Monochrome

Monochrome

I love the autumn. The fresh greens of spring and summer have given way to the hues of a technicolour mantle. In afternoon sunshine, bronzed brackens give fellsides a cosy, comforting glow. Trees and hedgerows display abundant clusters of scarlet berries. The occasional rainbow gives colour to an otherwise darkened hillside. Tarns and lakes mirror their beautiful surroundings. It's the last hurrah before the clocks are turned back and the walking day is shortened. 

On our most recent walk, we came across photographers who had had to wait for mist to clear and colours to reveal themselves. Despite the colours all around us, the light and weather can contrive to give us a reduced palette. In many respects, it simplifies our surroundings and enables us to reflect upon the beauty of structures in the landscape.

Nine Standards Rigg

The Nine Standards cairns draw the viewer in to the slight rise beyond, and the structure silhouetted on the horizon. In the same way that a good novel becomes a 'page-turner', so the cairns encourage us to satisfy our curiosity to explore further.

Harter Fell

Close up, the cairn on top of Harter Fell is a sprawl of stone and rusty fencing, long since dispensed with. With diffused light behind it, we were able to appreciate the cone. (No, it wasn't a saw wedged in on top!)

Selside Pike

I was stunned when I came across this view on Selside Pike the other day. A simple fence junction and excess wire wound round and hung up. Silhouetted against the sky, it was suddenly transformed to a structure of beauty. A place far from the 'madding crowds'. A lonely place perhaps, but a much welcomed landmark to guide the walker down from the hill in adverse weather.

Place Fell

  Rugged?      Wild?      Scary?    Forbidding?    Cold?      Height?       Space?    Loneliness?

Beacon?      Achievement?      Endurance?      Hope?       Stability?    Strength? 

Many thoughts come to mind when looking at this triangulation column on Place Fell. It depends upon your viewpoint. Seeing it in relief against white cloud, allowed us to enjoy its splendid isolation.

'Colours let us off lightly; black and white forces us to think.'

Jonathan Jones

Even in the middle of a glorious autumn afternoon, an atmospheric viewpoint might be waiting to be discovered on the hillside. I love seeing a depiction of a structure on an OS map and discovering it on the hills as we navigate our way around.

Whilst we might have read about structures in guide books, there is nothing quite like seeing it for ourselves.

Blowing the Cobwebs Away

Blowing the Cobwebs Away

For one reason or another, it's been a little while since our last walk. The weather has certainly conspired against us. We had sat and watched raindrops chasing down the windowpanes and a river whooshing down the road, but finally the rain had stopped and the sun was shining. Time to get the boots on.

We started off along our favourite Eden Valley Viaduct walk. The rain of the previous days had washed the top surface of the cinder type pathway away in places, but that came as no surprise given the amount of water that had fallen from leaden skies. It was lovely walking along with the sun filtering through the trees. In no time at all we had crossed the two viaducts and joined the minor road which climbed round Hartley Quarry. Here, the road steepened and we quickly gained height. Kirkby Stephen looked lovely, nestling down below. The Northern Pennines and the Howgills were sunning themselves. The view is never disappointing. Onwards and upwards. We passed the farm with the llamas in the field and very soon reached the wooden chair on access land. After a quick slurp of water whilst enjoying the ever widening panorama, we were off again.

Our tick-off features were soon reached...

• the tiny stretch of duckboarding
• the wide green swarth
• the high banked section
• the broken barn in the wall
• the finger post
• the sheepfold
• the stone chair
• Faraday Gill

Needless to say, it came as no surprise to find the route wet, but we did wonder how sloppy it would get further up near to the summit. We came to the little wooden plank bridge. Judicially placed stones enabled us to step onto the bridge. As you can see, there was quite a bit of water lying on the path the other side of it too.

Not far to go. Not too bad. 
Passed the first set of redundant, wooden 'risers', and then a thinner, second set (equally redundant). The worst section of the path by far is that part just short of the summit. It was a veritable quagmire. Black, oozy peat. It was a case of crossing it the best way that you could.

 

The cairns on top of Nine Standards Rigg stood alone. Normally, there are several people atop enjoying the views or taking a rest before continuing on their way either back into the Upper Eden Valley, or onwards to Swaledale. It was wonderful to have the summit all to ourselves. We selected a cairn with a horizontal 'shelf' seat around it and ate our lunch on the sheltered side. Visibility was very good and we could make out white industrial buildings way over to the east on the other side of the Pennines. From the direction of the firing ranges near Warcop, the crump and boom of firing could be heard. Other than that, it was just the sound of the breeze.

Fluffy clouds framed the view of the Upper Eden Valley. Over to the north on the fellside of Nine Standards, a farm vehicle deposited a group with dogs. Were they assessing the ground for grouse? Were they checking on sheep? We wouldn't find out. It started to grow colder and we donned our outer shell before making our way to the viewfinder. The sky had clouded over and making its way across the Howgills and Orton fells was raincloud. It was coming our way. It's always tempting to think that you're 'Only just going up there', so you don't need to pack so much in the rucksack. Fortunately, we've always packed for any weather, and today was no different.

Our descent to the wooden chair and the tarmac road was reasonably quick. We passed just two lone walkers, one with a dog, who were heading upwards. Somewhere below us, was the whine of a chainsaw. These three beauties posed for us. Would they be rounded up later to be pampered, shown and sold at one of the big sales nearby? By now it was starting to rain.

We're becoming accustomed to the sudden and generous lashings of rain that give Upper Eden a verdant appearance. Often shortlived, but sometimes prolonged rain seems to fall in so many guises. We need a whole new vocabulary to describe the nuances of rain. This was wetting. We made rapid progress along the minor road that served probably a couple of farms. The llamas chewed their grass and looked superior. White smoke still billowed from the quarry. The rooftops of Kirkby Stephen glistened. Abundant, scarlet berries bejewelled the trees.

We turned onto the viaduct walk. Overhanging trees dripped, but sheltered us from the worst of the rain which was starting to abate. 

Refreshed and renewed, it seems there's always something new on this increasingly familiar walk.

Nine Standards Rigg & Tailbridge Hill

Nine Standards Rigg & Tailbridge Hill

Circular from Kirkby Stephen - 10 miles

Waking to a beautiful blue sky punctuated by white fluffy clouds, today was an opportunity to visit an old friend and make acquaintance with a new one.

Hedgerow - viaduct walk

Coast to Coasters tend to leave Kirkby Stephen by way of the pretty market place and Frank's Bridge as they start walking to Nine Standards Rigg and the watershed. Our route followed a fingerpost in South Road across a couple of fields before entering Stenkrith park to join the Merrygill and Podgill viaduct walk. After crossing the second of viaducts, we came out onto the road that skirts Hartley quarry. 

Tarmac becomes track

As the road climbed, the views became more breathtaking. The Eden Valley, the Howgills, Mallerstang and the Northern Pennines. The metalled road became cobbled track up the bridleway on Hartley Fell. A beautiful, high-backed, wooden seat provided in memory of a man who clearly loved the spot, gave us the excuse to stop, take in the view and rehydrate. It was a warm day and we were going to need to drink plenty of water. We followed a wall until a fingerpost signalled a permissive path, which for a while followed the course of Faraday Gill. A runner, back pack swinging from side to side, passed us. It looked like hard work. 

Tailbridge Hill from our route up Nine Standards Rigg

The summit cairns came into view, disappeared and reappeared as we walked further up. A wooden bridge and some judiciously placed pieces of stone enabled passage over a boggy bit of the pathway. Some wooden steps had long since become redundant as the top soil had eroded from the many footsteps made by the unknown numbers who journey this way each year. Today was a dry day and the path up was relatively easy, but we were still very surprised to see a pink sparkly pair of flip flop sandals start their descent of the hill. The stuff of nightmares - the stubbed toes - the potential broken ankle - the broken leg - the callout to mountain rescue. You do wonder!

High Dukerdale from Hartley Fell

From the cairns, we made our way to the hillfinder before taking a bearing to a bridleway at Rollinson Haggs. As the name suggests, it was squelchy underfoot and there was some careful negotiation across vegetation that we knew to be bog lovers. A fairly quick descent took us across Rollinson Gill and down to a stone wall. From here we discovered the little gem of Dukerdale lit by the afternoon sunshine. We sat just a short while before taking a bearing to the summit cairn of Tailbridge Hill, our second objective. Although a path could be seen in the grass from our starting point, it may have petered out. It was a gentle up, and before very long we were standing next to quite a substantial cairn. 

Tailbridge Hill cairn

What we had not forseen was the view here on Nateby Common. It was wonderful. The village of Nateby, its neighbour, Kirkby Stephen and the hills that surround the Upper Eden Valley. A good place to finish the last of the coffee and drink in the surroundings.

Taking in the view from Tailbridge Hill

Carefully, we dropped down quite quickly to a stone wall. We followed it until we joined the minor Nateby road, coming full circle at Stenkrith Bridge. Looking down we saw where we had joined the viaduct walk earlier in the day.

Looking back towards Tailbridge Hill

From the familiar to the new - Tailbridge Hill had been a revelation. Earlier in the day we had shared our walking plans with a passing dog walker. 

'That will be a nice walk.'

Rather an understatement.

 

Nine Standards Rigg

Nine Standards Rigg

662m

Nine Standards Rigg - a name engraved in the memories of 'Coast to Coasters'. It's situated some 4.5 miles from the small market town of Kirkby Stephen, and on a good day the cairns that give it it's name can be clearly seen from the town.

Its summit marks the Pennine watershed. On the Kirkby Stephen side, all watercourses flow to the west. As the summit is crossed, the walker soon finds themselves in Yorkshire, the watercourses flowing east to the North Sea.

Nine Standards is often the subject of conversation on walking forums as it has the reputation of being boggy. AW (Wainwright), in his Pictorial Guide, details three potential routes for the walker heading to Keld from Kirkby Stephen, according to the time of year. In 2010 we took the 'blue August to November' route which heads east before dropping down into Whitsundale. It was indeed boggy as we traversed peat hags. Before our 'crossing' in 2010, the subject of which route to take was very much to the fore amongst fellow walkers, as the weather was not promising.

Cloud finally revealing the Nine Standards - August 2010

That first climb of Nine Standards was shrouded in mystery. It rained. Clouds hung low. Our objective was elusive as mist swirled around and the 'up' seemed interminable. We weren't alone, as it seemed many were making the journey that day. It wasn't until we were within the last 100m or so that we finally saw them - the stone cairns - as the mist lifted and the rain ceased. We'd seen pictures of the standards, but nothing had quite prepared us for the sheer size of them. Many theories abound about why they're there. But if they were to feign  an army encampment, a better situation they could not command.

What we had not appreciated, on that first climb of Nine Standards Rigg, was the view from the top. There had been none. Fast forward to April 2012. A beautiful, clear day with blue sky and sunshine. As we climbed higher the views grew more expansive. The path took us through pure white snow, which looked stunning against the unsullied sky. We had sat on a ledge on one of the cairns to drink coffee and eat our lunch. We were in no rush - we weren't heading to Keld on this occasion. The objective was to enjoy the view that had elluded us nearly two years previously.

Nine Standards Rigg - April 2012

Today our climb of Nine Standards Rigg was but a part of a circular route. A blue sky and broken white cloud cheered us as we made our way up. The path was dry in all but a few places and visibility was good. The legs didn't seem to ache as much this time. Coffee and our packed lunch were eagerly awaited. Others were at the top today, but we still managed to find a 'perch' on one of the cairns. 

Wild Boar Fell from Nine Standards Rigg

Below us, the Upper Eden Valley, spotted with trees, lay before us like a blanket. To the north, the Northern Pennines stretched out into the distance and 'toy' lorries made their way along the A66. To the south, stood the Mallerstang Ridge and Wild Boar Fell. To the south-west, the Howgills. We picked out the fell that we had climbed earlier in the week. In front of us, the Lake District fells provided the backdrop. Little had we realised, on that rainy August day two years ago, what we had missed. We could return to this spot again and again and it would always refresh the soul. Facing east lay miles and miles of empty moorland - not our objective today.

High Seat from Nine Standards Rigg

'It was a fairly gentle climb up', said one walker at the summit into his mobile phone. 
'We've got the boggy bit now.'
He was walking east.

Approach to the summit of Nine Standards Rigg - 10th August 2012