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Mark Hook pointed out of the dining room window at Mosscrag Guest House — “That’s Glenridding Dodd. It’s a shame people don’t go up there from Glenridding any more. The Victorians did, and they knew a good view when they saw one. It’s a beautiful little fell. And here’s how you can link it up with Sheffield Pike . . .”
In the Lake District it’s handy to have a B&B host who knows the local fells inside out. Within five minutes Mark had pencilled out the route on my map. It didn’t seem too fearsome, even though some of the contours looked a little close-packed for comfort. After all, if Victorian ladies and gentlemen had managed it in their crinolines and well-polished high-lows . . .
Half an hour into the walk I paused to catch my breath, not for the first time. If our genteel ancestors really did “ascend” Glenridding Dodd (it was always “ascending”, never “climbing”) by this 45° channel of rubbly stones, they must have been made of stern stuff. In an era when high fells such as Helvellyn and Scafell Pike were still considered alpine in difficulty, Glenridding Dodd was a worthy objective for a family “ascent”. At the summit of the Dodd, a towering lump of rock scabbed with pale outcrops, I saw what they had, a fabulous prospect down the southern length of Ullswater.
Nowadays, with better boots and weatherproof gear, we nonchalantly tackle mountains all over the world. Celebrity mountaineers and their TV heroics can make the humbler fells of Lakeland seem unworthy of attention. Alfred Wainwright wouldn’t have had any truck with such notions. He commends the modest delights of Glenridding Dodd to his disciples and points approvingly towards the scrambly crag-top climb up the ridge of Heron Pike to the moor leading to Sheffield Pike.
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With a travel-stained copy of the master’s guide to The Eastern Fells in hand, I negotiated the steep and rugged pathway, splashed between the peaty tarns and stood by the cairn on Sheffield Pike, lord of a most superb view — north up Ullswater, east to the long line of the High Street ridge, west into the great green clefts under Glencoyne Head, and south to the blade-like profile of Helvellyn, standing dark and threatening like a lead weight against the clouds.
Wainwright hated the lead mines whose remnants scar the upper end of Glenridding. But I enjoyed the descent through those incredible banks of multi-coloured spoil, hanging in the sky like the sword of Damocles over the former smelting mills dwarfed at their feet.
Start & finish Glenridding car park, CA11 0PD (OS ref NY 386170) Getting there Bus: 108 (Penrith — www.stagecoachbus.com), 208 (Keswick, summer only — albatravelcumbria.co.uk), 517 (Windermere, summer only — www.stagecoachbus.com) Road: A592, beside Glenridding Bridge.
Walk: (7 miles, hard, OS Explorer OL5): Glenridding car park — Traveller’s Rest Inn (382170); very steep path to wall above the Rake (378175) — Glenridding Dodd summit (381175). Ridge of Heron Pike — Sheffield Pike summit (369182). West down to cross footbridge by mine spoil ridge (359179) — track down to mine buildings (364174) — path on south side of Glenridding Beck — Rattlebeck Bridge (379161) — Traveller’s Rest — car park.
Detailed directions (essential!), online map, more walks christophersomerville.co.uk.
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NB Very steep path up to the saddle below Glenridding Dodd, and up the ridge of Heron Pike. Boots, fell-walking gear and stick are advisable. A walk for fit, energetic fell-walkers. Not recommended in mist.
Lunch Traveller’s Rest Inn, Greenside Road (01768-482298) Accommodation and advice Mosscrag Guest House, Glenridding CA11 0PA (01768-482500; mosscrag.co.uk).
More info Ullswater Tourist Information Centre, Glenridding car park (01768 482414; golakes.co.uk) ramblers.org.uk; satmap.com