LUOAC - Central Fells

The main summits of the Central Fells are Helvellyn and Fairfield. Both of these are parts of "classic" walks in the Lake District - Helvellyn offers scary scrambling across Striding Edge, and Fairfield lies at the top of the Fairfield Horseshoe route.

Helvellyn

Helvellyn and Catstye Cam from Birkhouse Moor

Helvellyn is England's 3rd highest mountain behind the Scafells, at 950 metres. From the west, it is a fairly unexciting summit - a long steep hillside from Thirlmere. But from the east, it offers one of the best ridge walks in England - Striding Edge.

Striding Edge isn't particularly difficult - it looks knife-edge from a distance, but once on it, the crest if wide enough to walk along safely. If you can put up with the steep drops off each side...! If not, there's a safer path just below the crest on the northern side.

Its popularity sometimes means you have to queue to get onto the ridge, and there's a spot of scrambling further on where there will be queues if there are a lot of walkers.

Striding Edge from Helvellyn

There is a memorial near the end of the ridge to a walker who died on Striding Edge in bad conditions, and his dog who he was walking with stayed with him until his body was found 3 months later.

Up onto the summit, the summit is a long flat plateau. So wide that an aeroplane was landed successfully on the summit in 1926! If you don't believe it, next time you're at the summit, there's a plaque over to the left as you get to the top of Striding Edge.

Striding Edge is the most popular ridge up to Helvellyn, but there is another ridge at the north end of the summit - Swirral Edge. This is shorter and less exposed, but still gives an challenge to walkers ascending or descending Helvellyn. Swirral Edge leads onto Catstye Cam, an often overlooked mountain at Helvellyn's base. Because of this, it's worth detouring up to its summit because you're likely to have it to yourself.

Fairfield

Fairfield is further south, at the southern end of the Helvellyn range. By itself, it isn't a particularly spectacular mountain, but the two ridges south towards Ambleside make up another Lake District classic.

The top of the horseshoe - Great Rigg, Fairfield and Hart Crag

One of the most well-known views of Fairfield is from Ambleside, into the valley between the ridges and up to Fairfield's summit. The two ridges are fairly broad and aren't all that strenuous, but it the whole horseshoe route is fairly long and on a clear day, you get views all around - the Scafells and Langdale on the west, the northern fells from the summit and the southern and eastern fells on the return from the summit.

As well as the horseshoe, another route onto Fairfield is up St Sunday Crag from Patterdale. This is a long and steep ridge up to the summit, but gives you excellent views onto Helvellyn and Striding Edge, and the Grisedale valley below it.

Pubs

For Helvellyn, the most common base is Glenridding, alongside Ullswater. There is a walker's pub just before you get to the centre of the village from the Glenridding valley.

For the Fairfield Horseshoe, Ambleside has a selection of pubs and tea rooms.

Maps

Helvellyn:

OS Outdoor Leisure (scale 1:25,000) 5 : North East Lakes
OS Landranger (scale 1:25,000) 90 : Penrith & Keswick

Fairfield:

OS Outdoor Leisure (scale 1:25,000) 5 : North East Lakes
OS Outdoor Leisure (scale 1:25,000) 7 : South East Lakes (for southern half of the horseshoe)
OS Landranger (scale 1:50,000) 90 : Penrith & Keswick