Howgills Barn Weekend

Nr. Sedbergh, Friday, February 17, 2012

Nigel Heppell …

The Fell End bunkhouse turned out to be pretty much as advertised, quite comfortable actually. The accommodation is in two buildings: the Teacher’s House with 5 bunks, shower and WC, is recently refurbished and has continuous heating at a low level. The larger Schoolhouse has 4 double bunks plus a single in a separate annex, along with well-equipped galley kitchen, washroom, shower and 2x WC. Once the wood fire is lit and powers up the central heating/hot water, the chill comes off the building quickly. Nina M arrived in the gloomy rain that developed over the afternoon and promptly disappeared for a solo run around the back of Harter Fell. Shaun appeared along with Angela and Sue. That let Louise and myself get out in the darkness for a short and wet headtorch run over towards Murthwaite and Narthwaite. Everyone else stopping in the bunkhouse arrived bit by bit with one or two testing the telephone reception and asking for directions. A glow-stick at the end of the lane helped. We were joined Jan and Tony who were toughing it out in their new Mobilehome and visited by Mel and Dave who were in B&B. Masses of food appeared and was eaten, and then we were visited by members of Howgill Harriers who had been out on one of their howling-at-the-moon night runs – except there was no moon! All good company, and useful inside knowledge about routes/etc.

Elvet Striders in residence at Fell End Bunkhouse.

The weather was pretty wild overnight and into Saturday morning with rain hammering into the windows and a few things bumping around outside but the forecast was for rain to clear by 10am so we stuck to our plan and set off as a group of 12 towards Cautley Spout as an entry point to the hills. By 11am it had stopped raining and we were 1/2 way up the spout when the sun came out. It didn’t last very long, and by the time we got to The Calf we were exposed to the full strength of the wind and a much lower air temperature. After a satisfying run along the ridge to the west of Bowderdale we sheltered in a gill and ate lunch before splitting into two groups: one lot carried on ridge-running with a return along the valley floor; the other group took a more direct route due east back to the bunkhouse. The latter route led to previously unseen parts of the Howgills and some steep climbs, helped on by very fine, high-velocity hail that turned Benji’s flanks white as he cut across the wind, finishing after 12.5miles and 1000m of ascent. The other group found a simple route out at the head of the valley but had to leave Till and Ulrike to be collected from the Cross Keys Inn after Till developed blisters.

The bridge across the Rawthey near the Cross Keys at the start of the day. You wanna jelly baby?So we would be, err, approximate, err ... oh bugger.Till and Ulrike.Mike and the star of the weekend, Benji.

Saturday evening progressed by watching Sunderland beat Arsenal followed by a splendid meal at the Black Swan Hotel, Ravenstonedale (where we were joined by Will, Dave and Melanie), and was topped off back at base by suitable nightcaps, Tony performing ably on guitar, serenaded by the Karaoke Queen (Sue!), and David’s ‘contouring blues’.

Dave and Jan on the beach.Nigel 'contouring'. No, he is, honestly ...

Will H crept out quietly at 8am Sunday to begin his epic round of the Harvey Howgill Tops; Nina left to go to work! and Graham departed after breakfast. Till and Tony went off on walks of their own devising, leaving the rest of us, as decided earlier, to go on a gentle run, on the level, of only a few miles length. However, once we had run a few km along the road on this superbly bright and crisp morning, and turned uphill to meet the limestone outcrops that make up the charateristic features of this westernmost edge of the Yorkshire Dales there was no stopping the leaders and a glorious run of 7 miles and 340m ascent just below Wild Boar Fell ensued. After a good hot shower we enjoyed a bacon, egg (home grown) and sausage brunch prepared by our own master chef, and pondered upon Will’s progress before packing/cleaning up and heading home.

You can click on each photo to see the original full-sized version.

Shaun Roberts adds:

Many thanks to Nigel for organising a great weekend in the Howgills! The barn was warm, comfy, well-equipped, with good showers and great views. Excellent runs on both days, and a great night out on Saturday … and a bloody good crack throughout. Great stuff.

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