Great Ladstones

Tucked away in the quiet Far Eastern fells near Shap, this limestone-capped ridge offers a wild, pathless feel despite its modest height. Rising above the hidden valley of Swindale, its heather-clad slopes lead to distinctive rocky outcrops that provide a fine vantage point over the secluded marshes and distant High Street range.

• •The name likely derives from the Old Norse 'hlad', meaning a pile or stack, referring to the prominent rocky outcrops that break the smooth moorland skyline. 'Ladstones' is a common dialect term for such features across the north of England.
• •Alfred Wainwright included this summit in his Outlying Fells guide as part of a circular walk from Swindale. He valued the area for its profound silence, describing these eastern moorlands as being 'of no interest to anyone' except those seeking total solitude.
• •The approach from the east follows the Old Corpse Road, a historic track once used to transport the dead from Mardale to the mother church at Shap before Mardale was granted its own burial rights.
• •From the summit, walkers are rewarded with a specific, 'birds-eye' view straight down into the bowl of Swindale, with the white threads of the waterfalls at the head of the valley clearly visible against the dark crags of Gouther Crag.
• •While the 'Great' in its name suggests grandeur, the reality is a sprawling, often saturated plateau where the most significant navigational challenge is usually deciding which particular bog is the shallowest.