Sunday 29th April 2018. An ascent of Sale Fell 359m/137m and Ling Fell 373m/97m in the North Western Fells, from the Wythop Valley, Lake District, Cumbria. 7.2km, with 445m of ascent. 3hrs 20mins.

After picking up AT and family, we headed up the M6 for yet another day in Lakeland. I had carefully chosen the route so that AT's 5-year old daughter could have an enjoyable time without the hike being too arduous for her little legs. JT, her older brother, is now a seasoned fell-walker, and I had no such qualms for him.

We parked between the two hills in a small car park just east of where the lane crosses the Wythop Beck at Brumston Bridge. Once beyond the gate, now on open access land, we climbed steeply by a stone wall, leaving it near its highest point to follow a good path up the west ridge of Sale Fell all the way to the unmarked summit. Alfred Wainwright devotes twelve pages in Book 6 of his Lakeland guides to this little fell, and deservedly so. It sits at the very edge of the North Western Fells above the deep trench occupied by Bassenthwaite Lake. Skiddaw dominates the view to the north-east, and Helvellyn to the south-east. To the north and north-west, a wide swathe of Southern Scotland can be viewed beyond the Solway Firth. Broad Law in the Manor Hills could be picked out, with Criffel in the central view, and the Galloway Hills visible to the north-west.

We wound our way down the south flank of the fell to a track, following it back past my car to Brumston Bridge. The weather had been somewhat cloudy for our ascent of Sale Fell, with a few spots of rain, but the sun was now beginning to gain the advantage as we headed up the lane towards Ling Fell. We took a path above the track on the eastern side of the fell, and then worked our way up west through the heather to the trig point on the summit. If anything, the view was even better than that from Sale Fell, as the Isle of Man was now visible, and even the Mourne Mountains in Ireland could be seen peeping over the horizon of the Irish Sea. As we snacked, a rather rowdy family arrived to spoil the peace, but they were soon gone. We resolved to get moving too, as the clouds, blown in on the north-east wind, were gathering ominously over Skiddaw, making it look very threatening.

We followed a track, west at first, but then curved round to descend steeply to the corpse road that runs along the northern flank of the fell. Taking to the lanes again, we were soon back at the car, and without the rain clouds looming over us. Those above Skiddaw had missed us, blown south-west towards the Scafell Range. It was time to head back for the children to have supper and make ready for school tomorrow.