Little Town, Robinson, Dale Head, High Spy, Maiden Moor, Cumbria.
[ 15.4 km] Mon 11th Feb 2008

A clear sky meant a cold and frosty morning. It’s been ages since I last walked in the Newlands Valley area so I decided to re-acquaint my self. The car park at Little Town was empty when I set off towards Newlands Church. The church is small but very picturesque. The sun hadn’t reached it when I arrived but I went inside for a quick look and to take a few photos before heading up the lane to Low High Snab.

War memorial in Newlands Church.
Thomas Roscoe Johnson who fell in action in France October 12th 1916 aged 27 years.

A brief view of a Red Squirrel,
and a rubbish picture.

There didn’t seem to be anyone around but I did see a quick glimpse of a red squirrel. As I left the building I headed diagonally up the fell side towards High Snab Bank. I was soon in the sunshine and things began to warm up. As I reached the high wall I came across a couple of dead sheep which had been there for some time and were quietly rotting away.

I’m sure this is very bad farming practice. It seemed such a strange contrast between the smelly corpses and the blue sky and Blencathra across the valley. I continued up the ridge which became a bit scrambly in places. The final push to the summit seemed to take ages.

Tarn on Robinson

I was now on Robinson and passed a nice tarn just below the summit. It had a wonderful blue colour due to the clear sky. I was intrigued by the domed bolt set in the rock just beside the summit cairn. Presumably it is a survey reference point. I continued south to the main path descending to Littledale Edge. It’s a nice easy walk across the saddle but becomes a bit steeper on the far side as I climbed to the wonderful summit of Dale Head.

The actual summit is a bit flat and dull but it has one of the best summit cairns in Cumbria. I hadn’t seen anyone all day but now there were plenty of people about and it was nice to see families and children coming up to enjoy the sunshine. This is the start of the school holiday for some areas. The descent to Dalehead Tarn is quite steep and many people were labouring up as I descended. I crossed over to start the ascent of High Spy but made several stops on the way to take in the views down towards Newlands Valley and across to the distinctive summit of Causey Pike. All the climbing was now over so I enjoyed the wander across Maiden Moor to Hause Gate. The path down to the left is not obvious and I overshot it before joining it a bit further on. The path through the old mine workings improved as I descended and was almost a cart track by the time I reached the main Little Town buildings. A short walk along the road took me back to the car park which was now almost full.

Dale Head summit and cairn.