Last updated 14:06, Thursday, 09 October 2008

EN route: Looking across Nan Bield Pass to Harter Fell

Map: OS Explorer map OL7.

Parking: Kentmere. Please park considerately in the village.

Public transport: None in autumn/winter, but Kentmere Rambler bus (service 519) may resume in May (telephone 0871 200 2233).

Refreshments: None in Kentmere; nearest in Staveley.

Distance: 12.5 miles

Total ascent: 3,600ft

Time: 8-9 hours

Grade: Hard/strenuous

Overview: The Kentmere Round is one of the Lake District’s classic horseshoe routes – and one of its toughest. Visiting Yoke (2,316ft), Ill Bell (2,483ft), Froswick (2,362ft), Mardale Ill Bell (2,496ft), Harter Fell (2,551ft), Kentmere Pike (2,394ft) and Shipman Knotts (1,926ft), it gives walkers a long day of spectacular ridge walking in wild, remote country. All of the paths are well-walked, so there shouldn’t be any problems with navigation – although the descent does cross some boggy ground. The drop from Shipman Knotts also includes some straightforward rock steps.

One of the highlights is the impressive, rocky hause at Nan Bield Pass. This also provides the only escape route on the walk.

The Walk: Go down the rough vehicle track (WNW) opposite the church’s front gate (signpost reads: “Public Bridleway Kentmere Hall ¼ mile, Ings 4 miles”). As you approach Kentmere Hall, you will pass one farm building on your right. Soon after this, turn right up another track and then go through a small gate in the wall on your right. Cross the field diagonally and leave it via a gate in the top, right-hand corner. There is no path on the ground here. Swing right and go through the gap between the barn on your left and the wall to pick up a faint track. Beyond the next gate, aim for a gap between the cottages straight ahead and then turn left up a rugged track (signpost reads: “Public Bridleway Troutbeck via Garburn Pass 3¾ miles”).

The initial climb up the Garburn Road isn’t a pleasant one. Originally a drove road, the route has become badly eroded over the years and you’ll sometimes end up crossing piles of loose rocks whilst dodging the mountain-bikers hurtling down from the pass. It’ll come as some relief when you finally reach the pass (1.75 miles from the start). Continue for a few more yards along the level top and, just before the track swings left, turn right along a faint path, the start of which is marked by a cairn.

The path is a little muddy in places at first, but you soon join a constructed path that goes a good way to the top of the first peak, which is Yoke. The summit (3.35 miles from the start) is unremarkable, but the views are stunning. Looking ahead, you can see Ill Bell, High Street, Helvellyn and Fairfield; to the right is the eastern arm of the Kentmere Round, your return route.

Keeping to the clear ridge path, you soon reach the highest point on the walk – Ill Bell (4.0 miles from the start). Descend steeply from Ill Bell and then begin the easier climb on to Froswick. Do not be tempted by the attractive-looking path off to the left that appears to miss out Froswick – this soon hits a steep, loose scree slope and isn’t recommended.

From the top of Froswick (4.55 miles from the start), descend to a grassy col and then begin climbing towards Thornthwaite Crag. Several hundred yards short of the summit, turn right at a lonely old fencepost – along a clear path (5.25 miles from the start). This soon forks; bear right here, on a loose path around the head of a gully. The narrow path hugs the edge of the fell, with steep slopes on your right leading down to the River Kent and Kentmere Reservoir.

Eventually, as you reach the flat top of Mardale Ill Bell, you will come to a T-junction with a much clearer path (6.5 miles from the start). Turn right to descend into Nan Bield Pass, a dramatic gap in the ridge with an eagle-eye view of Small Water directly below, and Haweswater to the NE.

The hause itself, the third highest of the major Lake District passes, is home to a sturdy shelter (7.0 miles from the start). If you need an escape route, you should now turn right and follow the bridleway, an old packhorse track, back to Kentmere. The main route continues uphill to Harter Fell. Ignore any paths to the right and you will come to the summit, marked by a cairn with bits of metal sticking out of it (7.5 miles from the start).

Turn right (SSW) to walk alongside the fence on your left. The fence/wall will be your companion for several miles, providing a navigational aid in misty conditions. The only time the path deviates from its clear line is to avoid boggy areas – of which there are many along this ridge – and to cut a corner on Goat Scar.

The route first climbs Kentmere Pike. The trig pillar (8.65 miles from the start) is on the east side of the wall, so it’s easy to miss. The wall/fence soon goes out on to the top of Goat Scar, but the path cuts a corner to rejoin it at a ladder stile (9.4 miles from the start). Cross this and continue along the clear path. The descent becomes steeper and rockier as you drop down from Shipman Knotts.

When you reach a T-junction at the bottom of the ridge (10.6 miles from the start), turn right along the clear, wide track. Turn left when you reach a minor road (11.4 miles from the start), take the next road turning on your right (12.0 miles from the start) and then turn right again at the T-junction to return to the church.

Points of interest: Kentmere Hall, now a farmhouse, includes a 14th century pele tower with five-foot thick walls. The Baron of Kendal gave the land to Richard de Gilpin in the thirteenth century after he hunted down and killed a ferocious wild boar that had been plaguing the villagers between Kendal and Windermere. The hall was the birthplace, in 1517, of Bernard Gilpin, a leading churchman in Tudor times who became known as the ‘Apostle of the North’.

Kentmere Reservoir was built in 1845 to regulate the supply of water to the mills further downstream on the River Kent.

For more walks in the Lake District, try Vivienne Crow’s Walk! The Lake District (North) published by Discovery Walking Guides. Available in bookshops and on Amazon.