NY5203 : View from the summit of The Forest
taken 8 years ago, 5 km N of Garnett Bridge, Cumbria, England
The Bannisdale Horseshoe is, by some margin, the longest and most arduous of the walks in Wainwright's "The Outlying Fells of Lakeland". This book was first published in 1974 and written "primarily for old age pensioners and others who can no longer climb high fells" but can still "potter about on the short and easy slopes and summits of the foothills".
The horseshoe starts in SD5299, near the former Plough Inn. Wainwright gives the distance as 11.5 miles and the height gain 2,000 feet, with an estimated time of 7 hours. He states, "Note very well indeed that this is a walk only for the superbly fit. Being pure in heart is not enough." He goes on to add that its completion "is a merited occasion for ribald rejoicing; while those who perish on the way must be content with the lesser gratification of knowing they died with their boots on".
The hills on the Horseshoe are:
1 Whiteside Pike, 397m
2 Todd Fell, 401m
3 Capplebarrow, 513m
4 Swinklebank Crags Top, 554m (the highest point reached)
5 Ancrow Brow, 542m
6 Ancrow Brow N top, 541m
7 Long Crag, 488m
8 White Howe, 530m
9 The Forest, 528m
10 Lamb Pasture, 367m.
Hill names around here are not always clear. In Wainwright's book hills 4, 6 and 9 are described as 'nameless'. Hill 5 is not actually in his book, but it is listed by other compilers including Birkett. The names used above would be generally recognised, but some people have other preferences.
For those who are interested in such things, I add that the summit locations are not always obvious. Hill 3 has several possible summits, though I think the highest point is about 50 metres west of the fence. For hill 7, I have recorded the Wainwright fell: the highest point (493m, a Birkett and TuMP) is about 75 metres south, on the other side of a wall.
Given Wainwright's data, I was quite pleased, aged 73, to complete the circuit in just under six hours. I did take the shorter route at the end because I knew that the other route crossed a lot of damp and muddy ground.