The remote and dramatic Longsleddale Valley in the Lake District National Park, is as far from the over-touristed parts of the Lakes as you can get, and sees a fraction of the visitors. You’ll find no tea shops selling Grasmere gingerbread here, just fabulous nature raw and unfiltered. By which I mean vicious winds blowing rain horizontally into your face as you struggle up a steep incline. All this wild beauty comes at a price.
I hadn’t been to this part of the Lake District for a long time, but as a kid I’d regularly visit the area. My aunt and uncle lived at Kentmere Hall in the neighbouring valley. An old farmhouse attached to a disused medieval Pele tower dating back to the 14th century, it was the backdrop for plenty of ghost stories. Kentmere is a remote place, with a handful of farms and houses scattered along a valley surrounded by high fells.
I was unaware at the time, but Kentmere Hall had a famous resident. Bernard Gilpin was born there in 1517. Gilpin was a well known Protestant preacher drúring the Reformation in England. When Henry VIII died and his daughter and devout Catholic, Mary Tudor, came to the throne, Gilpin was arrested and sent to London to be tried. His life was saved only because he broke his leg and while he recovered Mary died.
The journey into Longsleddale starts at the small hamlet of Garnett Bridge, and then follows the River Sprint up the valley on a winding, undulating single track road. I passed a few farms and couple of cottages, before arriving at St Mary’s Church. The church sits on a slight prominentry that affords fabulous views up the valley. It was open so I briefly popped inside to discover some camp beds set up for passing walkers.
St. Mary’s is a Festival Church, and using it as a refuge for walkers is an excellent idea. The church dates from 1863, but is built on an earlier church building – the church’s oak door is two centuries older, dating to the 1660s. I lingered for a while in this atmospheric spot as the sun and rain swept across the valley. A little further down the valley I saw one of only two people I would see all day, a farmer herding sheep.
My destination and start point for my hike was the micro-village of Sadgill. Vikings once inhabited these lands and ‘Sad’ derives from the Old Norse word for upland pasture, ‘gill’ derives from the Old Norse word for ravine. It is uncannily accurate. The valley narrows as you travel towards Sadgill and the road ends at Sadgill Bridge, but as you walk further up the valley there are fields that still provide pasture for sheep.
Leaving the car, I set off towards the head of the valley on what was once an old packhorse route between Scotland and the south – Sadgill bridge was originally built for the packhorses. The plan was to do one half of the Kentmere Horseshoe, a beautiful and lesser used circuit. The route starts to climb steeply as you approach Adam Seat, but the views back down Longsleddale are magnificent.
Next up is LIttle Harter Fell, where I met the second and final person of the day, a woman who was walking with her two dogs. A steep climb brought me to Harter Fell and views north to Haweswater in Mardale valley. At this point I was being subjected to very strong winds and lashing rain, occasionally the cloud was so low that I was walking through it.
Luckily, as I turned south over Brown Howe and Kentmere Pike, the weather improved. I still got rained on but there was some sun as well. The plan had been to descend into Kentmere Valley then take another old packhorse route back to Sadgill, but I got a little lost on Shipman Knotts and ended up skipping Kentmere. It had been a ‘bracing’ walk, one with a sense of isolation that is truly rare these days.
So beautiful. Not to mention the isolation… I still have this fancy idea of spending a few weeks (months?) in the UK. Moving around. Not too easy now. My back doesn’t like long car rides… In another life maybe…
Glad you could spend some time home Paul.