Route: The Stag, Dufton - Pennine Way - St Cuthbert's Church - Knock - Great Rundale Beck - Pus Gill - The Stag, Dufton

Distance: 6 miles                         Click here for Map 

Start: The Stag, Dufton. The inn is at the centre of the village, which is several miles north of Appleby-in-Westmorland and is signposted off the A66.

The Walk

1 From the front of the inn bear left and walk along the road beside the green. Dufton Pike soars skyward immediately behind the village; further away to the north, on the horizon, are the high tops of Cross Fell and Dun Fell, with the distinctive white globe of its radar station standing out as a useful directional landmark. Follow the road round the left bend and then as it swings right by Dufton and Knock Methodist church, go straight on to join a track signposted High Scald Fell. Follow the route of the Pennine Way down the slope and after about 120 yards, at the first intersection, veer left thought a gate - a sign requests you to keep it closed.

2 Follow the path and soon you pass through two gates in quick succession. Continue between fences and fields and go through several more gates. Cross Eller Beck and go on through another gate. Avoid a track running off sharply to the left and begin to approach a bungalow at Coatsike Farm. Just before it,  take the path heading obliquely left (signposted Knock). In high summer it is quite overgrown here, with banks of undergrowth threatening to engulf the path. However, the route is not impenetrable! Cross a stile, then a beck and follow the path between ancient stones and deadwood. Enter a field via a gate and follow its left hand edge towards St Cuthbert's Church. Pass through the squeeze stile into the churchyard and take the permitted path round the side of the building to a gate in the far boundary.

St Cuthbert's Church

The present church is late 18th century and replaces an earlier stone building dating back to 1293. Many of the miners who worked in the area are buried in the churchyard, their corpses carried on horseback across the fells. The church is named after St Cuthbert whose body was carried across the North Pennines by monks from Lindisfarne attempting to flee the Vikings in 875 AD.

3 Cross the field, pass over a beck and make for a stile in the next wall. Continue across the next field until you reach a wooden footbridge over a beck. In the next field keep to the right-hand boundary, cross the stone stile and then turn right to follow the lane to Knock. When it bends sharp left in the village, go straight on to join a track (signposted Cross Fell).

4 Follow the track until you reach a stile and footpath sign to Dufton on the right. Keep to the track as it bends left and runs up a slope to another stile in the right-hand fence. Descend to the corner of the field, cross into the field on the left and then follow the path about Knock Gill, a striking wooded ravine. Follow the path down to the water's edge and cross the stepping stones. Pass through the stone stile in the wall and follow the narrow path as it traverses the slopes of Great Rundale Beck. Go up to a stile and then head across the open moorland with the tree-lined beck down to your right. Keep going until you reach the next wall where there is a stone stile. Turn right, briefly rejoining the route of the Pennine Way, and cross the ancient clapper bridge over the Great Rundale Beck.

5 Once through the stone stile beyond it, turn left to follow the track along the lower flanks of Dufton Pike. At the next gate go over the adjoining stile. Glancing away to the left reveals a view of the drystone wall running in a neat line up the fellside. Go over a stone stile in the next boundary wall and continue along the open moorland path until it merges with a clear track. The walk crosses an isolated, primitive landscape of limestone shale and bleak fells. Lime was once quarried in this area. At the next junction bear right to join a bridleway running down towards Dufton. A magnificent view of Dufton and the Eden Valley opens up before you now.

6 Pass through several gates and continue. The Pus Gill runs parallel to the track. Cross Eller Beck and soon you  rejoin the Pennine Way on the approach to Dufton village. Retrace your steps to the road, turn right and walk back to the Inn for a well deserved drink!