Location

NE Lakes - Ullswater

Details

A brilliant site. Barton Fell is the long ridge running down the SE side of Ullswater. The site has excellent slopes with the benefit of gentle ground over the back. Lots of potential for XC flights. No formal permission yet so be polite to any farmers. Good alternative to Clough Head if you don't mind a walk.

Site Officer

Gordie Oliver : 07830 281986

Postcode for Sat Nav Systems (read the Health Warning!)

CA10 2LT

Roe Head cottage. The postcode centre is half way up the road from the crossroads. Car parking is at the top of the road.

Getting There

From the Church at Pooley Bridge follow the road to Howtown but carry straight on at the first cross roads after 500m and park considerately at the end of the track leading to Moor Divock. Grid Ref NY478235

Getting to takeoff

Take off is not that obvious. The fellside contains a number of tracks which can lead you past take-off without realising it; use the NE Lakes 1:25,000 map if you're not familiar with the area. Follow the track from the fell gate up to a large cairn almost at the top of the col. Turn right onto a track and then use the map to locate the correct track at 'The Cockpit". Turn left off the bridleway after Aik Beck before it starts to descend off the fell - you get very close to a wall and Aik Beck is obvious. Take off is a grassy bowl; the grass is a bit scuffed from the boots of parawaiters. You will see a prominent cairn on the skyline.

XC potential

Massive! Easy ground down wind leads to the M6 and then Tailbridge or the Howgills. Cross the Dales via Swaledale or Wensleydale to the Vale of York and then classic gliding terrain to the Humber and the British Record! Easy airspace until the Vale of York.

Permission to use site

None yet, but it is common land with many users; walkers, mountain bikers and horse riders with lots of potential for conflict. Please be considerate.

IMPORTANT - Restrictions on use

STAY WELL AWAY FROM, AND DO NOT OVERFLY, ANY HORSES . WE HAVE HAD ISSUES WITH PILOTS CAUSING A DISTURBANCE TO PONY TREKKERS AND THIS MUST BE AVOIDED if we are to retain this site. Landing ONLY on the fellside - DO NOT use any grazed fields. Do not overfly or land on the area to the NE of Aik Beck when commercial pony trekking is likely to take place; i.e before 1700 hours daily from Easter to the end of October.

Paragliding

Easy to fly in good conditions. Land on the fellside below take off or anywhere on top (avoiding possible rotor). Do not land below the fell wall. Before 1700 do not land by the car park - land SE of Aik Beck and walk back to the car park. Watch out for strong lift as it can be hard to get down.

Hang Gliding

Not generally flown as it is a long walk

Additional Safety Notes

Can be thermic. Avoid the lake. Avoid getting hoovered into valleys leading to Fusedale and Martindale. Big sink into Haweswater would not be amusing. Keep out of deep gullys

Resources

Don't click on flight logs, download to your PC first (right click and 'Save Link As')

Type	Click to Follow Link	Notes
Flash Earth - Car Park
Google Earth - Car Park
Google Earth - Take Off
Multi Map - Take Off

Follow the links for further details of a site. For flights you will probably need to right click and save the link to your PC before opening Google Earth.
Google Earth links rely on Google Earth being installed on your system. Google Earth provides pan and tilt faciity. You can also upload your flights to GE - use GPS Dump (Links Page) to convert a variety of GPS file formats to a GE kml file
Flash Earth is an alternative to Google Earth but provides a top down view only. To view in Flash Earth, click on the instruction text to clear it - the cross is the spot

A selection of photos showing key aspects of the site. If you have a good photo showing take off and landing areas, then send it to the webmaster. Aerial shots showing the landing area are especially welcome.

Looking up to Barton Fell from the start of the access track. Take off is behind the large knoll 10 o'clock from the edge of the wood.

Barton Fell on a glorious day looking up Ullswater, Helvellyn ridge in the background

Takeoff on a cold, windy day in February 2007 looking NE. The wind died down as the sun sank allowing a short flight to be snatched.

 

Site Records

This page shows records for this site. Some of the older records are not very detailed. More recent records may have an igc file available You can right click and download this to your PC. You can then use IGC Flight replay to view the flight.

Paragliding

FAI Triangle
Distance :	18.6km
Date :	16/04/2007
Pilot :	Martin Sandwith
Notes :	Utilised the ridge of High Street with various attempts to push out forward
Open Distance XC
Distance :	50.5km
Date :	21/04/2010
Pilot :	Ed Cleasby
Notes :	Landed near Tow Scar, Ingleton 54.2km via 3 turn points. Click here for more details.

Hang Gliding

No records for this site