For many years the backdrop to our stays at Dorlands Farm, Penhill was always over the other side of the valley so I thought it was time for a visit.
Here's Tiggy parked outside Dorlands Farm with Penhill in the background.
Another view of Penhill from across the Dale.
Parking by the side of the road here just before you get to West Witton I completed the following loop. Starting with a steep uphill on road surface and then grass for some time until you get to the top of the hill.
Here is a view of Penhill from near the parking spot. Quite a climb!
There was a lot of flooding on the paths so I chose to follow the roads as you can see on the map at the top of the page. In the past I've just gone straight up the hill following a steep path up the fields. The roads I followed this time were Grassgill Lane and the well named Witton Steeps.
I kept following the road winding uphill until I got just past some stables, with the racehorse training ground on the left hand side.
From the racecourse its a right turn along a footpath with a great view of the next climb! Even from here the stone cairn at the top is visible.
Here's a similar photo taken on a sunnier trip.
Away from the road a very steep cross country climb (with a few stops) and I got to the top. The stone cairn had a memorial plaque commemerating the Reign of Queen Elizabeth II.
Following the nothern edge of Penhill there are a few paths that aren't on the map, I just followed a path running parallel along the the cliff edge. With some great views across the dale, this pic covers Bolton castle on the left and Preston-under-scar with Dorlands farm on the right.
I followed the path along the top of the hill fora miel or so, originally I intended to take the path down from Black Scar seen here on the map.
Even with the close contour lines it was still a lot steeper than expected.
So I aborted that plan and backtracked a few hundred meteres and followed a much easier path down just a little east of the black scar path.
The route down was a lot less steep than the way up. A leisurely decline, following paths through fields until you get back to West Witton.
A nice picture I took on an earlier visit when I used a more direct (and very steep) path through the fields to get to the top rather than the roads.
The stone building just above also appears in this photo I took on the way down during this hike.
