Today, Wednesday 21st December 2011 my husband David, myself and Dog Sabre set out to conquer our third Wainwright fells walk in our 214 challenge. David is due to have a knee operation at the end of January so we have been unable to do much walking. However, as we are both now off from work for Christmas we decided to tackle the smallest Wainwright fell and see how his knee held up.
Castle Crag is a hill in the North Western Fells of the English Lake District. It is the smallest hill included in Alfred Wainwright's influential Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, the only Wainwright below 1,000 ft.
We parked our car in a large lay-by on the B5289 on the outskirts of Grange. We followed a riverside track alongside the River Derwent until it rejoined the road at a bridge. We turned right and crossed the bridge into Grange. After a short distance of admiring the views and properties in the village we turned left along a bridal path towards Hollows farm and campsite. The campsite was deserted except for an old man who appeared to be having a conversation with a white plastic bag lying on the ground!!! The campsite looked very basic – in fact it was probably just a field with a track running down the centre of it!! We joined a path along the River Derwent again, and we got our first view of Castle Crag! We then approached and entered Dalt wood, after a while we came to a wooden gate and passing through it marked the end of Dalt wood and we continued up Broadslack Gill. The path was good underfoot and although steep it wasn’t long before we were at the foot of the crag. When we were nearly at the top we turned left to cross a wall stile and climb the made zig-zagged path up the slate spoil heaps. This made difficult walking as a lot of the slate was loose and made a “avalanche” of tinkling slate with each step taken. On our way up we passed a memorial bench for William Hamer. William Hamer and his wife bought Castle Crag in 1920 and gave it to the National Trust. We didn’t stop as I was looking forward to the views from the top! We passed a couple of quarries, and came across some slate sculptures which I think people must have made to mark their achievement, it was very dramatic if a little spooky! From the path it was now little more than 15foot to the top of the crag up a final slope, and onto a grassy top. At the top of the Crag is an engraved memorial to the War Dead, and on top of that, is a circular wind-shelter of piled-up slate. I climbed to the top of this shelter for a photo opportunity to prove we had been there and I was greeted with incredible views of Derwent Water, Skiddaw, Hellvellyn, Scafell and Scafell Pike. However, as you will see from the photo slideshow some of our photographs have turned out rather blurry! I’m not sure whether I had the shakes or the camera’s playing up but it gives the general idea of the wonderful views from this little walk!
The route we took back was just a retrace of our steps. There was an alternative descent but by this time it was 3.30pm and the light was beginning to fade rapidly and we didn’t want to risk getting lost in the dark going an alternative way down! As it was; it took us longer to get back to the car than expected (mainly due to the uneven rocky tracks) and darkness had fallen by the time we got back!
We had walked 3.50 miles in 1 hour 43 minutes and had climbed 1 more of the Wainwrights fells!!!
207 Fells remaining!
David’s knee seems to have coped admirably so the question on my lips is “Where shall we conquer next ...?!”
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