Continuing the dialling down from big Nuttall walks like 5 of them on the Burnhope Reservoir round, this takes the northern most of that round, Dead Stones, and adds Flinty Fell, to make an easy 7.9 mile round with some interest. That comes right at the start as, starting from the car park in Nenthead, you walk through the Mines, which would be of greater interest on a guided tour outwith the time of Plague. The track, a Bridleway, climbs gently through the mining scenery and soon turns south-westerly. Follow Old Carr’s Burn as it turns south, coming from Perry’s Dam, taking two left turns on the track. Past the Dam the track soon becomes a quad track than a path on the left of the wall to the ridge at Nag’s Head. Follow the fence on reasonable terrain to the tall cairn on Dead Stones, and note the stone shelter facing away from the southwesterlies, where a break can be made. The seemingly ever present triumverate of hills to the south-west are clear here, the Radome on Great Dun Fell, Little Dun fell and Cross Fell. Cross the fence and head for the one going west. At first better on the north side, at a covered mine shaft it’s better to cross to the south side for most of the way down to the track opposite what is now a felled plantation. Turn right and follow the track/road/track again to a path junction beyond Priorsdale, where follow the fence easily up north-westerly to the track to Flinty Quarry, and turn left towards it. Find your way round it to a very ordinary iron post which the Nuttalls say is one of two summits to Flinty Fell, at the OS 614 spot height, then keep on to the higher one on a spoil heap. Note that from the point where you joined the track, it is much rougher walking to make a beeline for the summit. Head north from the summit to the wall and follow it down to the recently felled plantation, noting that although the line of the wall on the map is straight, it isn’t on the ground, it goes missing before the plantation. The Nuttalls say follow the track north by the plantation into Dowgang Hush, but it is possibly pleasanter to take a sheep path on the far bank of the Burn to walk above the Hush through Pine and Larch, to descend steps eventually and cross the (small) Burn on currently a half broken small “bridge”, and the path leads back to sleepy Nenthead.
Nenthead Mines The large cairn on Dead Stones. The 614m Flinty Fell summit. The higher “cairn on a spoil heap” summit of Flinty Fell. Nenthead and the Dowgang plantation.
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