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Last Updated: 4/1/2006


O.S.Sheet

G.R. NY 698 932




This crag will be included in the next FRCC Eastern Crags guide (due 2008)

SOUTH CUMBRIA
LIMESTONE

Hebblethwaite
Hall Gill Crag

by Stewart Wilson

FELL and ROCK
CLIMBING CLUB
of the
English Lake District

Hebblethwaite Hall Gill, also known as Penny Farm Gill, is a small limestone gorge set on the edge of open moorland a few kilometres east of the town of Sedbergh .

The proximity of the Dent Fault has had a profound influence on the geology of the area: to the west, Silurian slates have formed the grassy, rounded Howgill Fells; to the east the younger Carboniferous sequences of limestones, shales and sandstones occur. The effect of the Dent Fault has been to tilt the limestone strata so that in some places they are vertical.This is especially noticeable on the northern wall of the gorge, where rock rises out of the beck in large, flat sheets. Unfortunately, another effect of the Fault has been to ensure a degree of loose rock in places, though this is not a major hazard on the established routes.

The gorge has a sheltered aspect and can be climbed in throughout the year. Routes on the north side of the gorge dry quickly after rain whilst those on the south side tend to remain damp longer, due to lichen.

Belays are scarce above some of the buttresses: a stake may prove useful.

Approaches & Access
Leave Sedbergh on the A 683 Kirkby Stephen road. Parking is possible in a loop layby on the right about 800 metres beyond the bridge over the River Rawthey. The bridleway to Hebblethwaite Hall lies a further 100 metres up the road and leads as a metalled lane to the Hall buildings. Beyond a gate, a grass track leads forward through more gates, to cross Nor Gill, and then meets the ravine on a sharp bend near a cave. A low fence is crossed to enter the gorge proper. KL notes: The gorge looks like it is now just inside access land.  The approach route described is not (used in Wainwright's "Walks on the Howgill Fells") but is the one that I always took and I never had a problem.  I suspect that now it might be barred but there is a slightly longer way in using rights of way just south of the gill.  Some of the fixed gear looked manky back then - tread cautiously! 

First Wall

This is the first climbing to be met upon entering the gorge. It consists of a flat wall which rises out of the beck, the left-hand end being brown in colour. The climbs are described from left to right.

1. Mite 5m E1
(5b). Climb the brown wall direct, starting just to the right of a curving crack. Bolt belays.

2. Midget 6m E1
To the right, is an arch-shaped overlap.
(5b). Climb the left-slanting crack rising from the extreme left edge of this. Bolt belays.

3. Morsel 7m E1
(5b). Climb through the arch-shaped overlap via a prominent hand-jam slot, then climb the wall direct to a small tree. Step left to finish. Bolt belays.

4. The Mighty Micro 10m E1
(5b). Climb through the apex of the arch, and continue directly up the wall passing two breaks. Stake belays back from edge.

About 20 metres beyond First Wall, the stream cascades over a choke of boulders.

5. Strange Times 24m E1
The groove in the prominent rib bounding the right-hand end of the flat walls. Start near the first big boulders in the stream.
(5b). From the streambed, pull up to a right-trending break. Traverse right across the slab to a bulge (tape runner over this ). Pull up, then climb to an overlap below the grooved rib. Ascend this, using a combination of the groove and the face on the right. Belay on a large holly. Scramble off rightwards.

The remaining routes are all to be found on the south side of the gorge ( ie. north facing and slower to dry). A short distance upstream is an undercut buttress with a smooth slab on its right-hand side.

6. Respect Your Elders 14m VS
Start to the left of a square-cut niche at the left side of the buttress.
(4c). Move up a few metres, then step right onto the slab. From the end of this, pull into the small niche containing a small tree on the left. Finish direct.


Pinnacle Face

Twenty metres further upstream is another buttress, the front of which has slipped to form a large, detached pinnacle separated by an easy rake from the main mass of the buttress. The first two routes use the face of the pinnacle and are described from right to left.

7. Out on a Limb 22m E1
Start at the right-hand edge of the pinnacle.
1 14m (5b). Make some hard moves to gain the obvious groove. Follow this more easily to a good tree belay.
2 8m (5b). From a split block, step onto a slab and follow the overlap leftwards onto the rib. Finish direct, by a small rowan.

8. Bitter Creek 21m E2
Start midway along the front of the pinnacle at a slight alcove.
1 15m (5c). Climb the bulging crack, up and right, into a slim groove. Ascend this, using the rib on the right, to reach the top of the pinnacle.
2 6m (5b). From behind the pinnacle, gain a sloping shelf, then use a short overhanging crack, and the rib to the right, to finish at a tiny rowan tree.

9. Like an Arrow 15m E2 6a *
Start directly below the obvious right-facing groove in the upper part of the wall.
(6a). Climb directly to the groove. Ascend this, past an ancient peg runner, to the top.

Hebblethwaite Hall Gill Crag
FIRST ASCENTS
1980s

Climbing seems to have taken place in Hebblethwaite Hall Gill for some years but no written records exist. Evidence of activity is scattered over the various buttresses in the form of old pegs and bolts, even some metal belay stakes. The first people to record their climbs were Karl Lunt and Geoff Dawson who in early 1987 produced a batch of routes on the South Wall, the best being Like an Arrow. Three years later this pair developed the First Wall area. NB KL staets: Not true - it was with Tom Phillips.
1987 Mar/Apr   Strange Times Karl Lunt, Geoff Dawson
1987 Mar/Apr   Like an Arrow Karl Lunt, Geoff Dawson
1987 Mar/Apr   Bitter Creek Geoff Dawson, Karl Lunt (AL)
1987 Mar/Apr   Out on a Limb Karl Lunt, Geoff Dawson (AL)
1990 Jun 26 Mite Karl Lunt, Tom Phillips
1990 Jun 26 Midget Karl Lunt, Tom Phillips
1990 Jun 26 Morsel Karl Lunt, Tom Phillips
1990 Jun 26 The Mighty Micro Karl Lunt, Tom Phillips
1990 Jun 26 Respect Your Elders Tom Phillips, Karl Lunt