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 North Western Fells • 2

THE FELLS IN THIS AREA: ARD CRAGS • BARF • BARROW • BROOM FELL • CASTLE CRAG • CATBELLS • CAUSEY PIKE • DALE HEAD • EEL CRAG (Crag Hill)  • GRASMOOR • GRAYSTONES • GRISEDALE PIKE • HIGH SPY • HINDSCARTH • HOPEGILL HEAD • KNOTT RIGG • LING FELL • LORD'S SEAT • MAIDEN MOOR • OUTERSIDE • RANNERDALE KNOTTS • ROBINSON • SAIL • SALE FELL • SCAR CRAGS • WANDOPE • WHINLATTER • WHITELESS PIKE • WHITESIDE

CATBELLS
Height: 1481', (451m)
Grid Ref: NY 244198

Catbells is one is one of the most attractive fells in the district, a long ridge reminiscent of a sphinx from some angles. This is a happy coincidence, however, since the name seems to be a corruption of cat bields, a bield being a local term for a shelter. (There was a time when wild cats inhabited the fells, and there is a place marked Cat Bields on Seatallen near Wasdale).

Catbells is one of the most popular fells in the Lake District, but being quite small it's probably best avoided on summer bank holidays when so many visitors are concentrated into a limited area. To the south of the small summit, the ridge continues over Maiden Moor and High Spy towards the Honister Pass.

CAUSEY PIKE
Height: 2090 ', (637m):
Grid reference: NY 219209

With it's slight 'sugarloaf' protruberence at the end of a ridge, Causey Pike has one of the most distinctive summits in the district. At the time of writing his books, there was no official spot height for Causey Pike on the OS maps, but Wainwright estimated it at 2035' based on the contours around it.Since then, revised maps have added the spot height of 637 metres, which puts the summit at 2090' in old money.

TOP

DALE HEAD
Height: 2472', (753m)
Grid Ref: NY 223153

EEL CRAG
Height: 2751', (807m); (Wainwright has the summit as 2749')
Grid Ref: NY 193204

Most modern guidebooks refer to Eel Crag as Crag Hill, which is more accurate. Eel Crag proper is the rock face on the fell's northern flanks, the top of which is marked by its own cairn (located at NY 190207). Though Wainwright was aware of all this, he decided to use the name Eel Crag as it was in more common usage at the time. Whatever the name, it is certainly one of the finest fells in the north western region. Though its near neighbour Grasmoor is higher, Crag Hill is the main watershed and true geographic hub of the range. It occupies a dominant position on a ridge which takes in half a dozen 'Wainwrights', the toughest section of which is the Scar, a steep scramble linking Crag Hill with Sail.

The summit of the fell is flat and stony, and quite featureless apart from with its trig pillar. A little to the south, the ground drops steeply into Addacombe Hole, a rarely visited hanging valley. Following the rim of the corrie round to the south west leads to the summit of Wandope. North of the summit, the fell descends to Coledale Hause, forming a link with Hopegill Head, (which is also located halfway along a fine ridge running parallel with that of Crag Hill).

TOP

GRASMOOR
Height: 2795', (852m) (Wainwright has the summit as 2791')
Grid Ref: NY 175203

Grasmoor is the highest of the North Western Fells, and its shattered crags make it a particularly imposing sight when viewed from across Crummock Water, or on the approach from Lorton Vale. One of its most notable feature is the huge corrie beneath Dove Crags, an obvious place to find a tarn, yet there is not even the marshy ground found in similar hollows on the fells where no tarn is present. The summit of the fell is situated on a long plateau with many cairns, the main one being fashioned into a wind shelter.

GRAYSTONES
Height: 1496', (456m); (Wainwright has the summit as 1496')
Grid Ref: NY 178264

The most westerly of the Whinlatter Fells is known locally as Kirk Fell, though the higher of its two distinct summits is better known to walkers as Graystones. The name is apt as the summit cairn, acquired since Wainwright's visit, is located on a low rocky outcrop. A ridge to the north west rises to the minor top of Harrot, whilst the north slopes of the fell drop into the inhospitable marshes of Wythop Moss.

GRISEDALE PIKE
Height: 2595', (791m)
Grid Ref: NY 199226

Though not the highest of the North Western Fells, Grisedale Pike is the one which attracts the eye. The beautiful pyramidical form is due to the soft underlying slate that make up the fells of this area, a shape which is aped by many of the tops grouped around Coledale.

Grisedale Pike is the first summit visited on the Coledale Horseshoe when traversed in the more usual anti-clockwise direction. The cairn stands on a plinth of slate, from where the narrow ridge descends south east to Hopegill Head around the rim of Hobcarton Crags. Another ridge leaves the summit northwards towards the Whinlatter Pass, rising slightly to the minor top of Hobcarton End (613m).

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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

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