| It was the first weekend in November (2003) and our first
hut meet of the season. We’d got Beckstones cottage booked down at Logan
Beck in the Duddon Valley, however, we had too many people going for the hut
so I stayed at Turner Hall Farm campsite, further up the valley near
Seathwaite. Officially the campsite is open from April to October but it
actually stays open until the water supply freezes up. The campsite is in a
wonderful location, very secluded yet only five minutes walk from the pub in
Seathwaite. |
| Friday morning, at the crack of
dawn (7:30 actually) I left Newbury and avoided the normal M6 grief around
Birmingham. By 12:30 I was pitching my tent and by 1 p.m. was setting off for
an exploratory walk up the valley. The path starts off in farm land before
changing to more typical mountain terrain, in this case bracken. Although it
was easy to follow it was nothing like the veritable erosion motorways that you
find in some areas. In fact, coming down in the dark it was difficult to follow
where it went across pastures. The afternoon light was superb and really
complemented the autumnal colours, needless to say, several photographs were
taken along the way. |
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I decided to have a go at a
nice easy scramble, Tarn Beck. Given the exceptionally dry summer I was
expecting this to be feasible. It was. It’s a grade 1 scramble up the
waterfalls of Tarn Beck, the guide book rates it as grade 1-2, I wouldn’t
extrapolate it to a grade 2 though. Route finding is exceedingly simple, just
follow the beck up hill taking the driest and most reasonable looking line. It
wasn’t that wet although waterproof boots and gaiters are needed, and the only
slimy areas are when you boulder hop across the stream bed. It’s a really
pleasant scramble, unfortunately it’s a little on the short side and only takes
about 15 minutes. Not to worry though, just hang a left at the top, follow a
path down (or make your own way, its not difficult) and arrive at the bottom of
Little Blake Rig. |
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Route finding here is a
different kettle of fish, as I will explain. From a distance I looked at the
sketch map in the scrambling guide and matched up what I thought was the route,
bearing in mind that the book was written 20 years ago and the tree is no longer
there, it has however been replaced by four other trees (shrubs more like) to
confuse things. Anyway, the first rock rib matched the description so up I
went. From then on nothing at all matched the description despite a
considerable amount of hunting around. So, I just continued upwards scrambling
at will at about grade 1 level. |
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At the top I walked along the ridge overlooking
Seathwaite Tarn, then waited for the sun set. Beautiful. At one stage I
thought the clouds were going to disappoint but not so. A shower of rain
passing down the valley below me meant that the whole valley was filled with a
reflected red glow. There then followed a walk down in the gathering gloom
followed by a bite to eat in the pub. |
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Saturday dawned dry and bright
but some cloud quickly bubbled up leaving the light too flat for photographs. A
good job I’d got mine the day before. Seven of us set off from Seathwaite
for an attempt to do all the scrambles in the vicinity. Most of us
were rock climbers of varying ability but there was one walker in our midst.
As we were going to be attempting grade 3 scrambles we took a rope,
harnesses and an “Alpine” rack. The plan was to rope up and move
together on the grade 3’s. The first scramble we attempted was Throng
Close, a grade 1 warm up. This proved to be a really good route,
albeit a little on the short side, as are all of the scrambles here.
Route finding was easy, it isn’t serious and there are plenty of optional
variations that make it grade 2 in places. An ideal route. |
| We then
dropped down the gully between the two buttresses and arrived at the foot of
Crag Band, a grade 3 route. Looking at it, it didn’t look that hard, with the
difficulties lower down. We decided not to bother roping up. Mike looked a bit
dubious when I said I’d go ahead of him and throw the rope down to him if he
needed it, “just tie a bowline round your waist.” The start itself was
pretty much a boulder problem, but then the hard bit became obvious, a rather
exposed slab. Fortunately, you can avoid it all together by going right. Three
of us took the slab direct, the other four went round. Its not that hard but
you sure don’t want to fall off. Above this the route reverts to a grade 1
scramble with easy route finding. |
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| Next on the list was Tarn
Beck. We dropped our rucksacks at the top and scrambled down through the
bracken to the start. Somewhat unsurprisingly it was exactly the same as the
previous day. |
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After a lunch stop we descend
once more to do Little Blake Rigg. I remained silent and left the route finding
to Tim this time. He finds the start of the route straight away, about 20 m to
the left of where I started yesterday. The guide book is a little confusing,
it’s on the right of the buttress but not the extreme right. Based on a
statistical sample of two, you’ve got a 50% chance of finding the route. Oh,
and don’t count on the sketch in the guide book, I fitted it perfectly to the
wrong route! You start by scrambling up a small rib, exactly like the one I
went up the day before. Then there’s a buttress with a cap stone at about 6
feet height. This is the crux (grade 2). Climb on to the cap stone, but don’t
pull on it too hard in the process as it wobbles. There’s a superb foot hold
for your right foot in a groove. Place your right foot in said groove, and
trust it, it will stay planted. There are no hand holds. No push hard
off the cap stone with your left foot to transfer all your weight onto your
right foot. It’s a confidence thing. The harder you push off the easier it
is. The timid will struggle. Excellent scrambling follows all the way to the
top. Grade 1 or 2 depending on your choice of route, all the harder bits can be
avoided if you want. |
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| Four down, one to go, - Great
Blake Rigg- another grade 3 scramble remains. This is a half hour walk from the
top of Little Blake Rigg but fortunately doesn’t involve any ascent, you just
contour around whilst looking down onto Seathwaite Tarn. Finding the buttress
itself is easy (not named on 1:25000 maps), it’s the big buttress dropping down
on the northern flank above Seathwaite Tarn. Finding the route is another
matter. You go round to the right of the big overhangs and there are three
gullies. Which one? We went up the crack that runs parallel with the
buttress. Its not that steep and there are some loose flakes on the right. But
then you step right onto a ledge, not left?? The route then is obvious, but its
mind numbingly exposed - straight up the clean rock of the buttress. A rope is
essential as there is only going to be one outcome if you fall off. Time was
pressing so rather than rope up we by-passed this on the left, but there was
still a tricky and exposed step up, followed by much easier but still exposed
scrambling. The scramble then becomes an easy grade 1 before a walk on to the
summit of Greyfriars. This is further than it looks as you pass two false
summits on the way. |
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| After the obligatory summit
pictures we headed off down to the pleasures of the Newfield Inn in Seathwaite.
The food’s not bad at all, reasonably priced, and is actually home made, not a
Brake Brothers special purporting to be home made. Although there’s sweet and
sour and lasagne on the menu, somewhat rarely these days there’s local food,
including Herdwick lamb (all of the meat is local by the way, even if all the
breeds aren’t). |
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| I certainly enjoyed the Duddon
Valley, it really is unspoilt and being off the beaten track it’s quiet. To be
honest I can’t say its going to be quiet on an August bank holiday, but judging
from the lack of traffic on the paths it can’t be that busy. I’ll certainly be
coming back. |
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