Low Fell and Fellbarrow from Thackthwaite

This is a beautiful walk with rewarding views across to the coastal plain of Workington and up to the Scottish hills over the Solway Firth, but by far the best view is the impressive sight looking down the Buttermere – Crummock valley to Crummock Water and the Buttermere Fells.

The walk is short and relatively easy and could probably be completed in a couple of hours, we took 3 hours but had several good brew breaks to take in the scenery on a lovely day.

The walk starts in the small hamlet of Thackthwaite, postcode CA130RP, we parked in a small layby just on the outskirts and walked a few hundred yards to pick up the trail on the right hand side just past the roadside sign for Thackthwaite. It is a simple walk to navigate as the path is clearly visible as it takes you through a coppice of trees and across an open field to a kissing gate which then skirts around the fells to the right and slowly starts to climb, you have the view of Fellbarrow ahead of you as you proceed.

The path starts to curve away from Fellbarrow and starts to zig zag its way up to Watching Cragg through a gate and on to the summit of Low Fell, despite its lack of height at 1388 feet the views are breath taking and an ideal spot for rest and a brew. After plenty of photos we headed back the way we had come, back down to the gate and this time turning left and heading on to Fellbarrow in the distance, there is a sharp climb to the summit following the fence line before arriving at an ordinance survey trig point, again there are stunning panoramic views of the western coastline and another photo opportunity. After leaving the summit the path soon turns to the right and you start the descent back to Thackthwaite, again it is easy to navigate and the trail you took on the way out soon comes in to view to take you back to your start.