Hallin Fell, Ullswater

Hallin Fell is the best effort-to-reward ratio in the Lake District: fifteen minutes of steep grass from the car park by St Peter's church gets you to a summit cairn with Ullswater's full dog-leg laid out beneath you. Crucially for pilots, this side of the lake is not National Trust land — unlike Aira Force and Glencoyne across the water — so you're launching from open access common in one of the few premium Ullswater viewpoints where TOAL isn't automatically off the table. The shots are superb: the lake bending away toward Pooley Bridge one way and Glenridding the other, steamers trailing wakes across the water in summer, and the wild amphitheatre of Martindale behind you. Fly the steamers from well above and to the side; they're a moving subject that makes every clip better. Wind funnels hard along the lake valley, so the summit is often far breezier than the church hollow — check your drone's behaviour before committing to a long lake leg, and remember a sub-250 will struggle to punch back against a valley headwind. Martindale holds England's oldest native red deer herd; keep away from the deer sanctuary to the south, particularly during the autumn rut. Roads in are single-track and the church parking fills by mid-morning on fine weekends, so come early.