Arnside & Silverdale Walks
Hutton Roof Crags
Date: 25th February 2012
Distance: 6.5 miles
Ascent: 950 feet
Time: 3 hours 15 mins
With: On my own
Start Grid Ref: SD554811
Walk Summary:
A walk from Lupton up on to the tangled limestones uplands of Hutton Roof Crags.
Route Summary: Lupton - Green Lane End - Badger Gate - Sealford Farm - Hutton Roof Church - The Rakes - Hutton Roof Crags - Uberash Plain - Whin Yeats - Puddlemire Lane - Lupton Beck - Lupton
Pictures:
1. Looking across Lupton Beck to the flanks of Farleton Fell
2. Lupton Beck
3. Hutton Roof Church
4. Lichen covered limestone in the woods behind the church
5. Looking towards the Howgills, Middleton Fell and Great Coum
6. Looking across the Rakes to a distant Ingleborough
7. Limestone and juniper
8. Limestone pavement near Potslacks
9. The thin path through the woods at Potslacks
10. Limestone pavement
11. It took me a while but eventually I found the trig point
12. Looking across Uberash Plain to Farleton Fell
13. Zooming in on Middleton Fell from Whin Yeats
14. Scout Hill from the bridleway descending from Whin Yeats
Walk Detail: Hutton Roof Crags and the adjacent Farleton Fell sit just to the east of the Arnside & Silverdale AONB and together form an extensive area of upland limestone. I've passed them numerous times on the way to the Lakes and have had it in mind to visit them for a while now. As I'd decided to try and cram two walks in to the day I decided to stop off at Lupton on the way back from Arnside for this walk up on to Hutton Roof Crags.
Whilst there had been some nice bright spells for my morning walk up on to Arnside Knott by midday it had turned rather cloudy, as opposed to the sunny afternoon that had been forecast. The early part of the walk from Lupton to Hutton Roof Church was a rather dull combination of back country lanes and muddy fields and certainly suffered in comparison with the fantastic walk I'd had earlier in the day.
Matters got much more interesting once I arrived on to the Open Access land of Hutton Roof Crag. Unlike the grassy limestone uplands of, say Malham, the environs of Hutton Roof Crag were a rather incredibly tangled scrubland of limestone, juniper, hawthorn, gorse and bracken. There was also an extensive network of thin paths leading in all directions almost none of which are marked on the map. The multitude of paths together with the thick scrubland meant route finding was quite a challenge.
After a few false starts, and having been deflected by a very thick line of trees, I eventually located the trig point on one of the few patches of truly open ground on the fell. Although the day had turned cloudy the view was still very extensive and included the Howgill Fells, Ingleborough, a long line of Bowland fells to the south and the entire length of Arnside & Silverdale directly to the west. Had conditions been better there would have also been a fine view of the Lake District.
Having taken so long to find my way to the top I was able to quickly locate a path leading down the limestone scar of Uberash Breast and across Uberash Plain to the minor road separating Hutton Roof Crags with Farleton Fell. Saving the latter for another day I followed a pleasant bridleway from Whin Yeats to Puddlemire Lane before crossing Lupton Beck to return to the start.
Despite the dull start this was a fascinating walk and I certainly think that a further, more detailed, exploration of Hutton Roof Crags would certainly be rewarding.
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