Raw Head

Walk Details:
Date: 22/04/2006
Total ascent: 85m/ 279ft
Total distance walked: 0.79 miles
Walk difficulty: 4.5/10
Enjoyment rating: 7.5/10
Best bits: Caves, scrambly ascent, high speed descent
Worst bits: Views rather hazy
Walkers: Anth, Jim
Car Parking: We parked on the roadside on New Lane at SJ 511 553 (near the entrance to Droppingstone Farm)

Top details:
Name: Raw Head (snigger)
Marilyn number: 29 of 1553
Grid reference: SJ 50854 54845
Height above sea level: 227m/ 745ft
How nice was the top? 5.5/10
Views: 5/10
Description/Notes: The highest point of Raw Head (and of the Peckforton Hills) is marked by a trig point

The Walk:

Having spoken to Justin & Cat we’d found out they were still some distance behind us, Jim and I decided that we had time to bag another marilyn, and Raw Head happened to be only a few miles from our route and have an amusing name to boot! However, with Justin and Cat catching up fast (despite the handicap of Justin’s MG) we wanted to make it a quick stop. The nearest car park was some distance away so we decided to drive to the nearest bit of road to the top and see if we could find somewhere to safely pull in. It didn’t look hopeful from the map – the roads around the hill were tiny single-track affairs and in reality were of even lower grade than they appeared on the map! Fortunately, just outside Droppingstone Farm there was a large muddy rutted area at the roadside; Jim managed to find a fairly safe flat bit of it to squeeze his Fiesta into.

We headed into thick woodland on the Sandstone Way, which we knew ran over Raw Head and conveniently passed opposite where we’d parked. However, we didn’t remain on it for long. We soon spotted a small path off to the left, which appeared to take a more direct and steeper route up the hill, and mindful of our need for speed turned onto it without hesitation. It turned out to be an inspired choice.

Neither of us had bothered to change into walking boots for what we had thought would be a high-speed bag, and our everyday footwear was not entirely appropriate for what was a very steep and slippery slope. With the aid of branches and roots we managed to haul ourselves up and – to our astonishment – soon found ourselves standing in front of a sandstone cliff with a large, low-roofed cave cut into the lower strata. This was nothing like the spooky and dripping stalactite-infested limestone caves I’d encountered before. Being sandstone, it was a most affable cave – orange in hue, and with friendly curved edges and rounded pillars. I ambled happily in, to find that a second cave opened out between the pillars. Beyond that, I could see a third chamber, but not being a trained speleologist I had no idea how safe it would be so I decided to give it a miss.

Standing in front of the cave, the sandstone cliffs looked a formidable barrier to us as hillwalkers. We wondered in the path we had come up was merely an access route for the cave, and whether we would have to retrace our steps. Before we resorted to such drastic measures, we decided to explore the cliffs to the right of the cave to see if there was a way up. To our joy, we found that the path restarted and led us to a lower section of cliff where there looked to be a way to scramble our way up.

It was our first bit of scrambling; I’m not sure what the scrambling grades mean, but I’m guessing that this was barely a grade 1. There were several layers of sandstone we had to physically haul ourselves up, each time pausing on the ledge inbetween to work out our next move. Jim found it a lot easier than me – with longer legs he could easily haul himself up steps that my legs simply wouldn’t reach too. As each layer was slightly gibbous, there was on each one a slightly worrying moment where you had to lean out slightly over the drop behind you to get round the bulge. We were soon at the top though, feeling very pleased with ourselves. We found ourselves at the rocky top of the cliff with extensive (if rather hazy) views of Cheshire laid out below us.

From here it was a simple stroll along a grassy path to the top, with steep wooded slopes to our right but just farmland to our left. The Sandstone Trail joined from the right after a while, looking rather dull compared to our route. Any sense of anticlimax was dispelled on seeing the top itself. The trig point was set on a rocky outcrop with good views; below was another (smaller) cave (this cave looked like it may have been a quarry). After running around the cave and knoll like excited kids, and striking heroic poses on the knoll and trig point, we decided it was time to head back down to the car

We headed down the Sandstone Way, and soon broke into a fairly uncontrolled gallop. From top to bottom our descent took less than two minutes, and felt great. With the slightly perilous ascent of a scrambler, and the mad rush of a fell-running style descent we felt we’d moved up a grade from our previous hillbagging efforts, and it felt good. We hoped there’d be much more of the same in Snowdonia…