Lingmoor Fell

Lingmoor Fell rises in the Lake District between Great Langdale and Little Langdale, eight kilometres west of Ambleside. Its summit, Brown How, reaches 469 metres and the fell has a prominence of 245 metres, making it a Marilyn hill. The fell is separate from other fells, with no connecting ridges, and its name comes from the Old Norse word for heather. A subsidiary top called Side Pike stands 1.5 kilometres to the north-west and is a fine rock tower. Lingmoor Tarn, a mountain lake about 200 metres long, lies 600 metres north of the summit. The northern and eastern slopes are covered in deciduous woodland up to the 200-metre contour. There are patches of heather and bracken on the lower slopes, and a detached rock pinnacle called Oak Howe Needle stands one kilometre north of the summit. Oak Howe Crag is a popular climbing location with over ten routes on Rhyolite crags. The north-eastern slopes above Elterwater and Chapel Stile have been quarried for Westmorland green slate for over 300 years. Many quarries have closed and the crags are now used by rock climbers. The summit is crossed by a high dry stone wall known locally as The Great Wall of Lingmoor. The wall starts at the eastern foot and ends abruptly at the crags below Side Pike before starting again on the plateau. From the summit, Lingmoor Fell, Langdale Pikes, and all the high fells around the head of Great Langdale can be viewed, as can Coniston Fells to the south-west. The fell can be climbed from Elterwater in Great Langdale or from the Blea Tarn car park in Little Langdale, with the latter route using an old quarry track.