The below records are from the New Dungeon Ghyll Book 1883 – 1920 (FRCC Archives). This book has several pages cut out at the start so may have run from an earlier date than 1883.
Oak Howe Needle First ascent details in the 2013 Langdale guide are “Unknown – pre-1909”. There is an entry in the New Dungeon Ghyll Book by TVC Bastow FRGS dated 19/8/1898 stating “Three men worked on W. side. The ascent on the E. side is stated to be moderately easy”. However, as far as can be deciphered, Bastow does not record the west side attempt was successful, nor that anyone climbed the east side. “On 2nd April 1899, WH Fowler, J Graham and L Carr (Leader) made the first recorded ascent by the crack on the S.E. side which finishes at the cleft which divides the rock into two portions. The chief difficulty is in passing a kind of nose near the top which forces the climber out of the crack. This is much the hardest of the three ways. In ascending the West side they did not notice the knob of rock referred to by HA Gwynne. It has probably come away since his ascent was written.
Two of the above also climbed an interesting gully in the NW Face of the rock behind the Needle; it lies a few yards east of a narrow grass gully.” Haskett Smith’s Climbing in the British Isles says: “Lingmoor, rather over a mile south-east of Millbeck Inn, and near Oak How, is a little pinnacle of which a photograph and a description by Mr. H.A. Gwynne will be found in the Climbers’ book at that place.” The Millbeck Inn was the old name of the New Dungeon Ghyll and Haskett Smith’s book was published in 1894/95 so, presuming that we are dealing with the same book, it should be noted that there is no entry by HA Gwynne. However, there are three pages missing at the start of the book; these have been cut out. The earliest surviving entry is incomplete but is dated April 2nd 1893 so, as the book itself is undated, it’s perfectly possible that the entries ran from an earlier date than 1893. We know Gwynne was in the Lake District in 1892 as he climbed Gwynne’s Chimney in April that year so a good guess would be that he climbed the Needle on that same visit, though sadly we do not know by what route, but one imagines the easier one(s). From the above it would seem that HA Gwynne made the first ascent via the West and possibly the East sides and probably in April 1892 and that L Carr, WH Fowler and J Graham made the first ascent of the SE crack, 2nd April 1899.