make a ledge on which to sit
and take lunch.
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Clearing
the seats!
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Nan
Bield shelter, Harter Fell behind
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Now
the big decision. This is a four way junction.
There was no question of carrying on north to
Haweswater. Climbing round the west side of the
valley to Froswick and its pals was ruled out as taking
too long. Retreating south was for wimps. So
we girded loins to venture east up Harter Fell. The scene
was alpine. The snow was deep and it was hard
work.
Kidsty
Pike and Small Water
Nearing
Harter Fell summit
comit.jpg)
Comitibus: Harter
Fell
Once
we topped out, we followed the fence line to Kentmere
Pike.
The
Yoke, Ill Bell, Froswick range looked spectacular in
the swirling clouds and the temperature inversion.
x.jpg)
Yoke,
Ill Bell, Froswick
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This
way, sir
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Rather
than continue along the ridge to Shipman
Knots and the Titherer Pass, we pioneered
a new route.
This seems
to have descended between the two paths
that Bryan knew but were totally obscured
by snow.
It
was tricky- not frighteningly steep but
riddled with hidden holes and sneakily slippery
rocks to attack your slithering bottom.
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Eventually
we reached the valley road just as the moon was rising-
apparently in four days time it will be a Perigree Moon-
the largest since 1948.
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Nearing
civilisation
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Moonrise
at Kentmere Church
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It
was getting dark when we reached the cars
parked by the Kentmere Church and drove
down to the Brewery in Staveley. We had
done well. A whole day with no mention
of "He Who".
On
the way home I put the CD player on.
It
had one of the grandchildren's songs on
it.
To
be more accurate, it had one of my childhood
favourites that I had recorded for the grandchildren
It
was Mandy Miller.
And
she was singing Nellie
the Elephant.
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Mandy
Miller
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Nellie
the Elephant packed her trunk
and said goodbye to
the circus
Hang
on, isn't the Elephant the symbol of the friends of
"He Who Shall Not Be Named"?
Off
she went with a ......
No!
No! No! That's He Who Shall Not Be Named!
Don
(definitely not Don$$$)
Wednesday 9th November
PS
My thanks to Bryan for using my camera to
take several of the photos because my hands were too
cold to click the button.
Afternote:
An interesting aspect of Nellie the Elephant is
that the rhythm and tempo of the song is often used
to teach people the rhythm of cardiopulmonary resuscitation,
requiring a beat of 100 compressions per minute. Apparently
it is important to make sure you give a good strong
push on each mention of "Nellie".
| STATISTICS
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BB1639
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| Date:
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Wednesday
9th November 2016
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| Distance
in miles:
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10.0
miles
(Garmin)
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| Height
climbed in feet:
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2,549 (Garmin)
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| Features:
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Nan
Bield, Harter Fell, Kentmere Pike
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| Comitibus:
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Bryan, Don,
Martin, Robin, Terry
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Map
shown: Anquet Harveys 1:25k
BOOTboys
routes are put online in gpx format which
should work with most mapping software. You can follow
our route in detail by downloading bb1639 .
To
discover which Wainwright top was visited on which BB outing
- although it may not be that up to date - or for the totals of the mileages and heights (ditto) see the Excel
file: BB Log.
You
can navigate to the required report via the Home
Page
Photos
have been gleaned from many sources
although mostly
from me and other BOOTboys. Likewise written comment.
I apologise if I have
failed to acknowledge properly the source or infringed
copyright. Please let me
know and I will do my best to put things right.
Unless stated
otherwise, please feel free to download the material
if you wish.
A reference back to this website
would be appreciated.
Wainwrights
To
see which Wainwright top was visited on which BB outing
see Which
Wainwright When?
This
may or may not be up to date!
For the latest totals
of the mileages, heights and Lakeland Fells Books Wainwrights see: Wainwrights.
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BOOTboys
2016
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