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.
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.
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.
