AW must be puzzled by people like me
insisting on walking up all the fells which he included in his
books. To quote from his description of Mungrisdale Common:
"Most fells have at least one good aspect, but the Common, from whatever side it is seen, has no more pretension to elegance than a pudding that has been sat on. ...(its) natural attractions are of a type that appeals only to sheep." And "There is little point in providing diagrams of ascent that will never be used.....precious holiday hours should not be wasted here". Which is even more disparaging than his comments on Thunacar Knott, and that's saying something!
But I said I would do it, and was lucky enough to have a sunny day as well, so here are the pictures. I have added in some photos of a walk up Catbells in May, which I forgot to include at the time. Now Catbells is definitely worth while - but unfortunately we chose a wet and windy day, so the magnificent views were nowhere to be seen. For some better pictures, click here.
Click on any picture below for a larger version:
If you would like to sponsor me and Sophie in our quest to walk all the Wainwrights for the Great North Air Ambulance Service, please click here - and thank you for your generosity!
"Most fells have at least one good aspect, but the Common, from whatever side it is seen, has no more pretension to elegance than a pudding that has been sat on. ...(its) natural attractions are of a type that appeals only to sheep." And "There is little point in providing diagrams of ascent that will never be used.....precious holiday hours should not be wasted here". Which is even more disparaging than his comments on Thunacar Knott, and that's saying something!
But I said I would do it, and was lucky enough to have a sunny day as well, so here are the pictures. I have added in some photos of a walk up Catbells in May, which I forgot to include at the time. Now Catbells is definitely worth while - but unfortunately we chose a wet and windy day, so the magnificent views were nowhere to be seen. For some better pictures, click here.
Click on any picture below for a larger version:
|
We started off from the
Blencathra Centre - with this approach you can cheat by driving a fair
distance upwards - and you also get better views, for example of
Lonscale Fell on the left of the path. |
| It may be a bit of
a squashed pudding to look at, but some climbing is involved, in this
case via Roughten Gill. Blencathra is on the right. |
 |
 |
The
pudding top. |
| In
AW's day there was, reasonably enough, no cairn or anything else to
mark the top of the Common, but someone has decided this is as good as
anywhere else. In the background is the summit ridge of
Blencathra. What a contrast! I am saving Blencathra (the
other side of the ridge) for my last Wainwright, since it is my
favourite fell - but I've never been on the Common before... |
 |
 |
The view west from the
Common towards Lonscale Fell. The Cumbria Way passes along the
valley from Keswick towards "Back o' Skiddaw" to the right |
| The
Common from the bottom of Sinen Gill. |
 |
 |
Well, it can't be that bad
if you finish up with a view like this! The North-western Fells
beyond Derwentwater. Latrigg is on the right. |
 |
Four months
previously we had climbed Catbells with a group of friends from down
south. They probably were not too impressed with the weather that
day (which is why we didn't attempt a high fell), but the Swinside Inn
afterwards helped everyone to dry off. |
| It's
still a beautiful little fell, though, isn't it? Click here for some views in the sunshine. |
 |
If you would like to sponsor me and Sophie in our quest to walk all the Wainwrights for the Great North Air Ambulance Service, please click here - and thank you for your generosity!