BB1709 : Second Time Lucky

Thursday 9th March 2017

Undaunted by last week's failure to complete the Whinfell mission, I set off today with different companions, John and Stan who were both back after being missing too long. To be fair, it had been the weather that had defeated us last week, not the Comitibus.  Today we had the prospect of a much sunnier outing, albeit cold and windy.

It was mainly because of the wind that we decided to start from the north, A6, end of the ridge; parking near Huck's Bridge.  Shap and the Borrowdale valley was in full sun so it was a bit of a shock to find that our initial, steep climb would be in the shade.

Once we emerged from the shadows we were rewarded with excellent distant views over Kendal to the Kent Estuary then round to the Lakeland hills.

After Ashtead Fell we had the Mabbin Crag plantation to negotiate.

We discovered soon after that we should have headed a little more to the west.

Castle Fell is an interesting little top, living up to its name in appearance.  Next, Whinfell Beacon provided a fine viewpoint after which......

..... we passed by the radio masts where the security fences were still unmended.

It was interesting, for me at least, to cross over to the Grayrigg Forest trig point.  I could see the direct line we had taken last week in the mist and how it was not the most efficient way to go!  The Howgill range could be seen very clearly.

Finally we reached Grayrigg Pike which is a superb viewpoint enabling us to see the line of the River Lune, the erstwhile London Midland Railway and the M6 winding their intertwined way through the Lune Gorge, the Howgills standing massively behind.

The return to the A6 was far less spectacular.  Basically just a long, sunny stroll up the valley.  Wild ponies could be seen high up on the fells and frog spawn in the puddles.

Second time lucky.

Don Thursday 9th March 2017

Comitibus: Don, John, Stan

Borrow Beck Footbridge

Bryan had asked me to see if the footbridge over Borrow Beck had been repaired following its damage in the storms.  It hasn't.  Instead there is a series of large rocks places as stepping stones.  However, you wouldn't have wanted to use them today- one was under water and another almost so.  A drenching would be virtually guaranteed.

Ancient Wainwrong Discovered

Whilst undertaking a research project for the Burneside Heritage Group, Suzy S discovered a rare copy of  "Wainwrong's Pictorial Guide to the Burneside Boozers".  It is believed to date back to the late 1970s.  

The full guide can be seen by clicking on the extract below.

Our thanks to John S for bringing this remarkable find to our notice.

BB1708 : Open or Closed? - Comment

David W has added a comment to last week's report, which relates his experience shortly afterwards on a route closely resembling that of today.
To view, click on BB1708.

Map shown: OS 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 bb1709 .

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 heightages (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.

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BOOTboys 2017

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