We pencilled in two possible dates for our sponsored walk, namely Thursday 12 July and Thursday 19 July. The way the weather has been all through June and early July, we thought we should go for the first possible date. Weather wise, the forecast for the 12th was “light rain” in the morning and clearing up for the afternoon. Definitely doable! The 12th it was then!

There were four of us on the walk, namely: Trystan Williams, John Stevens, our long term volunteer keeper, his friend John Falconer and myself.

We met up at Milburn in the Eden Valley and were ready to start the walk at 8 am in the morning. Both Johns and Trystan sporting some fine “state of the art footwear” for the occasion. As for myself, this was slightly tricky as I had experienced some difficulty with my footwear on the previous Sunday, whilst walking the fells, in preparation for this trek. My left middle toes kept cramping up, causing a burning sensation on the sole of my foot, which was quite painful. The only footwear I had which were comfortable were a pair of sandals. No problem, I would wear the sandals.

We set off at the scheduled time, only to find that the public footpath signage wasn’t quite what the map suggested. After two false starts, we finally managed to get onto the proper route, explorer maps being quite useful, as they also show field boundaries. A hundred yards into the walk, my feet were already soaked. We were now headed up towards Silverband mine on the western slopes of Great Dun Fell and all was straight forward until we were past Burney Hill at 426m. This is where we hit the base of the low lying cloud cover. We turned round and saw a tantalizing glimpse of the Lakeland fells, basking in sunshine, before heading up into the cloud. To make matters worse, the path we were following, which was clearly marked on the map, now also ceased to be.

Using a compass bearing, we managed to make it to Silverband mine, an old lead mine which has long since been abandoned although it was used as an open cast mine in the 1970’s and 80’s. The derelict pylons we encountered in the mist told us we were on the right route. From Silverband, there is a track which circumnavigates the summit of Great Dun Fell and which had the weather been more agreeable would have afforded us panoramic views of Eden and the Lake District. At the south western corner of Great Dunn Fell is a subsidiary peak called Green Castle at 752m and where we, to our surprise, joined an asphalted single track road which services the radar station on Great Dun Fell. This took us through a gill which also borders Knock Fell on the southern side. Of immediate interest were lovely patches of flowering wild thyme which were growing to the side of the road. Looking up on either side we could faintly discern the outcrops of limestone which are so typical of the Pennines, as well as the hardy Swaledale sheep which are bred specifically for these wild summits.

Following the road we made it to the top of Great Dun Fell at 845m/2783ft, the second highest peak in the Pennine range. Weather conditions were now deteriorating and we all donned our waterproofs. I had to marvel a the insulating properties of wool as I was wearing (very wet) woollen socks which in spite of the wet kept my feet quite warm.

After some light refreshment at the Radar Station, we met our one and only fellow walker, a woman and her dogs, who was walking a part of the Pennine Way. Then we had a short descent on a paved footpath before ascending Little Dun Fell, 843m/2763ft. The paved footpath made navigation easy at this time, as visibility was virtually zero and the surrounding landscape scarily featureless.

At the summit cairn of Little Dun Fell we noticed many bird droppings but thought nothing of it at this time, as no doubt, we all had the imminent ascent of Cross Fell on our mind. Cross Fell at 893m or 2931 ft is the highest peak in the Pennines, which runs from North Derbyshire to the Scottish Borders and this range also represents the “watershed” for this part of Britain. All water running off the western slopes empties into the North Sea and therefore to a large extent shapes many of the geographical features of Northern Britain. Cross Fell has quite a fearsome reputation in that it used to be called “Fiend’s Fell” until some misguided clergyman tried to perform an exorcism on its summit. (This is no doubt due to an awesome local phenomena known as the “Helm Wind” which is a fierce hurricane strength east wind which blows down the western slopes into the local villages of the Eden Valley, causing much damage and which is caused by warm air rising from the west and then cooling and travelling down again, gathering momentum. The fiend, I am grateful to say, didn’t rear its ugly head and we made the summit by 1 pm in a very thick mist.

Picture courtesy John Falconer

At the windbreak next to the Trig point on the summit, the mystery of the bird droppings was answered as to our surprise a flock of starlings was rousting on the top. They seemed reluctant to leave, as they didn’t fly far from us. We could hear them through the murk, the sound being quite eerie, until they did a low swoop across the windbreak with a loud “whoosh” causing John Stevens to remark: “Perhaps that was a practise bombing run”. We consulted the map to finalise our descent. By going due magnetic north and keeping some screes to our right we should hit a path going east and west. You couldn’t go wrong! There we would turn west and descend to Kirkland. Even though this is on the Pennine Way, it is surprising how quickly a path can disappear, which is exactly what happened. We were wondering when we would hit this junction when John Falconer remarked that we were in fact heading due east according to his compass. We all looked at one another. This couldn’t be?? The compass must be wrong! He then started fishing for something in his bag and muttering to himself “I didn’t want to use this unless absolutely necessary”. John produced a GPS (Global Positioning System). I said to no one in particular “I wouldn’t have a clue how to work one of those”. John Stevens replied, “Join the Club”. It turned out that we were about a quarter of a mile on the way into Teesdale! We had already joined the footpath and gone in the wrong direction! We about turned and head the other way into worsening weather, if that was possible!

On the way down, I marvelled at my footwear as I found the abundant water very convenient for washing out the peat and gravel between my socks and sandals! Once we had descended to around 500m we left the cloud behind and were at last rewarded with a stunning panorama in front of us - The Eden Valley.

When looking across the Eden from the Lake District, the Pennines don’t look all that impressive, the reason being that it is truly a big landscape – everything is massive, including the Pennines. To our right was Ardale Beck tumbling down a gill that looked like it could give High Cup Nick* a run for its money.

Once down in Kirkland, the land (and the sheep) took on a different softer character. There we turned left (south) through a farm called Rambeck and a series of cultivation terraces curiously named “Hanging Walls of Mark Anthony”. The way marking had improved somewhat by now. Once past another farm called Wythwaite, we headed into a wood only to find that the footbridge across Crowdundle Beck had been washed away in recent floods. We would have to wade! This is where my eccentric footwear with its multifaceted drainage came to the fore! After another slight “magical mystery tour”, due to uncertain signage, we managed to make it back to the cars in Milburn. As it turned out, Trystan and both Johns had effectively waded in buckets of water for the final two miles, and that the end of the walk funnily enough, I was the only one whose feet didn’t have any scuffmarks or blisters! Maybe there is something to be said for fell walking in sandals after all. Having said that, we all agree that this had been the most physically and mentally challenging walk we have so far undertaken on behalf of the Trust and we thank everyone who has supported us. From start to finish, the walk took 9 ½ hours.

Wulf Ingham

* High Cup Nick is a classic U-shaped valley high on the western flanks of the North Pennines - an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

Wulf, I think you are in good company - Hunter Davis (writer) has walked the fells regularly in tennis pumps for the summer and wellies for the winter!

Thanks to Wulf for taking us with them on their intrepid walk through this account of the day. The Trust is really proud that our staff and volunteers are willing to literally “go the extra mile” to help with our work and also many thanks to those of you who sponsored the Team and believed they could do it. The money raised is ……… which is brilliant! This will be used to help the owls in our care by maintaining their homes.

Chief Exec

Registered Charity Number: 1055489 Limited Company Number: 5296745

The World Owl Trust is a member of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) and the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums (EAZA). The Trust relies on a dedicated membership, visitors, donations and legacies.