Great Mell Fell & Little Mell Fell - Friday 28 April 2023
Route
Brownrigg Farm - Routing Gill - Great Mell Fell - Brownrigg Farm - The Hause - Little Mell Fell - Greenrow - Nab End - Brownrigg Farm
Parking
Verge parking a short distance north of Brownrigg Farm (Free) where there is room for about 6 cars - Grid Ref NY 4073 2469. The nearest postcode is CA11 0SB. The walk can also be started from below Little Mell Fell at The Hause.
Mileage
7 miles
Terrain
Grassy farm tracks & low level stony paths. In order to link these 2 fells up there is an amount of road walking but this is along very quiet lanes with very little traffic.
Weather
A still evening with some sunshine and excellent visibility.
Time Taken
3hrs 20mins
Total Ascent
1932ft (589m)
Wainwrights
2
Map
OL5 - The English Lakes (North Eastern Area)
Walkers
Dave, Angie & Fudge
Brownrigg Farm - Routing Gill - Great Mell Fell - Brownrigg Farm - The Hause - Little Mell Fell - Greenrow - Nab End - Brownrigg Farm
Parking
Verge parking a short distance north of Brownrigg Farm (Free) where there is room for about 6 cars - Grid Ref NY 4073 2469. The nearest postcode is CA11 0SB. The walk can also be started from below Little Mell Fell at The Hause.
Mileage
7 miles
Terrain
Grassy farm tracks & low level stony paths. In order to link these 2 fells up there is an amount of road walking but this is along very quiet lanes with very little traffic.
Weather
A still evening with some sunshine and excellent visibility.
Time Taken
3hrs 20mins
Total Ascent
1932ft (589m)
Wainwrights
2
Map
OL5 - The English Lakes (North Eastern Area)
Walkers
Dave, Angie & Fudge
GPX File
If the above GPX file fails to download or presents itself as an XML file once downloaded then please feel free to contact me and I will send you the GPX file via e-mail.
Route Map
The start point for this walk is a rough lane approximately 230 yards north of Brownrigg Farm - please park sensibly.
Heading up the rough lane
Approximately 100 yards from the parking area a gate on the right gives access to the fell side. In days gone by this gate only led to a path that made a circuit of Great Mell Fell - there is now a path (not shown on the OS Map) that gives access to the summit via Routing Gill.
Looking back to the parking area with Little Mell Fell beyond
At Grid Reference NY 40562 25010 a path leaves on the left to head up the fell side
The path continues upwards on a gentle gradient
Looking back down the path towards Low Birchclose
Fudge listens intently as somebody opens a bag of crisps on Skiddaw
Little Mell Fell
Fudge gives me that knowing "not another bloody photograph" look as we continue the gentle climb
At Grid Reference NY 40206 24975 the path splits - either option leads to Great Mell Fell's summit
The path heads through a small plantation of Scots Pine just short of the summit
Reaching the other side of the plantation and the views start to open out
Approaching the summit of Great Mell Fell
The summit of Great Mell Fell looking south west to The Dodds & Clough Head
Blencathra & the Northern Fells from Great Mell Fell
Looking directly south with the High Street range to the left & Red Screes to the right
A Great Mell Fell panorama - for such a relatively small fell the views are superb
Looking east to Little Mell Fell, Arthur's Pike, Bonscale Pike & Loadpot Hill
Fudge on the summit of Great Mell Fell
No Fudge that's the wrong way
Descending from Great Mell Fell - the way down is roughly parallel with the ascent route
The path passes through the southern end of the plantation
Looking east from the edge of the plantation
Little Mell Fell - we were off there next
An impatient Fudge with Gowbarrow Fell to the rear
It clearly gets a bit windy up here
A gate gives access back to the rough lane which leads to the parking area
600 yards south of the parking area the route along the road turns off to the left in the direction of Dockray
Inquisitive youngsters as we pass along the road heading to The Hause
Continuing on towards The Hause, the route passes an ingeniously named property
Arriving at The Hause - the path to Little Mell Fell can be seen heading up the fell to the left. It should be noted that if parking is unavailable at Brownrigg Farm, the walk can also be started from here.
The initial steep rise from The Hause to Little Mell Fell
Looking back to The Hause - the hills to the rear are Little & Great Meldrum
Ullswater with Arthur's Pike beyond
Cloud like Flying Saucers adorn the sky as we look over Gowbarrow Fell to Fairfield, Helvellyn & The Dodds
Angie heads up to join me to where the gradient eases
The Far Eastern Fells over Ullswater
And a little further around towards the Eastern Fells - I just love the patterns in the evening sky
The Trig Point that marks the summit of Little Mell Fell - those are not Fudge's glasses on the Trig
As is tradition - Fudge in silhouette on the summit of Little Mell Fell
He nose you know!
The evening starts to draw to a close as we leave the summit
Nothing like a bit of arsing about after a lovely walk
Heading down from Little Mell Fell towards Foxhill Farm
Near Foxhill Farm the route passes through a gate to reach the road
Crossing the border between Watermillock & Huttonsoil via the bridge over Thackthwaite Beck
Having crossed the bridge the route heads to a T junction where turning left leads back to the parking area