Wainwright's Lake District - North Western Fells Quiz

Answer: Hopegill Head and Grisedale Pike

"The silence is interrupted only by the croaking of the resident ravens and the occasional thud of a falling botanist." Of course if you are on the ridge this is not a risk, only if you are down below that you need to beware. The reason for the mention of botanists is that Hobarton Crag is (according to Wainwright) the only place in England where the 'red alpine catchfly' is known to grow.

Answer: Barrow

Of the four options listed only Barrow lies within the Newlands Valley. Graystones and Ling Fell both lie to the north of Whinlatter Pass while Hinscarth lies further to the south. On the northern flank of the hill is Barrow Gill, a deeper ravine than the famed Piers Gill on Scafell.

Answer: Catbells

Catbells is a moderately high but heavily mined hill in the Newlands valley. It takes its name from its outline when seen from the shores of Derwentwater at Keswick. The forested land between the hills eastern slopes and Derwentwater are Brandelhow Park, the first property in the Lake District purchased by the National Trust.

Woodfords Path is a zig-zag path named for the local resident who created it. Sir Hugh Walpole was a novelist who had a large house close by. Thomas Leonard was (according to the memorial) "Founder of the co-operative and communal holidays and father of the open air movement in this country" In 'Best Walks in the Lake District' by Frank Duerden, Andrew Midgley and Tom Holmanmore more detail is given: "T. A. Leonard was the Minister of a Congregational Chapel in Colne, Lancashire who began in 1891 to organize holidays for local mill people. This led to the formation in 1892 of the Co-operative Holidays Association which set out 'to provide recreative and educational holidays by purchasing or renting and furnishing houses and rooms in selected centres, by catering in such houses for parties of members and guests, and by securing helpers who will promote the intellectual and social interests of the party with which they are associated."

Answer: High Spy

Sheepfolds are not normally named on maps; this seems to be an exception. Wainwright goes on to say that Eel Crags and Lobstone Band are also alternative names for this hill. Lobstone Band is marked as being on the eastern slopes of the maps, while part of the steep drops to the west carry the name of Eel Crags. Use of the latter name is prone to confusion as a different chapter in this book is named Eel Crag.

Although as Wainwright notes the Ordnance Survey (and this is still the case) use the name Crag Hill. Sail and Knott Rigg are two more of Wainwrights north-western fells but 'Scope End' isn't being a shoulder of Hindscarth.

Answer: Castle Crag

In the first edition of the guides the official height for Castle Crag was 900 feet. With the publication of the 2nd edition the official height is 951 feet; however, Trevor Jesty (editor of the second edition) argues that the correct height is nearer to 1,000 feet in height.

On the summit itself may be found a war memorial to the men of Borrowdale. Wainwright also has a warning for photographers concerning not stepping back to take a picture without checking as there is a disused quarry very close by.
Millican Dalton worked in London in an office until the early years of the 20th century he decided to quit the rat-race whilst in his thirties. "A man ahead of his time vegetarian, pacifist, eccentric, troglodyte, mountain guide, insurance clerk" is the description to be found on the web site of Brannan thermometers (though how this links to their website I haven't discovered). One of Millican's better known quotes is "Don't waste words jump to conclusions!" which was written on the wall of his cave.

Answer: Robinson

Robinson is on the north side of Buttermere with a height at its summit of just over 2,400 feet. Buttermere Moss is, in the words of Wainwright, "a wide marshy depression from which water cannot escape except by being carried away in the boots of pedestrians". Strictly this is not true as a glance at Wainwrights own map shows that it is drained by Keskadale Beck. Robinson is also the site of Wainwright's Rowan.

In the first edition of this volume (1964) Wainwright noted a rowan sapling on a crag and requested that readers keep him informed of its condition.

This has they did and the tree has become known as 'Wainwright's rowan'. A note in the 2nd edition observes that it was still there in 2008. Ellas Crag is not one of the fells Wainwright wrote about but is a rocky crag between Causey Pike and Scar Crags.

Answer: Sale fell

Wainwright quotes a paragraph from John Postlethwaite's 'Mines and mining in the Lake District' which goes into some technical detail of the types of rock found at the summit, and then adds, "All this is Greek to the poor layman." Wythop Wood, site of the memorial stone lies on the side of Sale Fell descending to Basenthwaite Lake.

Basenthwaite Lake is the only lake in the Lake District. Or to be more precise it is the only body of water in the Lake District with the word 'lake' as part of its official name. Lots of meres, tarns, waters but no other lakes.
Wythop Wood (so Wainwright tells us) also contains "life-size models of deer and peacocks." Wythop Wood is also the nesting site of Ospreys, the first in England for over 150 years, which during the summer may be viewed via webcam online or at the Whinlatter visitor centre.

Answer: Scar Crags

The mine is found on the north face of the hill. According to Wainwright (second edition) the mine lies below Long Crag. However comparing the sketch map in Wainwright with the Ordnance Survey map it appears that the mine must have been part of the Long Comb crag, although the 1:25,000 Ordnance Survey map of the region does not indicate a mine in the area.

This site also matches the map reference given by the Industrial History of Cumbria website, (NY206207). There is a Long Crag nearby as the south face of Grisedale Pike, which also has disused mines on it. Whiteless Pike and Broom Fell are also Wainwrights in the north-western fells, however Ladyside Pike is not, being a subsidiary summit of Hopegill Head.

Answer: Barf

Bishop and Clerk are two small pinnacles of rock which 'allegedly' mark the points where the Bishop of Derry fell (from his horse and died) and is buried (along with his horse), respectively The legend states that this happened in 1783. Investigation shows that the Catholic Diocese of Derry had no bishop between the years 1752-1824, (according to the diocese's own website), while one Frederick Hervey was the Anglican Bishop of Derry from 1768 to 1803, which makes it improbable that either died in 1783. So having ruled out both of these possibilities it seems that only myth and fable remains.

However, the rocks are kept whitewashed, formerly by staff at a local hotel, but at the start of the 21st century by the local mountain rescue team. Bishop is visible for some distance thanks to this.

Answer: His Legs

Although Alfred Wainwright dedicated a volume to each of the listed options, the full inscription in volume six reads: "Book six is dedicated to those unlovely twins, my right leg and my left leg, staunch supporters that have carried me about for over half a century, endured much without complaint and never once let me down." All twenty nine of the fells written about by Alfred Wainwright in Volume 6 appear somewhere in this quiz.