ridges and valleys of the Howgill massif, while the more distant scene ranges from Lakeland, on the one hand, to Wild Boar Fell. Beyond the high point, the ground abruptly falls to the narrow saddle of Leathgill Bridge. The steep climb beyond is soon accomplished, the gradient suddenly easing to reveal a small pile of stones marking the summit of Randygill Top.
The greatest elevation of the walk, Randygill Top, is a marvellous vantage point. The panorama encompasses most of the major Lakeland peaks, while in the other direction, two of Yorkshire’s Three Peaks are visible – the third, Pen-y-ghent, hides behind Baugh Fell. Cross Fell, the highest top of the Northern Pennines, lies to the north beyond the Eden Valley, but, being undistinguished by a transmitter, it is less distinctive than the nearer Great Dunn Fell.
A distinct trod descends north-east to another narrow waist of high ground separating the head of Weasdale from Stockless Gill. Gently climbing, carry on for another ½ mile (800m). Having passed the falling promontory of West Grain over to the left, watch for the path dividing. That to the left contours the hillside above the head of Great Swindale, while the path ahead rises to the summit of Green Bell.
On the summit of Green Bell
Although slightly lower than Randygill Top, Green Bell boasts a trig pillar. For survey purposes, it offered a better prospect to the eastern and northern hills, and it too is a grand tarrying place from which to enjoy the landscape.
To find the source of the Lune, keep with the path ahead, losing height fairly rapidly north-eastwards towards the much lower top of Knoutberry. As the gradient eases, bear off left, passing the ruin of a sheepfold and walking a short distance beyond it to find a couple of springs seeping from the ground.
Dale Gill is probably the least remarkable of the valleys cleaving the Howgills, with Langdale, Bowderdale and Weasdale all possessing much greater scenic appeal. But those wishing to trace the river’s course will find a developing path above its right bank to take them down the valley. Later becoming a track, it eventually hits the lane just west of Greenside.
The way back to Wath, however, drops along the ridge running north from Green Bell. To avoid the climb back to the summit, contour north-west around the steep flank of the hill for ¼ mile (400m) to intersect the main path from the summit at a waypost. If you have time to spare, it is worth wandering back a short distance around the north-western slope of Green Bell for the views into the head of Great Swindale.
From the flanks of Green Bell into Great Swindale
Return to the waypost and take the leftmost of the two descending paths, which bypasses left of Stwarth. Stay with the left branch past two more forks, and a track soon develops that winds above the intake wall and finally meets a lane east of Weasdale.
To the left the lane heads down into the small settlement. There, take a bridleway on the right, which leads to Weasdale Nurseries. Keep ahead through a gate beside the front porch of Low Weasdale Cottage, walking forward through a second gate to join Weasdale Beck. Over a footbridge, continue through a gate beside a barn, remaining briefly with the river before moving away across the fields towards the house at Gars. Leave the corner of the penultimate field through the left gate, walking across to a small gate in the property’s rear wall. The Right of Way winds through the yard, or, alternatively, follow the boundary left to the lane. Turn right back to Wath.
WALK 2
Newbiggin-on-Lune
| Start | Ravenstonedale (NY 722 042) |
| Distance | 6½ miles (10.5km) |
| Time | 3hr |
| Terrain | Field paths and disused railway |
| Height gain | 240m (787ft) |
| Maps | Explorer OL19 – Howgill Fells and Upper Eden Valley |
| Refreshments | Black Swan at Ravenstonedale, Lune Spring Garden Centre café in Newbiggin-on-Lune |
| Toilets | None |
| Parking | Parking in front of St Oswald’s Church |
This walk straddles the subtle watershed between Lunesdale and neighbouring Smardale, where Scandal Beck is one of the principal tributaries of the Eden, a northerly flowing river that enters the Solway Firth below Carlisle. The country here is underlain by limestone, its pale grey countenance reflected in the farm buildings, cottages and dry-stone walls that enclose the fields, but brightened in spring and summer by the flowers that abound in the hedgerows and banks. Beginning in Ravenstonedale, the walk crosses the fields to Newbiggin, where a spring is traditionally held to be the source of the Lune. Following the course of a former railway into the pretty valley of Smardale, it returns to the village past medieval earthworks.
ST OSWALD’S CHURCH, RAVENSTONEDALE
Ravenstonedale’s churchyard is home to the village’s most ancient monument, the base of a Saxon cross, indicating the existence of Christian settlement well before the arrival of the Normans. Towards the end of the 12th century, the manor was gifted to the Gilbertine priory at Watton in Yorkshire, part of the only religious order to have been founded by an Englishman.
The son of a Norman knight and born at Sempringham in Lincolnshire, Gilbert died in 1189, having lived to be over 100. He was revered for his piety and his work with women and the poor, and over 30 houses were established in his name, although the priory at Ravenstonedale is the only one known west of the Pennines.
The ruins, which lie beside the church, date from around 1200 and once housed a small community of canons and lay brethren. Little remains apart from the excavated foundations, and it is likely that when St Oswald’s Church was rebuilt in 1744 the ruins were plundered as a convenient quarry of ready-cut stone.
A splendid building from the outside, the church is even more remarkable within, being one of few in the country that adopt the collegiate plan, where the pews face inward to a centre aisle. The most spectacular feature is undoubtedly the grand three-decker pulpit, rendered even more imposing by a massive sounding-board suspended above. It came from the earlier building and commands the attention of all.
The interior layout of St Oswald’s, unusually, is based on the collegiate plan
From the front of St Oswald’sChurch, head into the village, following the lane signed to Sedbergh. At a junction by the Black Swan, turn right and then, at the next junction, fork right past a raised green. At the end, go right again to Town Head Farm. Bear left through a gate to pass beside cattle sheds and then bend left along a short walled track into a field. Strike a right diagonal to the far corner and head down to a bridge spanning the usually dry bed of Scandal Beck. A few steps beyond, watch for a squeeze-stile in the wall above. Walk out to the corner and continue up the next field.
At the top, go left through a gate and follow the boundary away. To the south, beyond Greenside Tarn, the northern slopes of the Howgills rise to Green Bell, from whose flank springs Dale Gill, the Lune’s most distant tributary from the sea. At a protruding stub of wall, part-way along the second field, swing right through a squeeze-gap towards a cottage. Wind left and right out of the fields onto a narrow lane.
Follow it left for ¼ mile (400m), leaving after the second cattle-grid for a stile on the right. Pass behind High Greenside Farm, crossing a succession of fences to a wall-stile at its far side. Over that go right above Greenside Beck. Entering the third field by a barn, turn left to a bridge spanning the stream and leave the pasture along a drive from a cottage.
