Sheffield Pike

Last updated

Sheffield Pike
Sheffield Pike and Glencoyne - geograph.org.uk - 192937.jpg
Sheffield Pike seen from Glencoyne
Highest point
Elevation 675 m (2,215 ft)
Prominence 91 m (299 ft)
Parent peak Great Dodd
Listing Hewitt, Nuttall, Wainwright
Coordinates 54°33′18″N2°58′43″W / 54.55508°N 2.9787°W / 54.55508; -2.9787 Coordinates: 54°33′18″N2°58′43″W / 54.55508°N 2.9787°W / 54.55508; -2.9787
Geography
Lake District National Park UK relief location map.png
Red triangle with thick white border.svg
Sheffield Pike
Location in Lake District, UK
Location Cumbria, England
Parent range Lake District, Eastern Fells
OS grid NY368182
Topo map OS Explorer OL5

Sheffield Pike (possibly meaning "the peak above the sheep fold") is a fell in the English Lake District, a prominent intermediate top on one of the eastern ridges of Stybarrow Dodd. It separates and stands high above the Glencoyne and Glenridding valleys, on the eastern side of the Helvellyn range in the Eastern Fells and it looks down onto Ullswater.

Contents

Topography

A broad ridge runs east from the summit of Stybarrow Dodd, across a grassy saddle to the subsidiary top of White Stones, the summit of Green Side (795 m / 2608 ft), where it turn to the north-east to Hart Side and Watermillock Common. The south-east shoulder of Green Side drops about 200 m down a slope which has been quarried and damaged by mining activities beneath to the depression of Nick Head (584 m / 1916 ft). From here the ridge rises 91 m to the top of Sheffield Pike (675 m). [1] [2]

Two lower ridges descend to the east of Sheffield Pike. The south-east shoulder, below Heron Pike, drops to a grassy col and then rises to Glenridding Dodd, the final top on the ridge before Ullswater. The north-east shoulder drops through Glencoyne Wood and past Moss Crag to Ullswater. The secluded little valley of Mossdale lies between these two lower ridges. [1]

Broadly oval in plan, Sheffield Pike separates the Glencoyne and Glenridding valleys, rising high above both. Each flank is steep, the Glenridding Screes on the south side particularly so, and the upper slopes on both sides have substantial outcrops of steep crags. [3] East of the summit is a second top named Heron Pike (612 m / 2008 ft [2] ), a rock turret backed by a couple of tiny tarns. (This should not be confused with the Heron Pike that forms part of the Fairfield horseshoe, although it appears that, by coincidence, both Heron Pikes are exactly the same height.)

Standing between two valleys and at the head of a third, the northern slopes of Sheffield Pike are drained by Glencoyne Beck, the southern slopes by Glenridding Beck, and the eastern side by Mossdale Beck. [1]

Summit

The undulating summit plateau of Sheffield Pike has marshy ground and small tarns in places between rocky outcrops, with rough grass and heather. A broad cairn on top of an outcrop of rock marks the summit. [4] Two iron posts, one on Heron Pike and the other above Nick Head, are inscribed “H 1912” on one side and “M 1912” on the other. These mark the boundary between the Howard estate of Greystoke and the Marshall estate of Patterdale. [3] The summit cairn also carries an old stone boundary marker with the H and M initials as well as a cryptic E.R. and the date 1830. [4]

The summit overlooks Glencoyne, but being set back from both the southern and eastern sides of the fell better views may be had from other places. The cairn above Black Crag, or the top of Heron Pike, both give better views of Ullswater, and a well-used sheep path above the crags along the south side of the fell gives the best views of upper Glenridding, backed by Catstye Cam and Helvellyn. [4]

Ascents

Most of the fell, above the Greenside Road and away from the site of the old Greenside Mine, is Open Access land. [1]

Ascents can begin from Glenridding village or from Glencoyne on the track behind Seldom Seen. In either case the route may use either of the two cols, east or west of Sheffield Pike. From Glenridding a track known as The Rake leads to the eastern col, or the track past the former Greenside Mine leads to Nick Head, the western col. [3] [4] The latter route is no longer the industrial nightmare that Alfred Wainwright complained of in his 1955 guide-book when the mine was still working, but the spoil heaps and some of the mine buildings are still there.

Sheffield Pike can also be included in walks that take in Glenridding Dodd first, and then proceed either to Hart Side for a circuit of Glencoyne, or to Stybarrow Dodd and Helvellyn for a much longer horseshoe of Glenridding.

Geology

Virtually all the rocks of Sheffield Pike are part of the Borrowdale Volcanic Group, formed on the margin of an ancient continent during a period of intense volcanic activity, roughly 450 million years ago in the Ordovician Period. [5] [6]

Within that group, nearly all the rocks on the fell belong to the Birker Fell Andesite Formation. These rocks are part of a thick succession of andesite sheets which now outcrop in a wide band around the western and northern sides of the Lake District. [7] These sheets were formed by successive eruptions of mobile andesitic lava from shallow-sided volcanoes [6]

Between the individual lava flows may be beds of volcaniclastic sandstone, sedimentary deposits formed from the erosion of the volcanic rocks, and the map shows a small deposit of this near the summit of Sheffield Pike. [7]

Two minor igneous intrusions occur on the fell. A basalt dyke of similar age to the volcanic rocks crosses Nick Head, and a later microgranite dyke of Devonian age runs near the top of the crags on the south side of the fell. [7] This was probably associated with the later stages of the emplacement of the granite batholith which underlies the Lake District. [5] : 95, 100 

Also associated with the granite batholith was the creation of mineral veins in parts of the Lake District. [5] : 189  The richest known lead vein of all was found crossing the south-east shoulder of Green Side, running in a north-south direction.

Mining at Greenside Mine began during the eighteenth century by driving levels into the side of Green Side, but in 1853 a new level was begun from the present entrance to the mine at Lucy’s Tongue beneath Nick Head. This was driven north and west for 16 years to intersect the Greenside vein, and allowed deeper levels of the vein to be exploited. Over its lifetime the mine produced 2,400,000 tons of ore, finally closing in 1962. [8]

Considerable evidence of mining remains with extensive spoil heaps on the lower slopes of Sheffield Pike. Part of the mine buildings have been converted into a Youth Hostel. The mine was still working when Alfred Wainwright prepared his Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells . [3]

Names

Sheffield Pike. This name is unexplained. Its first known use is by the Ordnance Survey in 1859. One possibility is that it reflects the influence of the Howard family at Greystoke, the Dukes of Norfolk, who also owned estates in Sheffield, though there is no direct evidence for this explanation. [9] Another possibility is that the original name was something like Sheepfold Pike, and that the pronunciation became corrupted, though again there is no evidence for this. [10] These two explanations need not be mutually exclusive.

Heron Pike was called Herring Pike in nineteenth century guide-books; [11] both names seem equally unlikely. Probably a corruption of Old English erne, 'eagle', plus pike. [10]

Related Research Articles

Helvellyn Mountain in the English Lake District

Helvellyn is a mountain in the English Lake District, the highest point of the Helvellyn range, a north–south line of mountains to the north of Ambleside, between the lakes of Thirlmere and Ullswater.

Fairfield (Lake District) Fell in the English Lake District

Fairfield is a fell in the English Lake District. It is the highest of a group of hills in the Eastern Fells, standing to the south of the Helvellyn range.

Catstye Cam is a fell in the English Lake District. It is an outlier of Helvellyn in the Eastern Fells.

Great Dodd

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.

Place Fell

Place Fell is a hill in the English Lake District. It stands at the corner of the upper and middle reaches of Ullswater, with steep western flanks overlooking the villages of Glenridding and Patterdale.

Nethermost Pike Fell in Cumbria, England

Nethermost Pike is a fell in Cumbria, England, and a part of the Lake District. At 891 metres (2,923 ft) it is the second highest Wainwright in the Helvellyn range, the highest of which is Helvellyn itself. It is located close to the southern end of the ridge, with Helvellyn to the north, and High Crag and Dollywaggon Pike to the south. Nethermost Pike, along with many of the Eastern Fells, lies between Thirlmere in the west and the Ullswater catchment in the east. The closest villages are Glenridding and Patterdale on the shores of Ullswater, over 8 kilometres (5 mi) away.

Raise (Lake District)

Raise is a fell in the English Lake District. It stands on the main spine of the Helvellyn range in the Eastern Fells, between Thirlmere and Ullswater.

St Sunday Crag

St Sunday Crag is a fell in the English Lake District, part of the Fairfield group in the Eastern Fells. It is a prominent feature in the Patterdale skyline, with a distinctive rounded shape. Indeed, it figures so finely in views from the upper reach of the lake that it is sometimes referred to as ‘the Ullswater Fell’.

White Side

White Side is a fell in the English Lake District. It is situated to the east of Thirlmere and to the west of Glenridding valley. This places White Side in the Helvellyn range of the Eastern Fells, with Raise to the north and Helvellyn Lower Man to the south, both of which are of greater height.

Dollywaggon Pike

Dollywaggon Pike is a fell in the English Lake District. It stands on the main spine of the Helvellyn range in the Eastern Fells, between Thirlmere and the Ullswater catchment.

Stybarrow Dodd

Stybarrow Dodd is a mountain or fell in the English Lake District. It stands immediately north of Sticks Pass on the main ridge of the Helvellyn range in the Eastern Fells, which is situated between the lakes of Thirlmere and the Ullswater.

The Helvellyn range is the name given to a part of the Eastern Fells in the English Lake District, "fell" being the local word for "hill". The name comes from Helvellyn, the highest summit of the group.

Rest Dodd

Rest Dodd is a fell in the English Lake District. It is situated in the quieter far eastern region of the national park and reaches a height of 696 metres (2,283 feet). Rest Dodd is a fell that is often by-passed by walkers as they travel the busy footpath between Ullswater and Haweswater either to climb the more significant fell of High Street or strive to complete Alfred Wainwright’s Coast to Coast Walk. Indeed Wainwright describes Rest Dodd as “A fell of little interest although the east flank falls spectacularly in fans of colourful scree”. The fell is usually climbed in conjunction with other nearby "Wainwright" fells such as The Nab, Brock Crags and Angletarn Pikes.

Gowbarrow Fell

Gowbarrow Fell is a low fell in the English Lake District. It is an outlier of the Eastern Fells, standing to the north of Ullswater, bounded on one side by Aira Beck with its waterfall Aira Force. The waterfall is a popular attraction for visitors to the area.

Watsons Dodd

Watson's Dodd is a fell in the English Lake District, a minor rise on the main ridge of the Helvellyn range in the Eastern Fells, but a prominent shoulder on the west side of that range.

Hart Side

Hart Side is a subsidiary top on one of the east ridges of Stybarrow Dodd, which is a mountain in the English Lake District, west of Ullswater on the main Helvellyn ridge in the Eastern Fells. With a height of 2,480 feet (756 m) Hart Side rises above the col separating it from Green Side by 75 feet (23 m).

Birkhouse Moor

Birkhouse Moor is a fell in the English Lake District, an outlier of the Helvellyn range in the Eastern Fells. It is properly an eastern ridge of Helvellyn, but was treated as a separate fell by Alfred Wainwright in his Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells. That convention is followed here.

High Hartsop Dodd

High Hartsop Dodd is a fell in the English Lake District, an outlier of the Fairfield group in the Eastern Fells. It stands above Kirkstone Pass on the road from Ullswater to Ambleside.

Glenridding Dodd

Glenridding Dodd is a small fell in the English Lake District, at the end of a ridge descending from the Helvellyn range in the Eastern Fells. It stands above the village of Glenridding and on the western shore of Ullswater. Although small and not of great elevation, its top is a fine viewpoint for Ullswater and for the fells clustered round the valleys above Patterdale.

Eastern Fells

The Eastern Fells are a group of hills in the English Lake District. Centred on Helvellyn they primarily comprise a north–south ridge running between Ullswater and Lakeland's Central Valley.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map
  2. 1 2 "Database of British and Irish Hills" . Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Alfred Wainwright (2003) [1955]. A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells Book 1: The Eastern Fells. London: Frances Lincoln. ISBN   0711222274.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Mark Richards (2008) [2003]. Near Eastern Fells. Milnthorpe: Cicerone Press. ISBN   978-1-852845414.
  5. 1 2 3 P. Stone; et al. (2010). British Regional Geology: Northern England. Nottingham: British Geological Society. ISBN   978-0852726525.
  6. 1 2 D. G. Woodhall (2000). Geology of the Keswick District (Sheet Explanation of BGS Sheet E029). Nottingham: British Geological Survey.
  7. 1 2 3 "1:50,000 Geological Maps" (Map). Sheet E029, Keswick (Solid). British Geological Survey. 1999. ISBN   0751832294. - may be viewed on the "Geology of Britain viewer". British Geological Survey. or on the BGS's iGeology smartphone app
  8. ↑ John Adams (1995). Mines of the Lake District Fells. Skipton: Dalesman. ISBN   0852069316.
  9. ↑ Diana Whaley (2006). A Dictionary of Lake District Place-Names. Nottingham: English Place-Name Society. ISBN   0-904889-72-6.
  10. 1 2 Robert Gambles (2013). Lake District Place Names. Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria: Hayloft Publishing Ltd. ISBN   1-904524-92-3.
  11. ↑ "Old Cumbria Gazetteer" . Retrieved 17 March 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.