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A short walk to Hart Side from Park Brow

Perhaps the best part of Hart Side is the journey to this little rounded grass and mossy bump of a fell slightly off the beaten track north of Glenridding. On the way the views overlooking Glencoyne Park to Ullswater are understated picturesque, the immediate landscape is rolling and gentle in contrast to the distant rugged fells.

The walk starts at Park Brow where there is a small National Trust car park for Aira Force. Crossing the road and clambering over the fence into Glencoyne Park, you meander amongst the trees, cross small trickling becks and brush through sometimes deep bracken. After 2.0km (1.2 miles) of gentle ascents the ground gets steeper and the views open out further. Above the valley of Glencoyne the path crosses marshy ground before climbing steeply again alongside a wall to Birkett Fell.

Birkett Fell was named only relatively recently. On the 8th February 1962 Lord Birkett made a critical speech in the House of Lords against a bill brought by the Manchester Corporation to make Ullswater into a reservoir providing water for their voracious city. The bill was defeated and Ullswater reprieved. Two days after the speech he died. A hitherto un-named fell was named in his honour. The Ullswater Yacht Club also commemorate him by holding the Lord Birkett Cup Trophy Race in July each year.

From Birkett Fell it is just a short stroll to the summit of Hart Side.

Park at the small National Trust car park at Park Brow on the Aira Force road. Leave the A592 Ullswater road by taking the A5091 to Dockray. 300m (330 yards) after the sharp right hand bend the car park is revealed with little warning. This is an alternative car park for Aira Force.