I hadn’t really planned to spend time on the fells today but the pull from Lakeland on such a nice summers day suddenly got the better of me-then before I knew it, I was making packed lunches & throwing my gear into the back of the car.

It’s been well over three years since I last set foot on both Fellbarrow & Low Fell through no fault of their own, it’s not very often I would leave certain summits a wide berth yet regrettably that’s just how it goes sometimes, yet, it’s at times like today you wonder why you ever stayed away at all.

Fellbarrow & Low Fell came straight to mind when I thought how accommodating todays walk had to be, for you see I had company of a young man & four legged kind.

Wainwright Guidebook Four

-Low Fell

The lesser heights and foothills of Lakeland, especially those on the fringe, are too much neglected in favour of the greater mountains, yet many of these unsought and unfashionable little hills are completely charming, in this category is Low Fell.

Today I am joined by my son Owen & our West Highland White Terrier Holly, Owen is a typical teenager now & gone are the days when he wanted to be joining his Dad on a day out fell walking, nowadays Owen is more at home Boxing at our local Gym where Holly, our one year old Westie Pup, well, lets say she’s still learning & seems to be getting away with much more than she should be.

Today Owen will be taking on two new Wainwright summits (hopefully the start of better things to come eh) and Holly will be claiming her very first two.

After a steady climb from the lake road we soon left the comforts of the tarmac track before heading left once we reached Miresyke Farm, here we strode out onto open fell side where we met up with the Mosser Road.

After leaving a rather cloudy sky it was nice that within no time the clouds had passed & the sun was beating down from promising skies. 

The views really started to open up even after such a short time walking, this particular scene was one that I had wanted to visit for a long time & today I didn’t just have the fantastic views but clear weather too which just added to an already dare I say iconic view.

Matters soon turned to young Holly with her ever inquisitiveness & enthusiasm to just about show no fear other than everyone she saw was her play friend two or four legged. Thankfully we live close to farm land back in Wigan which meant that Holly was used to seeing sheep all be-it through a fence, but what she would do on open fell land was another matter of concern for me, so during the times we had sheep in open fields where Holly could have made her way over I decided it best we keep her on her leash, after all, Holly was just glad to be on a little longer than usual walk today.

In no time we were at the summit where it started to get a little overcast although, still warm I might add.

Here we decided to take a small rest stop so Holly could claim her first Wainwright properly…

It was nice to spend some summit time & feel no need to have to press on, here Owen is transfixed with the views especially that he could see ‘Scotland & the Isle of Man’ which got me wondering has he caught the bug? time will tell.

We picked Holly up & placed her on top of the Trig Point although I must admit, Holly failed to see the significance!

All Holly wanted to do was…

After admiring the views we set off to take on Low Fell which after pointing it out to Owen looked further away than I last remembered. Nevertheless the crossing was done all in our own stride.

Concerns about Holly & any sheep were laid to rest as we couldn’t see anything within a good 500 yard radius which meant that Holly could walk by our sides, the little test & concerns were working out well & I was pretty impressed that Holly was being so obedient.

Footnote 

I’ve owned dogs all my life, mostly Terriers & one of the main things that I have noticed is how less confident a young dog feels outside his/her environment. The sheep & Cattle today were a major concern for me & Holly’s behaviour would certainly be a key subject in whether Holly would be joining me on more walks, however, to see Holly off her leash & walk almost at my side sure gave me some confidence in what to expect should Holly be joining me full time on the fells, of course it’s early days yet & things may change, but after today things certainly looked promising.

We crested the summit to commanding views over Lorton Vale & Crummock Water not to mention a feast of Lakeland fells that can only be appreciated from the summit of Low Fell.

It was time for our late lunch & I for one couldn’t wait any longer, here we sat with our backs against the South Cairn feeding our bellies & taking in the wonderful views before our eyes, not just that but it also looked liked the sun was trying to come out again.

Before leaving the summit we were met by a couple who took great delight in telling Holly how cute she was, Holly only understands a few words but cute is definitely one of them, the more times she heard it the more times she pinned her ears back & wagged her tail.

After leaving the couple we made our way off the summit the same way we came until we reached the wire fence a short time later.

The descent via Low Fell was steep so a little time was taken by Owen & indeed Holly who had spotted sheep grazing besides Crabtree Beck, however, I had spotted them much earlier & decided that precaution was best & put Holly back on her leash, once the descent was behind us we decided not to take on Darling Fell but to flank it via its West flank.

Meanwhile, Holly had a staring contest to compete in, the only thing was, Holly was the only contestant.