Mellbreak

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Mellbreak
The impressive northern aspect of Mellbreak
Elevation	512 m (1,680 ft)
Location	Lake District, England
Prominence	260 m
Topo map	OS Landranger 89
OS grid reference	NY148186
Listing	Marilyn, Wainwright

Mellbreak is a hill in the Western part of the English Lake District. Despite being surrounded on all sides by higher fells (the Loweswater Fells, the High Stile Ridge and the Grasmoor Group), it stands in isolation. It is surrounded on three sides by a 'moat' of deep marshy land, and on the fourth (east) side by the lake of Crummock Water. The fell forms a partnership with the lake, running parallel to it, falling sheer into it, and regularly providing the backdrop for pictures of it.

The fell has been likened (by Alfred Wainwright and others) to the shape of an upturned boat, having two tops of roughly equal height, the North and South tops, and a wide flat depression in between. Although the south top is slightly higher, at 512 m, it is the north top that is the better summit, being rocky and situated on the top of the crags that make up the north face of the fell. The views are good from both summits, a consequence of its isolation and high relative height.

The best way up the fell is a path from the village of Loweswater, that threads its ways between the crags and rocky outcrops on the north side up to the north top. One may then cross the large, boggy depression to the uninteresting south top, and descend by the valley of Mosedale that runs parallel to the fell on its west side. It is a good walk for young children who like scrambling.