Last updated 16:04, Tuesday, 08 July 2008

Bleak and lonely start to a difficult but rewarding walk. With Vivienne Crow

Kinniside Stone Circle: Often bleak but the surrounding landscape has a remoteness that many people find attractive

Map: OS Explorer map OL4.

Start: The walk starts from where the Kinniside Common bridleway meets the Cold Fell road, about 0.8 miles south of the stone circle (GR NY066129). Please park considerately nearby.

Refreshments: Fox and Hounds and the Shepherds Arms Hotel, both in Ennerdale Bridge.

Distance: 6.7 miles

Total ascent: 1,720ft

Time: 4-5 hours

Grade: Intermediate/hard

Overview: Some walkers may find Kinniside Common, to the south of Ennerdale Water, a bleak and lonely spot; others will love the solitude and the moody atmosphere of these grassy, rolling fells. This route takes in Whoap (1,676ft) and Lank Rigg (1,775ft), the southern slopes of which are dotted with ancient cairns and settlements. There are some reasonably good and clear paths on the ground as far as the summit of Lank Rigg, but much of the second half of the walk is across trackless, often damp and rough terrain. Towards the end, there is also a river crossing that could result in wet feet. You will need good navigational skills, and a pair of gaiters will come in handy!

The Walk: Head up the clear, wide track in a SE direction (signpost reads: “Public Bridleway Kinniside Common”). When it forks, bear right. You need to follow the track east, all the way to the point at which Comb Beck meets the River Calder – and beyond. It is indistinct in places, but becomes stonier where it fords Comb Beck (0.6 miles from the start).

Now continue east, following the River Calder upstream. The track, boggy in places, again becomes indistinct, but it stays parallel with the river until after it fords the next subsidiary beck. It becomes stony again for a while as it climbs away from this beck and then becomes decidedly soggy as it takes a winding route up the fellside.

As the higher tops to the north come into view, the winding nature of the path ends and it begins a more direct assault on Whoap via its western ridge. It heads east, swinging SE as you gain height.

As you reach the flat summit area (2.2 miles from the start), you can see across to Black Combe over to the right. Just after passing a solitary boulder to the left of the path, bear right at a fork, heading slightly downhill. This path soon joins up with another coming in from the left and the two cross a wide bridge of land linking Whoap and Lank Rigg, descending slightly.

The path on to Lank Rigg heads uphill in a SW direction, steepening as you gain height. The top is marked by a trig point (2.9 miles from the start). On a clear day, as soon as you reach this point, you should be able to see across to the Isle of Man. Turning round, Caw Fell, Steeple, Pillar, High Stile and Grasmoor are among the many fells included in this wonderful vista.

There is a faint path heading SW from the trig point. It passes just to the right of a small boggy tarn and then to the left of a cairn on a rocky outcrop. Soon after the cairn, the path swings a little to the left and then all but disappears. What you now need to do is get your compass out and head SSW towards Boat How, a small bump of higher ground on the southern edge of Lank Rigg. Having descended gently sloping ground with piles of rock dotted around, you cross a flatter, tussocky area. Look to your left now and you will be able to see Scafell and Scafell Pike. Just before the ground starts to rise again – on its way up to Boat How – you will reach a faint, grassy track heading east-west (3.65 miles from the start). Turn right along this.

The track is wet in places and almost disappears when it reaches a boggy area after about three-quarters of a mile. Stick with it if you can – it narrows and swings more to the SW around the boggy area, before resuming its westward line.

Even if you do lose the path, as long as you have maintained a mostly W direction, you should eventually reach the River Calder (5.2 miles from the start). Now turn right, to follow the river upstream, heading mostly N.

As you approach the northern limit of the enclosed fields around Thwaites and Ghyll Farm over to the left, the river passes through a steep-sided gorge. Just beyond this, you should try to ford the channel – if you can – to gain a path about a third of the way up the fellside on the west bank. Then, as you pass below a sheepfold, you will have to leave the path and make for the saddle between Swarth Fell and Burn Edge (6.3 miles from the start). On the other side of the gap, you should pick up a path heading NNW and running parallel with the road. Simply drop back down to the road when you reach your car.

If you are unable to ford the river, you will have to continue north along rough and boggy terrain until the river swings east – at the point at which Comb Beck enters the Calder. Ford it here and then turn left along the bridleway that you followed at the start of the walk.

Points of Interest: In a display of his famously dry sense of humour, guidebook writer Alfred Wainwright once buried some “treasure” on the top of Lank Rigg. In his 1966 pictorial guide to The Western Fells, he wrote: “In an uncharacteristic mood of magnanimity which he has since 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.” He said there was no need to turn the whole top over “as though pigs have been at it” and suggested that the finder of the coin should write to his publisher. “If nobody does so before the end of 1966 the author will go back and retrieve it for the purchase of fish and chips. It was a reckless thing to do, anyway.”