High Cup Gill (or High Cup Nick or just High Cup), almost a geometrically perfect U-shaped chasm, [1] is a valley deeply incised into the Pennine scarp to the northeast of Appleby-in-Westmorland in Cumbria and within the North Pennines AONB in northern England. [1] It is considered to be glacial in origin, ice having over-ridden the area during successive ice ages. To its southeast is Murton Fell and Dufton Fell is to the north.
The Ordnance Survey name the valley as High Cup Gill but it is often referred to by the name High Cup Nick, a name which properly refers in a more limited sense to the point at its northeastern limit where the headwaters of Highcup Gill Beck pass from the relatively flat terrain of High Cup Plain over the lip of High Cup Scar into the valley. 'Gill' is a word of Norse origin meaning narrow valley or ravine whilst 'beck' signifies a stream; both occur widely in the hills of northern England. As seen in the classic view southwest over the valley into the Vale of Eden from its head at High Cup Nick, it is considered one of the finest natural features in northern England. [2] [3]
High Cup Scar is formed by a near-horizontal outcrop of the Whin Sill, a dolerite intrusion of late Carboniferous age which underlies much of the North Pennines and northeast England. Tumbled blocks of this rock are scattered down the scree slopes beneath the scar. A notable pinnacle of this rock on the northern side of the valley is known as Nichol or Nichol's Chair after a local cobbler who, for a bet, practised his craft perched on its summit. [4] The country rock into which the sill is intruded is the Alston Formation, a part of the Yoredale Group of multiple layers of limestones, sandstones, siltstones and mudstones. At the base of the gill, though largely obscured by the dolerite blocks, are older rocks: the sedimentary rocks of the Ravenstonedale Group and, beneath them, the metamorphosed slates and sandstones of the Skiddaw Group which date from the Ordovician period. [5] [6]
The Pennine Way skirts the valley on its northern side by a traditional route known as Narrow Gate as it runs from Forest in Teesdale west via Cauldron Snout and Maize Beck to Dufton. This national trail briefly splits into two separate routes on either bank of Maize Beck; it is the southerly of the two which leads via High Cup Nick. Listed in the 100 best Pathfinder walks in Britain, High Cup Nick has been described as a difficult walk of 8 miles (13 km), with an elevation of 1,445 feet (440 m). [1] The famous fellwalker Alfred Wainwright describes High Cup as "a great moment on the journey" in his book Pennine Way Companion. [7]
The village of Dufton lies between two of the most challenging sections of the Pennine Way. [1] There are precipitous drops along the higher sections of the walk and the Helm Wind blowing through the valley can be very strong. [1] The whole of the valley is within an area mapped as open country under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, hence there is a general right for walkers to roam at will. This section of the Pennine Way is a bridleway, and is therefore legally available to cyclists and horseriders too. [8]
High Force is a waterfall on the River Tees, near Middleton-in-Teesdale, Teesdale, England. The waterfall is within the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and the European Geopark. The waterfall is part of the historic county boundary between the North Riding of Yorkshire on the south bank, and County Durham on the north bank.
The Pennine Way is a National Trail in England, with a small section in Scotland. The trail stretches for 268 miles (431 km) from Edale, in the northern Derbyshire Peak District, north through the Yorkshire Dales and Northumberland National Park and ends at Kirk Yetholm, just inside the Scottish border. The path runs along the Pennine hills, sometimes described as the "backbone of England". Although not the United Kingdom's longest National Trail, it is according to The Ramblers "one of Britain's best known and toughest".
The North Pennines is the northernmost section of the Pennine range of hills which runs north–south through northern England. It lies between Carlisle to the west and Darlington to the east. It is bounded to the north by the Tyne Valley and to the south by the Stainmore Gap.
Cross Fell is the highest mountain in the Pennines of Northern England and the highest point in England outside the Lake District. It is located in the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It lies within the county of Cumbria and the historic county boundaries of Cumberland.
Teesdale is a dale, or valley, in Northern England. The dale is in the River Tees’s drainage basin, most water flows stem from or converge into said river, including the Skerne and Leven.
Great Dodd is a mountain or fell in the English Lake District. It stands on the main ridge of the Helvellyn range, a line of mountains which runs in a north-south direction between the lakes of Thirlmere and Ullswater in the east of the Lake District. Great Dodd, with a height of 857 m is the highest of the fells in this range to the north of Sticks Pass.
Crag Hill is a mountain in the North Western part of the English Lake District. It was formerly known as Eel Crag; however, the Ordnance Survey now marks Eel Crag as referring to the northern crags of the fell. It is not to be confused with another Crag Hill lying on the border of North Yorkshire.
Kirk Fell is a fell in the Western part of the English Lake District. It is situated between Great Gable and Pillar on the long ring of fells surrounding the valley of Ennerdale, and also stands over Wasdale to the south. However, it is separated from its two higher neighbours by the low passes of Black Sail and Beck Head, giving it a high relative height and making it a Marilyn, the thirteenth highest in the Lake District.
Great Mell Fell is an isolated hill or fell in the English Lake District, north of Ullswater and adjacent to the Eastern Fells. It rises from a level plain to a height of 537 m. Its top is an excellent viewpoint for many of the surrounding higher fells. The fell is now owned and managed by the National Trust and offers a place of quiet refuge.
Castle Crag is a hill in the North Western Fells of the English Lake District. It is the smallest hill included in Alfred Wainwright's influential Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, the only Wainwright below 1,000 feet (300 m).
The Whin Sill or Great Whin Sill is a tabular layer of the igneous rock dolerite in County Durham, Northumberland and Cumbria in the northeast of England. It lies partly in the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and partly in Northumberland National Park and stretches from Teesdale northwards towards Berwick.
Hopegill Head is a fell in the English Lake District in Cumbria. It is located nine kilometres west of the town of Keswick and is well seen from the B5292 road which crosses the Whinlatter Pass.
Dufton is a village and civil parish in Cumbria, England. Historically part of Westmorland, it lies in the Eden Valley and below Great Dun Fell. It is mostly around 180m above sea level. At the 2001 census the parish had a population of 169, increasing to 204 at the 2011 Census
Baugh Fell is a large, flat-topped hill in the northern Pennines of England. It lies in the north-western corner of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, immediately to the east of the Howgill Fells and to the north of Whernside, the highest of the Yorkshire Three Peaks. Formerly in the West Riding of Yorkshire, since 1974 it has been part of the county of Cumbria.
Keisley is a small hamlet in the English county of Cumbria. It is located in the Dufton civil parish and the Eden district.
The geology of County Durham in northeast England consists of a basement of Lower Palaeozoic rocks overlain by a varying thickness of Carboniferous and Permo-Triassic sedimentary rocks which dip generally eastwards towards the North Sea. These have been intruded by a pluton, sills and dykes at various times from the Devonian Period to the Palaeogene. The whole is overlain by a suite of unconsolidated deposits of Quaternary age arising from glaciation and from other processes operating during the post-glacial period to the present. The geological interest of the west of the county was recognised by the designation in 2003 of the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty as a European Geopark.
The geology of the Yorkshire Dales National Park in northern England largely consists of a sequence of sedimentary rocks of Ordovician to Permian age. The core area of the Yorkshire Dales is formed from a layer-cake of limestones, sandstones and mudstones laid down during the Carboniferous period. It is noted for its karst landscape which includes extensive areas of limestone pavement and large numbers of caves including Britain's longest cave network.
Pennine Journey is a 247-mile (398 km) circular trail that starts and ends in Settle, North Yorkshire, England. The route is based on a walk taken by Alfred Wainwright in 1938 and described by him in a book published in 1986. From Settle, the route heads north through North Yorkshire, County Durham and Northumberland to Hadrian's Wall, then extending along the wall for 21 miles (34 km), before turning south through Cumbria to head back to the starting point.