Some of the workforce on Blencathra during the fell care day. Photo: Ade Gibney

A Lake District fell got a spruce-up when more than a hundred people cleared a mountain of rubbish.

The 140 volunteers and staff saw off 300 pieces of cake to fuel their efforts on Blencathra this week.

The fell care day, organised by the Friends of the Lake District, was the organisation’s 10th mass-volunteering event in five years.

A spokesperson for the charity said: “These events give volunteers the chance to put something back in to protecting Cumbria’s spectacular but surprisingly fragile landscapes.”

The fell care day centred on Blencathra, which was put up for sale by its owner the Earl of Lonsdale to help pay inheritance taxes, but also included countryside around the mountain in the North of the Lake District.

The 113 volunteers and 29 leaders bagged 20 sacks of rubbish, plus four tyres, a mattress and a carpet removed from in and around Bassenthwaite Lake. A kilometre of pathside woodland was cleared at Dodd Wood, 26.5 km of upland path drains were cleared and swept and 5km of woodland was pruned on the old Keswick railway path.

The teams also rebuilt 100m of steps near the foot of Blencathra, dismantled and rebuilt 5m of drystone wall at Eycott Hill, where they also planted 1,000 hay meadow plants.

Volunteers also removed 326 tree cages on Caldbeck Common and surveyed 2.5km of the River Glenderamackin.

Ruth Kirk, Fell Care project officer said: “It was hard not be moved by both the stunning scenery around us and the monumental amount of hard work and elbow grease our volunteers put in to the day.

“We’ve seen how somewhere like Blencathra can galvanise people to want to protect special places that mean so much to them.

“Our youngest volunteer was aged 18 months and got stuck into planting up a hay meadow. It’s brilliant to know that our fell care days are helping to inspire a whole new generation to care for the Lake District.”

The next Friends of the Lake District’s fell care day takes place in Eden on Wednesday 4 November. Anyone wanting to sign up for one of the tasks should visit the Friends’ website.

No buyer has yet been announced for Blencathra.