FORNSIDE CHRONICLE - My description of the walk. Today I headed south to the Outlying Fell of Black Combe in the far south west of the Lakes. As with most of the north and west of the country, we had a wonderful blue sky day and I parked at Beckside on the A595 and set off up the track to Whincham Mill at the foot of Whitecombe Beck. When I saw a track heading to my left up Black Combe Beck I followed it for a little way to get a good vew of the combe below Blackcombe screes. Then I turned right and climbed the very broad grass and bilberry ridge aptly called Horse Back. This lead easily to the summit plateau and a short gentle climb brought us to the summit trig point and shelter. The views are stunning from up there - maybe there was a bit too much haze but I could still see Blackpool tower to the south. I felt sorry for the people on the Isle of Man. There was only one cloud over the Irish Sea - and I bet you can guess where it was! I headed down to White Combe - more of a hump on the ridge but with a huge shelter cairn. Then a short diversion to the minor summit of White Hall Knott - a great viewpoint and an interesting summit - much more interesting than White Combe. I passed a huge badger set on the descent to the road - perhaps 25 yards long with more entrances than I could count. A walk of less than 400 yards brought me back to Beckside. I am bemused as to why the great man (Wainwright) chose not to include Black Combe in his Southern Fells He put it in the Outlying Fells book) - this is a wonderful fell and well worth the effort. The terrain is great (Bilberry rather than heather) and the views are fabulous on a good day.

said fornside 2007.05.21 at 13:02:43 PDT