As anyone who has walked the ridge between Clough Head and the Dodds knows, it is a flat whale back of a ridge covered in peat.  Many of the settlements in the valley below date from Norse times (1,000 years ago) as witnessed by the names.  For example Fornside, Legburthwaite and Lowthwaite are all of Norse origin.  So peat will have been an important fuel for at least since those settlements were created.  Fornside and Lowthwaite have their peat tracks on which peat was brought down from the ridge above on wooden hand sleds.

Today's Unfrequented Wainwright Route was an ascent of Great Dodd via Mill Gill, returning to Fornside via Calfhow Pike and the peat track down Beckthorns Rib.