Dufton Pike

19 October 2012

Participants - Just me
Where - Dufton Pike, 481m/1,578', Sub-2k Marilyn, Map 91, NY 699266

It was the weekend of The Mountain Bothies Association AGM which this year was being held in the village of Langwathby in the north Pennines. The weather forecast was reasonable so I set off a day early with the intention of doing some walking. I hadn't walked anything in the Pennines so I was spoiled for choice. When I got to Penrith, the cloud was still down on the higher tops so I decided on Dufton Pike, a sub-2k which was part of but to the west of the main Pennine chain. It also had the advantage of being a distinctive hill rather than part of a great plateau which I suspected would be rather wet after the summer that we had just endured. I parked in the village car park in Dufton, a typical north of England village with a village green and picture postcard houses. Dufton Pike rose steeply behind the houses.....

There were choices as to routes but I decided on the most direct approach. I turned right when leaving the car park and followed the road round by a farmhouse where there was a sign indicating "Pennine Way to Garrigill and public bridleway to High Scald Fell". I took this and found myself in a narrow lane bounded by stone walls with the hill rising ahead.....

This gave way to a hill track which apparently once served to connect the village with lead mining activity in the hills ahead. High Scald Fell was ahead.....

I think that Scotland has got the best deal as far as access to hill land is concerned. The position in England with some land being strictly private and some being open access land and some being open access but with restrictions seems confusing to me. I even came across signs which told me that dogs were banned in certain areas at certain times of the year. The Scottish position of responsible access is much more straightforward and to my mind sensible. You could only access Dufton Pike at certain designated points apparently.....

 I duly found the gate which gave access to a direct ascent of Dufton Pike, climbing the steep slope on a trail of short grass. The summit was a remarkably small area, and there was no trig or cairn. This is looking north into the Pennines, to Great Dun Fell which is part of the ridge leading to Cross Fell, the highest hill in the range.....

I still had loads of time so I descended the north-west ridge and picked up another public footpath which ran along the foot of the north side of the hill to rejoin the track that I had started out on, Rather than head straight back to Dufton, I decided to walk up the valley- Rundale I think that it was called- as far as what looked like an old limestone kiln that I had spotted from the summit.....

This is a view back to Dufton Pike from the head of the valley.....

It is always good to go to a new area. I love the distinctive stone buildings and walls and the old fashioned villages in this part of England and this short walk has certainly encouraged me to go back and explore other parts of the Pennines.