Sale Fell

Sale Fell

Route: Sale Fell

Area: North Western Lake District

Date of walk: 11th September 2018

Walkers: Andrew

Distance: 3.0 miles

Ascent: 800 feet

Weather: Cloudy with sunny spells, windy

Sale Fell is situated in the far north west of Lakeland, and marks the end of the district. Its isolated position means that there are seldom many folk around

I drove along the charming Wythop Valley and parked in one of the roadside spaces near St Margaret’s Church. The gentle climb starts immediately and before long there were some good views of Bassenthwaite Lake. The path continued beside Wythop Woods, part of which has been felled along this section. I was keen to revisit Lothwaite and the ridge along it, as we’d had some fabulous views from here on our last visit in February. Reversing the direction of travel we’d taken on that occasion, I followed the grassy path to Lothwaite and walked along the ridge towards the subsidiary hill of Rivings. The views across Bassenthwaite Lake and into the Lake District were superb, with constantly changing light on the surrounding hills

I then continued uphill, past Rivings, to the summit of Sale Fell. There are good views from here towards the Skiddaw fells but they are inferior to those from Lothwaite, and it would be a shame for anyone to omit Lothwaite from the route

It was very windy on the top, and so without ado I started the gentle descent in the direction of Bassenthwaite, soon joining up with my original ascent path. From here I retraced my steps back to the start

This is a short and simple walk which may lack the drama of the better known lakeland fells, but it’s thoroughly enjoyable and the perfect way to spend an hour or two in this peaceful and far flung corner of the district

Postscript: on a return visit in May 2019, the view from Lothwaite into lakeland had been spoilt by extensive tree felling operations, which have left a denuded hill in the foreground

For other walks here, visit my Find Walks page and enter the name in the ‘Search site’ box

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