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About The Nine Standards | Parking Location | OS Map | Current Weather
We had been staying nearby Kirkby Stephen and had seen a little and read about The Nine Standards so we decided to head off and take a look for ourselves we plotted a route that took us via a quarry and up through some moorland which then headed off to The Nine Standards and eventually after circling round back through some more moorlands towards a road back into town.
The start of the walk was very pleasant and although there were a couple of sharp inclines they soon moved back down to a steady climb, we passed a Quarry to the right which was impressive in size and took a while to pass, as we did all the while we were climbing and eventually after passing the quarry we headed out onto some open moorland. The land where was very open, with little in the way of woodland or major sights however we did find the walking good going and we easily held good pace.
Eventually the moorland turned into much more of a bog, our progress slowed and at times we had to go quite a bit off track to avoid what where essentially small ponds. We continued on and eventually reached the top where we were greeted to a fantastic site of The Nine Standards, essentially 9 giant cairns running in a straight line across the peak of the fell. We stayed here for some time taking in the view and taking a number of photos of the area. Once we had taken it all in, we continued up the route before heading off to the right and back across some more moorland.
Due to the weather, these fields had become very boggy and going was very tough, I would like to head back when the weather has been a bit dryer as I would assume this route would be much better going. As it was, we continued on through the boggy terrain and eventually found a rocky outcrop, we settled here for food and after finishing up we headed back up towards another small peak, Tailridge Hill. This was a bit easier going as the rocky terrain was less boggy and easier to traverse and we once again picked up some pace. Upon meeting the road, it became much easier as it was a simple to walk on the tarmacked road. Luckily, it was quite a wide-open road with room on the sides as was also very quiet, we picked up pace downhill and eventually made it to Nateby.
We passed through Nateby quite quickly and headed back towards Kirkby Stephens, this part of the route was very enjoyable and the walk through some fields, forests and open areas was really nice. The views were just as expected considering the area and as we headed back we realised just how long the walk had been. In hindsight we would have chosen to do this route when it wasn’t as wet as the bogs did play havoc with the hike, but all in all it was an enjoyable walk and The Nine Standards was great to see.
