Great walk starting from Talkin to the cairns of Talkin Head and Simmerson Hill. Easy dog-friendly walk with amazing view over the North Pennines.
Talkin Head and Simmerson Hill Walk Information:
- Distance: 10km
- Duration: 3h
- Level: Easy
- Car park: Talkin, Brampton CA8 1LE, free parking spaces by the church.
- Dog-friendly: Yes, however some fields might have livestocks.
Veuillez faire défiler vers le bas pour la version française.

Middle of November, by a sunny Saturday morning, we decided to do the walk passing by the cairns at the summit of Talkin Head. I had found this walk in the Country Walking magazine. This walk is located in the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty park between the Cumbria and North Yorkshire borders.
We started the walk from the village of Talkin. It is a quiet village with a lovely church and a pub (if you wish to stop for a drink after your walk). Starting from the church, we followed the main road for a little while before turning right in the direction of a farm and cottages. The concrete road stops at the cottages.

The rest of the walk is off-road allowing Skye to run free. After the cottages, the wall enclosed path slightly goes up before entering a wood. At the end of the wood, the view open on the moors. Still following the path slowly going up, we arrive at the top of Talkin Head and the cairns.
The view from the summit is absolutely amazing. We stopped there for a quick lunch as the wind was strong and to chat with another walker. We found out that the man was a walk guide books writer and that I have one of his books at home.

Retracing our steps, we went in the direction of Simmerson Hill. We followed the edge of that hill, before going down in the direction of the farm. Passing the farm, we took the path going towards the wood. After crossing the wood, we retraced our steps back to the car park.
This is a great walk, not too hard and with amazing views.
Have you done this walk?













Milieu Novembre, par un samedi ensoleillé, nous avons décidé d’aller faire la randonnée qui passe par les Cairns au sommet de Talkin Head. J’avais trouvé cette randonnée dans le magazine Country Walk. Cette randonnée se trouve dans le parc du North Pennines qui est une Area of National Outstanding Beauty à la frontière entre Cumbria et North Yorkshire.
Nous avons commencé la randonnée depuis le village de Talkin. Ce village très calme a une belle chapelle et un pub (si vous souhaitez vous arrêter pour boire un verre après la randonnée). Depuis la chapelle, nous avons suivi la route principale pendant un petit moment avant de prendre à droite vers la ferme et les cottages. La route goudronnée s’arrête après les cottage.

Le reste de la randonnée est sur des sentiers se qui nous a permit de laisser Skye courir sans la laisse. Après les cottages, le sentier encerclé de mur en pierre, monte tranquillement avant d’arriver au niveau d’un bois. A la fin du bois, la vue s’ouvre sur les landes. Nous avons continué tout droit sur le sentier qui va en direction de Talkin Head.
La vue depuis le sommet est absolument superbe. Nous nous sommes arrêtés au pied des cairns pour une petite pause sandwiches car le vent était froid. Nous avons aussi discuté avec un autre marcheur, qui s’avéra être un auteur de livre de randonnées. J’ai d’ailleurs l’un de ses livres à la maison.

Après avoir rebroussé chemin, nous partîmes en direction de Simmerson Hill. Nous avons suivi le chemin qui suit le bord de la falaise, avant de redescendre vers la ferme. Une fois la ferme de passé, nous avons pris la direction du petit bois, que nous avons traversé pour nous retrouver sur le chemin du début de la randonnée.
C’est une très belle randonnée, assez facile et avec de magnifiques vues depuis le sommet.
Connaissez-vous cette randonnée?

Find all our walks in UK here. Retrouvez toutes nos randonnées au Royaume-Uni ici.
This looks like a lovely walk. I’d love to visit one day.
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Definitely worth doing this walk. It is not too popular as well which is great.
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A beautiful autumn day and fabulous views, your photos are lovely 🙂
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Thank you for your comment.
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What a beautiful walk. The views are stunning, especially with the autumn colours.
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Thank you. Definitely recommend this walk if you like amazing views.
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So beautiful
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Thank you ☺️
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I have heard of the Nine Standards but never walked to them. It looks good.
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Definitely worth it Anabel and it is an easy walk.
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Many years ago some friends and I did Wainwright’s Coast to Coast Walk, in relay (doing alternate sections in pairs). I missed the ‘leg’ which did 9 Standards Rigg, but my 2 mates told me that it was an arduous series of bogs. Your beautiful pictures and description tell a different story. So either they were kidding me (which is always likely) or the terrain has changed over the years. Did you see any bogs, or are they further on, across the moor? I’m also interested to know who the author was that you met..?
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Some sections were a bit boggy but not too much to be honest. The path was very easy. Maybe it depends on the season.
It was Mark Richards, I have his book The western fells published by Cicerone.
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Many thanks for your reply Mélodie. We have several Cicerone books (I just counted 12 in one bookcase), but none are by him, though ours are for North Wales, Scotland and mainland Europe. I suggested to Cicerone that they should have a book about the Val d’Hérens in Switzerland (where we used to live) but they thought it might detract from Kev Reynold’s “Walking in the Valais”. Instead, they suggested I did an article for them and, for info, here it is: https://www.cicerone.co.uk/walking-in-the-val-dherens
It’s a beautiful part of the world should you ever wish to visit. 😊
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Thank you for sharing your article. I will read it 😊.
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Thanks for posting this walk Melodie. We have thought about doing the Nine Standards , but never got round to it. Looks a great walk.
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It is a great, easy one perfect with dogs as well. You need to pick a day where the sky is clear and not too much wind. You can download the GPX file on my outdoor active page.
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Your pictures are stunning. It looks like a lovely day for a hike (minus the wind).
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Thank you, yes the weather was perfect. The wind only bothered us at the top of the summit after it was fine.
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I have seen pictures of the cairns before but I can’t place where I seen them. Some lovely views from the top though, especially on a lovely autumn day like you had
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We were lucky with the weather. The first time I heard about them was by reading an article of Country Walking magazin.
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What a beautiful walk and stunning photos. The Lake District is one of my favourite places in the world, but I don’t know this walk. I shall have to put it on the list!
Thank you for sharing.
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Thank you Jacqueline for your comment. Definitely worth a visit if you are coming visiting the Lakes.
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I know of a Nine Standards Rigg south of Kirkby Stephen, so interesting to see there’s another one further north in an area I don’t know so well.
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I realised that there are two one as you said south of Kirkby Stephen and this one near Talkin. I need to visit the one near Kirkby Stephen to see which one is better.
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We’re planning a short break in Kirkby Stephen and I’m hoping to get up to the southern Nine Riggs, legs and weather permitting
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Looking forward to read your article about that walk then if you manage to do it
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Would be interesting to compare the two!
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Mélodie, Such a beautiful walk and photos. I enjoyed reading both your English and French posts. Keep them coming 🙂
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Thank you for your feedback, I am always wondering if it is useful to have the posts in both languages.
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