1. The EASTERN FELLS
2. The FAR EASTERN
    FELLS
3. The CENTRAL FELLS
4. The SOUTHERN FELLS
5. The NORTHERN FELLS
6. The NORTH WESTERN
    FELLS
7. The WESTERN FELLS

The Eastern Fells • 2

THE FELLS IN THIS AREA: ARNISON CRAG • BIRKHOUSE MOOR • BIRKS • CATSTYCAM • CLOUGH HEAD • DOLLYWAGON PIKE • DOVE CRAG • FAIRFIELD • GLENRIDDING DODD • GOWBARROW FELL • GREAT DODD • GREAT MELL FELL • GREAT RIGG • HART CRAG • HART SIDE • HARTSOP ABOVE HOW • HELVELLYN • HERON PIKE • HIGH HARTSOP DODD •  HIGH PIKE • LITTLE HART CRAG • LITTLE MELL FELL • LOW PIKE • MIDDLE DODD • NAB SCAR • NETHERMOST PIKE • RAISE • RED SCREES • ST SUNDAY CRAG • SEAT SANDAL • SHEFFIELD PIKE • STONE ARTHUR • STYBARROW DODD • WATSON'S DODD • WHITE SIDE

FAIRFIELD
Height: 2863', (873m)
Grid Ref: NY 359118

The most popular route to the summit of Fairfield is probably the Fairfield Horseshoe which starts and finishes in Ambleside and takes in seven Wainwrights, (namely Nab Scar, Heron Pike, Great Rigg, Fairfield, Hart Crag, Dove Crag , High Pike, and Low Pike). However, so many ridges radiate from the summit plateau that several other horseshoe routes can be devised, making it possible to climb Fairfield many times without covering too much of the same ground twice.

The Deepdale Horseshoe from Patterdale, for example, takes in six Wainwrights (Arnison Crag, Birks, St Sunday Crag, Fairfield, Hart Crag, and Hartsop above How) and also includes the excellent minor summit of Cofa Pike, a small rocky peak with excellent views down to Grisedale Tarn.

On the summit of Fairfield

GLENRIDDING DODD
Height: 1450', (442m)
Grid Ref: NY 381176-

Rising steeply above the village from which it takes its name, the small heathery top of Glenridding Dodd is the termination of the eastern shoulder of Sheffield Pike. Surprisingly, it is not a much-frequented top, due most probably to the fact that there is no easy direct ascent - the usual ascent from Rake Cottages (about a half mile west of the village) to the Rake, (the col which links it with Sheffield Pike), is quite steep and tiresome. But the views from the top and the attractiveness of the immediate surroundings make the climb well worthwhile.

GOWBARROW FELL
Height: 1579', (481m)
Grid Ref: NY 408218

The main attraction for most visitors to Gowbarrow Fell is the splendid Aira Force, a waterfall set in a ravine amongst the pleasantly wooded lower slopes above Ullswater. The few who continue to the heathery summit will find it a relatively easy climb, (and those carrying Wainwright's Eastern Fells book will note that it has acquired a trig pillar bearing a National Trust plaque since his day).

GREAT DODD
Height: 2811', (857m)
Grid Ref: NY 342206

To the north of the Helvellyn range, and separated from it by the Sticks Pass, there rises a group of fells which are among the least visited in the Lake District. They are commonly known as the Dodds, and the highest, logically enough, is Great Dodd, which at 2811' should be considered one of the major fells of the District (it's the 19th highest of the Wainwrights). There is no trig point at the summit, which is unusual as the lower Clough Head does have one, though the view is less extensive. There is, however, a good windshelter a little to the south of the highest cairn.

Unlike the fells to the south, Great Dodd and its neighbours are mostly broad and grassy (in fact, the word 'dodd' means a round grassy hill), though the western flanks above St John's in the Vale are quite steep and craggy. In this respect they differ from the Fairfield and Helvellyn ranges, which have their rough crags on the east.*

*The whole Fairfield-Helvellyn-Dodd ridge is sometimes referred to as the Helvellyn range, and in truth a height of over 2000' is maintained along most of the ridge, though for convenience I've grouped them as three separate entities.

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GREAT MELL FELL
Height: 1762', (537m)
Grid Ref: NY 397254

Great Mell Fell stands alone and unconnected to other fells by any ridges. It's quite prominent in distant views, looking almost man-made when set against the other Lakeland Fells. It's really a 'car' fell - it could be combined with Little Mell Fell in an afternoon - but it's quite inconveniently situated for the backpacker, being surrounded for miles around by farms and country lanes.

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GREAT RIGG
Height: 2513', (766m)
Grid Ref: NY 356104

Walkers doing the Fairfield Horseshoe in an anti-clockwise direction will probably agree with Wainwright that the ridge which links Fairfield with Great Rigg to the south is 'one of the easiest miles in the Lakeland'. The majority of visitors to it's summit will be walking the horseshoe, though an alternative approach can be made from Grasmere via the small rocky top of Stone Arthur.

HART CRAG
Height: 2698', (822m)
Grid Ref: NY 369112

Usually climbed as part of the Fairfield Horseshoe, the summit of Hart Crag is a narrow rocky plateau with a cairn at each end. The southern cairn is the higher, situated at the side of a groove which runs perpendicular to the nearby path, which always seems to remind me of the streets of Pompeii. There are also some distinctive fang-like rocks between the cairn and the main path. Maybe I've got an over-active imagination, but little things like that can help to determine when I've reached the summit in mist.

Hart Crag is linked to Dove Crag by a wall which ultimately descends to Ambleside, making it a useful navigational 'handrail' feature in bad weather.

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The summit of Hart Crag

HART SIDE
Height: 2481', (756m)
Grid Ref: NY 359198

The most notable feature on Hart Side's summit is a man-made ditch of mysterious origin. It's a quiet summit, with the finest approach being from Dockray to the north east over Watermillock Common and the Brown Hills. Wainwright's exclusion of the nearby Green Side (795m) as a featured fell is somewhat puzzling. There's much more reascent than Hart Side, (and Watson's Dodd, about a mile north west, has hardly any reascent). Green Side's summit will most often be visited by walkers aiming for Stybarrow Dodd from Sheffield Pike.

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