BB1717 : Jeffrey and Arthur

Wednesday 31st May 2017

Jeffrey

A good number of the regular BOOTboys were absent this week with excuses ranging from "I’m having root canal work done" to "I’m expected on the Royal Yacht in Edinburgh on Thursday".  So it was that Mike, Terry and Martin were the intrepid representatives with the call being for a "good day out – no marathon adventures and no exposed and precipitous paths".

Martin had also suggested that anywhere in the Central Lakes was likely to be busy as it was the middle of half term week. A plan was therefore hatched, relying heavily on previous reports of outings in the outlying areas, to visit Borrowdale (Westmorland) for a gentle 6½ miler.  I think we are up for more than that said Mike and Terry!

The car was parked at Low Borrowdale and our initial plan was to walk up to the communications masts on Whinfell.

In part this was to check on whether Don’s reporting in March, of a breach in the security fence, had been acted upon. We can confirm that there were gleaming wires installed and a fully secure fence surrounding the compound.

Terry commented that his last visit was in the poor winter conditions experienced in March and expressed some surprise at viewing the surrounding terrain which hadn’t been visible then. The views were very clear, looking over Kendal towards the Kent Estuary and on to Heysham Power Station. It was even thought that Blackpool Tower was visible to the south west.

We had intended to go on to Grayrigg Pike before retracing steps to then follow the ridge to the south of the Borrowdale Valley but a unanimous decision was taken, in the midst of a serious conversation about the forthcoming General Election, to execute a full U-turn and to descend to the valley floor, to head towards Low Borrowdale Farm.

This was, of course, just another example of the tough decisions which have to be taken on a day to day basis. The resulting option was, though, fully costed and proven to be of benefit to the participants on the day.

Walking along the valley floor alongside Borrow Beck, through the meadows, was a delight and the summer sun was creating some spectacular contrasts on the crags above.

The meadow adjacent to Low Borrowdale Farm contained some interesting timber structures which proved on inspection to be elevated two seater toilets. We were left wondering about their users in such a remote valley.  

Considerable sums of money have been spent on restoration of the farmhouse and buildings which are Grade 2 listed and date back to the 17th Century.

This appears to be recent and ongoing but the house seems not to be occupied, other than perhaps by a well fed friendly cat which came to make our acquaintance.  It walked with us up the slopes for a while until the realisation dawned that we were not going to share our lunch, at which time it left as quickly as it had arrived.

We were making good time up the slope towards Belt Howe and decided to take lunch sitting amongst the rocks adjacent to the path, looking south into the valley and the sun.

After lunch it was only a few minutes’ walk to the col and on to the summit of Belt Howe where we saw our first human being of the day – we had been successful in crowd avoidance.  The ridge continued eastwards with only minor ups and downs to Jeffrey’s Mount where horses were found on the summit.  

We then followed the path north eastwards down the slope towards Roundthwaite and came across our second human of the day. He had been travelling by car from London to Scotland along the M6 for a meeting the following day and just could not resist the pull of the hill for a walk. A far healthier option than pulling in to a motorway services for a doughnut, but I wonder if he is aware of the delights of the offering at Tebay Services?

Just as we reached the fence above Roundthwaite one of the local sheep demonstrated its intelligence by hooking its horn through the wire and became unable to extract itself. Terry and Martin sprang to its aid and managed to release it with a twisting of its head and a counter twisting of the wire fence.

Barely a baaah of thanks as the sheep trotted off to re-join its friends. Conversation further along the lane with an old farmer repairing a gate revealed that he regularly brought his sheep down to the lower lands of the Lyth Valley for winter and he and Martin were soon talking about mutual friends.

We crossed the M6 and West Coast Mainline Railway before turning south, following a path above the River Lune to the bridge just beyond Low Borrowbridge.

Comitibus: Mike, Terry, Martin

This was, traffic noise on the M6 excepted, a very pleasant easy going return to the car after finally passing under the railway and motorway viaducts.  All in all a very good day out which is what had been requested, 10.7 miles instead of the originally planned 6.5, and all the better for it.  

Refreshment afterwards was taken at the Hare and Hounds, Levens.

Martin, Wednesday 31st May 2017

Arthur

Meanwhile, Philip and Don were in Edinburgh.  It being too nice a day to endure John Lewis with the girls, we decided to climb Salisbury Crags and Arthur's Seat, as did half the transient population of Edinburgh.

Anyway, I am pleased to report that, despite the huge difference in ages, we outpaced all the youths on the way up and devastated them on the descent.  They stood back and applauded.  Well, they should have done.

What a fine panorama these remarkable mounds offer over Edinburgh and the surrounding countryside.  Complete with pianist.

Refreshment afterwards was taken on the Royal Yacht Britannia.  

Thanks, Viv, it was a great party.

Don, Wednesday 31st May 2017

Map shown: Ordnance Survey 1:50k

BOOTboys routes are put online in gpx format which should work with most mapping software. You can follow our route in detail by downloading bb1717 .

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.

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BOOTboys 2017

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