Rest Dodd is a

fell A fell (from Old Norse ''fell'', ''fjall'', "mountain"Falk and Torp (2006:161).) is a high and barren landscape feature, such as a mountain or Moorland, moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle o ...

in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Lake District The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or ''fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...

. It is situated in the quieter far eastern region of the

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

and reaches a height of 696 metres (2,283 feet). Rest Dodd is a fell that is often by-passed by walkers as they travel the busy footpath between

Ullswater Ullswater is the second largest lake in the English Lake District, being about long and wide, with a maximum depth a little over . It was scooped out by a glacier in the Last Ice Age. Geography It is a typical Lake District "ribbon lake", ...

and

Haweswater Haweswater is a reservoir in the valley of Mardale, Cumbria in the Lake District, England. Work to raise the height of the original natural lake was started in 1929. It was controversially dammed after the UK Parliament passed a Private Act ...

either to climb the more significant fell of

High Street High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym fo ...

or strive to complete

Alfred Wainwright Alfred Wainwright MBE (17 January 1907 – 20 January 1991), who preferred to be known as A. Wainwright or A.W., was a British fellwalker, guidebook author and illustrator. His seven-volume ''Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells'', published ...

’s

Coast to Coast Walk The Coast to Coast Walk is a long-distance footpath between the west and east coasts of Northern England, nominally long. Devised by Alfred Wainwright, it passes through three contrasting national parks: the Lake District National Park, th ...

. Indeed Wainwright describes Rest Dodd as ''“A fell of little interest although the east flank falls spectacularly in fans of colourful scree”''. The fell is usually climbed in conjunction with other nearby "Wainwright" fells such as

The Nab The Nab is a fell in the English Lake District. It has a moderate height of 576 metres (1,888 feet), and lies in the quieter eastern high ground between Ullswater and Haweswater Reservoir. The Nab is included in Alfred Wainwright's li ...

, Brock Crags and Angletarn Pikes.

Topography

Rest Dodd stands on the long ridge forming the boundary of the Martindale catchment, an extensive valley system emptying north into

. South east of Rest Dodd is

The Knott The Knott is a fell in the English Lake District, standing above Hayeswater in the Far Eastern Fells. It is an outlier of Rampsgill Head, being the high point of the ridge from there to Rest Dodd. Topography The ridge from Rampsgill Head tr ...

and in the opposite direction is Brock Crags. A subsidiary ridge juts out north from Rest Dodd, ending at The Nab. This fell separates the heads of the Martindale valleys of Bannerdale and Rampsgill. A much shorter rocky spur also runs north west from Rest Dodd, divided from the Nab by Yewgrove Gill. The southern flank of the fell is formed by Hayeswater Gill. Rest Dodd appears as a high, rounded dome from most directions, the upper slopes being clad in rough grass. Below about 1,500 ft all of the faces are steep and rough, with some outcropping on the Martindale flanks. The ridge connecting to The Knott is broad topped and marshy, whilst that connecting to Brock Crags crosses a series of rocky outcrops as it narrows above Satura Crag. The way to the Nab, once the boundary wall of the deer forest is passed, is crossed by extensive peat hags. Many of these are deeper than the height of a man and add considerably to the time required.

Ascents

The ascent of Rest Dodd is usually started from the valley of

Patterdale Patterdale (Saint Patrick's Dale) is a small village and civil parish in the eastern part of the English Lake District in the Eden District of Cumbria, in the traditional county of Westmorland, and the long valley in which they are found, also ...

where there are two possible starting points: the village of

Hartsop Hartsop is a small village in the English Lake District. It lies in the Patterdale valley, near Brothers Water, Hayeswater and Kirkstone Pass. It consists of 17th-century grey stone cottages, like so many of its neighbours. Hartsop retains ...

gives the most advantageous start being just two miles from the fell summit but it is a tough climb from Hayeswater Gill to join the main path from Patterdale village to Haweswater. The other route is longer (3.5 miles) and starts in Patterdale village and utilises the main path over Boardale hause and past Angle Tarn before following an old stone wall which leads unerringly to Rest Dodd's summit.

:''

A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells ''A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells'' is a series of seven books by A. Wainwright, detailing the fells (the local word for hills and mountains) of the Lake District in northwest England. Written over a period of 13 years from 1952, they ...

'', Book 2:

Summit

The summit of the fell has a substantial cairn due to the proximity of quite a few old stone walls and gives full length views of the

Helvellyn Helvellyn (; possible meaning: ''pale yellow moorland'') is a mountain in the English Lake District, the highest point of the Helvellyn range, a north–south line of mountains to the north of Ambleside, between the lakes of Thirlmere and Ulls ...

range to the west as well as of the Ramps Gill valley to the north.

References

{{Far Eastern Fells Fells of the Lake District Hewitts of England Nuttalls Martindale, Cumbria