October Ramble: Parlick
One or two of our regular walkers, having often seen Parlick in the distance, have said that they haven’t been up it and would like to experience the fell, so today was their lucky day, perhaps.
The first challenge was to find the start by navigating the maze of lanes and having got there, to make sure that the weather conditions were suitable for the ascent. Unfortunately, most of the hill was enveloped in thick cloud, but as we weren’t due to go up until lunch time, there was time for the cloud to lift later.
Starting from Fell Foot, we entered the fields for our walk around the base of the fell. Most of the structure of the Parlick area is composed of Millstone Grit, covered in a thick layer of peat, which in places is badly eroded, making the simple task of crossing the a field sometimes difficult, particularly after wet weather.
Eventually, we arrived at Higher Fair Snape Farm, from where the long, winding and fairly steep path starts. However, the cloud, rather than lifting, now enveloped us and it was very, very wet! We took shelter in a barn and decided that the only option was to return to the start and leave Parlick for another day.
Linda and I checked out this walk a week earlier and the conditions couldn’t have been more different. If you remember this was the Indian Summer with record temperatures. The climb was quite hard in the heat, but we made it to the top and enjoyed a leisurely lunch at the shelter provided for walkers. Now it was a pleasant stroll along the top, along Blindhurst Fell towards Parlick. The Para-gliders were making the most of the superb conditions and we counted fifteen in the air at one point. These Para-gliders seem to have replaced the Hang-gliders, probably because they are much lighter to carry up to the top. A couple of ‘real’ gliders came past and were gaining height as they traversed the hill.
We decided to go around the summit of Parlick, to the East, as the top was akin to Heathrow, with a take-off and landing every minute. The superb views that we had enjoyed to the West were now replaced with an easterly landscape, equally good. The final stage was the steep descent to Fell Foot. It was a pity that the day of the walk was so poor, particularly after the success of the previous week. However this is definitely one to return to.
Linda & Eddie Grange