Helvellyn
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| Helvellyn | |
|---|---|
 Helvellyn from the air in December. Red Tarn (centre) is flanked by Striding Edge (left) and Swirral Edge. |
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| Elevation | 950 m (3,117 ft) |
| Location | Cumbria,  England |
| Range | Lake District |
| Prominence | 712 m |
| Topo map | OS Landrangers 90 |
| OS grid reference | NY342151 |
| Listing | Marilyn, Hewitt, Wainwright, Historic County Top |
| Translation | Yellow upland (Cumbric) |
Helvellyn is a mountain in the English Lake District. At 950 metres (3,117 feet) above sea level, it is the third highest peak in both the Lake District and England.
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[edit] Topography
The peak of Helvellyn is the highest on the north-south ridge situated between the Thirlmere valley to the west, and Patterdale to the east. This ridge continues north over Helvellyn Lower Man, White Side, Raise, Stybarrow Dodd, Great Dodd and Clough Head, and south leads to Nethermost Pike and Dollywaggon Pike.
The eastern side of the fell is geographically the most dramatic. Two sharp arêtes lead off the summit, Striding Edge and Swirral Edge, either side of Red Tarn. The knife-edged Striding Edge provides one of the best-known scrambles in Lakeland, while the Swirral Edge ridge leads to the conical summit of Catstye Cam.
Nestling between the encircling arms of Helvellyn's two edges, is Red Tarn. This pool is named for the colour of the surrounding screes rather than its water, and contains brown trout and schelly, a fresh-water herring. The depth of Red Tarn is now about 80 ft, although in the mid 1800s it was dammed with boulders to increase capacity. [1] This was carried out to provide additional water to the Greenside lead mine in Glenridding, the water race still visible as it crosses the slope of Birkhouse Moor.
A second tarn once existed in Brown Cove between Swirral Edge and Lower Man, but this is now reduced to a couple of small pools widening the stream. Brown Cove Tarn was another creation of the Greenside mine, a stone faced dam being built in about 1860. The dam is still in place but water now leaks through the base, the extended tarn-bed a smooth patch of luxuriant turf. A water leat passing beneath the north face of Catstye Cam to Red Tarn Beck can still be traced although it is now in ruins.[1][2] Water from Brown Cove and Red Tarn unites at the beyond Catstye Cam to form Glenridding Beck, flowing on through the village to Ullswater.
The western slopes are relatively shallow, and partially forested, with many gills leading down to the Thirlmere valley.
The summit of Helvellyn takes the form of a broad plateau about 500 metres long. The highest point is marked by a cairn and a cross-shaped dry stone shelter; to the north is an Ordnance Survey trig point, a little lower than the summit at 949 m.
There is a subsidiary top, Helvellyn Lower Man, about a third of a mile to the north-west. Its summit is small compared to the plateau of Helvellyn and offers better views north-westwards, as the ground falls steeply away from it on this side.
Geologically, the summit area and Striding Edge are formed by the Deepdale formation of the Borrowdale Volcanic Group. This consists of volcaniclastic sandstone with some intercalcated tuff, pebbley sandstone breccia and lapilli-tuff. Underlying this is the Helvellyn formation of dacitic lapilli-tuff..[3]
[edit] Striding Edge
Striding Edge is a classic scrambling route on Helvellyn, linking the summit ridge of Birkhouse Moor to Helvellyn's summit by what becomes a sharp arête.
Striding Edge begins at Hole-in-the-Wall and then stretches for over a mile to the Helvellyn summit plateau. The inital part of the ridge is relatively rounded and has a good path running along the right hand side. This all changes upon reaching High Spying How which at 863m is the highest point on the ridge. At this point a narrow path continues closely to the top of the ridge which becomes increaingly narrow. Scramblers however will move to the top of the ridge and walk at the very top of the arête.
The side path continues until near the end of the ridge where it switches over to the left hand side. Scramblers are forced to descend a short gully down the last tower on the ridge. At this point the ridge joins to the main Helvellyn massif. All that remains is a walk/scramble up loose rocky terrain to reach the summit plateau around two hundered metres from the summit. Typically a cornice will form here in the winter and can represent the most dangerous part of the hike.
[edit] History
Helvellyn is strongly associated with the poet William Wordsworth, who used regularly to climb the mountain. Benjamin Robert Haydon's painting Wordsworth on Helvellyn epitomises Romanticism in portraiture. Wordsworth wrote about the mountain several times. In particular he commemorated the death of Charles Gough, a tourist in the Lake District. Gough set out to cross Striding Edge to reach the peak of Helvellyn. He perished there with his dog, who stood at his side for three months before his corpse was found. A plaque commemorating this event can be found close to the peak.
The somewhat flat summit made the first British mountain-top landing of a plane possible, when John Leeming and Bert Hinkler successfully landed and took off again, in 1926.
The western slopes bear witness to historic mining activity. Helvellyn (or Wythburn) mine operated from 1839 until 1880, when the land was acquired for the Thirlmere reservoir scheme. Four levels can be found along the course of Mines Gill, from where lead was extracted. Despite the sizeable workings the venture was never a commercial success.[2]
[edit] External links
- Maps and aerial photos
- Surrounding area map from Google Maps
- Detailed topography from Ordnance Survey Get-a-map
- Computer-generated virtual panoramas North South Index
- Illustrated Lake District Guide
- Helvellyn Photo Guide
[edit] References
- ^ a b Blair, Don; Exploring Lakeland Tarns; Lakeland Manor Press (2003); ISBN 0-9543-9041-5
- ^ a b Adams, John: Mines of the Lake District Fells, Dalesman (1995); ISBN 0-8520-6931-6
- ^ Woodhall, DG: Geology of the Keswick District- a brief explanation of the geological map. 1:50,000 Sheet 29: British Geological Survey (2000)
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Arnison Crag • Birkhouse Moor • Birks • Catstycam (Catstye Cam) • Clough Head • Dollywaggon Pike • Dove Crag • Fairfield • Glenridding Dodd • Gowbarrow Fell • Great Dodd • Great Mell Fell • Great Rigg • Hart Crag • Hart Side • Hartsop above How • Helvellyn • Heron Pike • High Hartsop Dodd • High Pike • Little Hart Crag • Little Mell Fell • Low Pike • Middle Dodd • Nab Scar • Nethermost Pike • Raise • Red Screes • Seat Sandal • Sheffield Pike • St Sunday Crag • Stone Arthur • Stybarrow Dodd • Watson's Dodd • White Side |
