Great Rigg

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Great Rigg
Great Rigg (left) with Fairfield behind from Heron Pike.
Elevation	766 m (2,513 ft)
Location	Cumbria, England
Range	Lake District Eastern Fells
Prominence	31 m
Topo map	OS Landranger 90, OS Explorer 5
OS grid reference	NY355104
Listing	Hewitt, Nuttall, Wainwright

Great Rigg is a fell in the English Lake District, it is situated 7 kilometres north northwest of Ambleside and reaches a height of 766 metres (2,513 feet). It is most often climbed as part of the Fairfield horseshoe, a 16 km circular walk which starts and finishes in Ambleside. The fells name originates from the Old English Language with “Rigg” meaning a bumpy or knobbly ridge. The fell is mostly without merit being just an undulation on one of Fairfield’s southern ridges, with 31 metres of prominence it just qualifies as a Hewitt. It is best seen from the south west near Grasmere where from that angle its summit seems to dominate the valley.

Great Rigg is rocky on its eastern side as Stone Cove drops to Rydal Beck, on its western flank it is mostly grassy as it falls away to Tongue Gill, to the north and south are ridges which continue to other fells, with Fairfield being 1.5 Km away to the north while Heron Pike lies 2.5 kms to the south. There is a third less significant ridge which goes south west towards Grasmere which has the “Wainwright” fell of Stone Arthur on its shoulder overlooking Grasmere.

As mentioned Great Rigg is invariably climbed on the way to the more significant fell of Fairfield which lies close by to the north, however a direct ascent of sorts can be done from Grasmere up the south west ridge taking in Stone Arthur on the way. This walk can be continued to Fairfield and Seat Sandal before returning to Grasmere to complete a 10 km circular walk. The summit is crowned by a substantial cairn which is named on large scale maps as Greatrigg Man, it gives good views of the Lakeland mountains to the west, a distinctive feature of the outlook is the large number of lakes and tarns that are in view, with ten sizeable bodies of water well seen.

[edit] References

A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, Eastern Fells, Alfred Wainwright, ISBN 0-7112-2454-4
Complete Lakeland Fells, Bill Birkett, ISBN 0-00-713629-3