Walk : Great Mell Fell (1,760ft) and Little Mell Fell (1,657ft) from Brownrigg Farm and The Hause

Date : 11^th March 2016

Weather : Dry, poor visibility, variable cloud @ 24 °C

Distance : @ 3 miles

Difficulty : 1 – Gentle gradients throughout

(1=easy 5=hard)

Which area of Lakeland is this walk situated?

Terrain Overview

Walk Overview

A number of walking firsts today on these 2 minor Eastern region Wainwright Fells. Sue`s first walk of the year and me walking

with newly fitted contact lenses. We also had the dubious pleasure of the company of Jones (the Bastard) our 8 years old stroppy

Cairn Terrier. These 2 fells are ideal “tasters” for people wishing to get into Fell walking requiring a minimum of effort and rewarded

with some great views on both tops

The walk up top Great Mell Fell starts approximately a mile north east from Matterdale End just past Brownrigg Farm. A stony

track branches off the minor road to the left and provides a very limited parking space for no more than 2 or 3 cars

So, before we start the walk, Sue lays out the ground rules as to what is expected in terms of behaviour from Jones

Jones exercises his right of reply

So now as we are all on the same page, we set off along the stony track

Heading off down the track

It seems obvious that you should go through the first gate you come to on the right, however ignore this

About two to three hundred yards on the right is a gate and stile through which a path leads to the open fell side

Along the path on to the open fell side and a glimpse to the left of the snow capped Helvellyn range

… and behind us what will be the second fell of the day … Little Mell Fell

Stay on the track until a very obvious path on the right with foot holds carved into it cuts a route up the side of the Fell

Looking over Matterdale towards Stybarrow Dodd and Great Dodd

The grass path swings to the right a little over some boggy ground

Aim to the middle left of the Pine plantation following the line of the track. There are a number of paths through it but this

one seems to be the more popular

Through the plantation

Carry on for about another 10 minutes or so over very muddy terrain and the summit cairn comes into view

Having patched up their differences Sue and Jones on the summit

A 360-degree view from the summit

We journey back down to go onto Little Mell Fell and bump into these guys

Runner and rider for next weeks Cheltenham Festival ?? – maybe not

We journeyed by car round to the start of the second walk up Little Mell Fell. This starts on a minor road between Matterdale

End and Watermillock. A 5 barred steel gate near a small covered Reservoir leads across a field

Wade through the mud across to a broken gate to gain direct access to the open fell side

A wooden signpost indicated the grooved path to take to the summit

Looking back to Ullswater from the path

At an obvious point the path veers off right along the foot holds

Looking back down to the start of the walk

After a short distance, the crest of the slope is reached and the ground levels up to reveal the summit trig point cairn

On the summit of Little Mell Fell

On the journey back we made a quick detour to the nearby Aira Force waterfalls

Down at the viewing platform

Looking south towards Glenridding and Patterdale

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