Location

N Lakes - SE of Keswick

Details

A large impressive site which is good in light wind or thermic conditions. The site gives easy access to the chain of high ridges running south towards Helvellyn.

Site Officer

Gordie Oliver : 07830 281986

Postcode for Sat Nav Systems (read the Health Warning!)

CA12 4TS

Bram Cragg.The postcode centre is about 2km south of the parking area along the B5322

Getting There

rom Penrith or Keswick, take the A66(T) and turn off onto the B5322 at Threlkeld. If travelling from the Ambleside / Grasmere direction take the A591 north and turn off onto the B5322 at St. John's in the Vale. The access track to the fellside begins at grid reference NY 316 231 (signposted 'Old Coach Road'). There is limited parking at the start of the track - do not block. The usual practice is to drive up the track passing through two gates (shut after use) to the open fell. The car parking area is 80m / 250' higher in a flat quarry (hidden from view)on the right of the steep and loose track (maintained by the Allerdale Council).

Getting to takeoff

Make for a suitable take off area on Threlkeld Knots that rise above the quarry. In light wind / nil wind conditions it may be necessary to gain the summit slopes of Clough Head itself. This is a stiff 360m / 1180'of ascent from the quarry.

XC potential

The site gives excellent XC potential with routes to the south along the Helvellyn Range and on towards Ambleside and Kendal and routes over the high fells heading south east towards the Howgills and the Yorkshire Dales. In nil wind or light wind conditions the site offers the potential for some great triangle flights.

Permission to use site

Hill Top Farm main access and three other local farms.

IMPORTANT - Restrictions on use

You must pay £1 per pilot to the farmer at Hill Top Farm. This is the white farmhouse you can see from the landing fields = on the other side of the road. Please arrange which landing field to use BEFORE you go flying and only use agreed fields.

The site is often temporarily closed particularly during the lambing season (1st February - 1st May).

Paragliding

Consider the wind speed due to compression over the shallow summit slopes. Keep well forward and crab north if getting blown back. Avoid any ground skimming over the lower slopes especially during the lambing period (Feb - May). Land on the hill in preference to using the bottom HG landing field.

Hang Gliding

This site poses few problems but there are limited landing opportunities between Helvellyn and Seat Sandal (forest and water). Do not get too low. Clough Head is a valued hang gliding site.

Additional Safety Notes

Pilots should be reasonably experienced to cope with certain conditions found at and around the site, especially during the spring months. Care when top landing in fresh winds and care when slope landing due to hidden rocks. A windsock is very useful in the bottom HG landing field.Public telephone at junction of A591/B5322.

Resources

Don't click on flight logs, download to your PC first (right click and 'Save Link As')

Type	Click to Follow Link	Notes
Google Earth - Car Park
Google Earth - Car Park 2
Google Earth - Sample Flight 1		Kitt Rudd's flight to Appletreewick near Skipton in the Yorkshire Dales - March 2008
Google Earth - Sample Flight 2		Ridge running for beginners. Ian Henderson's first trip down the ridge to Grasmere. It was the thermal over the quarry that finally gave me the confidence to go.
Google Earth - Take Off
Multi Map - Take Off

Follow the links for further details of a site. For flights you will probably need to right click and save the link to your PC before opening Google Earth.
Google Earth links rely on Google Earth being installed on your system. Google Earth provides pan and tilt faciity. You can also upload your flights to GE - use GPS Dump (Links Page) to convert a variety of GPS file formats to a GE kml file
Flash Earth is an alternative to Google Earth but provides a top down view only. To view in Flash Earth, click on the instruction text to clear it - the cross is the spot

A selection of photos showing key aspects of the site. If you have a good photo showing take off and landing areas, then send it to the webmaster. Aerial shots showing the landing area are especially welcome.

An aerial view of Clough Head looking SE. The car parking quarry can be seen in the lower left of the picture with the track to take off leading diagonally right up the fell side. Take off is generally in the area around the track just before the snow line. Photo reproduced with the permission of the copyright owner, Andrew McMahon. More pictures can be found on his web site.

Looking up to Clough Head from down in the valley. Take off can seen in the centre, the 3 lower gliders are below takeoff

Looking down on the site from a glider. Takeoff is at the bottom of the picture; the car park quarry is over on the right and the landing area to the right of the car park.

Looking further round to the east with Blencathra in the background. The takeoff areas are marked by gliders. Photo by Dave Horne

The alternative to landing on the fell are the 4 fiields in the valley in the centre of the photo as the quadrants of a cross. This photo was taken in July when the grass was being cut.

 

Site Records

This page shows records for this site. Some of the older records are not very detailed. More recent records may have an igc file available You can right click and download this to your PC. You can then use IGC Flight replay to view the flight.

Paragliding

Declared Out and Return
Distance :	32.7km
Date :	07/08/2009
Pilot :	Mike Cavanagh
Notes :
IGC File :	Right click to download
FAI Triangle
Distance :	93.4km
Date :	12/04/2009
Pilot :	Burkitt Rudd
Notes :
IGC File :	Right click to download
Open Distance XC
Distance :	140.8km
Date :	21/04/2010
Pilot :	Burkitt Rudd
Notes :	Landed Aberford - between Leeds and Selby - 152.2km via 3 turn-points. Click here for more details.

Hang Gliding

Open Distance XC
Distance :	93.3km
Max Height :	5000ft
Date :	Unknown
Pilot :	Ian Ferguson
Notes :	Ed Cleasby provided the much needed retrieve!