Pendragon Castle, Little Fell, Wild Boar Fell, Mallerstang Common, Cumbria.
[ 14.4 km] Wed 04 June 2008

What a pleasant change, a nice sunny drive to the start of my walk. I arrived at Pendragon Castle in Mallerstang at about 7:30am. The weather was fine and clear and I had a good view of the edge of Wild Boar Fell in the distance. I set off down the minor lane to Castle Bridge. On the way it was nice to look back at the ruined castle against a blue sky. Over the bridge and up to Low Cocklake I scoured the fence for the footpath that is supposed to be here. I couldn’t see anything so I continued up the road and down the access track to High Cocklake. I was able to find the path here and set off up towards the railway. It’s odd that up ahead there is a tunnel under the railway and a bridge over it, both within a short distance of each other. I crossed the bridge and was now out on open fell. I followed the fence by High Intake Gill and continued up until I met a more distinct path coming in from the right, presumably from the road at Great Cove. I was now heading south on a nice dry path towards Little Fell. Just before the summit was a small depression with some seat shaped limestone outcrops so I used them to sit down, shelter from the wind and have a cup of coffee.

Cairns on Wild Boar Fell.

Over the summit was a small cairn and further on I came to a wall which gave me a bit of shelter before crossing the main path at High Dolphinsty and then taking a steeper route towards The Nab. The views down into Mallerstang and across to the main Pennine chain were now rather good. Along the sharp edge of the escarpment was an interesting stone shelter which seemed quite old. Up ahead the path steepened until I reached the summit plateau. The map shows a Tumulus here but all I could see was a pile of stones which looked like a rough cairn. Across to my right is the trig point but that wasn’t on my way. I continued to follow the edge until I came to the tall stone cairns which are very prominent for miles around. Just over the edge was a nice flat area out of the wind. It was the perfect lunch spot so I spent a delightful half hour in the warm sun out of the wind and eating sandwiches. I continued along the edge of the scar and left the path at Low White Scar and started straight down to the next level.

I turned to the left and started to descend towards Mallerstang Common and Yoadcomb Syke. There was no footpath but the going was reasonable but some boggy rushy patches were around. I was heading for some limestone outcrops in the distance when I came across a millstone ‘blank’. It seemed to be the only one around and was a rough shaped millstone with the centre hole cleanly cut out but unfinished. I have seen similar stones in the White Coppice and Anglezarke areas near Chorley. I continued to the limestone and came to a couple of large areas fenced off. One had a dark hole in the middle of it but I didn’t climb the fence to peer down and check the depth. I just took the lazy, and safe, way of throwing a pebble down. There were no jingling echoes as it bounced of the sides of a bottomless shaft, just a dull thud after a short drop to a bottom a few metres down. Up ahead I saw the first, and only, people of the day. A couple of walkers heading up to High Dolphinsty. On the edge of Lordburn Close I sat for a while in the sunshine to take in the views.

Returning down Mallerstang.

A little further on I joined the main path from Stennerskeugh then turned right and descended to the railway. Passing under the bridge I approached Hazelgill Farm but before it turned left to follow the path across the fields. At Deepgill I passed a slowly decomposing old farm with some of the floors still intact and the stairs visible. But the roof had gone so the rest will follow in time. After Ings Ends the farm track is tarmac but I hadn’t been on it long before turning left across fields again. The path went into woodland by the river Eden and emerged onto another farm track to Shoregill, which is a collection of expensively renovated stone houses. The path headed off across fields and emerged by a paddock below Low Cocklake. Turning right over Castle Bridge I was soon back at the car. Most of the walk was on new ground and was very enjoyable.