BB2614 : Time Has Moved On

Wednesday 6th May 2026

For once, I was tempted just to reproduce Wainwright’s words when describing today’s *WOLF outing, though I would possibly run into copyright issues if I were so to do.  I will just say that I agree with him that the Westmorland Wasdale hills are quite different in character to the better known Cumberland ones.  As he notes, there are no high mountains, only rolling hills of gentle gradient (Tony might disagree).  AW perhaps exaggerates by calling it a “featureless desolation” but I know where he was coming from (yes, yes, clever clogs: Blackburn via Kendal).

Anticipating boggy terrain, I decided to wear my leather boots, beautifully cleaned and polished ready for next winter and resplendent with bright new yellow laces.  Magnificent.  Except the laces were too short!  They did match the dandelions, though.

Our start point was near the A6 Shap Summit, before the quarry.....

..... and close to what the Jesty update calls a disused substation.  However time has moved on and it is now a Mountain Bothy. 

After crossing much tufty and occasionally boggy ground, we picked up the track that follows the wall all the way from Whatshaw Common ....

..... along to Little Yarlside and on to the summit of Great Yarlside. 

This is actually relatively high, 1,986 feet, but, having started from about 1,400 feet, it didn’t seem like it.  Views to the better known Lakeland Hills were somewhat limited. 

Occasionally we would get a peek at Coniston Old Man.....

..... but mostly it was of rounded hills similar to that which we were one.  Of course, with good imagination, we could just see Blackpool Tower.

In the far distance we could see the Yorkshire Hills and were able to spot both the golf ball on Great Dun Fell and the canyon of High Cup Nick.  We could also see most of Wet Sleddale reservoir and spent some time trying to assess which, if any, of the few buildings in sight was Sleddale Hall, a.k.a.  Crow Crow Crag of Uncle Monty fame.

Comparison with BB1219 confirms we got it right.

The descent to the Wasdale Head farmhouse was somewhat tricky at the lower end.  Time has certainly moved on here and the farmhouse has virtually disappeared.  What surprised me was the extent of the ruined outbuildings.  It must have been quite an important farm in its day.

The most distinct feature we had seen all day was the Shap Pink Granite Quarry, now working again under new ownership.

Finding our way back to the car was a bit of a challenge.  Jesty disagreed with AW about the best route, seeking to avoid a boggy area around Wasdale Beck.  However, once again time has moved on.  The situation is now complicated by some new, post-Jesty posts; high fencing that has been erected around the tree plantation.  We undertook a compromise route that successfully crossed the beck, negotiated the forest and brought us back to our start point. 

The cars, or rather their drivers, then successfully took the Shap Road, negotiated Kendal and brought us back to the Tap.  It doesn’t open until 4 pm but in this case, having had all our distractions, time had moved on sufficiently for us to celebrate another *WOLF and its Cubs having succumbed.

Don, Wednesday 5th May, 2026

 *WOLF= Wainwright OutLying Fell

Comitibus:   

Stan,      Tony,      John,      Don,      Robert

Relive:   Robert's Relive video puts my report to shame with the quality of its photos showing much better the nature of the terrain.  He adds that the video makes it look somewhat easier walking but actually was one of the toughest 6.5 miles that any of us have experienced.  This from a man who has been up Kilimanjaro!

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Something Far More Adventurous

Whilst we were undertaking our old men's outing, TV Mike plus Mick, Keith and Lathan were doing something far more adventurous on Sgùrr nan Clach Geala in Scotland.

STATISTICS

BB2614 :  Time Has Moved On

Date:

Wednesday 6th May 2026

Features:

WOLF 54: The Wasdale Horseshoe

Cubs:

• Whatshaw Common,
• Little Yarlside,
• Great Yarlside,
• Wasdale Pike

Distance in miles:

6.8

Height climbed in feet:

1,243

GPX track:

BB2614.GPX  

Comitibus:

Don, John, Robert, Stan, Tony

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