Little Mell Fell

Infobox Mountain
Name = Little Mell Fell
Photo = Little_Mell_Fell_from_Great_Mell_Fell.jpg
Caption = Little Mell Fell from the slopes of Great Mell Fell
Elevation = 505 m (1,657 ft)
Location = Cumbria, ENG
Range = Lake District, Eastern Fells
Prominence = "c." 226 m
Parent peak = Helvellyn
Coordinates =
Topographic
OS"Explorer" OL5, "Landranger" 90
Grid_ref_UK = NY423240
Listing = Marilyn, Wainwright
Translation = Small rounded bare hill
Language = Scots Gaelic, English
Pronunciation = lɪtəl mɛl fɛl

Little Mell Fell is a fell in the English Lake District. It is an outlier of the Eastern Fells, standing to the north of Ullswater. Two miles to the north west is Great Mell Fell, often thought of as its 'twin'.

Topography

In common with its slightly higher sibling, Little Mell Fell presents as a rounded dome with fairly steep grass slopes, and is relatively isolated from other fells. Alfred Wainwright in his "Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells" described it as "an uninspiring, unattractive bare and rounded hump- the sublime touch that made a wonderland of the district overlooked Little Mell."

Unlike Great Mell Fell however, it does have one visible connection to other fells. Due south from the summit is The Hause, a narrow col crossed by a minor road. From here a ridge of high ground swings south west, running parallel to the shore of Ullswater until it culminates at Gowbarrow Fell. There are a number of intermediate tops along the way, including Great Meldrum (1,433 ft) Little Meldrum (1,325 ft) and Watermillock Common (1,391 ft, unnamed on Ordnance Survey maps).

Little Mell Fell also manages to send a short grassy spur out to the north west. Between this and the main body of the fell is the source of Thackthwaite Gill, a tributary of Dacre Beck and, ultimately, of the Eden. The fell has a few tiny areas of broadleaved plantation, but otherwise is bare, the lower slopes being parcelled up into fields for agriculture.

ummit and View

The summit carries an OS triangulation column and provides views of the lower reach of Ullswater. The mountain panorama takes in much of the Eastern and Far Eastern Fells, but the view is robbed of foreground by the gentle curvature of the grassy summit. Richards, Mark: "Near Eastern Fells": Collins (2003): ISBN 0-0071-1366-8]

Ascents

Minor roads surround the fell on all sides but The Hause, blessed with parking spaces, is the usual setting-off point for one of the easiest ascents of a Wainwright. Cove Camping Park to the south east provides another alternative for a pathless ascent, as does Thackthwaite in the north, following Thackthwaite Gill. Public access through Thackthwaite has however been a source of recent dispute with residents.

References