Parting of the Ways

A Fellside Walk
(Stage 3)
We have followed the track that I indicated yesterday, still following the Pennine Way, down a lane that is actually below the level of the fields on either side. We suspect that it was dug out many years ago to make easier access to the lead mines, which we will find much further on. The track we are using is almost certainly the track used by the mine workers and is now used by  farm vehicles. 

The point we have reached is a parting of the ways. It’s the lowest point of the walk and there is usually water to be crossed - not much at the moment after the dry weather. In the distance you can see Dufton Pike, we are not climbing up it, but going round the back of it. The gate to the left is the way the Pennine Way goes and you can just about see a lovely paved path that allows walkers to skirt the hills and and walk beside a stream. Hidden in the trees is a signpost which shows the way.

But we are not going that way, we are continuing along the track that disappears round the bend and heads towards the Pike. 

We are still in Sandstone country, as the stone lying about and in the walls shows. This is the newest (formed 250 million years ago from sand deposited in rivers flowing over desert plains) and softest of the rocks of this area of the Pennines. Tomorrow we will be crossing a fault line and the rock will change.