This section is devoted to the membership of the Online Fellwalking Club.  Here you will find much to link you with other members of the club and share in each other's experiences.  Since its inception, the membership has made the OFC what it is - a great place to be. Please feel free to contact us and include your own selections and articles.

A selection of the latest items from our Club Members is shown below:

  • Header image
    Dale Head
  • Header image
    Polly completes her 214
  • Header image
    Birkhouse Moor
  • Header image
    With Wasdale MRT - Remembrance Sunday, 2005
  • Header image
    Helm Crag
  • Header image
    New OFC website launch (23 August 2007)
  • Header image
    AW Centenary Walk - Pendle (Jan 2007)
  • Header image
    With Jos Naylor - Fellrunning legend!
  • Header image
    Drinks in the Unicorn, Ambleside
  • Header image
    Ascent of Skiddaw, February 2003
  • Header image
    OFC on Ullock Pike
  • Header image
    Roger Hiley leads a walk up Haystacks
  • Header image
    At Cockermouth MRT Base Presenting £400
  • Header image
    The OFC Photographers!
  • Header image
    A Kentmere Round with Austrian member, Helmut Hudler
  • Header image
    Ascent of Low Fell before the Inaugural Dinner 2nd Sep 2006
  • Header image
    Pendle Summit - The Wainwright Memorial Walk
  • Header image
    3rd Club Meet - An Ascent of Rannerdale Knotts
  • Header image
    The Highest Book Launch in the Land!
  • Header image
    Ben Hammond et al - Remembrance Sunday
  • Header image
    Housesteads Fort, Christmas 2002
  • Header image
    First OFC Club meet
  • Header image
    High Pike on the occasion of the AW Society Inaugural Meeting
  • Header image
    Honister meet August 2007
  • Header image
    Hunter Davies - The OFC Inaugural Dinner
  • Header image
    Lost Sheep 6 - Launch August 2007
  • Header image
    Channel 4 Roman Walk - Traverse of High Street
Park & Stride 25 - Grange Fell from Grange-in-Borrowdale Print
Written by Mark Richards   
Friday, 15 February 2008

Park & Stride 25 - Grange Fell from Grange-in-Borrowdale

PARK BUT THINK BUS!

One may start from either the Grange Bridge or Rosthwaite village bus stops. If you have to drive then use the National Trust car park in Rosthwaite, if this is full use the adjacent Community Hall (parking fee for hall funds) GR 258148.

The Jaws of Borrowdale

Ruskin said that mountains were the beginning and end of all natural scenery. Wainwright considered the Jaws of Borrowdale to be the most beautiful square mile in Lakeland. From this one must deduce that the environs of Grange-in-Borrowdale are indeed England's finest scenic moment. This walk sets out to discover something of this genius loci, to savour the rich mix of native woodland amid a glorious tangle of rugged hills. At the same time seeking to foster use of the extra special public transport facility the 'Borrowdale Rambler' bus. Service 79 plies the valley from Keswick to Seatoller every daylight hour throughout the year, bravo Stagecoach. Why bring your car into this heavenly place if you don't have to?

Grange Bridge and Borrowdale Rambler bus stopThe walk is described with 'green' travellers to the fore and therefore strides out from the earlier bus stop at Grange Bridge. By which means putting emphasis on the climb onto Grange Fell at the outset, it is always better to get the sweating over early on! The walk ranges over King's How which commands a marvellous outlook across the gulf of the Jaws to Goat Crag and the rugged flank of High Spy. Heading on through the heather banks to the highest point of this knobbly plateau, namely Brund Fell, before turning down by Puddingstone Bank to join the regular bridle-path linking Watendlath with Rosthwaite. Reaching the valley floor the walk then turns north with the option of either the scenically scintillating trail beside the wood-shaded rocky bed of the Derwent, or dependant on energy levels or inclination, claims the entertaining prize of Castle Crag. Julia Bradbury in her TV 'Wainwright Walks' series pronounced this little eminence as her favourite fell top, and who could deny her the indulgence of so lowly a summit, lying in such delectable surroundings?

Have bus will travel... and walk!

From the bus shelter on the east side of Grange Bridge walk south. Immediately after the guest house find a bridleway hand gate up the bank left from the road. Follow the path naturally through the open birchwood and marshy flushes crossing a low ridge to a hand gate in a wall. As the path descends fork right, short of the next hand gate, the path dipping through a stony hollow in the woodland beneath Greatend Crag. The path sets store on a steady ascent soon supported by firm steps, a magical staircase to the upper storey. Emerging from the tree canopy the path levels keep to the stepping stone trail rising again to curve right of the damp lateral valley climbing to the north end of King's How ascending via the Edward VII memorial plaque set into a rock alcove directly below the summit. The cairnless top of King's How 392m/1,286ft is the most prominent of the three 'summits' that comprise Grange Fell. Ether Knott 'the heather eminence' is the most northerly and just one metre lower than Brund Fell, the highest at 416m/1,365ft, lying to the south and is the next objective of the walk. The name Brund is thought to refer to a tradition of 'heather burning'.

 

 

This is an excerpt from Mark's original article.  To see the full article, you will need to download the PDF using the link below

Adobe PDF icon Download complete PDF (320KB)

 

© Mark Richards 2008




Bookmark with:What's this?

Reddit!Del.icio.us!Facebook!StumbleUpon!Yahoo!
 
Dow Crag by South Rake
Read more... The continued good fortune of being in Cumbria along with good weather, continued again on this outing, as a few OFC again gathered in Coniston.  My intentions were not to stay in Coniston, but with £100 to give to Coniston MRT it seemed logical to overnight in Coniston for two nights in order to make the best of my time.  Robbie K had already contacted me to say he would join me and Lorraine also hinted at a walk out.  However, as with all things, matters can change but I was mighty pleased when those who said they would walk did so.  Along with myself, Robbie, Lorraine and even Steven P joined me on the long ascent of the Walna Scar Road from the village.  It really was a magic morning!
 
Remembrance Sunday 2011
Read more... This year I planned to be in Coniston over the Remembrance weekend.  Great Gable, for many years my object of ascent on this iconic Sunday seemed a distant peak and so for practical purposes I set my sights on the summit of Great Carrs where I had visited the Halifax memorial on occasions before.  With hindsight it turned out I was glad to ascend the mountain this day with four fellow OFc members, for although Great Gable was again graced by a large throng for the FRCC service, the top of Great Carrs saw but 9 to remember 8 brave men of the Canadian Royal Air Force who died there in October 1944.
 
HAVE YOU SEEN?
Which is Your Favourite Mountain Literature?

Read more...These words were posted on the message board but might still inspire you to write in with your favourite.  Equally, if you have just read a book and would like to write a review then please do contribute to the website, we would love to hear.

"Through the years I have compiled a veritable library of books, many of which focus on my greatest love - that of high places.  To be honest I was surprised at my collection ranging from a book entitled, ‘Descriptive Tour’ from 1821, right up to Chris Jesty’s latest updated AW Pictorial Guide (Book 4).   To be honest, I had quite a fun afternoon, in between the cleaning and recycling, by dipping into some of the literary gems that grace my shelves."

 
BOOK REVIEW - Outside Broadcaster, An Autobiography
Read more...Eric Robson was born in Southern Scotland and has lived for most of his life in Cumbria.  For the latter part of his life he has owned a small farm near Wasdale and is most famous for his role as chairman of Gardeners' Question Time on BBC Radio 4. Over the last five years he has also chaired the Wainwright Society.  This book examines his own life with quite amusing anecdotes of his experiences as a freelance broadcaster and documentary maker.
 
RSS

Site Tips

Visitors to the site will be familiar with surfing the world wide web, but to get the most out of the new site you might want to know a few useful pieces of information.  Please read on here to get some tips for getting the most out of the new OFC site...

Join Us

Want to participate in the OFC? Then why not join the Yahoo Message Board




Forthcoming Events

There are no upcoming events currently scheduled.

Poll

Do you make use of AW's Pictorial Guides?
 

"I'd just like to say what a great weekend it has been and thanks to everyone who made it such a great time." Liz Lemal on the Honister 2007 weekend