Carlisle & District Rambling & Fellwalking Club

Walk & Event Reports

Sunday 22nd  October 2017

A Walk

Gilsland Circular

9 Miles Grade 2

Leader: Alan Dobson

Report & Photos by

Peter Flynn

While I would hesitate to recommend them for Sharp Edge or Gt Gable or some other of the more serious peaks or ridges in the Lake District,   wellingtons were very much the footwear de riguer today,  with our walk along the River Irthing as far as the waterfall at Crammell Linn.  (Apparently,  Saxon for “chasm with the pool”.)  The Linn was an amazing sight today – as,  hopefully,  the photos will show.  The water thundering down was as powerful as I have ever seen – quite awesome and scary.  A side effect,  however,  was that it was somewhat muddy and boggy underfoot,  hence the wellies.  5 of us set off from Gilsland and in the initial stretch, along a section of the Roman Wall,  it did strike me that we do tend to take for granted the ease of access to one of the most famous and important historic sites in the whole of Western Europe.  Despite recent downpours,  the weather was by no means unpleasant.  We had the odd light shower,  but these died off towards midday and it was comparatively warm and still.  Very curiously,  the return from the Linn involved us passing through the hamlet of Moscow!  Curious,  because the whole area is covered with signs about M.O.D. land,  and unexploded devices in the ground,  and there were numerous mock-up or abandoned tanks,  alongside what looked like an elderly,  and certainly not airworthy, Gloster Meteor.  We did manage to make it back to Gilsland without blowing ourselves or anyone else up and had a very welcome tea and cakes at the Long Meg café.  A lovely village,  with one odd looking house:  as,  hopefully,  the photos will show,  it has most of the roof tiles missing,  and the chimney supported with a hope and a prayer rather than more conventional building materials,  but it is still occupied by,  it seems,  an eccentric ex-scientist.  A lovely walk,  many thanks to Alan for leading it and sharing his knowledge of the area.

Peter