Walking in the North Pennines. Paddy Dillon

Transport Buses serve Hartside Top Café from Alston and Penrith in the summer. Very occasional buses link Renwick with Penrith and Carlisle.

      This route starts so high that there is very little climbing onto the moors. Gradients are gentle, and if the weather has been dry, then the ground won’t be too boggy. Walls and fences allow easy route-finding along a largely pathless moorland crest, taking in Hartside Height, Black Fell, Watch Hill and Thack Moor. There is an easy descent to the charming little village of Renwick. Payback time comes in the shape of a long walk up a series of old tracks, regaining all the lost height to finish back on top of Hartside. Bear in mind that the Hartside road is one of the first in England to be closed by snow.

      If arriving on the summer bus service, start from Hartside Top Café, England’s highest café at 580m (1903ft). If arriving by car, don’t use the café car park, but park in a small limestone quarry round a bend in the direction of Alston. Go through a gate in a fence above the quarry, then follow a fence straight up the moorland crest to reach a junction with a drystone wall at 624m (2047ft) on Hartside Height.

      Cross a step-stile and turn left to follow the drystone wall across a gentle gap on the moorland crest. The ground is grassy and mossy, while the wall gives way to a fence on a boggy stretch.

      Another stretch of wall leads up a short, steep slope where the ground is firmer. Enjoy views of the whole of the Lake District across the Vale of Eden. The wall zigzags along the moorland crest, giving way to a fence that zigzags across boggy ground. A junction of fences is reached at a trig point at 664m (2178ft) on Black Fell.

      The fence running straight ahead leads to Tom Smith’s Stone (see Walk 46), so turn left across a step-stile to follow the other fence onwards. It later gives way to a wall, which runs downhill and turns left. Follow it, but after making the left turn, turn right through a gap to follow another fence along the moorland crest.

      A ruined sheepfold and shepherd’s hut can be seen before climbing Watch Hill

      There is another stretch of wall, then another fence, then yet another wall. Leave the wall briefly by turning left, to inspect a nearby sheepfold and ruined cottage, then turn right to return to the wall and cross it using a ladder-stile.

      A brief but boggy ascent gives way to a firmer, pathless slope of grass and moss. Use a ladder-stile to cross a drystone wall at 602m (1975ft) on Watch Hill. Head for a nearby grassy hump crowned with a cairn that contains a memorial tablet to someone surnamed Lowthian, dated 1865.

      Continue along the broad moorland crest, across a gentle, boggy dip, then cross a step-stile over a fence. Aim for the corner of a drystone wall and keep left of the wall to follow it up to a trig point at 609m (1998ft) on Thack Moor. In 2013 an amateur survey determined the height to be 609.62m, or a whisker above 2000ft. Enjoy views round the nearby moors, spotting Cross Fell beyond Hartside, with the whole of the Lake District stretching beyond the Vale of Eden.

      A fence joins the wall beside the trig point, but descend almost due south on a pathless slope, looking along the lower slopes to spot a grassy path that once served a small mine.

      A fence and short stretches of wall later lie to the left of the path, leading down to a gate. At the next gate the path is enclosed by walls or fences as it continues downhill. When a road is reached, go straight ahead and down into the village of Renwick.

      Renwick is a peaceful village of fine, red sandstone buildings. If local lore is to be believed, Renwick suffered the attentions of a ‘vampire’ similar to that of Croglin (see Walk 4). When the old church was being demolished in 1845, a huge bat flew from the ruins and struck terror into the good folk of Renwick, until it was nailed with a stave from that magical tree, the rowan.

      Turn left at All Saints Church to walk through Renwick, but when the road turns right to leave the village, keep straight ahead instead. The road ends at a concrete yard, but a footpath goes through a gate on the right.

      Head down through another gate then walk beside a forest to reach a road. Turn left to cross Raven Bridge and follow the road straight ahead, as signposted for Haresceugh and Alston.

      Before reaching Haresceugh, a gate on the right has a signpost indicating two public footpaths. Don’t take the one heading straight across a nearby stream, but take the other one, heading up the valley.

      Cross a stile from one field to another, then go through gates to keep to the right of a small dam. When a track is reached, turn left to follow it gently uphill. It eventually reaches a road above the farmstead of Selah.

      Turn right up the road, then take the second track to the left, which is signposted as the C2C and Pennine Cycleway to Hartside. The track is fenced as it climbs, and goes through a couple of gates to pass a ruined house.

      A pleasant and grassy stretch leads to a footbridge over a stream, where an old stone bridge is gradually crumbling. A path continues uphill, reaching a prominent white cottage just before the main A686. Cross the road and climb a short, steep, stony track to finish back at Hartside Top Café.

      A white cottage stands beside the road before the final climb to the Hartside Top Café.