Finding ‘Greg’s Hut’, the highest bothy in England
Image credit: Haus of Hiatus
Another Friday night in Spring 2024 was spent sleeping in another abandoned house in a remote place - this time, the highest mountain bothy in England on the Pennine way.
After a few days spent surveying the mountain bothies website after the last ‘bothy-bagging’ session with Stef and Justin, I realised that Greg’s hut (to clarify, it’s nothing to do with the bakery) is just a few bus rides and a 20-kilometre yomp away - so why not go and see and try it for myself.
So after loading up with supplies, I got the two buses and yomped around 20 kilometres to find this remote house and got to meet two other intrepid hikers, Dave and Richard, a pair of cousins who were also using it to find the source of the river Tees as a personal goal.
So, over a small tot of whiskey supplied by Dave, we set about chatting adventure well into the night, in part to see the Aurora Borealis which Dave’s app suggested might be making an appearance that night (it didn’t sadly but I did think it would be quite ironic if it did finally show having spent two winters in the Baltics now).
Before deciding to tackle to Pennine way, I’d not heard of ‘Greg's Hut’ bothy, however it’s nestled near the summit of Cross Fell, and holds quite a rich history dating back to the 1880s when it served as house for miners working at the nearby lead mines (of which you can see when yomping to the bothy).
From my research, it appears the hut underwent renovations in 1968, transforming it into a shelter dedicated to a local man called John Gregory, who was sadly killed in a climbing accident in the Alps in the late 1960s. He was a member of the Mercian Climbing Club and a member of a club team that skied across the Iceland Icecap, impressively!
Today, the hut is jointly managed by the Mountain Bothies Association (MBA) and the Greg's Hut Association and stands as a vital refuge for hikers traversing the Pennine Way.
( Please note: approximate location - do not use for navigation - please consult a genuine map! )
For me, the recce of the hut was for a personal goal to ‘fastpack’ (a quicker version of thru-hiking) the entire 263 miles of the Pennine way in one go as a way of signifying the physical recovery from a mountaineering accident in 2019 was completed (as in I would be back to full fitness and physical conditioning).
Ultimately, visiting the bothy makes a great micro-expedition that’s well worth doing If you’re in Cumbria or County Durham.
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