Sedbergh, New Year's Day, Cumbria, Winter
Happy New Year everyone!
Happy New Year everyone!
I hope you all had a merry time with those you love (which can also just be yourself). What are your goals for 2023? Let’s hope this year’s a little more… boring, shall we say?
To kick of 2023, Lisabet and I ventured east to Sedbergh. It’s been raining a lot in December, but we were hoping there’d be a teeny little break in the rain around lunchtime. And, incidentally, we had a table booked at the gorgeous Dalesman Country Inn for a New Year’s Sunday Roast.
We picked a trail that ran past the famous Sedbergh School, and down towards the River Rawthey. Here you join the Dales High Way and head east, past the Pepperpot and the ruins of Akay House, all the way to the New Bridge and back into Sedbergh, ready for a Sunday Roast.
Ultimately, we still got wet. But I did manage to get a few decent shots.
All photos taken on my Fujifilm X-T2 using my Vivitar “Series 1” 28‒105mm f2.8‒3.8 zoom lens. RAWs developed in Capture One for iPad, then tweaked and finished in Pixelmator Photo for iPad and Affinity Photo 2 for iPad.
Sedbergh, New Year's Day, Cumbria, Winter by Ian Cylkowski is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Sedbergh’s full of these beautiful little yards and alleys that are always so photogenic.
Plenty of Sedbergh’s yards are still cobbled, too. In the distance you can just make out the now-rusty hues of the southern Howgills.
The graveyard of St. Andrew’s Church as you head towards the grounds of Sedbergh School. The present church dates from around 1500AD, but material from earlier churches here have been incorporated into the current building.
Over towards Baugh Fell (678 m/2,224 ft), the heavens opened and dumped their liquid shipment all over the fell.
Just up the river bank along the Dales High Way is the Pepperpot. The story of its origin has been lost in the mists of time. One legend states that it was constructed as an isolation house for a local land owner’s daughter who had Tuberculosis. The ruins of this building were reconstructed in 2019 and the building has been given to the local community.
As the Pepperpot is perched on an isolated drumlin, it enjoys lovely views around Sedbergh. I enjoyed the way the trees and drystone walls created wandering lines across the frame all the way up to Holme Fell on the left.
A vertical photo of the same compositional idea.
Across the valley towards the Howgills, Arant Haw catches a little bit of afternoon winter light.
Into Akay Woods, a piece of mosaic flooring and a couple of these stone archways are all that remains of Akay House.
Before the heavens opened up again, I managed to sneak a clear view of the Howgills from the Rawthey footpath. The members of the Howgills seen here, from left to right, are Crook (461m/1,513ft), Sickers Fell (498m/1,633ft), and Knott (429m/1,407ft).
After all the rain we’ve had, the River Rawthey was absolutely gushing with water. At the weir near New Bridge, the curves of the weir and the water caught my eye and I lined up a composition. Turned out quite nice!
Paused at New Bridge to snap these mossy branches above a raging River Rawthey.
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Sedbergh Meadows, Cumbria, Summer
British weather has returned to its unpredictable norm since the heatwave.
British weather has returned to its unpredictable norm since the heatwave.
This has made getting out for good long hikes—either during the weekends or in the evenings—difficult. We’ve had periods of torrential downpours, almost monsoon-like.
Britain gets more tropical by the year.
Finally, yesterday evening, an opportunity arose to vacate Kendal for a nice hike around Sedbergh and its gorgeous meadow fields underneath the Howgills.
The good light didn’t last long… but it was long enough.
All photos taken on my Fujifilm X-T2 using a Vivitar “Series 1” 28–105mm f2.8–f3.8 zoom lens. RAWs converted in Capture One for iPad, developed in RNI Films, finalised in Affinity Photo for iPad.
Sedbergh Meadows, Cumbria, Summer by Ian Cylkowski is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
The walk begins up Castlehaw Lane, which takes you up and around the shoulder of Castlehaw Tower. Sedbergh is full of ancient buildings, some better preserved than others.
Soft light on this tree trunk provides an irresistible scene for me to capture.
Further up Castlehaw Lane lots of wild vegetation lined the track, including something more unfamiliar and almost “alien” to us. Turns out this is Elephant Garlic, or Allium ampeloprasum var. ampeloprasum. Closer relative of leek than garlic, apparently. Never seen one before.
Beyond Castlehaw Lane and Howgill Barns, the track becomes little more than a vague depression across the fields. The views also open up tremendously, here showing a clear view towards Garsdale in the Yorkshire Dales.
What turned out to be the last of the evening’s light finally appeared, illuminating the fields, trees and fellside. It was very localised though, and the Dentdale fells were still dark with rain clouds.
A variety of cross-breed upland lambs glow in the evening light. They stared at us curiously, incessantly baaing and warning each other.
The light quickly started to fade but the views were still spectacular.
At Ghyll Farm we cut the usual long hike short as the light was fading. A vague path bisected through the fields towards Underbank, which we took. Along the way, beautiful strong horses were peacefully grazing the meadows.
A brave Texel yow approaches us for a closer look.
The famous Herdwick. Just look at that Teddy Bear-like face.
From Underbank we located an ancient lonnin (country lane), which heads all the way back to town. You can almost picture a shepherd guiding their flock along the lane.
An almost timeless scene.
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Howgills & Yorkshire Dales, Winter
The week leading to these photos and this post has been… frustrating.
The week leading to these photos and this post has been… frustrating.
On Monday my left shoulder grew progressively stiff and painful. By the evening I was in a lot of pain and I ultimately did not get a second of sleep. Looks like I did another one of my favourite Fit-During-My-Sleep-And-Discolate-A-Limb-Whilst-Shredding-Muscles.
So most of this week has been spent fighting pain and keeping the shoulder immobilised. Apart from the constant pain and lack of sleep being exhausting, it’s also boring.
By the weekend, I’d finally got my pain levels under control and was starting to regain movement in my shoulder. Sunday arrived bright and clear, with blue skies promising a beautiful day. Lisabet took us for a drive through Sedbergh and the Yorkshire Dales, occasionally parking up for short walks and photo snaps. I really needed it.
All photos shot on my Fujifilm X-T2 using my Fujinon 23mm f/2.0. Images developed using RNI Films’ Velvia 100F emulation.
One of my favourite views of the Howgills can be shot from the A684, as you crest the hill past Lily Mere. It felt so good to finally see a clear blue sky after all the storms we’ve endured.
Happily there’s a couple of lay-bys alongside this part of the A684 where one can park and snap some glorious photos. Onwards into the Yorkshire Dales.
Beyond Sedbergh and heading further into the Yorkshire Dales, another viewpoint of the Howgills can be obtained, now looking at their southeastern profile. This is a little area known as Tom Croft Hill.
Further into the Yorkshire Dales, closer to Hawes, we stopped off at the small layby near Holme Heads Bridge for a wee jaunt to check out the beautiful Cotter Force. It was lovely to see the waterfall with a decent amount of water flowing through it.
Everywhere we look, signs of spring are arriving.
When you’re in the Yorkshire Dales, you can always count on an abundance of bare stone barns dotted about the land.
We skirted around the town of Hawes and hopped onto Blea Moor Road, which ultimately takes you to Ingleton and back onto the A65. Views of the magnificent fell Ingleborough entice you all the way along the road.
The area around the Ribblehead Viaduct was jammed with cars. Thankfully, we managed to find a small space to park up and snap some photos of this incredible architectural feat, situated underneath the highest peak of the Yorkshire Dales, Whernside.
Whernside’s eastern face, with a smidge of snow still clinging on. Barely a cloud in the sky.
Howgills, Yorkshire Dales, Summer
It was time to come back to the Howgills.
It was time to come back to the Howgills.
Back in April this year, 2021, Lisabet and I made our first hike up onto the Howgills, summiting Winder (473 m/1,552 ft), the fell that directly overlooks the beautiful Yorkshire Dales town of Sedbergh. It wasn’t hard, during that hike, to gawp at the next fell along the ridge from Winder, namely Arant Haw at 605 m. We vowed to return and tackle Arant Haw.
Today was that day.
The forecast was for clear skies and pushing 20°C, but when we arrived at Sedbergh for around 9am it was relatively chilly and cloudy. As we began our ascent up the Dales High Way up into the Howgills—and the views opened up—it became apparent that the cloud base still hadn’t quite cleared the fell tops. This resulted in amazing light and weather conditions, significantly slowing down our hiking progress (but all for good reason).
After a proper good pull, we managed to summit Arant Haw as well as add on the smaller fell of Crook on the way back down.
What a crackin’ day.
All photos shot on my Fujifilm X-T2 using two of my prime lenses: a Samyang 35mm f/1.2 and a Laowa 9mm f/2.8. Developed with RNI Films’ Kodak Portra 160 profile.
The way marker indicates the Dales High Way, the main trail that takes you up into the Howgills from Sedbergh. The fell on the left is Crook.
This was the kind of light show we were subject to on our way up the Howgills. The cloud base was clinging to the top of the Garsdale and Dent fells, and as the sun was rising they were swirling as they burning off.
Shapely Winder from the Dales High Way. Not our destination for the day.
A fell runner and her anxious dog passed us on their way across Settlebeck Gill and up Crook.
Plenty of lambs and young sheep around the Howgills, warily watching us we disturbed their grazing.
It wasn’t long before we spotted more people heading up the trail behind us. We weren’t in a rush. The light and views were too good to miss.
The view looking up Settlebeck Gill. That little hill in the distance with the trail running over it? That’s our destination: Arant Haw.
Looking down Settlebeck Gill, the light and views just get better and better.
The small Frostrow Fells catching the morning light, whilst the Dent fells recede in shadow. Astounding.
The steep folds of Settlebeck Gill, leading down to Sedbergh and the Barbondale fells beyond.
After reaching the plateau above Settlebeck Gill, our destination becomes immediately obvious: Arant Haw.
Looking back to Winder, morning light scanned across the fells and I waited for it to reach the summit of Winder before snapping this composition.
The view north from the summit of Arant Haw. Good heavens.
The views north from Arant Haw take in a succession of Howgills peaks and valleys, felltops such as Calders (674 m/2,211 ft), Bram Rigg Top (672 m/2,205 ft), The Calf (676 m/2,218 ft, highest point of the Howgills), and White Fell (636 m/2,086 ft). The clouds clung to the felltops as the day brightened
Looking down the gill of Swarth Greaves Beck eastwards. Views for miles and miles.
Just astounding.
The western spur that juts out from Arant Haw gives you an indication of the steepness of the fell’s western face.
Zooming in more, I love this arrangement of horizontal and diagonal lines created by the fells and gills.
Time to head down Arant Haw. The conditions looking back to Winder and Sedbergh were starting to brighten up significantly.
The little knobbly fell to the right is our next destination: Crook. There’s not any “official” path to the fell, but that’s no major bother anyway. The Howgills is all Open Access Land.
Swaledale and Rough Fell sheep enjoy the views towards Garsdale as much as we do, it seems.
Even though Crook is only 450 m high or so, the views from its summit are no less impressive.
From Crook it was even possible to make out the back of Wild Boar Fell in Mallerstang, looking northeast.
Looking back up to Arant Haw from around Crook summit, the light getting brighter and brighter.
It was time to come off the Howgills, Lisabet leading the way ahead. We decided on the Soolbank route off Crook, heading down into Settlebeck Gill.
Once we were alongside the banks of Settlebeck Gill, it was simple enough to follow the gill all the down until you could cross and rejoin the Dales High Way back into Sedbergh.
Settlebeck Gill is an impressive sight. The little people hiking the Dales High Way give an indication of scale.
The way back down into Sedbergh, the fells now free of clouds.
Sedbergh, Yorkshire Dales, Summer
After Saturday’s hike around Cunswick Fell for some glorious summer scenes, we sought more near the beautiful town of Sedbergh.
After Saturday’s hike around Cunswick Fell for some glorious summer scenes, we sought more near the beautiful town of Sedbergh.
I’ve commented before about the beauty of the Howgills and how Lisabet and I have barely touched them. The comely bumps and folds of these hills will see more of our footsteps in due course. But for this occasion I found a lovely hike that took us up towards the foot of the Howgills, through a couple of farms, and across some incredible wildflower meadows. We then joined the River Rawthey near Buckbank Farm and followed the river all the way back to the town.
A nice 5-mile circular, all in all.
Conditions, light, and scenes could not have been more cooperative for photography. The wildflower meadows beneath the Howgills were glorious.
All photos taken on my Fujifilm X-T2 with my Samyang 35mm f/1.2 lens. Images were made 80% in-camera using a customised Velvia film simulation, with minor edits in Lightroom and Affinity Photo afterwards.
The first of many wildflower meadows above Sedbergh we encountered, with Middleton Fell (609 m/2,000 ft) in the distance.
In the next field a few young bullocks and cows were giving us an inquisitive stare or two. We gingerly navigated around them, giving them plenty of room, but I did manage to fire off one photo.
The views across to Garsdale immediately started to open up. What glorious scenes.
Making our way northeast on the trail towards Ghyll Farm, the fell Crook (461 m/1,513 ft) momentarily darkens under the shade of a passing cloud.
I couldn’t keep my eyes off the sprawling views towards Garsdale. We really do live in a beautiful country.
I spotted this trio of trees with pleasing spacing between them, so I framed up for a composition with Soolbank in the gap.
A field full of buttercups and Knott (429 m/1,407 ft) bulging in the distance. Our destination is the stile over the wall, just to the right of centre.
Just one of many meadows in the foothills of the Howgills, brimming with buttercups. Above, clouds pass over Baugh Fell (678 m/2,224 ft), painting their own shadows onto the hill.
I paused at the top of climbing over the stile to capture this expansive and awe-inspiring view of Baugh Fell and Garsdale, with the characteristic drystone walls of Northern England and a horse grazing for good measure.
Some of the farm houses underneath the Howgills are a good two or three centuries old.
I largely don’t bother with focus stacking anymore. Opened this one all the way to f/1.2, focused on the fell and let the lens do the rest. All the buttercups. This would make a good smartphone wallpaper, actually.
After navigating through Stone Hall Farm we aimed for Buckbank Farm, which would allow us to join the River Rawthey. But not before taking a photo of this frankly ridiculous scene towards two of the southern Howgills, Crook and Knott, with meadows full of buttercups.
Approaching Ellerthwaite Farm, which would lead us to Buckbank and thus the River Rawthey.
Following on from Buckbank Farm we joined the bridleway southwest, which broadly follows the River Rawthey. Our next destination to look out for was Straight Bridge, which we would climb underneath to stay on the bridleway towards Sedbergh.
I always enjoy cows and bulls giving me The Stare…
Cows, trees, the Howgills, and fluffy clouds. A true Northern English summer country scene.
An interesting tree stump provided me with a lovely subject to frame in this composition.
The farm of Scrooge House with its fields of buttercups and the Howgills behind.
After pausing for a spot of packed lunch, we followed the bridleway by the river all the way towards New Bridge.
A rich and vibrant scene of summer colour I spotted by one of the becks that flows into the River Rawthey.
The way back to Sedbergh town. You’ve got to admit, it’s a proper lovely town, isn’t it?
Winder, Howgills, Cumbria, Spring
We’ve neglected the Howgills for too long.
We’ve neglected the Howgills for too long.
On this Good Friday we elected to stay away from the Lake District, expecting visitor numbers to sharply increase. We did want to stay within the same council area, though. So we ventured east over the M6 and into Sedbergh, the beautiful bookish town at the foot of the Howgills.
It might be reasonable to state that the Howgills as a landscape tends to get overlooked, or even ignored, in favour of nearby neighbours such as the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales. Lisabet and I have certainly been guilty of this assumption. But the Howgills has a lot of beautiful wandering to offer, and we’ve barely scratched the surface.
We exited the town onto Joss Lane, which leads onto the Dales High Way. Then it was a simple matter of following this footpath and its incredible views of Settlebeck Gill all the way onto the plateau, before turning back sharply to reach the summit of Winder (473 m/1,552 ft).
A glorious spring’s day was in full effect, with clear and deep blue skies all around.
And there are many more of the Howgills to check out.
All photos taken on my Fujifilm X-T2 using a Samyang 35mm f/1.2 lens and an adapted Pentax SMC 55mm f/2.0. Developed using RNI’s Kodachrome film profiles.
Sedbergh is a beautiful little town.
After exiting Joss Lane we merged onto the Dales High Way, soaking in the beautiful spring sun as we did.
There were plenty of others out and about on the Howgills too, and on such a beautiful day I don’t blame them.
Looking back the way we came.
A well-positioned bench offers walkers a rest and a view of the Dentdale fells.
We were keen to stay on the main footpath, but others elected to ascend the Winder summit as quickly as possible.
With every step the panorama opened up more and more. It was hard to maintain a forward momentum up the fell path when these views commanded our attention behind us all the time.
The way forward. Nary a cloud int’ sky.
Here we’re nearing the first main plateau of the Dales High Way, which also signalled us to take a sharp left in order to reach the summit of Winder.
One last look back down, with the full extent of Settlebeck Gill below, the Sedbergh countryside in the middle distance, and the Dentdale fells of the Yorkshire Dales in the background.
Fell ponies grazing peacefully on the flanks of Green Mea.
What a sight. The Dales High Way carries on around the flank of Arant Haw (605 m/1,985 ft), a beautifully sculpted fell with a precipitous southwestern face.
Our destination meant turning away from the Dales High Way, back to the southwest towards Winder. Along the way I keep snapping the views over to the heart of the Yorkshire Dales.
Across Settlebeck Gill is Winder’s easterly neighbour, Crook (461 m/1,513 ft). Far in the distance are the Mallerstang fells.
And… summit. On a clear day, such as we enjoyed, the views take in the Lake District fells and even Morecambe Bay, 32 km away.
After a flapjack and some water whilst sheltered underneath the trig point from the wind, we followed the track back down the southwestern shoulder of Winder.
Layers upon layers of hills and valleys in the Howgills. In fact, that’s where the Howgills get their name from. “How” comes from the Old Norse haugr meaning “hill”, and “gill” comes from the Old Norse gil meaning a “narrow valley”.
The winding track back to Sedbergh via Lockbank Farm. The round mound in the distance is Aye Gill Pike (556 m/1,824 ft).
Ostensibly looking back at the way we came, but more than I shot this composition for the winding drystone wall. That’s right.
So many lambs around. Always a wonderful sight to see and sound to hear.
Swaledale lambs, being adorably playful.
My lovely Lisabet, enjoying a drop of Sherry in her friend’s garden post-walk.