Grey Crag 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

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 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 stands to the east of Longsleddale in the Far Eastern Fells

Far Eastern Fells

The Far Eastern Fells are a group of hills in the English Lake District. Reaching their highest point at High Street they occupy a broad area to the east of Ullswater and Kirkstone Pass. Much quieter than the central areas of Lakeland they offer in general easier but less exciting walking as the...

. There is another fell named Gray Crag

Gray Crag

-Topography:The fell reaches a height of 699 metres at the northern end of its summit ridge and this is the accepted highest point which gives the best views, although there is a spot height of 710 metres less than a kilometre to the south. Both tops have small cairns set on grass...

 in the Lake District near Hartsop.

Topography

North of Sadgill, the valley of Longsleddale narrows considerably with walls of crag on either side. Grey Crag is the first fell encountered above the eastern side, although the top is not visible from below. What is in sight is a short flat topped spur at a height of around 1,600 ft which juts out southwards from the body of the fell. This is Great Howe, and its steep flanks provide the east wall of Longsleddale, together with further outcrops above the side valley of Stockdale. Grey Crag proper is a second tier of crags, set back from Great Howe and just below the summit, thus giving its name to the entire fell.

Grey Crag is the focus of an extensive ridge system stretching out eastwards to the distant Lune and Eden Valleys. Grey Crag lies on the main watershed of the Cumbrian hills, its runoff reaching the sea at both the Solway Firth and Morecambe Bay. The long east ridges have a moorland character and provide easy walking in quiet conditions. The principal tops are Ancrow Brow (1,820 ft), White Howe (1,738 ft), Lords Seat (1,719 ft) and Great Yarlside (1,950 ft). These ridges encompass the valleys of Bannisdale, Crookdale, Wet Sleddale, Borrowdale and Wasdale, the latter two of which should not be confused with their more famous Lakeland counterparts.

To the north of the summit is a marshy depression, containing Greycrag Tarn

Tarn (lake)

A tarn is a mountain lake or pool, formed in a cirque excavated by a glacier. A moraine may form a natural dam below a tarn. A corrie may be called a cirque.The word is derived from the Old Norse word tjörn meaning pond...

. This is a series of small pools in the bed of a larger historic waterbody. Beyond the tarn is Grey Crag's sister fell, Tarn Crag

Tarn Crag (Far Eastern Fells)

Tarn Crag is a fell in the English Lake District. It stands to the east of Longsleddale in the Far Eastern Fells. There is another Tarn Crag in the Central Fells near Grasmere.-Topography:...

.

Summit and view

The top of the fell is a short ridge with the summit at the south west end. Half a mile to the north east is a second top, Harrop Pike, only marginally lower at 2,089 ft. A fence joins the summit ridge about halfway along from the direction of Tarn Crag, and then makes for Harrop Pike. The true top has a small cairn, while Harrop Pike sports a more impressive columnar beacon. The views east and south are expansive while westwards the Coniston and Scafell

Scafell Pike

Scafell Pike is the highest mountain in England at . It is located in Lake District National Park sometimes confused with the neighbouring Sca Fell, to which it is connected by the col of Mickledore...

 groups can be seen.

Ascents

Grey Crag can be climbed from Longsleddale via Great Howe, or from the vicinity of the A6 (Shap) road via any of the long eastern ridges mentioned above.

Haweswater aqueduct

Great Howe carries the remains of a surveying pillar on its eastern flank. This unusual stone and concrete construction is cleft at the top to provide a sight line and was originally surrounded by a wooden frame, now decayed. This is one of four such pillars built during the construction of the Haweswater

Haweswater Reservoir

Haweswater is a reservoir in the English Lake District, built in the valley of Mardale in the county of Cumbria. The controversial construction of the Haweswater dam started in 1929, after Parliament passed an Act giving the Manchester Corporation permission to build the reservoir to supply water...

 aqueduct. Below Branstree

Branstree

Branstree is a fell in the Far Eastern part of the English Lake District. It overlooks the valley of Mardale and Haweswater Reservoir.-Topography:...

, Tarn Crag and Great Howe is the first section of the pipeline carrying water from the reservoir toward Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

. The tunnel, some 1,000 ft below Great Howe, required 250 tons of gelignite for blasting, and when constructed in the 1930s was the longest such pipeline in Britain. It emerges into Longsleddale below the southern end of Great Howe, where the spoil can still be seen.