Sadly this was to be our last walk on this visit to the Lake District, but we were delighted when Ian Smith suggested we meet up for this walk to High Pike along with his children Mark, Megan and Cory. Ian is on his second round of Wainwright Fells and we are always happy to join in with anyone, especially if it’s somewhere we haven’t been before. This was the first time we had visited any of the fells in the area known as the “Back o’ Skiddaw” too so we looked forward to seeing new places and views. Roger and Bethan joined us too and Roger suggested following a route that would visit some of the remains of mining activity in the Roughton Gill valley. 

We parked at Fell Side and as soon as we got out of the car it was obvious that today was going to be rather breezy. So an extra layer was put on before we started today’s walk. We were soon walking towards Roughton Gill where we would be looking for signs of mining activity. At the height of the mining activity in the valley this area would have looked very different as at one point this was one of the major producers of lead ore and copper in the world. Today though nature has reclaimed the land very well and you have to use a lot of imagination to picture how it would have looked with working mines from the remains of the buildings.

Before too long we had reached the base of Iron Crag and went to have a closer look at an old building and mine shafts. Roger was able to tell us where the old mine shafts would have been and gave us a wonderful lesson in what the Lead Ore and Copper would have been used for.

 

 

 

It was all very nice looking at the old buildings but it was obvious that, as we still hadn’t made much height, we would eventually have to go up, and the very steep grassy slope I had looked at from a distance was indeed the one we were going to climb. Thankfully it wasn’t too far and of course the youngsters were the first to the top. We followed Roughton Gill right to the top and on reaching the top the landscape changed to one of open moorland. Our next goal was Little Lingy Hill; although the cairn had to be pointed out to me (it has to be said it is just a few stones).

The other reason for doing this route was to visit Lingy Hut which is on the slopes of Great Lingy Hill; it was here we were planning to have lunch. To get there we had to cross an area of peat bogs and heather which certainly tested your ankles and how waterproof your boots were. Lingy Hut is in an incredible situation. It is a mountain bothy situated on the Cumbria Way footpath and would make an ideal stopping place in bad weather. Today it was just perfect for getting out of the wind for just a short time. We also took time to read some of the entries in the Visitor Book, which makes for interesting reading.

Lunch finished and back out into the wind once more and now after quite a few miles visiting other places today we were finally making our way to the summit of High Pike. Ian celebrated on reaching the summit while the rest of us were trying not to get blown away. It certainly wasn’t a place to be hanging around or sit on the very inviting bench. We did find a shelter though and time for a picture of the happy walkers. It was all downhill from here and we were soon back at Fell Side. Our first experience of the Back o’ Skiddaw Fells certainly gave us a good idea of what they are like.

  

There are much quicker ways of reaching the summit of High Pike but using the route we did today certainly was very interesting and having the excellent company of Ian, Mark, Cory, Megan, Roger and Bethan today made for a very enjoyable day. After our walk we met with Ann and Harry and also John and Polly for a drink in the Mill Inn in Mungrisdale.  It was good to be able to sit and chat about what a great holiday we’d had this time in the Lake District and all the different places we’d visited.