Little Fell - A guided walk to a forbidden mountain

[Broggy1]

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After climbing Mickle Fell last year I had been looking for a way to climb Little Fell this year. After contacting the AONB I got an email inviting me on this guided walk on Saturday and I was delighted to take them up on the offer with the added bonus being that Little Fell was my last remaining English Hewitt.

We met at 10am prompt in the little village of Hilton just outside of Appleby and the two guides talked us through the safety for the day - giving us insight into the kind of terrain we were heading in to in the Warcop MOD Range.

The route initially involved a very easy and pleasant wander through the excellent valley of Scordale (available to walk along on any non firing day) with the charming Hilton Beck as company.

At several points throughout the walk our guides stopped us to offer insight into the area and the surroundings and they both came across as very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about what they do.

Roman Fell (also forbidden but under 2000ft) ahead near the start of the walk

Scordale and Hilton Beck

Higher up Scordale

Looking back down Scordale to Roman Fell

After the walk steepened at the head of Scordale we then made our way over pathless and wet terrain towards Little Fell where we found a small cairn marking the highest point - or as near as could be with other surrounding tufts of grass running it close.

Mickle Fell comes in to view

Looking back over the moor towards Great Dunn Fell

Little Fell summit now in view

A sea of peat between Little and Mickle Fell

This cairn could have been the top....

But somebody else's GPS suggested this grassy knoll. Not much in it either way!

After this we made our way over to the broken down Trig Point and shelter before taking a pathless descent into Swindale - passing a few army shells along the way.

All that remained now was a pleasant walk through Swindale back into Scordale and back to Hilton.

The Trig Point is on the other side of the summit

Trig Point

Shells!

Swindale

I'd recommend this walk to anybody and would say it far outweighs the idea of risking trespassing with the AONB or the Warcop Range both happier for hill baggers to take this option. Just get in touch with them!

For me personally the walk was slower than the pace I would usually go at but the plus points were obviously that I had more time to enjoy my surroundings (Scordale particularly is a beautiful valley) and that map reading was not needed!

[johnkaysleftleg]

Strangely enough I was just thinking about Little Fell earlier today. The thought of a guided walk is not my thing but it looks like a canny day out. I do have a distant hankering for completing the English Hewitts one day so and this option looks better than trespassing on land that might just have something ready to blow my leg off

[ChrisW]

Always nice to see more of the North Pennines Broggy, particularly when it's a much less travelled area. It would be worth doing just for the experience, it's a shame it wasn't at your pace but slower than normal pace beats faster every time

[Broggy1]

Strangely enough I was just thinking about Little Fell earlier today. The thought of a guided walk is not my thing but it looks like a canny day out. I do have a distant hankering for completing the English Hewitts one day so and this option looks better than trespassing on land that might just have something ready to blow my leg off

It's a good walk and while not something I'd guess you would want to do a great deal it does make a nice exception for this hill - particularly as you say with it being on the MOD land (although I'm sure the risk is minimal).

[Broggy1]

Always nice to see more of the North Pennines Broggy, particularly when it's a much less travelled area. It would be worth doing just for the experience, it's a shame it wasn't at your pace but slower than normal pace beats faster every time

Yes I'd certainly recommend it as a one off for the experience as you say!

[john923]

Thanks for posting this. I too have had my eye on doing this walk sometime as the easiest way to bag this hill. Is it still the case that it's run just once a year? I wouldn't be surprised if others approach surreptitiously from Mickle Fell on the more regular access weekends but the peaty mass between the two is not very enticing. Were there no takers for Roman Fell or was that completely off limits?

[Broggy1]

Thanks for posting this. I too have had my eye on doing this walk sometime as the easiest way to bag this hill. Is it still the case that it's run just once a year? I wouldn't be surprised if others approach surreptitiously from Mickle Fell on the more regular access weekends but the peaty mass between the two is not very enticing. Were there no takers for Roman Fell or was that completely off limits?

Yes my understanding is once a year (although he did say they did it twice last year). Best bet is to get in touch with the MOD or the AONB themselves.

I was well up for Roman Fell but don't think the guide wanted to!

Sure you are right. There is a bridleway between Little Fell and Roman Fell that you are allowed to walk on non shooting days and of course you can walk Scordale on them days as well. So pretty sure a lot of folk use these as a route to avoided the guided aspect.

[simon-b]

Cheers Broggy, a good informative report for anyone wanting to climb this fell. Congratulations on completing the English Hewitts (or should that be Hetts?)