Doing The Dodd

No folks, this is not a new dance, it’s a 614 metre high Nuttall/Hewitt/Sim with a 31 metre drop.

The Dodd is a lump. A flat-topped boggy lump at that. It is, in fact, typically Pennine. It’s only redeeming features are it’s fine views of the Lake District, surrounding Pennines, The Cheviots and bits of Scotland. The views up here are Big in a Very Large kind of way.
And it’s curlews, skylarks, meadow pipits, snipe, grouse (I suppose…) and the long and gentle ridge heading due North towards a sparkling green glen.
And the bogs, if you like boggy bits.
And the industrial archaeology.

This was a Wednesday Walkers Walking On Saturdays Group walk lead by Lucky The Dog with me as deputy. LTD, of course, has been here before. There was a previous WSWG walk on this very hill in the summer of 2014; LTD’s first long walk, in fact. I’m not certain if he remembered it.

12 other WSWG peeps turned up, plus Bailey the Dog and we started in hopeful sunshine, then in unhopeful sleety rain which was happily and hopefully just a brief wetting. Any further showers seem to have just missed us, although it seems that the surrounding hills were enjoying some fairly beefy ones.
There was snow too, remaining from a snowy and unpleasant week of weather which had me hiding indoors with lots of hot coffee. And toast. And preventing me getting to Nenthead for a reccy.

The snow was starting to thaw in the sun, just still deep enough to disguise the really deep boggy bits from unwary boots and,  after bagging the top, we sailed down the ridge to a square fold where, inside, it was quite warm in the sunshine for the scoffing of lunches. This is not a sheepfold, though. It’s square and the map announces a disused mine near the site of it. My suspicion is that it’s a fold for ponies, used to remove ore from the mine. There’s other square folds in other places…

We returned via the Miner’s Rest, Carrshields and Coalcleugh – a tussocky trip where we failed to acheive the signpost at the bridleways junction in favour of a contouring route which saved a bit of climbing and was no rougher than the proper route.
At Nenthead, Brian was found attempting to fix the window on his car. He joined us in the Miners Arms determined to delegate the engineering to his son, who was on his way…
The walk is about 12 miles and 1800 feet of up, with some bogs and tussocks. Bits of it are quite fab, though…