Clints Crags Explained

Clints Crags
Location:Lake District, England
Elevation M:245
Prominence M:53
Parent Peak:Binsey
Listing:Outlying Wainwright
Range:Northern Fells
Coordinates:54.706°N -3.295°W
Topo:OS Landranger 96
Map:United Kingdom Lake District

Clints Crags is a small fell in the north of the English Lake District near Blindcrake, Cumbria. It has its own chapter in Alfred Wainwright's The Outlying Fells of Lakeland. He describes a circular walk from Blindcrake, and laments that at the time of writing (1974): "This is a walk on public footpaths, but until somebody removes the barbed wire and other obstacles to legitimate progress it can be recommended only to gymnasts."[1] It reaches 804feet. Since the time of writing the barbed wire has been removed and the path to the summit is clear of obstructions.

Clints Crags offers a pleasant and easy stroll to the summit from the village of Blindcrake. The gradient of the crags is much steeper rising north out of the Isel valley, however there are no footpaths to the crags from the valley bottom. There is an old limestone quarry near the summit of the hill, this is now an SSSI, being home to a rare species of newt that breeds in the old quarry lakes. The summit is a large expanse of limestone outcrops and pavement, which is also a designated SSSI. The fragile limestone habitat supports various rare calcareous species of flora and fauna. More can be found on https://clintscrags.co.uk

Other places of the same name

There are other places called Clints Crags in Wensleydale, North Yorkshire (just south of Leighton Reservoir)[2] and above Ireshopeburn in Weardale, County Durham.[3]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Wainwright, A.. Alfred Wainwright

    . Alfred Wainwright. The Outlying Fells of Lakeland. 1974. Westmorland Gazette. Kendal. 204–205. Clints Crags.

  2. Web site: Clints Crags. Geograph. 6 May 2012.
  3. Web site: Ireshope Burn at Clints Crags, with cave. Geograph. 6 May 2012.