Review: The Outlying Fells of Lakeland DVD

IN Wainwright’s 1974 Guide to the Outlying Fells of Lakeland he described it as “being a Pictorial Guide to the lesser fells around the perimeter of Lakeland written primarily for old age pensioners and other who can no longer climb high fells but can still, within reason, potter about on the short and easy slopes and summits of the foothills”.

The book has been out of print for a number of years but has recently been republished by The Wainwright Society (see www.wainwright.org.uk) and at the same time, Striding Edge Productions have released this DVD which has been produced and directed by award winning filmmaker Terry Abraham and narrated by Mountain Guide and TV Researcher David Powell-Thompson.

In the DVD David takes us on a journey over some of these lesser known Lake District fells including Gummer’s How above Windermere, The Circuit of Devoke Water, Stickle Pike in the Duddon Valley, Heughscar Hill above Ullswater, Whitbarrow near the Kent Estuary, and Scout Scar above Kendal.

As David points out towards the end of the DVD, although Wainwright’s guide was aimed particularly at pensioners when he wrote it, these walks on the DVD plus the other fifty in Wainwright’s guide are also very suitable as a good starter for families to introduce their youngsters to some of the easier areas of the Lake District.

The first of the walks to which David takes the viewer is to Heughscar Hill starting from the charming village of Askham. This is on land owned by the Earl of Lonsdale from Lowther Castle, and passes The Cockpit, so named because cock fights were held there in the 18th century.

In between the main six walks, David also mentions some of the other walks from the book and at this point in the DVD tells the listener about Ponsenby Fell and Cold Fell to the west of the Lake District. Wainwright said Ponsenby Fell was not really worth climbing apart from the fact it has a splendid approach through Blengdale Forest. David agreed with this and put neighbouring Cold Fell into the same category apart from the fact that it has the delightful Matty Benn’s bridge at the start of the walk.

The second of the walks is a Circuit of Devoke Water where David is joined by his walking companion Jeff Adams. During this 5½ mile walk they visit the summits of Rough Crag, Water Crag, White Pike, Yoadcastle, Woodend Height and Seat How. On Devoke Water is a boathouse owned by Pennington family of Muncaster Castle who also own the Tarn itself.

Two more walks are mentioned before the third walk is embarked upon, these being the Wasdale Horseshoe near to Shap and the Wet Sleddle Horseshoe in the same area. David doesn’t walk either of these but mentions that this area was the setting for the classic cult film, Withnail and I which was set at Sleddle Hall. The third walk is up Stickle Pike from Broughton Mills and includes the subsidiary summits of Great Stickle and Tarn Hill, the latter being surrounded by eight tarns – hence the name. Stickle Pike is sometimes called a mini Matterhorn due to its striking shape being similar to the Swiss mountain.

Before embarking on the fourth walk to Gummer’s How, David talks about Black Combe which overlooks the coastal plain of western Cumbria. He says that in Wainwright’s guide, he [AW] mentions that the ascent can be made in carpet slippers and as a joke, David has borrowed a pair from “the missus” for this part of the filming. On the Gummer’s How walk, the easiest of the six on the DVD, David is again joined by Jeff Adams for this short walk to the summit with its wonderful views of southern Windermere.

A final interjection by David before the final two fells is from Irton Pike and shows the superb view down his home valley of Wasdale. He then moves on to the ascent of Whitbarrow, the magnificent limestone escarpment above the Kent Estuary. There is a superb view from here down to Foulshaw Moss the RSPB nature sanctuary and on this part of the DVD there is some magnificent aerial photography by Orbital Filming over the Whitbarrow escarpment.

The final Outlying Fell visited is in fact the first fell in the book, and this is Scout Scar on the outskirts of Kendal, the town where Wainwright lived and worked for fifty years. The walk heads up Beast Banks and past Kettlewell Crag before reaching the escarpment of Crunswick Scar and moving on to the shelter and view indicator.at the top of Scout Scar. From here the views are extensive over to the Langdale Pikes in one direction and across to The Howgills and Ingleborough to the east.

Overall, this is an excellent DVD which gives the viewer a flavour of these Outlying Fells and whilst it covers only around ten percent of the fells in Wainwright’s guidebook it certainly wets the appetite to look at and visit the others which are not actually seen in the DVD. The quality of the filming is what one would expect from award winning filmmaker Terry Abraham and as mentioned earlier the aerial filming by Orbital Filming is also outstanding. It is well backed up by an excellent background soundtrack by Jamie Sims. David Powell-Thompson is a superb narrator, highly knowledgeable about the Lake District and its history and very witty in his delivery as well.

At the current time it is difficult to visit the Lake District and these fells, but this DVD, which would make an excellent Christmas present, means the viewer can travel there from the comfort of their front room and “bring the outdoors indoors”.

by John Burland