Grike, Crag Fell & Lank Rigg - Monday 4 September 2023
Route
Scarny Brow - Kinniside Stone Circle - Blakeley Moss - Blakeley Raise - Kinney How - Grike - Crag Fell - Whoap - Lank Rigg - Scaly Moss - Scarny Brow
Parking
South of the village of Ennerdale Bridge at Scarny Brow where there is room for several cars both before and after the cattle grid. If parking north of the cattle grid then please do so sensibly and not block the access gate to Heckbarley. The Grid Reference is NY 06179 14406 and the nearest postcode is CA23 3AH.
Mileage
9.8 miles
Terrain
Good mountain paths mainly. The section between Crag Fell and Whoap passes through felled forest and the path to the summit of Whoap is intermittent. There is a long but pleasant section of road walking along the Cold Fell Road to the finish.
Weather
Warm & sunny with excellent visibility
Time Taken
5hrs 15mins
Total Ascent
2060ft (628m)
Wainwrights
3
Map
OL4 - The English Lakes (North Western Area)
Walkers
Dave, Fudge & Amanda Prescott
Scarny Brow - Kinniside Stone Circle - Blakeley Moss - Blakeley Raise - Kinney How - Grike - Crag Fell - Whoap - Lank Rigg - Scaly Moss - Scarny Brow
Parking
South of the village of Ennerdale Bridge at Scarny Brow where there is room for several cars both before and after the cattle grid. If parking north of the cattle grid then please do so sensibly and not block the access gate to Heckbarley. The Grid Reference is NY 06179 14406 and the nearest postcode is CA23 3AH.
Mileage
9.8 miles
Terrain
Good mountain paths mainly. The section between Crag Fell and Whoap passes through felled forest and the path to the summit of Whoap is intermittent. There is a long but pleasant section of road walking along the Cold Fell Road to the finish.
Weather
Warm & sunny with excellent visibility
Time Taken
5hrs 15mins
Total Ascent
2060ft (628m)
Wainwrights
3
Map
OL4 - The English Lakes (North Western Area)
Walkers
Dave, Fudge & Amanda Prescott
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GPX File
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Route Map
The parking area north of the cattle grid at Scarny Brow. Parking sensibly there is space for 5 or 6 cars here and the same on the other side of the grid.
The entrance to Heckbarley. This track can be used as an alternative route to both Grike & Blakeley Raise however today we would be using the path via Blakeley Moss.
Kinniside Stone Circle
The stones stand on a small plateau of land at the edge of Blakeley Moss that shelves gently upwards towards the looming hill of Blakeley Raise. The circle has a diameter of about 15 metres and consists of eleven smallish stones of a local granite with the tallest only about a metre in height, gaps between the stones might suggest possible entrances to the south and northwest. On the surface of it a fairly typical Cumbrian Bronze Age stone circle but the story of the circle and even the stones themselves is rather murky. Sometime in the 18th century a local farmer is said to have dismantled some or all of a stone circle on land owned by nearby 'Standing Stones' farm and reused them as gateposts. The farm is shown on both old and modern maps as standing just over a mile (1km) almost due south. The current stone circle was 'restored' in 1925 by a Dr Quine with the stones being set in concrete - how accurate the reconstruction was is not known. Neither is it known if a stone circle ever existed on this spot at all or if any of the stones came from the original circle. We can perhaps deduce there may have been a stone circle - somewhere - given the name of the farm but now much of the site at Blakeley Raise is genuine and how much is a flight of fancy by Dr Quine is open to debate.
The stones stand on a small plateau of land at the edge of Blakeley Moss that shelves gently upwards towards the looming hill of Blakeley Raise. The circle has a diameter of about 15 metres and consists of eleven smallish stones of a local granite with the tallest only about a metre in height, gaps between the stones might suggest possible entrances to the south and northwest. On the surface of it a fairly typical Cumbrian Bronze Age stone circle but the story of the circle and even the stones themselves is rather murky. Sometime in the 18th century a local farmer is said to have dismantled some or all of a stone circle on land owned by nearby 'Standing Stones' farm and reused them as gateposts. The farm is shown on both old and modern maps as standing just over a mile (1km) almost due south. The current stone circle was 'restored' in 1925 by a Dr Quine with the stones being set in concrete - how accurate the reconstruction was is not known. Neither is it known if a stone circle ever existed on this spot at all or if any of the stones came from the original circle. We can perhaps deduce there may have been a stone circle - somewhere - given the name of the farm but now much of the site at Blakeley Raise is genuine and how much is a flight of fancy by Dr Quine is open to debate.
Approximately 1/2 a mile along the Cold Fell Road a fingerpost points the way up the fell side towards Blakeley Raise. In the distance are the Wainwright Outlying Fells of Dent & Flat Fell.
From the road the path heads gently up the fell side towards a line of trees
Reaching the line of trees at a handgate, we turned right to follow the edge of the plantation to the summit of Blakeley Raise. The path the other side of the handgate can be taken to reach Blakeley Raise via Kinney How.
At the top of the fence line the summit of Blakeley Raise is reached
Looking to Grike form Kinney How
At Kinney How a junction of tracks is reached. To head for Grike we would be taking the left hand track - if heading straight to Lank Rigg then the right hand track can be taken. Both tracks meet up again near Black Pots.
After 1/2 a mile along the track a gate and stile is reached with the path to Grike clearly visible making its way up the fell side
Looking back to Blakeley Raise with the Solway Firth beyond
Near the summit of Grike a rickety stile crosses a wire fence
Amanda & Fudge on the summit of Grike
From Grike the route heads across level and sometimes boggy ground to Crag Fell which is straight ahead. Great Borne is over to the left with Pillar to the right.
Looking back to Grike from the path to Crag Fell
The summit of Crag Fell
Ennerdale Water from Crag Fell
It is worth walking a couple of hundred yards from the summit over to the east as the views over Ennerdale Water really open out
The western shore of Ennerdale Water from Crag Fell looking to Knock Murton, Blake Fell & Gavel Fell
The path leaves Crag Fell to the south as we head over to Whoap
Crag Fell from the old mine road
The final few hundred yards to Whoap are pathless but over good ground
The featureless summit of Whoap
The path to Lank Rigg from Whoap
Looking back to Whoap with Crag Fell to the left from the final steep ascent to gain the summit of Lank Rigg
As is tradition - Fudge adorns the Trig Point on the summit of Lank Rigg
Buried Treasure on Lank Rigg - underneath several stones at the cairn can be found coinage of various age and denomination. The tradition stems from when Wainwright left a two shilling piece here in 1965. Wainwright explains the story on Lank Rigg 7:
"The only exciting experience in the lonely life of the Ordnance column occurred on a gloriously sunny day in April 1965, when it was a mute and astonished witness to an unparalleled act of generosity. In an uncharacteristic mood of magnanimity which he subsequently regretted, the author decided on this summit to share his hard-won royalties with one of his faithful readers and placed a two-shilling piece under a flat stone four feet from the column: it awaited the first person to read this note to write in c/o the publishers and confirm his claim by stating the year of the coin's issue. If nobody had done so by the end of 1966 the author intended to go back and retrieve it for the purchase of fish and chips. It is reported that the coin was recovered the day after publication, and it has become a tradition for visitors to the summit to leave a coin here for others to find."
"The only exciting experience in the lonely life of the Ordnance column occurred on a gloriously sunny day in April 1965, when it was a mute and astonished witness to an unparalleled act of generosity. In an uncharacteristic mood of magnanimity which he subsequently regretted, the author decided on this summit to share his hard-won royalties with one of his faithful readers and placed a two-shilling piece under a flat stone four feet from the column: it awaited the first person to read this note to write in c/o the publishers and confirm his claim by stating the year of the coin's issue. If nobody had done so by the end of 1966 the author intended to go back and retrieve it for the purchase of fish and chips. It is reported that the coin was recovered the day after publication, and it has become a tradition for visitors to the summit to leave a coin here for others to find."
The south west cairn on Lank Rigg - worth a visit
Between the summit and the south west cairn is a small tarn - Fudge waits for the command to go in
Back at the summit of Lank Rigg - as can be seen, on a good day this is a lovely view point
Iron Crag, Caw Fell, Haycock & Seatallan from Lank Rigg
In the col between Lank Rigg & Whoap a path slants across the lower slopes of the latter - this would be our return route. It is a delightful yet sometimes boggy path that eventually leads to the Cold Fell Road.
A panorama of our return route with the slopes of Lank Rigg to the left and Whoap to the right
Looking back to the col between Whoap & Lank Rigg
Below our path the River Calder snakes its way through the valley
The Cold Fell Road - this is a busy cut through at times between Sellafield and the A5086 therefore keep an eye out for traffic as you transit along the verge
Approaching the end of the walk at Scarny Brow