Great Carrs

Great Carrs is a fell in the English Lake District, standing above Wrynose Pass in the southern part of the region. It belongs to the Coniston Fells, a range that stretches south from Wrynose Pass for about 16 kilometres. The fell is the most northerly of these fells and is recognised in Alfred Wainwright’s influential guide as one of the 214 Wainwrights. A long ridge curves from Swirl How, the group’s highest point, past Great Carrs and on to Wet Side Edge. The fell’s eastern side drops steeply into Greenburn, a marshy valley once dammed for mining. The fell is worth the journey for its dramatic scenery and historical layers. A wartime air crash in 1944 claimed the lives of an RCAF crew when their Halifax bomber struck the mountainside. Parts of the wreckage remain scattered down Broad Slack, a steep grass slope on the ridge. Two of the bomber’s engines were later recovered, one now displayed in Coniston’s Ruskin Museum. The fell’s geology includes bands of andesitic and rhyolitic tuff, adding to its rugged character. Visitors find a grassy summit marked by a small cairn, with views north across ranks of fells. To the west, the Duddon valley stretches toward the Duddon Sands, while the Isle of Man and Pennines appear on clearer days. The western slopes descend gently to Fairfield, a tilted plateau leading to Grey Friar. Popular routes climb via Wet Side Edge or from Wrynose Pass, though pathless ascents are also possible. The fell’s crags and tarns, remnants of an 18th-century reservoir, complete its wild landscape.