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

Book Six of Wainwright's Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells covers the Western Fells, an area which includes Great Gable, Pillar and the Ennerdale Fells. It was first published in 1966.

Each of the guides has a dedication:

Book Seven is dedicated to ALL THOSE WHO HAVE HELPED ME, sometimes with advice, sometimes with information, sometimes with no more than a friendly nod or smile. They are to many to mention, indeed some are unknown, anonymous fellow-walkers who pass the time of day and are gone.

The Western Fells • 1

THE FELLS IN THIS AREA: BASE BROWN • BLAKE FELL • BRANDRETH • BUCKBARROW • BURNBANK FELL • CAW FELL • CRAG FELL • FELLBARROW • FLEETWITH PIKE • GAVEL FELL • GREAT BORNE • GREAT GABLE • GREEN GABLE • GREY KNOTTS • GRIKE • HAYCOCK • HAYSTACKS • HEN COMB • HIGH CRAG • HIGH STILE • KIRK FELL • LANK RIGG • LOW FELL • MELLBREAK • MIDDLE FELL • PILLAR • RED PIKE (Buttermere) • RED PIKE (Wasdale) • SCOAT FELL • SEATALLAN • STARLING DODD • STEEPLE • YEWBARROW

BASE BROWN
Height: 2120', (646m)
Grid Ref: NY 206141

Base Brown can be conveniently climbed as the first summit of a ridge walk which starts at Seathwaite in Borrowdale and continues on over Green Gable to Great Gable. This route passes the conspicuous Hanging Stone, a feature marked on the OS map. However, it seems more common for people to climb the Gables via the hanging valley of Gillercomb, thus missing out Base Brown, probably because the former route presents a steeper climb over pathless terrain.

BLAKE FELL
Height: 1878', (573m)
Grid Ref: NY 110197

Blake Fell is the highest of the Loweswater Fells, a group of quiet hills which rise north of the Floutern Pass. There is a small wind shelter on the otherwise exposed summit, which is crossed by a wire fence. The OS map shows two tiny tarns on the other side of the fence - they were little more than muddy puddles on a recent visit.

To the east of Blake Fell is the minor top of Carling Knott, easily visited as the ridge makes a dog-leg towards Burnbank Fell. The nearby summit of Knock Murton missed out on being one of the 'Wainwrights' due to access problems at the time of writing, (AW describes is as the 'forbidden peak'). It certainly deserved to be included as it offers almost 500 feet of reascent from any direction.

BRANDRETH
Height: 2344', (715m)
Grid Ref: NY 215119

BUCKBARROW
Height: 1388', (423m)
Grid Ref: NY 136061

The steep craggy face of Buckbarrow gives it the impression of being a detached fell when viewed from Wastwater, but it is really no more than a shoulder of the massive Seatallen. The crags of Buckbarrow are popular with rock-climbers.

Note: There is also Buck Barrow not far to the south in the Ulpha Fells. This is located ouside of the boundary set by AW for his seven guides, though it does get covered in his Outlying Fells guide.

TOP

BURNBANK FELL
Height: 1558', (475m)
Grid Ref: NY 110209

CAW FELL
Height: 2288', (697m)
Grid reference: NY 132110

The summit of Caw Fell is one of the most remote in the district, and this, combined with the unshapely appearance of the fell, means it attracts few visitors. Yet this is one of my favourite hills, a great place to watch a sunset before descending to a mountain camp in one of the lonely valleys that radiate from its summit.

The highest point of the fell* is on a broad ridge, the cairn lying north of the wall which runs parallel with the crags above Silver Cove. The wall itself is known as the Ennerdale Fence, and in poor visibility it's a useful 'handrail' which can be followed over Haycock as far as Scoat Fell.

Aeroplane wreckage can still be found near the summit of Caw Fell, and on a recent visit to the nearby Iron Crag (2099' / 640m) there was a small memorial written on a piece of wreckage which had been placed at the summit shelter. (The top of Iron Crag is the only tract of land in the Lakes within a 2000' contour that doesn't include a Wainwright summit. With good separation from Caw Fell and other high ground, it's hard to see why AW didn't include it).

*(The 1:25,000 OS map has the name of the fell nearer to the western cairn, and the 1:50,000 map has the name nearer to the col that links the fell with Haycock. This isn't due to carelessness, as the word 'fell' more properly refers to a tract of mountainside than a definite hill.

Aircraft wreckage on Iron Crag

CRAG FELL
Height: 1716', (541m)
Grid Ref: NY 197144

The OS Maps of Wainwright's day did not show a spot height for Crag Fell, so his estimate of 1710' approx. is quite impressive. Crag Fell is a neighbour of Grike, and the old mine road which passes over that fell also passes close to the summit of Crag Fell, from where it diminishes into a track beside a wall (the 'Ennerdale Fence'), which ultimately can be followed to the remote summits of Caw Fell and  Haycock.

FELLBARROW
Height: 1363', (416m)
Grid Ref: NY 132242

On older maps, Fellbarrow appears as the highest of the group of hills which rise between Loweswater and Lorton Vale. Its height of 1363' survived the metric revisions intact, converting to the current 416m, but it lost its place as the highest of the range to its neighbour Low Fell, which gained a few extra metres.

Most of the fell is surrounded by farmland, but access can be gained from the hamlet of Thackthwaite where an old drove road can be used to gain much of the height before heading for the summit over Smithy Fell. The summit, a broad grassy dome, is crossed by one of the many wire fences found on these fells, and is marked by a trig pillar.

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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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