Crinkle Crags

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Crinkle Crags
Crinkle Crags from Cold Pike.jpg
Crinkle Crags from Cold Pike; on the far right in sunlight is Bowfell
Highest point
Elevation 859 m (2,818 ft)
Prominence c. 138 m (453 ft)
Parent peak Scafell Pike
Listing Hewitt, Nuttall, Wainwright
Coordinates 54°25′59″N3°09′32″W / 54.433°N 3.159°W / 54.433; -3.159
Geography
Lake District National Park UK relief location map.png
Red triangle with thick white border.svg
Crinkle Crags
Location in the Lake District
Location relief map Borough of Copeland.svg
Red triangle with thick white border.svg
Crinkle Crags
Location in Copeland Borough
Location relief map United Kingdom South Lakeland.svg
Red triangle with thick white border.svg
Crinkle Crags
Location in South Lakeland
Location Cumbria, England
Parent range Lake District, Southern Fells
OS grid NY248048
Topo map OS Landranger 89, 90, Explorer OL6
Listed summits of Crinkle Crags
NameGrid refHeightStatus
Crinkle Crags South Top NY248048 834 m (2,736 ft)Hewitt, Nuttall
Shelter Crags NY249053 815 m (2,674 ft)Hewitt, Nuttall
Shelter Crags North Top NY249057 755 m (2,477 ft)Nuttall
Little Stand NY250034 740 m (2,430 ft)Nuttall
Great Knott NY260043 696 m (2,283 ft)Nuttall

Crinkle Crags is a fell in the English Lake District in the county of Cumbria. It forms part of two major rings of mountains, surrounding the valleys of Great Langdale and Upper Eskdale. The name reflects the fell's physical appearance as its summit ridge is a series of five rises and depressions (crinkles) that are very distinctive from the valley floor. In Old English, cringol means twisted or wrinkled.

Contents

Topography

The nomenclature of the various tops is very confused. Traditional guidebooks tend to rely on what the eye sees and therefore focus attention upon the five ‘crinkles’ of the summit ridge. These are generally referred to as the first to fifth crinkles, but Richards [1] starts in the north, Birkett [2] in the south and Wainwright [3] employs both conventions, depending upon the direction of travel. For clarity in this article the first crinkle will be taken as the southernmost top. On this basis, the second Crinkle (also called Long Top) is the true summit of the fell. The only other Crinkle with a definitive name is Gunson Knott, but this name is used variously for the third and the fifth, with both the Ordnance Survey [4] [5] and the Database of British and Irish Hills [6] [7] listing it twice. To the north of the Crinkles proper is a depression and then the outcropping continues over Shelter Crags.

In recent times more systematic hill lists have been produced based upon topographical prominence and height, rather than mere visual appeal. Most relevant to Crinkle Crags are the lists of Hewitts and Nuttalls. These variously list the summit, [8] the first Crinkle (Crinkle Crags South Top), [9] and two tops on Shelter Crags (Shelter Crags [10] and Shelter Crags North Top), [11] but exclude the other three Crinkles, [12] although the third (sometimes named Gunson Knott), [6] [4] fourth [13] and fifth (also sometimes named Gunson Knott) [7] [5] are all Birketts.

The ridge of Crinkle Crags extends due south from its higher neighbour, Bowfell. Between the two is the col of Three Tarns, named for the small pools in the depression. Depending upon recent rainfall there may be anything from two to five tarns in evidence on the ground. From here the rocky outcropping of Shelter Crags is quickly reached.

Beyond the summit to the south, the ridge descends over Stonesty Pike (a Birkett) [14] and Little Stand (a Nuttall and a Fellranger [15] ) to the Duddon Valley at Cockley Beck. Two further ridges branch out from Crinkle Crags on either side of the summit, before turning south to run parallel to Little Stand. On the west, across the marshy trench of Moasdale is Hard Knott. To the east an initially indistinct ridge firms up on the traverse to Cold Pike. Between Cold Pike and Crinkle Crags, but generally included as part of the latter is the further Nuttall of Great Knott. [16]

Ascents

In his Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells , Alfred Wainwright describes Crinkle Crags as

Much too good to be missed ... this is a climb deserving of high priority. [3]

There are a variety of routes directly to the summit: most people climb the fell from Great Langdale and usually together with all or some of the adjoining fells of Bowfell, Pike of Blisco, Rossett Pike and Cold Pike to make a high-level ridge walk which encompasses the whole of the high ground at the head of Great Langdale. The ascent from Eskdale is very good, but that is at least a 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) round trip (depending on where in Eskdale one starts), and many people will think that this too far to "bag" just one fell. The shortest and quickest route requires the use of a car to the top of the Wrynose Pass motor road.

Summit

The traverse of the summit ridge with its series of undulations is an exhilarating experience for the fell walker. The ridge includes the so-called "Bad Step", a steep declivity which catches out many walkers when travelling from north to south; however, the obstacle can be by-passed without too much trouble.

The view from the summit is very good: there are airy views of Great Langdale, Eskdale and Dunnerdale, with the estuaries of the rivers Duddon and Esk well seen as they enter the Irish Sea. There is a very good view of England's highest mountain, Scafell Pike, which lies just four kilometres (2+1⁄2 miles) away to the north west. Shelter Crags gives extensive all-round views.

Panorama

Protected Area

Crinkle Crags are within a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) [17] [18] called Ray and Crinkle Crags. This 146 hectare site was designated in 1988 because of the important geology present that reveals volcanic activity that occurred here in the late Ordovician period.

This protected area includes Crinkle Crags South Top and Gunson Knott.

Details of SSSI status

The volcanic rocks of the Borrowdale Volcanic Group at Crinkle Crags record the cyclic history of eruptions and caldera collapse that occurred within the Scafel Caldera. Rock types present include tuffs and ignimbrite. [17] West of Crinkle Crags, basalt lava has been recorded. This site is exceptional because it shows the range of deposits formed by the explosive disintegration of magma by water (most calderas of this type are inaccessible because they are flooded or buried by their erupted products). The geology here has been interpreted as showing how volcanic eruptions led to faults changing and growing. [19]

Land ownership in this SSSI

Crinkle Crags are aligned on the boundary between Eskdale and Westmorland and Furness. Part of the land within Ray and Crinkle Crags SSSI that is on the western Eskdale side is owned by the National Trust. [20]

See also

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. ↑ Richards, Mark: Mid-Western Fells: Collins (2004): ISBN   0-00-711368-4
  2. ↑ Birkett, Bill: Complete Lakeland Fells: Collins Willow (1994): ISBN   0-00-218406-0
  3. 1 2 Alfred Wainwright: A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells , Book 4: ISBN   0-7112-2457-9
  4. 1 2 "3rd Crinkle, South Lakeland (or Gunson Knott)(Gunson Knott) - area information, map, walks and more". Ordnance Survey Get Outside. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  5. 1 2 "5th Crinkle, Copeland (or Gunson Knott)(Gunson Knott) - area information, map, walks and more". Ordnance Survey Get Outside. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  6. 1 2 "Crinkle Crags - Third Crinkle [Gunson Knott]". www.hill-bagging.co.uk. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  7. 1 2 "Crinkle Crags - Gunson Knott [Fifth Crinkle]". www.hill-bagging.co.uk. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  8. ↑ "Crinkle Crags - Long Top [Second Crinkle]". www.hill-bagging.co.uk. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  9. ↑ "Crinkle Crags South Top [First Crinkle]". www.hill-bagging.co.uk. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  10. ↑ "Shelter Crags". www.hill-bagging.co.uk. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  11. ↑ "Shelter Crags North Top". www.hill-bagging.co.uk. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  12. ↑ Nuttall, John & Anne: The Mountains of England and Wales: Cicerone: ISBN   1-85284-037-4
  13. ↑ "Crinkle Crags - Fourth Crinkle". www.hill-bagging.co.uk. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  14. ↑ "Stonesty Pike". www.hill-bagging.co.uk. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  15. ↑ "Little Stand". www.hill-bagging.co.uk. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  16. ↑ "Great Knott". www.hill-bagging.co.uk. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  17. 1 2 "SSSI detail". designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
  18. ↑ "Protected Planet | Ray and Crinkle Crags". Protected Planet. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
  19. ↑ BRANNEY, MICHAEL J. (1 July 1991). "Eruption and depositional facies of the Whorneyside Tuff Formation, English Lake District: An exceptionally large-magnitude phreatoplinian eruption". GSA Bulletin. 103 (7): 886–897. doi:10.1130/0016-7606(1991)103<0886:EADFOT>2.3.CO;2. ISSN   0016-7606.
  20. ↑ "Mapping the habitats of England's ten largest institutional landowners". Who owns England?. 6 October 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
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