Saturday 6th January 2018. An ascent of three fells west of the Thirlmere Reservoir, Cumbria. 13.7km with 650m of ascent. 5hrs 15mins.

The fells were Brown Rigg 463m/31m, Bell Crags 559.1m/32.4m and Armboth Fell 479m/27m, including the Wainwright top 475m/6m.

After picking up AT from his home, we drove to the western bank of the Thirlmere Reservoir and parked in the Dobs Gill car park. Lakeland car parks are often expensive, but the ticket machine was shrouded in plastic today and parking was free. A good start to the day.

We made our way up the eroded bridleway on the edge of the forest, steeply, heading for Harrop Tarn. The path was marked on the map as a bridleway, but it would have been tough going on a horse or pony. On reaching the tarn we crossed the beck by a little bridge and followed a path west through the forest to its edge. Our first objective was Brown Rigg. To reach its summit we worked our way north-east along the forest edge. As we gained the col we disturbed a small herd of red deer. They sped off out of sight over the ridge when they saw us, with the stag acting as rearguard. I have sometimes seen wild red deer in the Far Eastern Fells in Lakeland, but never so far west. It appears they are fanning out across the Lake District and may present upland environmental issues, as they do in the Scottish Highlands, if they get a firm hold without anything to predate them. Time to reintroduce wolves to Cumbria? That would be interesting.

We were soon on the summit, which afforded good views of the Helvellyn range, in full winter conditions with spindrift blowing off the ridge. So far we had enjoyed good sunshine, but with a cold north-east wind. As we left the summit the cloud rolled in. The sun only made fleeting appearances during the rest of our walk. We returned west to the col and used a grassy rake to reach the rugged summit of Bell Crags, the highest point on our hike. This fell sported a fine rock peak for its summit, out of keeping with the surrounding area. The Central Fells north of High Raise, the highest hill in the range, are of a very different aspect from the precipitous southern end, where the Langdale Pikes bring a true mountain feel to that famous dale. The northern end of the group is a broad area of boggy moorland with few distinct summits. One often wonders how Alfred Wainwright chose the fells that form the chapters in his famous guides, and Bell Crags is a good example of his rather random method. Bell Crags does not have a chapter in the guides, though it is the most characterful and distinctive fell between Ullscarf and High Seat. Yet Armboth Fell, our next objective, does have a chapter, despite being no more than a boggy swelling on the moor.

We headed north, in sleet now, joining the main 'ridge' on a bit of a path by the fence through the quagmire. While AT took the opportunity of climbing a couple of minor tops on the Birkett list of Lakeland fells, I pushed on past with sodden boots. We had hoped the sharp frost would have firmed up the ground, but it proved not to be so. Abandoning our original plan to take in the summit of High Tove, with the light fading rapidly, we worked our way east to Armboth Fell, passed by a pair of fell-runners who seemed to have the ability to run on water. We visited the point Wainwright had chosen for the summit of the fell first. One feels he rather gave up on this fell, as a more rugged outcrop some 150m to the north-east is clearly higher and a more fitting summit. We headed to this next, as another sleet shower hit us.

With the light fading rapidly, it was now time to descend. We pushed north-east across the moor, mainly pathless, dropping down to join the route that links Thirlmere with Watendlath on the western side of these fells. After a steep descent we reached the road, following it south for several kilometres back to the car.