Marvellous Martindale

In our pursuit of walking the countryside, most of us will find ourselves in circumstances which we wouldn't normally find ourselves in from time to time, and maybe wonder (just for a moment) what the hell are we doing this for.

So I thought I'd share what is now an amusing situation I found myself in while ticking off a hand full of Wainwright fells and a little word of warning about parking.

It was November 2016, I had decided to do a solo walk of the Martindale round.

Having done a little homework on the route and parking for the day as you do, I had decided to park by the Old Church of St Martin at the foot of Steel knotts, on a little patch of flatish grass just off the very narrow road, out of harms way so to speak, just as others had done prevously. The valley was silent when I arrived and not a soul to be seen. It had been a two hour drive from home, setting out well before first light, I finally parked up about 8.50am.

The tracks at the bottom of the photo should have been a giveaway

The Old Church of Saint Martin

The weather was cold but dry, and as I climbed up the path toward Gowk Hill, I looked back down the valley and could see another car had parked up next to mine, which made me think it was a good spot and all would be fine.

The Nab takes centre stage, behind it, is the skyline of the days route I'd be walking.

Looking over to Beda Fell to the left

At some point on the path away from the Old Church I missed the left turn diagonal track taking me up towards Gowk Hill, and instead I was heading for a tree line on a level path,  Having back tracked and not found the right path, I decided to cut through the thick ferns and climb the steep ground to regain the planned route I should have been on. So not the best start to a walk.

Summit of Wether Hill 670m

The day's planned route would include Wether Hill first, then onto the tightly packed High Raise, Kidsty Pike, Rampsgill Head, and The Knott, There are some Wainwright summits you really need  to work hard for, but from this route these four peaks were easily reached with very little climbing involved. I would then go onto Rest Dodd, The Nab, Brock Crags and finally Angletarn Pikes. returning to the valley via Dale Head Farm.

The peace and quiet was temporarily broken as I headed for "High Raise"

Apart from the panoramic views, the walk from Wether Hill to High Raise is a little dull on a track used by quad bikes from the look of it. during this section of walking I felt a slight groin strain, probably due to wading through the ferns earlier.

High Raise summit

From the summit of High Raise, fantastic views of the surrounding fells can be seen, including the Helvellyn range to the west, the Howgill fells to the east, and the Coniston fells in the south west.

Looking back down the valley of Martindale from Rampsgill Head

Rest Dodd summit, and a single poppy is seen on the cairn

After reaching The Knott, and Rest Dodd a little later than planned due to the muscle strain, I had to decide if I had time and the ability to summit The Nab then come back on myself for Brock Crags and Angletarn Pikes and still have daylight to pick up the path at Bedafell Knott taking me down to Dale Head Farm. Alfred Wainwright's guide book suggests it's a difficult path to find, and after my start to the day I wasn't taking any chances.
So I decided to leave The Nab for another day and head for Brock Crags.

 The weather was closing in from the west mid afternoon

 Approaching Angle Tarn 

Having decided to skip The Nab, I had bought myself a little more time, and as the rain was not far away I felt it was a good time to sit, have a bite to eat and enjoy the view of a very peaceful tarn while the weather was dry.

Just as I reached the summit of Angletarn Pikes, the black clouds started to drop below the summits, the rain began to fall, and daylight was fading fast.

 Place Fell

Last light of the day as the rain finally arrived while looking back at The Nab

Not long after passing Dale Head farm, darkness fell on the valley only illuminated by two farm lights.

If you've been to Martindale, you'll know how a feeling of remoteness it is in the dark.

I still had about 2 miles to walk back to the car, I could see the rain was now bouncing off the road through the small beam of light from my head torch, while wishing the lane was a lot shorter.

When I finally reached the car, it was on its own, I could make out the other car parked next to it that day had gone, but couldn't see much else. 

Keeping the head torch and the car interior lights on, I had a drink and ate what was left of the food in my rucksack, after such a long day I was staving and feeling a little wet and cold, I quickly changed out of my muddy boots, and was finally sat in the car dry and warm. Interior light switched off, the landscape was so black. I started the car up, headlights and wipers on and tried to drive off the grass.........the wheels just turned over but the car wasn't going anywhere!!!

I rolled back a bit, tried to drive forward again, but still the same result. I got out and tried pushing, but needed a driver to apply the pedal.

I had an idea 💡 I had some cardboard in the bottom of my boot, under all my walking gear. So I put the head torch back on, emptied the boot (still absolutely chucking it down) and placed the cardboard next to the two front tyres. Yes I managed to roll the car onto them, but they just slid under the car in a crumbling mess after applying a little power.....I was almost back to square one, just further from the road, and I was a little muddier, and wet again. I'm going to need to walk to a farm for help I thought, or I'll be stuck here all night. There wasn't any phone signal in the valley, so calling for help wasn't an option.

It was at this point I saw headlights coming towards me, and like an idiot I ran out into the road in panicking desperation thinking it was a passing car and waved it down, you'd have thought I'd been stuck for days without food or water!!!........it wasn't a car, but a quad bike. 

It belonged to the farmer down the lane who apparently had waited ten minutes after seeing my headlights switch on before setting out to check I was okay.

"Any chance of a push?" I asked

He then began telling me how he'd managed to tow the car parked next to mine out about a couple of hours ago, then shone his spotlight on two huge half wheel shaped divots almost a foot deep in the mud a few feet to my side!!!

And with a knowing look the farmer said "I'll get the tractor" 

Still pouring down with rain I managed to retrieved one cardboard sheet from under the car to kneel on while I connected the tow loop under the car.

The kind farmer returned, roped up and pulled me clear off the grass and back on the tarmac road. I offered to pay the guy but he wouldn't take any money.

Wet, cold and absolutely covered in mud but relieved to be leaving Martindale, I did think to myself what the hell am I doing, but then just laughed and smiled all the way to the YHA that night. You gotta love what we do.

Not all farmers have it in for us walkers, there are some good people out there, so my thanks goes out to the guy who rescued me that evening, I didn't get his name, our meeting was brief in the bad weather ........but a lesson learned for me regarding parking, keep off wet grass unless your parked down hill.

Thanks for reading.