A couple of weeks ago I went on a shamefully short walk up Wether Fell. I say shamefully because I started from the highest possible spot, which was quite a drive to get to, and it turned out that actually made it really short. Well, far too short for me to have deserved to reach the summit.
But that’s the walk I did.
So, to reach Wether Fell I had to go to Buckden, which is already a bit of a distance, then beyond that to a tiny village called Hubberholme, then beyond that, out along a road called Stubbing Lane. This took me alongside the River Wharfe at its earliest stage, then across it, before branching. The left road led to Beckermonds, which is where the river starts, but I took the right one, then did the same at the next branch, up Oughtershaw Road. This eventually met Cam High Road, where I again turned right and continued rising, and parked up at the highest point of the road.
Going down from this point the road is Beggarmans Road. Cam High Road does continue, but just as a track, going over Wether Fell. It’s an old Roman road which once served a fort called Virosidum, and now leads to a town called Bainbridge.
I’m no finding any information about how Wether Fell got its name, but it’s not one that made me wonder too much anyway. It’s at least words I know, not some strange name mashed together from words that don’t exist anymore.
Anyway, I set off along the track that Cam High Road had become. Most of the walk was on here, so it was steady and straighforwards. There were lovely views, and on my right a somewhat crumbled wall. After a bit another wall appeared on my left, then after a bit more I went through what looked like it used to be a gateway, then an actual gate a bit after that.
At this point a worn in path branched off to the left, and this took me the short rest of the way to the summit. I think I remember it splitting at one point, and the satellite image on Google Maps seems to confirm that. I veered to the right until I reached the summit, which is marked by a very neat cairn.
The summit of Wether Fell is called Drumaldrace. I don’t know why some summits have their own names, but it’s not the first time I’ve been to one that does. A theory on the name is that it’s Celtic, that ‘aldrace’ was the name of a person and ‘drum’ means ‘wooded ridge’. If correct, that would make it ‘Aldrace’s ridge’.
I hadn’t really walked far enough to need a sit down, but I had one anyway because that’s just what I do at the top of hills. I don’t see much point in going up there just to go straight back down.
When I did go down, I went the way I’d come, and that was the walk. Photos from it are here.
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