That Was A Pretty Short Summer (Spring Snow North Pennines)

We drove up past the “No Unauthorised Vehicles Beyond This Point” signs to the car park (!) built for peeps using the Dun Fells bit of the North Pennines Open Access where we met the Bro and then wandered back down the road towards Knock, turning off into a field and then descending even further on a public footpath to almost the foot of the fine and green Tump called Flagdaw.

Flagdaw is well decorated with violets and has a cracking view of the snow-covered Lake District, the snow-covered Pennines and the snow showers battering in off the Solway Firth. Having bagged, we left, following the footpath and then the radar station access road as far as the radar station on the top of Great Dun Fell where a blizzard was just starting.

Braving the war dogs, special forces, land mines, man traps, armed drones and rude signs (there were none of these by the way), we huddled down behind the corrugated walls where it was almost warm for a short lunchtime.

Soon, however, blizzard number two started and Lucky tried to dig a nest in the snow and began to shiver miserably.

So we left.

We made a long and tussocky descent past the Silverband mines (not much more than spoil heaps and ponds, plus some more modern communications stuff) – and past the recumbent pylons of some kind of winching system, to the over-steepened edge overlooking our last hill – Burney Hill, in fact – named after a geordie comedian with a round face who liked to be chased across the countryside by girls in skimpy bikinis whilst slapping a small bloke around his bald head for no good reason at all.

Burney Hill is steep and green and quite a bit smaller than it looks. But it has another fine view of the snow-capped Lakes and a standing stone with a plaque on it, the meaning of which is a little obscure.

We returned to the knipemobiles by crossing Knock Ore Gill on a telegraph-pole bridge and a short heave up the tussocks (deleted line from Carry on Hiking) through newly planted rowans and other similar trees.

We did about seven and a half miles.

According to that Interweb thingy, the weather conditions on Gt Dun Fell summit were –2C with 45 mph gusts. That’s quite chilly. But we knew that.

Anyway, this is me off to Dunbar to visit the new baby for a couple of days.Any comments may take some time to be published. But don’t let this put you off.