Hare Shaw

Rising above the quiet waters of Wet Sleddale Reservoir, this grassy, unassuming dome offers a sense of profound isolation. A classic Wainwright Outlying Fell, its broad slopes are typical of the Far Eastern Fells, providing a gateway to the higher Selside Pike while maintaining a peaceful, pathless character of its own.

• •The name is rooted in Old English, combining hara (hare) and sceaga (a thicket or small wood), suggesting that these now-barren moorland slopes were once significantly more wooded.
• •Alfred Wainwright included the hill in his 'Wet Sleddale Horseshoe' in The Outlying Fells of Lakeland, noting that the area offers a 'lonely walk' far removed from the busier tourist hubs.
• •The summit provides an excellent vantage point over Wet Sleddale Reservoir and Sleddale Hall; the latter served as the filming location for 'Crow Crag' in the cult film Withnail and I.
• •Looking east, the landscape is dominated by the massive industrial excavations of the Shap granite quarries, providing a stark contrast to the high, rolling silhouettes of Branstree and Selside Pike to the west.
• •It remains one of the few places in the Lake District where you can enjoy a genuine sense of wilderness while still being able to see the distant, tiny lorries trundling along the M6 motorway.