Red Screes, Mountain Bagging and Memories of War

I join the Mountain Bagging group for a memorable scramble up Red Screes and chat to founder, Zoe Little, about her motivation in forming the group. On the way down, I meet a Falkands veteran who has written a thought-provoking book. They say you should never judge someone until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes; over the following weeks, Kevin’s writing takes me much further than that.

~

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar: 
I love not man the less, but Nature more

~

Lord Byron’s words express the joy of solitude in the embrace of the wild. It’s a sentiment I share. I love solo walks—escaping the hectic buzz of the working week for the tranquility of the fells. The landscape weaves a primal magic, stresses evaporate, and walking becomes a meditation where the mind wanders further than the feet. After all, as Jean Paul Sartre put it, “if you’re lonely when you’re alone, you’re in bad company.”

But sometimes, the company of others is exactly what we need. I hadn’t considered joining a walking group until last year, when I pulled up in the Dodd Wood car park to tackle Skiddaw.  There, by chance, I found a small band of people assembling to hike the very same route under the guidance of Jez Starkey of Let’s Walk the Lakes. Let’s Walk the Lakes is a Facebook Group set up by Jez and Sammie Reynnie. I had joined for the photos, on-line chat, ideas and inspiration, although latterly, it had crossed my mind that turning up for one of their events might be rewarding. Now, serendipitously, here they were. I asked if I could tag along, and I was made very welcome.

Jez led us up over Ullock Pike, Long Side, and Carlside; up the steep screen run to Skiddaw; and eventually down and up again on to Dodd. Fell walkers are a friendly bunch—our mutual reverence for the landscape provides a profound bond—and it’s very uplifting to meet a bunch of people you click with instantly. Sammie was great fun and quite an education—I learnt a lot of new words that I think must be technical terms for describing steep gradients.

Among the friends I made that day was Neil Steel. Our paths would cross again a few months later when we attended one of Hayley Webb’s superb navigation courses. Neil is an irrepressible ball of energy and infectious enthusiasm. Hayley had just explained the principle of Naismith time for estimating how long it’ll take you to reach a given point (assume a base speed of 15 minutes per km and add a minute for every contour), when Neil set off at such a velocity that she was forced to call him back and suggest the calculation might need tailoring in his case.

Also on the course were Kathryn Reyes and Julia Charnock who talked warmly about the new Facebook group they had just formed, Let’s Talk the Lakes. The idea was to have a remit wider than fell walks alone. This would be a forum where people could discuss everything they love about the District—pubs, tea shops, whatever you like. 

There was clearly currency in these social media groups. I was now a member of several and getting to know some of the regular contributors. One person who stood out was Zoe Little. Her posts overflowed with positivity and the sheer unbridled joy of the mountains. Here was a someone bursting to share the wonder; if you commented on one of her photos, she’d draw you into a conversation about summits and experiences; it was inspiring to follow her progress around the 214 Wainwrights. A few months later, I learnt that Zoe had started her own group, Mountain Bagging. What’s more, she’d recruited Neil and Ken Trainer (another veteran of the Skiddaw walk) as admins. This had to be a group worth checking out.

All of which explains why I’m standing at the top of the Kirkstone Pass, waiting for the group to arrive. Ken is going to lead an ascent of Red Screes via Kilnshaw Chimney, a steep gully that promises a dramatic scramble to the top. A stiff breeze whips up from the Irish Sea, gathering speed over the length of Windermere. It finds no impediment until it rattles the doors of the old 15th century coaching inn across the road. This is slightly ominous as Storm Freya is due to hit later. According to the forecast, we’ll be long off the fell before she does; I just hope she’s not early.

Neil arrives first. He’s full of flu and imbibing Lemsip from a flask. Anyone else would be tucked up in bed (see what I mean about irrepressible).

Zoe and her partner, Richie, arrive soon afterwards. Richie is nursing a knee injury but has turned up anyway (he’s clearly wrought from the same steely stuff as Neil). Zoe is every bit as exuberant in person as she appears on social media: warm, welcoming, ebullient and genuinely eager to hear about everyone else’s adventures. I ask her what led her to form Mountain Bagging. She tells me that she saw it as a way to share her love of the Lakes and Scotland. While she readily concedes there are “some awesome walking groups out there”, her experience on social media was not entirely without negativity. One flippant remark (she doesn’t elaborate) made her want to help others get out on the mountains.

“I asked Ken to join”, she explains, “then Neil and finally Beverly as I knew they had the exact same love for mountains as me. You just click with some folk and I think we are a great admin team, although, I bet I drive them all mad.”

Zoe is proud and a little overwhelmed at the response they’ve had from members, and it lends weight to her hope that they are achieving something a little bit unique:

“The best is when you take a group out and it might be their first time out or they haven’t done it on their own, so they have joined to gain confidence, and the sense of achievement they have just makes my day. Last year, I took one group up to the Priest Hole, and they had so much pride in that. That feeling of being part of someone’s adventure is priceless.”

As we’re talking, the rest of the group arrives, including latest recruit to the admin team, Beverley Simm—a very experienced walker, who began exploring the mountains as a youngster with her Dad. Ken and Anita rally the group and outline the route. Ken is full of bonhomie and cheeky humour. He suggests that if anyone struggles with his Merseyside accent, Anita is here to translate.

When we set off, Anita takes the lead and Ken brings up the rear, ensuring no-one gets left behind and signalling to Anita if the front-runners get too far ahead. Later, Anita shares a post on Facebook describing how wolf packs are organised: the slowest members set the pace, and the leader follows at the back where he can keep all in sight and move to wherever he is needed. It’s an interesting parallel.

The ascent is steep, but we start by following a clear path. I get talking to Anita, who tells me she started climbing the fells last year. She had little choice: “if you’re going out with Ken and you want to see anything of him, you’re going to be up a mountain at the weekend”. He’s a nurturing mentor, and she’s loving the experience; together, they’re ticking off the Wainwrights.

About two thirds of the way up, Ken directs us off piste to the start of the gully. As we fan out and start to scramble, I find myself with Gail and Alex. Walls of slate-grey crag, clad in green moss and milky lichen, rise on either side, and we clamber up erratic stairs of broken stone. I glance behind to see the slopes fall away severely. In the grey wintry light, the landscape beyond is a sepia wash, as if lightly sketched to be coloured in later. Only the thin grey ribbon of the road provides any discernible feature as it snakes away below. The red and blue jackets of the group are a striking contrast; it’s as if the defined world has shrunk to the immediate environs of our small party.

Before long, our way is blocked by a large rock step. It has only one obvious foot hold—a small damp moss-covered spur that looks slippery as hell—and a single hand hold, beyond the reach of many. This is where the power of teamwork wins out. Everyone who needs a hand is lifted up.

The squat tower of the trig point marks the summit, and cloud softens the vista over Middle Dodd to the pale sheen of Brothers Water. The contoured profiles of distant fells are the barren browns and tans of winter, with just the odd fleck of green to hint at the imminence of spring. Everyone takes a quiet moment to drink it all in.

We press on to Little Hart Crag, and once in the lee of Red Screes we stop to eat. I get talking to Gail and Kevin. Gail says when she first started walking with groups, she didn’t understand the term “comfort break” and thought it meant stopping for a snack. She didn’t understand why the men had to disappear behind a boulder or a tree to eat. Kevin slips discreetly behind the dry-stone wall, but his tangerine beanie serves to let everyone know where he is and what he’s doing (except Gail, who probably thinks he’s gone for a flapjack).

It starts to rain. and I pull on my waterproof over-trousers with all the balletic elegance of Darcy Bussell. Ken feels compelled to commentate much to the amusement of the group, and the situation does not improve when Gail endeavours to prop me up with such force I nearly end up half-way down the fell.

On Little Hart Crag, when the rain turns to snow, Ken revises the route, and we descend by High Hartsop Dodd. The gradient is steep but gets us down quickly. Kevin hangs back to help a couple of people whose footwear isn’t coping brilliantly with the slippery rock. His tangerine beanie is a useful beacon. He tells me it’s been all over with him: Scotland, Wales, The Falkland Islands…

As we follow the stream back up to the top of the Kirkstone Pass, I quiz Kevin about the Falklands. It turns out he’s a veteran of the conflict. He was just 18 years old when he stood on the bridge of HMS Fearless and faced the onslaught of repeated bombardments from Argentinian planes. He’s written a book about the experience. By the time we reach the Kirkstone Pass Inn, my interest is piqued. When I get home, I order a copy of “Fearless—the Diary of an 18-year-old at War in the Falklands” from Amazon. Several weeks later, my head is reeling. I’ve just finished the book; indeed, over the last few days, I’ve found it very hard to put down. 

I was sixteen in 1982. My idea of a challenge was learning a Hendrix guitar riff or making fumbling attempts to attract girls. Kevin Porter was just two years older and faced a  terrifying ordeal, well beyond the scope of anything most of us will ever encounter. He kept a diary, and that is what is reproduced here, augmented with context, explanations and detail from his older self, now better able to express the avalanche of emotion he was going through. 

The book takes us on a compelling journey. Awkward farewells to a close-knit family in Millom make way for teenage bravado in Portsmouth, where saying you’re a sailor about to go to war proves an effective chat up line. The rousing send-off the public give the ship instils immense pride and patriotism, but as the shoreline fades, Kevin experiences fear and depression, and wonders if he’ll ever see his homeland again. 

At sea, we get glimpses of Kevin’s rapport with nature: his delight at seeing pods of whales and his regular bids to venture out in the small boat that collects the airdrops of letters and supplies. As HMS Fearless approaches the battle zone, however, the mood understandably darkens. 

The battles are a rollercoaster of terror, excitement, pride, pathos and anguish. One salient theme is the mutual respect the fighting men of both sides have for each other. They bear no personal animosity; they are here over historic claims of sovereignty, the political ambitions of a ruthless military junta, and the failure of politicians to resolve the matter with diplomacy. True, the Argentinians are “murdering bastards” when they score a direct hit, but in quieter moments, Kevin acknowledges their pilots’ bravery and skill. The respect is mutual. One poignant story concerns a British SAS officer who single-handedly holds off the enemy so his platoon can escape. When he finally succumbs to their fire, the Argentinians bury him with full military honours and declare him the bravest man they have ever encountered.

Jubilance at news of the Argentinian surrender turns to tetchiness on the long journey home. A hero’s return, marked by a street party, gives way to a growing unease, erratic behaviour and depression as PTSD takes hold. 

Kevin eventually conquers his demons and is now a fully qualified transformational hypnotherapist, skilled in helping others to overcome them too. 

This self-published book has a raw, unvarnished authenticity. It raises many questions about war, politics, the international arms trade, patriotism, and the emotional cost of serving your country. It doesn’t attempt to answer any of them; instead, it does something with much greater emotional heft—it gives you a profound insight on what it was like to be there in the thick of it. It is riveting testimony to heroism and humanity.

Thanks to Mountain Bagging, I started up Red Screes in my walking boots, but ended up on the decks of HMS Fearless, travelling all the way to the South Atlantic in Kevin Porter’s shoes.

Links

You can find Kevin’s book, “FEARLESS – The Diary of an 18 Year Old at War in the Falklands” on Amazon, using the following link

Mountain Bagging:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/179668589532084

Let’s Walk the Lakes

https://www.facebook.com/groups/510592085965494/

Let’s Talk the Lakes (LTTL)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1983900701848305/

Hayley Webb Mountain Adventures

For superb navigation training or one-to-one guidance from a qualified mountain leader

https://www.facebook.com/HayleyWebbAdventures/