Get Lost Mountaineering

High Wether Howe & Seat Robert via top of Goulther Crag

from Swindale Foot

Start/Finish

Small off road rough car parking area before Swindale Foot. From Penrith, take the A6 south to Eamont Bridge then turn off for Yanwath (Pooley Bridge road) then turn off south for Askham. Go through Butterwick then fork left at Bampton but do not cross the river into Bampton Grange. Instead follow the road on the SW side of the river for about a mile then take the right fork for Swindale. Follow this until the car parking is reached where there is a prominent notice stating there is no parking beyond this point.

Distance/Time

10 km       About 3 - 4 hours

Peaks

High Wether Howe, 531 m, NY 515 109.

Seat Robert, 515 m, NY 527 113.      OS 1: 50 000, sheet 90.

OS 1: 25 000 Outdoor Leisure 5, English Lake District NE Area.

Introduction

Swindale is a lovely unspoilt valley which has no tourist attractions whatsoever. This is a very pleasant walk but sections of it can be quite wet, especially in winter, so this walk is probably best attempted in either a summer dry spell or when the ground is frozen. After heavy rain, Goulthercrag Beck can be very difficult to cross and a detour upstream, to a bridge, may be necessary. On a clear day, there are prominent views to Branstree and Selside Pike. Kidsty Pike and High Raise will also be seen. Looking east, the Howgills are well seen whilst to the north, Cross Fell is fairly obvious. This route is about an hour shorter than the one which passes through Mosedale.

Route

(1) Walk up the road in Swindale for about 2 km to an obvious footbridge just after the water works weir. Cross over and follow the path up to the left of Goulther Crag on the NE side of the gill. When the path levels out, go right and cross the gill to reach a stone wall. In wet conditions, the gill will be very difficult to cross so it may be necessary to detour for about 600 m upstream until past the succession of small waterfalls to reach a bridge made out of railway sleepers. Cross this to reach the stone wall. The wall can be followed roughly SW or it can be crossed and one can walk along the top of the crags. There is no stile over the wall but there are weaknesses here and there. The going is quite heathery with only faint paths. A spur of this wall descend to Swindale between Goulther Crag and Outlaw Crag and will need to be crossed; again there are weaknesses. After Outlaw Crag, another wall spur goes down Dry Grove Gill and, again, this should be crossed. Continue, whether following the edge or the wall, until the main wall starts to descend to Swindale. Cross the wall, which does not seem to have a weakness around this point and continue, roughly S, along an undulating gentle ridge which in less than 1 km ascends gentle slopes to the small cairn which marks the summit of High Wether Howe, 531 m. Some trees have been recently planted just to the S beyond the summit area. There is also a fence not far beyond the summit running almost due E.

(2) Descend ENE and pick up one of the tracks. Follow it towards Seat Robert where a path, which branches off left, leads directly and gently to the large cairn, shelter cairn and the circular base of an old trig point which mark the summit of Seat Robert, 515 m.

(3) The map shows a right of way running SE – NW which lies to the N of the summit but this is not that easy to locate, especially under snow, so walk roughly NNW to Glede Howe which has a small cairn on it. Continue in the same direction, initially aiming for what seems to be the end of the prominent wall, used earlier, to the W of Haskew Beck. The end is actually a corner. As this approached, follow a track/path which goes, to the right, through Waite Howes to reach an old cairn which is the start of the descent into Swindale. This route lies a short distance to the E of Gouthercrag Gill. The path/track, wet in places, leads down to a ford across the river but a short distance downstream is a footbridge which leads to the road and an easy stroll back to the start. Note that it can be very easy to stray to the E towards Great Ladstones which will mean cutting back across Mealhowe Gill where there is much sodden ground.

Notes

(a) This walk took place on 15^th February, 2014.

(b) On a dry summer's day, it might be worth looking at ascending through Goulther Crag (could involve scrambling) and then walking along the top of the crags as described above. Bear in mind that this will entail crossing Goulthercrag Beck much lower down and could be a problem. A scrambling route has not yet been checked out.

(c) An alternative route via Mosedale has also been posted.