A walk up Stagsfell.

Hello Ladies,

I have to tell you that after reading the end of my last post, my husband confronted me on the landing, just outside our bedroom door and almost demanded to know when I'd been Fell walking without him!

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As he now knows and you can see from the photos, this walk took place with hubby in the sunshine, back in May last year. I just never got around to posting about it.

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So after all the snow and grim weather we have had recently, I thought we could all do with a little unseasonal sunshine and fresh air.

Let's get started shall we?

The photo above will give you some idea of where we are going to walk. This is St. Margaret's church in Hawes. If you click on the photo to make it bigger (sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn't) and then look to the right of the church on the hillside, there is a dark diagonal line sloping upward to the shadows on the hillside. This diagonal line is the lane we will walk up, and then climb to the Fell top above it. (The third bump of hill from the left on the horizon.)

We have just left the tiny village of Sedbusk, in Wensleydale in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. There it is, (I'm looking backwards) all those little stone cottages.

Click here to see where we are on Google maps, just type in Sedbusk and click on Satallite. In both of the above photos, we are looking back down the veeeeeeery long Shutt Lane, back at Sedbusk and the little town of Hawes in the distance.

Onward and upwards!

We've left the lane now and climbed diagonally half way up the hillside to this little group of trees, where I have been promised a little rest by my mountain goat of a husband.
(can you hear me gasping for breath?)

This little group of spindly trees has a tumble down stone wall around it, once enclosing the trees and I presume protecting the young saplings from grazing sheep.

If there is one thing we are not short of here in the Dales, it's dry stone walls!

Well we've reached the summit, sorry I mean hill top! It just feels like I've climbed a mountain! Mental note to self, "must get fitter".
We are looking East, right down the Dale/valley.

I've turned right with my camera to try and give you a panoramic view of whats in front of me.

We can see right across from the one side of the Dale to the other.

And now to our right, looking West you can just make out the loooong lane to Sedbusk and Hawes in the distance. If you carried on travelling West in a straight line you would come to Sedbergh and then if you carry on that straight line you come to Kendal in the Lake District.

I'll keep turning right so that you can see what I see.

I'm now looking behind me (if that makes sense) at the moorland Fell top. At the other side of this moorland, which stretches for about 6 miles, is Swaledale (the next valley). There are only 3 or 4 roads (I use the term road very loosely) that cross this huge mass of land from one valley to the other. Closest to this spot is the Buttertubs Pass, the next two are above the village of Askrigg and are suitable called 'Cross Top' and 'Long Band', these roads are literally single tracks that you would only choose to travel in Summertime.

Heading back now. I think the whole walk took just over an hour.

It amazed me when we first came here, how many wild flowers there were at the road sides.

There is so little pollution here that wild snowdrops, garlic and foxgloves all thrive in the verges. Not to mention dozens of other flowers that I'm ashamed to say I don't know the names of.

See! There he is! He did come with me.

Back in pretty Sedbusk.

I'm not really flagging behind! No, I'm hanging back on purpose to take photos. cough! cough!

Well I hope you enjoyed our little walk?

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I think it must be time for a cuppa now, don't you?

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Fi x