Brim Fell

Brim Fell

Brim Fell is the grassy high point between the Old Man of Coniston and Swirl How. At 795.9 metres, it combines an open summit crest with a much craggier eastern face above Low Water and Levers Water. Hill record and landscape.

Finding the summit

The beehive-shaped cairn at SD 27076 98557 marks both the hill summit and the Wainwright top. Brim Fell belongs to Book Four, The Southern Fells. Its modest 19.6-metre drop makes it a small rise on an already high ridge. Summit identification.

Look north-west beyond Grey Friar for the Scafell range. The cairn gives the summit a clear focal point, but cloud can remove those distant reference points; identify the correct ridge before leaving it. Summit photograph.

A circuit from Walna Scar

Andrew Leaney records a complete circuit of 5.75 miles with 2,100 feet of ascent. His recorded time was 3 hours 10 minutes on 19 August 2007, not a recommended allowance for every walker. Start and finish at the fell-gate car park above Coniston. Documented circuit.

Follow the old mine track through the workings to Low Water, then take the Brim Fell Rake approach. Lower ascent.

The faint path rising from Low Water reaches the col between Raven Tor and Brim Fell’s east ridge. Climb the ridge over grass and rock outcrops to the summit ridge and cairn. This is a navigation-sensitive approach, especially when visibility is poor. Upper ascent photographs.

Continue along the ridge to the Old Man of Coniston. Return by Goat’s Hawse and Goat’s Water, then follow the path out to Walna Scar Road and back past the Boo Tarn area to the same fell gate. Complete return.

Rock and working landscape

The summit geology is mapped as Duddon Hall Tuff Formation, within the Borrowdale Volcanic Group. Summit geology.

The British Geological Survey describes layers of ash-fall tuff and lapilli-tuff, with volcanic breccia and interleaved andesite and basaltic-andesite lava. These Ordovician rocks preserve both material that fell from eruption clouds and lava that flowed across the landscape. Formation description.

The industrial remains below the ridge belong to a landscape worked for centuries. The Company of Mines Royal began extracting Coniston copper around 1590; nineteenth-century workings used water-powered machinery and tramways. Mining history.

Getting there

Walna Scar has paid parking, with card payment and RingGo location 37321. Village toilets are listed at Ruskin Avenue. Check the machine and signs before setting off. Parking directory.

Stagecoach 505 serves Coniston from Ambleside via Hawkshead. The village stop is not the fell-gate start: allow for the additional uphill approach and return when planning a bus day. Check the timetable for your date and the final return service. Current 505 timetable.

Check current access notices and respect temporary restrictions. Keep dogs controlled and allow other users room on shared tracks. Access guidance.

Conditions and preparation

Faint paths, grass and rock make the eastern approach more demanding than the summit’s rounded outline suggests. Avoid improvising a direct descent through the crags or entering abandoned workings. Terrain and workings.

Carry a map and compass, waterproofs, spare warm layers, food, water and a headtorch. Check a mountain forecast, leave your route with someone and turn back if conditions deteriorate. Short winter days and snow or ice require a more conservative plan. In an emergency call 999 or 112, ask for Police, then Mountain Rescue. Mountain Rescue advice.