Orthwaite Bank

Rising above the small hamlet of Orthwaite near Bassenthwaite, this modest grassy Birkett is often bypassed for the higher Skiddaw range. It offers a gentle, quiet ascent and provides an excellent, low-level vantage point over the lush Bassenthwaite valley and the nearby northern slopes of Great Cockup.

• •The name originates from the Old Norse 'Orra-thveit', which translates as 'the clearing of the blackcock', referring to the black grouse that historically inhabited the quiet fringes of the Northern Fells.
• •While it missed out on Wainwright status, it is featured in Bill Birkett’s Complete Lakeland Fells, usually climbed as a short extension to a walk involving Dash Falls or the Uldale Fells.
• •The summit offers a particularly clear perspective of the scree-covered slopes of Barf and the wooded shoreline of Bassenthwaite Lake, views that are often obscured by larger massifs from higher elevations.
• •Its status as a 'Bank' is a polite Lakeland way of suggesting that you will likely spend more time putting your boots on in the car than you will actually spent ascending to the summit.