The True Top of Tyke-land

Bill Todd

When I was a youth I bought maps.  They showed me where the high places were and how to get to them on my bike.  So long before 1974 I knew that Mickle Fell was the highest mountain in Yorkshire at 2585′.  I never got round to climbing it until this year.  It’s miles from anywhere, there is no right of access, and most important of all, it is an artillery range.

But some of my mid-week companions had done it in 1991 so I decided to organise a repeat performance.  I found out that the army  would not be firing on the 27 June 1994, so six of us met at Hilton village that morning.  Four had been on the previous ascent so I wasn’t unduly worried that the cloud was down to c. 1500′.  We walked up Hilton Beck, noting rock-climbing potential on Mell Fell and at the Pennine watershed turned south east by compass.  As we lunched at around 2000′ the cloud lifted and we got a view of our objective slightly north of east.  It was a good job we had resisted the temptation to go too far south up Little Fell.  In improving weather we hit the slope of Mickle Fell and found some rock to scramble on the way up.  The summit plateau lies SW-NE and the highest point was at the north east end.  The magnificent views included Cow Green and Cauldron Snout.

To make it a bit of a round we decided to come back over Little Fell at 2454′ and it was half-way up here that Clive realised that in 1991 they had gone up the wrong mountain.  The mist had been so thick that they had thought they were on Mickle Fell.  Perhaps it had been a mistake to revisit.  The slope of Burton Fell took us back to Hilton Beck to round off a good day.

Information:

Range Officer   Brough  41661
Map O.S. Landranger 1:50k Sheet 91
Distance walked   13 miles
Height gain   1919′  585 m.