The second walk to feature is Heughscar Hill from the village of Askham, a place that I have driven past and through on many occasions but have never actually started a walk from so I was looking forward to the walk through the village before we hit fell side.
The route first collects the Outlying summit of Heughscar Hill and after a gentle wander across the summit plateau a short visit to the limestone crags which make up the north western flank of the fell. After descending Heugh Scar our route would see us head south towards the Cockpit Stone Circle which is thought to date back to the Bronze age when early settlers occupied the land leaving burial mounds and many more stone circles in an area of Lakeland which was heavily forested before the Romans arrived.
From the Cockpit Stone Circle we track further south passing burial mounds easily accessed from the path as we head towards the Cop Stone which is also linked to Bronze aged settlers. The moorland is wide open and if you weren't to know about its history it could be described as featureless which is why it pays to take notes of the many paths that cross the moor should you leave the main path as we did before breaking for lunch on the forestry east of Heughscar Hill summit.
It was a turning into a dull day and any promise of those skies clearing quickly diminished a half hour into the walk, that isn't to say we didn't have a great afternoon out on the fell, even if we did get a little wet. |