Cross Fell (picture heavy)

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whitestone
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Cross Fell (picture heavy)

Post by whitestone »

With an apparently closing weather window it looked like the northern Pennines would stay driest for longest so I planned a route around Cross Fell and Great Dun Fell (the one that goes all Spinal Tap in Simon Warren's 100 climbs book).

We thought that the route followed the zig-zag line up the fellside in front but it sneaks off to the left.

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The first half was rideable but most of the upper half was pushing. You can just see Cath at the foot of the shot. We met more people on this bit than on the rest of the ride as it's the standard way for walkers up Cross Fell.

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More pushing! You could ride some sections from here to the top.

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The track reappeared again once you were close to the top. Not quite at 800m.

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Heading to a bit of northern hills I really don't know at all well.

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Outside Greg's Hut. Note the stones on the table to stop it blowing away! You are at 700m altitude here

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Greg's Hut was once a lead mine blacksmith's smithy, being at a mine it had an access road. The upper bit of this is pretty rough but it improves lower down. You stay around the 600m mark for most of the way until the final drop to Garrigill.

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Great Dun Fell, Little Dun Fell & Cross Fell. We'd be riding along that ridge in a few hours.

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While there's a pub in Garrigill we didn't visit as it had taken a good while to get there and there was a section of the route I wasn't sure if it would be hike-a-bike or not. We ended up having a chat with a local, turned out he'd grew up at one of the farms higher up the dale. He mentioned a stone marking the source of the South Tyne river but that they put it on a plinth so short people couldn't see through it. Didn't make a lot of sense so we headed on up.

The end of the road.

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There's a lot of old mining scars around. Not sure what the wooden structure on the spoil heap was for.

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We finally got to the head of the valley and sure enough there's a stone by the side of the track, on a plinth. The little stone to the left simply states "The source of the South Tyne"

All together now:

The source of the Tyne is all mine,
all mine,
the source of the Tyne is all mine.


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I took the shot from a small stone platform on the other side of the track. Through the hole in it you can just make out the spring that is the actual source - you don't need to stand on the plinth at all!

Once over the watershed we dropped into our third river system - the Tees (we'd started in the Eden Valley), this area is a nature reserve - yep, a whole load of nothing! Actually it's a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, the first in Britain to be so designated.

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So, you're in the middle of nowhere, no public vehicular access, what do you do? Yep, install some bike racks so people can lock their bikes up!

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A pretty set of falls at the point at which we left the track. The track eventually leads to Moor House which must be one of the remotest properties in England.

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After a kilometre or so the track finally petered out and there was just faint singletrack to follow. Mostly it was rideable with the occasional dismount for ditches

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But occasionally the beck had washed away short sections so detours were in order.

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Eventually we left the beck and more continuous riding was possible, still relentlessly uphill.

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That last shot was taken from the Dun Fell access road. The only other time I'd been here you struggled to see the width of the road! The white area above Cath is yet another old mine working.

By now time was getting on so we decided to just head down the access road

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Just as well - we only just made the café at Tebay services before it closed for the evening!

If I were to do it again I'd ride it in the opposite direction, apart from the washouts the BW from Dun Fell to Moor House would be downhill and all rideable and the only grind would be the start of the track up to Greg's Hut. I wouldn't do the initial track as a descent but would take the BW that leads to the south of Cross Fell past Tees Head, there'd be a bit of hike-a-bike for a km or so to get to Tees Head.
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RIP
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Re: Cross Fell (picture heavy)

Post by RIP »

Nice that. Liked the bike racks!
"My God, Ponsonby, I'm two-thirds of the way to the grave and what have I done?" - RIP

The sign outside the asylum is the wrong way round.....

"At least you got some stories" - James Acaster
jameso
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Re: Cross Fell (picture heavy)

Post by jameso »

Great stuff... Looks worth a trip, I'm a big fan of those open moorland spaces these days and had been looking through Lost Lanes North and the 2nd City Divide route recently.
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whitestone
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Re: Cross Fell (picture heavy)

Post by whitestone »

RIP wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 9:44 am Nice that. Liked the bike racks!
There was another at the other end of the BW where it met the Dun Fell access road and the Pennine Way. Really bizarre. I can only assume that they were part of a grant scheme.
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Re: Cross Fell (picture heavy)

Post by RIP »

Coming up to Lancaster in two weekends time - Mrs P seeing her mate. I'm banished from Fri PM to Sun AM. Had considered Lakes, especially Ulverston/Coniston. But looking at the map I realised I can't get the hang of the main Lake District somehow. Just can't get a handle on it at all these days..

Maybe Howgills, but not enough cafes/pubs.

So probably Bentham station to Horton, R'head, Dent, Ingleton, Bentham - summat like that. If you can survive the trauma of riding for a while with Reg, and a ridiculously frequent number of cave/pothole stops, then would be nice to see you. Equally no problem nosing around solo - plenty of holes to keep me happy.
"My God, Ponsonby, I'm two-thirds of the way to the grave and what have I done?" - RIP

The sign outside the asylum is the wrong way round.....

"At least you got some stories" - James Acaster
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