Longlands Fell

Longlands Fell
Cumberland
Longlands Fell seen from Lowthwaite Fell
Range:	Uldale Fells
Summit:	1,585 feet NY275353 54°42’27"N, 3°7’36"W

Longlands Fell is a small fell in Cumberland, in the Lake District's Northern Fells. It is situated in the high ground known as the Uldale Fells, three miles south west of the village of Caldbeck. It reaches a height of 1,585 feet and it is (along with Binsey) the most northerly fell in the Lake District.

Landscape

View north from Longlands Fell across the Solway plain

Longlands Fell is characterised by grassy, smooth slopes which drop down gradually to the lowlands north of Lakeland making the ascent of the fell quite easy from that direction. The other Uldale Fells are Great Sca Fell, Great Cockup and Meal Fell (with Lowthwaite Fell immediately to the south) and together are really just one big sheep pasture which does not draw large numbers of fell walkers or visitors, making this probably the quietest part of the Lake District National Park, the boundary of which runs only a mile to the north.

Mining

Unlike the adjacent Caldbeck Fells, which were heavily mined for minerals, the Uldale Fells have only ever had one mine on them and that was on Longlands Fell. The Longlands Fell copper mine operated in the second half of the 19th century but was soon found to be uneconomical and abandoned, one of the levels is now dammed to provide water to the village of Uldale. Just to the north of Longlands Fell on the adjoining small Aughtertree Fell (1,000 feet) are signs of an Iron Age farming settlement first settled 3,000 years ago and probably deserted during the Dark Ages.

Ascents

Longlands Fell is one the easier fell walks in the Lake District, the ascent starts from the hamlet of Longlands, which is a small group of houses and takes the track north east which skirts the base of the fell. When the foot of the northern ridge is reached this is followed up easy slopes to reach the summit. Longlands Fell is often climbed in conjunction with other fells, being connected to the south east by a ridge a mile and a half long to Great Sca Fell which in turn gives access along its ridges to the rest of the fells in the area.

Summit

The view from the top takes in the Solway Firth and the Galloway hills to the north. To the south are good views of Skiddaw with the fells around the Whinlatter forest well seen.

References

• Wainwright, Alfred: A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, Book Five — The Northern Fells (1962)
• The Uldale Fells