Moorland is most magnificent in late summer, when its rolling expanses glow purple with heather and the air smells of honey. Soitwasagoodtimetotakeawalkup Skiddaw, a Lake District fell I had only ever admired when I was climbing busier peaks. Skiddaw is distinctive, standing aloof and alone in the northern Lakes, admired by Wainwright for its ‘smooth’ lines and ‘graceful’ curves. It was the summer holidays and the rest of the Lake District was rammed, but I parked easily and, astoundingly, for free in a granite-walled car park on a rough lane. The northern fells must be for connoisseurs. I took a granite track bending around the end of Blencathra and following a stream into the Skiddaw massif. This is known as Skiddaw Forest, not because it was once dense woodland but because, historically, this was hunting terrain. The air smelt sweet on the moor, whose scale and openness evoked Scotland. I...
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