Skiddaw Little Man also called Little Man is a fell

Fell

“Fell” is a word used to refer to mountains, or certain types of mountainous landscape, in Scandinavia, the Isle of Man, and parts of northern England.- Etymology :...

 in the English Lake District

Lake District

The Lake District, also commonly known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous not only for its lakes and its mountains but also for its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth...

, it is situated four kilometres north of the town of Keswick

Keswick, Cumbria

Keswick is a market town and civil parish within the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England. It had a population of 4,984, according to the 2001 census, and is situated just north of Derwent Water, and a short distance from Bassenthwaite Lake, both in the Lake District National Park...

 and reaches a height of 865 m (2,837 ft).

Topography

Little Man is often overlooked and disregarded as an independent and distinct fell due to its name which makes it sound like a minor top of its parent fell Skiddaw

Skiddaw

Skiddaw is a mountain in the Lake District National Park in England. With a summit at 931 m above sea level it is the fourth highest mountain in England. It lies just north of the town of Keswick, Cumbria, and dominates the skyline in this part of the northern lakes...

 which in fact lies 1.5 kilometres to the north west. With a topographical prominence of 61 metres, Little Man qualifies comfortably as a Hewitt and Nuttall hill and is regarded as a separate fell by renowned mountain writers Alfred Wainwright

Alfred Wainwright

Alfred Wainwright MBE was a British fellwalker, guidebook author and illustrator. His seven-volume Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, published between 1955 and 1966 and consisting entirely of reproductions of his manuscript, has become the standard reference work to 214 of the fells of the...

 and Bill Birkett

Bill Birkett

Bill Birkett is one of the world's foremost mountain writers and photographers, and is a leading climber who has undertaken many expeditions around the world....

. The fell is actually called Little Man on Ordnance Survey maps and by many guide books.

To the north and east Little Man is connected to the Skiddaw massif, Lonscale Fell being the nearest separate fell to the east, 2.5 kilometres away. To the south and the west the fell falls away steeply with fast flowing streams draining the fell into the River Derwent

River Derwent, Cumbria

The Derwent is a river in the Lake District of the county of Cumbria in the north of England. The name Derwent is derived from a Celtic word for "oak trees"....

. Half a kilometre to the south east of the main summit lies a lower top called Lesser Man (815 metres), this is adorned with an unusual cairn consisting of rocks and old fence posts. A further half a kilometre to the south east of Lesser Man, on the other side of the bridleway from Keswick to Skiddaw, stands Jenkin Hill (735 metres), this flat topped height is regarded as an outlier of Little Man.

Geology

Geologically, Little Man consists of Skiddaw slate

Skiddaw Slate

Skiddaw slate is an early Ordovician metamorphosed sedimentary rock, as first identified on the slopes of Skiddaw in the English Lake District....

 and the summit of the fell is made up of grassy patches within large areas of slate.

Summit and view

Little Man has one big advantage over Skiddaw in that its convex southern slopes make it a far better viewpoint than its higher neighbour, in fact the panorama from Little Man is regarded as one of the best in the national park taking in the valleys and lakes of northern Lakeland as well as all of the best known fells of the district.

Ascents

Many people climb Little Man via the tourist path from Keswick

Keswick, Cumbria

Keswick is a market town and civil parish within the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England. It had a population of 4,984, according to the 2001 census, and is situated just north of Derwent Water, and a short distance from Bassenthwaite Lake, both in the Lake District National Park...

 on the way to the summit of Skiddaw

Skiddaw

Skiddaw is a mountain in the Lake District National Park in England. With a summit at 931 m above sea level it is the fourth highest mountain in England. It lies just north of the town of Keswick, Cumbria, and dominates the skyline in this part of the northern lakes...

, however there are several better and more interesting but steep ascents from the hamlets of Millbeck and Applethwaite to the south of the fell. One of the routes from Millbeck is a scramblers route up the steep south west Arête

Arete

Areté is the term meaning "virtue" or "excellence", from Greek ἈρετήArete may also be used:*as a given name of persons or things:**Queen Arete , a character in Homer's Odyssey.***197 Arete, an asteroid....

.