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329 m · Birkett — Western (not a Wainwright summit) · Birketts to bag nearby, parking, buses, my hikes and live summit weather.

Birkett — Western (not a Wainwright summit)Birkett top

Great Bank

Great Bank at 329m (1,079ft) is a Birkett top on the fell above the south shore of Ennerdale, its moorland summit giving views across the valley to the high Ennerdale fells.

329 m
Height
+1
Bonus Birkett
See routes & download GPX →
329 mBirkett — Western (not a Wainwright summit)+1 bonus Birkett within 3 km

Is it worth going? — Today’s conditions & 7-day summit forecast

Modelled guidance for the 329 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Tue 28 Jul): 16° to 15°C, gusts to 26 mph, 1.4 mm of rain forecast.

Tue 28 Jul
🌦️
16° / 15°
💨 26 mph
🌧 1.4 mm (99%)
Wed 29 Jul
🌧️
16° / 13°
💨 22 mph
🌧 5.6 mm (100%)
Thu 30 Jul
🌧️
14° / 8°
💨 28 mph
🌧 3.4 mm (87%)
Fri 31 Jul
🌦️
16° / 3°
💨 21 mph
🌧 0.3 mm (86%)
Sat 1 Aug
🌦️
15° / 6°
💨 14 mph
🌧 3.6 mm (82%)
Sun 2 Aug
☁️
17° / 10°
💨 20 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (35%)
Mon 3 Aug
🌦️
17° / 8°
💨 18 mph
🌧 0.4 mm (23%)

Forecast snapshot from 28 Jul 2026, 04:58 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 329 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.

About the walk

Key information

Great Bank

Great Bank at 329m (1,079ft) is a Birkett top on the fell above the south shore of Ennerdale, its moorland summit giving views across the valley to the high Ennerdale fells. Part of the low fell country between Ennerdale Water and the Calder valley. A quiet, seldom-visited fell.

Classifications & hill data
Birkett
Synge
329 m
Height
1,079 ft
In feet
NY 1439 0194
Grid ref

Map & nearby Birketts

Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap (switch layers top-right). Parking positions are approximate.

Nearest parking: Dalegarth Station, Eskdale (paid), about 3.4 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near Great Bank (within 3 km)

These Birkett tops are not Wainwright summits — detour to them on this walk and they are pure profit. Distances are straight-line; allow extra for terrain.

0.6 km NIrton Fell395 m · Western

Terrain & access

A near-path top (about 329 m): a mapped path comes within about 147 m of the summit, with a last stretch of open ground (about 23 m of ascent, up to ~32°). There is steep ground (over 30°) on the direct line — pick your line with care. The summit is on CRoW open access land. The direct line crosses 2 walls, 1 gate.

Computed from open data, not walked — pathless ground needs confident navigation, and mapped paths, barriers and access boundaries can be incomplete. Data © OpenStreetMap contributors (via Overpass); Natural England CRoW Access Land; DoBIH; Copernicus GLO-30. See the terrain & access report for how this is worked out across all 145 fells.

Best parking to hike Great Bank

Where we have the data, each parking spot also shows the nearest public toilets and facilities (cafés, pubs, shops).

Dalegarth Station, Eskdale (paid) — 3.4 km from summit (straight line)
Pay & display at the La'al Ratty terminus — Eskdale fells, Harter Fell, Green Crag.
Directions (opens in new tab)
Greendale, Nether Wasdale (roadside, free) — 3.5 km from summit (straight line)
Free verge parking for Middle Fell, Seatallan and Buckbarrow.
Directions (opens in new tab)

Positions are approximate — zoom the map to confirm. Lakeland car parks fill before 9am on fine weekends.

Tip: pan and zoom the interactive map at the top of this page to spot other potential parking near your route.

Buses to Great Bank from Penrith / Ambleside / Windermere

Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway (“La'al Ratty”)
Ravenglass (Cumbrian Coast main line) – Eskdale Green – Dalegarth for Boot
Catch it from: Connects from the Cumbrian Coast line (not from Penrith/Ambleside/Windermere directly)
Not a bus, but the only public transport into Eskdale. Wasdale has no public transport at all — car (or a long walk in) is the realistic option for the Wasdale fells.

Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before relying on a last bus.

Maps & guidebooks for Great Bank

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