Wainwright's Lake District - The Northern Fells Quiz

Answer: Sharp Edge

Striding Edge and Swirral Edge are both famous (or infamous) routes to the summit of Helvellyn. Both Sharp Edge and Striding Edge saw fatalities in 2008. Wet Side Edge is rather inaccurately named, as it is usually dry. It runs from Little Carrs and Hell Gill Pike in the Coniston Fells descending towards the Wrynose Pass. These are all outside of the area of the Northern Fells.

Answer: High Pike

Not to be confused with High Pike of the Fairfield Horseshoe in the Eastern Fells, this 'High Pike' sits above Caldbeck and is dotted with mines. Wainwright listed ten in the first edition. The remains of these can make ascent and descent dangerous. The stone slab seat replaced a wrought iron seat also in memorial to Mick Lewis. According to Wainwright, this (the replacement) was a necessity due to "sheep had been found held captive by it, their horns entangled in the metalwork."

Answer: Carrock Fell

The Carrock Fell mine is believed to be the only Wolfram (or Tungsten) mine in Britain outside of Cornwall and Devon. The summit of Carrock Fell is marked on the Ordnance Survey map as a fort, Wainwright describing it more prosaically, "its summit is unique, being ringed by the collapsed stone walls of an ancient hill-fort of unknown age and origin." Carrock Fell has two subsidiary summits, Round Knott and Miton Hills (some sources spell this as Milton, but Wainwright and the Ordnance Survey use Miton), both of which are just under 2,000 feet at the summit.

The other claim to fame of this hill is the 1857 ascent by two authors, Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens. This experience became the story "The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices".

Answer: Bakestall

Wainwright points out that only the summit is called Bakestall. It would not be considered a separate hill, mountain or fell by most authorities on the matter if Wainwright had not chosen to give it a chapter in Book 5 as it is just a small rise on the northern side of Skiddaw.

But he did and the name Bakestall now appears on the Ordnance Survey map of the area. Whitewater Dash is the name given on the Ordnance Survey maps, but Wainwright called the falls simply Dash Falls.

Answer: Latrigg

The Latrigg referred to here and written about by Wainwright is just outside the town of Keswick. Wainwright notes that there is another hill of the same name near Over Water but did not write about it. All of the options listed are offshoots of Skiddaw, Skiddaw Lesser Man being a shoulder of Skiddaw Little Man but Latrigg is the cub.

At just over a third the height of Skiddaw the description is apt, the hill stands above Keswick and is an easy stroll. Wainwright refers to "Sunday best" being appropriate dress for walking up it. Of course it is even easier if you cheat, drive round to a particular car park and walk the last few hundred yards climbing about 200 feet, acceptable for the old and infirm.

A slightly more energetic, yet still comparatively easy route is to walk from Keswick via Spoony Green Lane. Skiddaw Little Man is given the status of a Wainwright but Lesser Man and Jenkin Hill are not so graced by Wainwrights writings.

This is no reason not to climb them however.

Answer: Souther Fell

The River Glenderamackin seems flows east then north east and south to pass by Souther Fell before heading west again until near Threlkeld, it meets St Johns Beck and becomes the River Greta which flows through Keswick. As to the army manoeuvres most sources seem to paraphrase or quote Wainwright so I shall do the same.

"This is no legend.
This is the solemn truth as attested on oath before a magistrate by 26 sober and respected witnesses. These good people assembled on the evening of Midsummer Day 1745 at a place of vantage in the valley to the east, to test incredulous reports that soldiers and horsemen had been seen marching across the top of Souter Fell (Soutra Fell was probably its name in those days). They saw them all right: an unbroken line of quickly moving troops, horses and carriages extending over the full length of the top of Souter, continuously appearing at one end vanishing at the other - and passing unhesitatingly over steep places that horse and carriages could not possibly negotiate, as the bewildered observers well knew. The procession went on until darkness concealed the marching army. Next morning the skyline was deserted, and a visit to the summit was made by a party of local worthies, fearful that the expected invasion from over the border had started (this was the year of the '45 Rebellion). There was not a trace of the previous nights visitors. Not a footprint, not a hoofmark, not a wheel rut in the grass. Nothing.
There was no doubting the evidence of so many witnesses, and yet it was equally certain that the marching figures had no substance. Scientists and students of the supernatural had no solution to offer had no solution to offer. The only explanation ever given was that some kind of mirage had been seen, probably a vaporous reflection of Prince Charlie's rebels, who (it was discovered on enquiry) had that very evening been exercising on the west coast of Scotland. This beats radar!"

However Paul J Rose writing on his website of this incident notes that this army was also seen in 1735 and 1737 and observes "However, even if that explanation were true, it begs the question as to why would the same ghost army be seen at various intervals of years if it was a reflection? And why was it only seen on a Midsummer's Eve if it was a reflection of a 'live' army?"
The Souter Fell army has not been recorded as having been seen since, but I know people who have seen phantom armies in the recent past. But both of these occasions have been in Cornwall.

Answer: Knott

Knott lies in an area to the north of Skiddaw, referred to by some as 'back 'o Skiddaw'. It consists of a three mile long ridge and is not usually considered the main goal of a walk. The route down to the east over Coomb Height has a "dangerous artificial gully" which was created by the nearby Carrock Mine.

It is to be avoided; Wainwright states that "a horrible death awaits those who ignore this advice". He reinforces the point with a sketch of a pile of skulls and other bones, captioned 'Dead fell walkers'. Wainwright's full description of the fells aptness for sport reads: "If the party consists of more than one person and if, further, a bat, ball and wickets can be found in the depths of somebody's rucksack, a cricket match can be played on turf many a county ground might covet. Apart from this, no suggestions can be made for whiling away the time (unless the party be a mixed one)."

Answer: Aughertree Fell

Blencathra is a large mountain rising to the north of the A66 between Penrith and Keswick. When Wainwright first wrote his pictorial guides this road didn't exist but the railway line between the two towns did. There are many routes to the top of Blencathra but one of the more famous is from the eastern side via Sharp Edge.

This is not an easy afternoon stroll, a check of the Keswick Mountain Rescue Team website will find plenty of horror stories and the occasional fatality. Fortunately for the less ambitious there are easier routes from all sides.

The summit of Blencathra sits at the top of the ridge from Hall's Fell but the summit ridge may be attained more easily from Gategill Fell, Doddick Fell, Scales Fell or Blease Fell. Wainwright lists 11 different ascents, including via the gills that fall between the ridges on the south face. Aughertree Fell on the other hand lies further north.

It also lies outside Wainwright's self imposed boundaries of Lakeland Fells, and having reached Book 5 I suspect he couldn't justify altering these. So he writes about it in the chapter on Longlands Fell instead.

Answer: Skiddaw

The monument is to three shepherds of the Hawell family who worked in Lonscale Fell. The inscription reads: "Great Shepherd of Thy heavenly flock These men have left our hill Their feet were on the living rock Oh guide and bless them still."
This monument is found alongside the tourist route up Skiddaw. Although one could reasonably be heading for Skiddaw Little Man or Jenkins Hill via this route these were not listed as options. Skiddaw Little Man and Lesser Man form a slight detour from the tourist route without taking one far from away from the main path.

Answer: Solitary Wanderers

Although Alfred Wainwright dedicated a volume to each of the listed options, the full inscription in volume five reads: "Book five is dedicated to those who travel alone, the solitary wanderers on the fells, who find contentment in the companionship of the mountains and of the creatures of the mountains."
All 24 of the fells listed by Alfred Wainwright in volume 5 are mentioned somewhere in this quiz.