Route: Place Fell
Area: Far Eastern Lake District
Date of walk: 8th July 2026
Walkers: Andrew
Distance: 4.9 miles
Ascent: 1,700 feet
Weather: Sunny and very hot – too hot!
It’s been a while since my last fell walk and today seemed to offer a good opportunity to revisit one of my favourite fells, Place Fell, which offers glorious views for much of the way. This would make it my 8th time up here, and until today I’ve always considered it to be an easy outing. The weather forecast was for mixed sun and cloud, with temperatures around 20c – just right, or so I thought
i normally park by the George Starkey Hut in Patterdale but there were no spaces today, even though I’d made an early start. No matter, as there was plenty of room in the Patterdale Hotel car park (currently £5 cash at the machine, but the hotel takes credit cards). I walked to the nearby George Starkey Hut and joined the track to Side Farm. Place Fell looms up behind it. Having crossed the bridge over Goldrill Beck, I turned left at the farm and followed the wonderful path along the shore of Ullswater – one of the best in the Lake District – leaving it after a short distance to start the climb up to Place Fell. The junction is marked by the Artist’s Seat
The path leads through an area shown on the OS map as Hare Shaw and it’s clearly not used very often, though the route is never in doubt. It’s a little known path and as a result I saw no-one else along the way. There were spectacular retrospective views over Ullswater and the Helvellyn Range beyond
Beyond Hare Shaw I gained the summit ridge and started the ascent to the top of the fell. The path is fainter here but the going is easy and after a couple of false summits I reached the true summit of Place Fell, marked by a shapely OS Trig point, one of the finest in the district. Up to this point it had been warm, but tolerable, and I felt in good form as I set off on the descent towards Boredale Hause. The views during the descent, especially those into the side valleys of Grisedale and Deepdale, are wonderful. Beyond Boredale Hause the temperature seemed to increase and I rapidly began to tire. I’d drunk the last of my water and the further I descended the more I struggled. My legs turned to jelly and it seemed to take an eternity to reach Side Farm. From here, it should have been a simple stroll back along the track to the start but I was exhausted and couldn’t take another step. Luckily some fellow walkers came to my rescue. Grateful thanks to Paul from Warrington, who sacrificed some of his drink, and to Tim and Margaret. Tim was parked in the same car park as me and offered to collect his car and drive me back to the start, while Margaret waited to make sure I was ok. I’ve never suffered from heat exhaustion before. Having done so, I can see how dangerous it could be, especially in a more remote location. I’d prepared for bad weather, as I always do, by packing waterproofs (and even a fleece) but I wasn’t anticipating the extreme heat. It retrospect it was a mistake to have undertaken a fell walk in such conditions, although in my defence it was far hotter than forecast – I’d guess 25-29c, with no shade or wind at all. It was a great relief to be dropped back at the car. Grateful thanks again to my fellow walkers for your help, I’m not sure what I’d have done without you
For other walks here, visit my Find Walks page and enter the name in the ‘Search site’ box
Click on the icon below for the route map (subscribers to OS Maps can view detailed maps of the route, visualise it in aerial 3D, and download the GPX file. Non-subscribers will see a base map)
Scroll down – or click on any photo to enlarge it and you can then view as a slideshow
The George Starkey Hut, Patterdale. I follow the track to the left of the hut
Place Fell ahead as I walk towards Side Farm
I cross the bridge over Goldrill Beck
Having turned left through Side Farm I follow the path beside Ullswater
Looking across the head of Ullswater
The lower flanks of Place Fell on my right
Glenridding on the far side of the lake
I pass by this old barn, just before the point where I leave the lakeshore path
I turn right at The Artist's Seat. The plaque reads 'Three artists J M W Turner, Ann Macbeth & John Glover were inspired by this landscape'
An early view back over Ullswater
I keep to the higher path here, aiming for Hare Shaw, top right
Ever improving views back to Ullswater and Glenridding as I gain height...
I arrive at the summit area. There is still some climbing to be done and the summit itself is unseen from here
Grisedale, with Helvellyn to the right
Onwards and upwards. It was warm going, but perfectly manageable so far
There are a few rocky sections along the way, but all of them are straighforward
Grisedale and Glenridding
The foot of Ullswater and the Pennines beyond
The summit of Place Fell comes into view
Summit of Place Fell
One of the most elegant OS trig points in the district
Start of the descent, with Brothers Water in the distance
I head towards the subsidiary top of Round How
Brothers Water from Round How
I follow the path below, which leads to Boredale Hause
I turn right at the foot of this path and turn back towards the start. It was here that I started to flag, and beyond Boredale Hause every step seemed to require a huge effort
Not far from Side Farm, I avoided the temptation to rest on this bench. I needed to get out of the heat as soon as possible. After what seemed like an eternity I arrived back at the farm and only managed to get back to the car thanks to my fellow walkers mentioned in the introduction
