Powleys Hill

About Powleys Hill

Rising above the remote valley of Wasdale near Shap, this grassy Birkett marks the quiet eastern boundary of the Lake District. Its broad, often peat-haggish slopes offer a solitary walking experience far from the crowds, providing an expansive perspective across the M6 corridor toward the rolling Howgill Fells and the North Pennines.

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Did You Know?

• •The name likely commemorates the Powley family, a long-established Westmorland name frequently found in parish records and headstones around the nearby villages of Lowther and Shap.
• •Though overlooked by Alfred Wainwright for his primary guides, the hill is a recognized Birkett and Synge, attracting those aiming to complete the more exhaustive lists of Lakeland summits.
• •The summit offers a unique vantage point over the 'other' Wasdale; unlike the famous glacial valley beneath Scafell Pike, this eastern Wasdale is a secluded, quiet glen that feeds the River Shapbeck.
• •Looking east from the ridge, the view is defined by the stark contrast between the silent moorland and the busy transport arteries of the M6 motorway and the West Coast Main Line carving through the landscape below.
• •This is a summit for the dedicated solitude-seeker; it is the kind of place where you are significantly more likely to have a meaningful conversation with a Swaledale sheep than a fellow walker.