Howgill Fells Cumbria ENGLAND
Start/Finish 1
Roadside at Howgill GR: SD631966
Take footpath E to Beck House. Continue ahead, through gate. Cross field, R at fingerpost then kink L to follow fence. Triple gate (Beck Houses Gate) leads onto open fellside.
Path heads NE above 2 Ellergill Beck. Cross beck and follow path curving N then NW to Whin’s End. Traverse NE to Blind Gill, cross, traverse NW then N to saddle between Linghaw and Fell Head.
Continue N, skirting 3 E around Blake Ridge to top of Black Force. Cross Little Ulgill Beck, traverse NNE then drop to Blakewith Bottom. Climb fellside E to saddle S of Docker Knott. Head SSE, across Over Sale and Taffergill Hill then climb SE to Wind Scarth.
Follow ridge SW to Break 4 Head then drop L, SE, to Windscarth Wyke. Continue SE up to Bush Howe; follow ridge to White Fell Head. Bear L, SE, to trig point at summit of The Calf.
Return to White Fell Head, 5 drop SW to White Fell and follow ridge to Long Rigg Beck. Cross stream, follow track SW around Castley Knotts to gate onto track. Follow track past farm, then houses, to road. R to return to start.
But then the boiler broke and the washing machine packed up and then it was Christmas and then we got Covid. What this meant was, I hadn’t had a proper chance to get onto snow-covered hills all winter. It’s not been the ideal time for an outdoor writer.
This walk passes Black Force, the Howgills’ second highest waterfall, which was frozen: at the top of The Calf the wind chill was -20C.
In my family we always say spring starts around Valentine’s Day. So, bang on time, the Met Office forecast for the summit of The Calf predicted a change from snow to rain at dusk on 14 February. If I wanted to go up a hill that was covered in snow, this was probably my last chance for the winter.
The name Howgill is Old Norse and means ‘hills with narrow valleys’. These hills were first settled by Norse refugees from the collapsing Kingdom of Dublin at the start of the 10th Century. My dog Leif is an old Swedish herding dog. He was, literally, in his element.