Sty Head

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Styhead Pass & Tarn from the Stretcher box Styehead.jpg
Styhead Pass & Tarn from the Stretcher box

Sty Head is a mountain pass in the English Lake District, in the county of Cumbria. It is at an altitude of 1,600 feet (488 m) and there is a small tarn (Styhead Tarn) near its summit. The pass is at the head of Wasdale, which contains the lake Wastwater and it passes between the mountains of Great Gable and Scafell Pike (the latter is England's highest mountain).

Mountain pass Route through a mountain range or over a ridge

A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both human and animal migration throughout Earth's history. At lower elevations it may be called a hill pass. The highest vehicle-accessible pass in the world appears to be Mana Pass, located in the Himalayas on the border between India and Tibet, China.

Lake District mountainous region in North West England

The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests and mountains, and its associations with William Wordsworth and other Lake Poets and also with Beatrix Potter and John Ruskin. The National Park was established in 1951 and covers an area of 2,362 square kilometres. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2017.

Cumbria Ceremonial (geographic) county of England

Cumbria is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's county town is Carlisle, in the north of the county, and the only other major urban area is Barrow-in-Furness on the southwestern tip of the county.

The path from Wasdale was an old packhorse trail. At the highest point is the confluence of paths from Wasdale, Eskdale, Borrowdale and Great Langdale.

Packhorse horse used to carry goods

A packhorse or pack horse refers to a horse, mule, donkey, or pony used to carry goods on its back, usually in sidebags or panniers. Typically packhorses are used to cross difficult terrain, where the absence of roads prevents the use of wheeled vehicles. Use of packhorses dates from the neolithic period to the present day. Today, westernized nations primarily use packhorses for recreational pursuits, but they are still an important part of everyday transportation of goods throughout much of the third world and have some military uses in rugged regions.

Eskdale, Cumbria civil parish in England

Eskdale is a glacial valley and civil parish in the western Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. It forms part of the Borough of Copeland, and, in 2001 had a population of 264, increasing to 304 at the 2011 Census. One of the Lake District's most popular tourist attractions, the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway, runs through the valley, though along with other western valleys of the Lake District, Eskdale is notably quieter during the high summer season than the more accessible eastern areas.

Borrowdale civil parish in England

Borrowdale is a valley and civil parish in the English Lake District in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England. It lies within the historic county boundaries of Cumberland. It is sometimes referred to as Cumberland Borrowdale to distinguish it from another Borrowdale in the historic county of Westmorland.

Sty Head also forms an important navigational and safety point between Great Gable and Scafell Pike, with the placement of the Mountain rescue stretcher box at the head of the tarn.

Great Gable mountain in the United Kingdom

Great Gable is a mountain in the Lake District, United Kingdom. It is named for its appearance as a pyramid from Wasdale, though it is dome-shaped from most other directions. It is one of the most popular of the Lakeland fells, and there are many different routes to the summit. Great Gable is linked by the high pass of Windy Gap to its smaller sister hill, Green Gable, and by the lower pass of Beck Head to its western neighbour, Kirk Fell.

Scafell Pike highest mountain in England

Scafell Pike or is the highest mountain in England, at an elevation of 978 metres (3,209 ft) above sea level. It is located in the Lake District National Park, in Cumbria, and is part of the Southern Fells.

Mountain rescue search and rescue activities that occur in a mountainous environment

Mountain rescue refers to search and rescue activities that occur in a mountainous environment, although the term is sometimes also used to apply to search and rescue in other wilderness environments. This tends to include mountains with technical rope access issues, snow, avalanches, ice, crevasses, glaciers, alpine environments and high altitudes. The difficult and remote nature of the terrain in which mountain rescue often occurs has resulted in the development of a number of specific pieces of equipment and techniques. Helicopters are often used to quickly extract casualties, and search dogs may be deployed to find a casualty.


It is said this area is haunted by a ghoulish apparition without a visible head. Many local people have reported sightings of a strange man walking down the road with a bag moving "as if it contained cats". Although this local legend has many credible reports, various investigators have come to no conclusion or proof when tracing the real cause of this apparition.[ citation needed ]

See also

Coordinates: 54°28′30″N3°11′51″W / 54.47492°N 3.19747°W / 54.47492; -3.19747

Geographic coordinate system Coordinate system

A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position and two or three of the numbers represent a horizontal position; alternatively, a geographic position may be expressed in a combined three-dimensional Cartesian vector. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation. To specify a location on a plane requires a map projection.

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Mickledore

Mickledore is a narrow ridge, 840 metres (2755 ft) high, connecting the mountains of Sca Fell and Scafell Pike in the English Lake District. It is also a pass between the valleys of Wasdale and Eskdale.

Wast Water lake in the United Kingdom

Wast Water or Wastwater is a lake located in Wasdale, a valley in the western part of the Lake District National Park, England. The lake is almost 3 miles (4.8 km) long and more than one-third mile (540 m) wide. It is a glacial lake, formed in a glacially 'over-deepened' valley. It is the deepest lake in England at 258 feet (79 m). The surface of the lake is about 200 feet above sea level, while its bottom is over 50 feet below sea level. It is owned by the National Trust.

Pillar (Lake District) mountain in the United Kingdom

Pillar is a mountain in the western part of the English Lake District. Situated between the valleys of Ennerdale to the north and Wasdale to the south, it is the highest point of the Pillar group. At 892 metres (2,927 feet) it is the eighth-highest mountain in the Lake District. The fell takes its name from Pillar Rock, a prominent feature on the Ennerdale side, regarded as the birthplace of rock climbing in the district.

Great End mountain in the Scafell chain, in the English Lake District

Great End is the most northerly mountain in the Scafell chain, in the English Lake District. From the south it is simply a lump continuing this chain. From the north, however, it appears as an immense mountain, with an imposing north face rising above Sprinkling Tarn (lake). This is a popular location for wild camping, and the north face attracts many climbers.

Wasdale is a valley and civil parish in the western part of the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. The River Irt flows through the valley to its estuary at Ravenglass. A large part of the main valley floor is occupied by Wastwater, the deepest lake in England (258 feet). The population of Wasdale was only minimal and, from the 2011 Census is included in the parish of Gosforth.

Wasdale Head village in United Kingdom

Wasdale Head is a scattered agricultural hamlet in the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Wasdale Head claims to be home of the highest mountain, deepest lake (Wastwater), smallest church and biggest liar in England. The last of these claims refers to Will Ritson, who paradoxically proclaimed himself as such.

Wasdale, Eskdale and Duddon is an area of protected countryside, now held as National Trust property: it is part of the Lake District, located in south-western Cumbria, England.

Esk Hause

Esk Hause is a mountain pass in the English Lake District, England. It is where the paths from Eskdale, Borrowdale, Langdale and Wasdale all meet. Esk Hause is a first step to reaching higher summits, such as Scafell Pike, Great End, Esk Pike and Allen Crags, which are all nearby. This can be a confusing place for walkers, especially in mist. This is because two paths cross at right angles on a tilted grass plateau, but not at the summit of the plateau. The popular Great Langdale-Wasdale path crosses at the height of 2386ft at the wall shelter; this is the lower of the two passes known as Esk Hause, but is, in fact, not the true pass, which is 100ft higher and 300 yards distant, a less-used pass between Eskdale and Borrowdale that occupies the depression between Great End (2984ft) and Esk Pike (2903ft). The 'true' Esk Hause is the highest pass in the Lake District, but Sticks Pass is commonly named as Lakeland's highest pass, most probably because fellwalkers equate 'Esk Hause' with the lower of the two passes.

Base Brown mountain in United Kingdom

Base Brown is a fell in England's Lake District, near the head of the Borrowdale Valley. It forms one side of the Seathwaite Valley, and on the western side it is flanked by the hanging valley of Gillercomb.

Seathwaite Fell mountain in United Kingdom

Seathwaite Fell is an area of the Lake District in Cumbria, England. It stands above the hamlet of the same name at the head of Borrowdale.

Red Pike (Buttermere)

Red Pike is a fell in the High Stile range in the western English Lake District, which separates Ennerdale from the valley of Buttermere and Crummock Water. It is 2,476 ft (755 m) high. The direct ascent of Red Pike from Buttermere is very popular and the ridge walk from Red Pike to Haystacks is regarded as one of the finest in the area, with excellent views of the Scafells, Great Gable and Pillar.

Red Pike (Wasdale) mountain in United Kingdom

Red Pike is a fell in the English Lake District. It is 826 m or 2,709 ft (826 m) high and lies due north of Wast Water. It is often climbed as part of the Mosedale Horseshoe, a walk which also includes Pillar.

Lingmell mountain in United Kingdom

Lingmell is a fell in the English Lake District, standing above the village of Wasdale Head. It is an outlier on the north-west flank of Scafell Pike, England’s highest mountain.

Green Gable mountain in United Kingdom

Green Gable is a fell in the English Lake District often traversed by walkers en route to its more famous neighbour Great Gable. It can be ascended from Honister Pass, Seathwaite in Borrowdale, or Ennerdale. There are good views of Gable Crag, Scafell Pike and the Buttermere valley from the summit.

Ritsons Force

Ritson's Force is a set of waterfalls in the valley of Mosedale in the English Lake District. It is also the river that leads past the Wasdale Head Inn and the Great Gable Brewing Company. The hills nearby include Sca Fell and Scafell Pike, England's two highest mountains, and Great Gable, home to British climbing. Ritsons Force and Wasdale Head are in the Lake District National Park which is in Cumbria, an English county that borders with Scotland

Southern Fells group of hills in the English Lake District

The Southern Fells are a group of hills in the English Lake District. Including Scafell Pike, the highest peak in England, they occupy a broad area to the south of Great Langdale, Borrowdale and Wasdale. High and rocky towards the centre of the Lake District, the Southern Fells progressively take on a moorland character toward the south west. In the south east are the well known Furness Fells, their heavily quarried flanks rising above Coniston Water.

Styhead Tarn tarn in the English Lake District

Styhead Tarn is a tarn in the English Lake District, near the top of the Sty Head pass, at the head of Borrowdale. It is on the route from Wasdale to Borrowdale, and is therefore a well visited point in the Lake District. It is also passed by walkers ascending Scafell Pike from Borrowdale via the Corridor Route. It is permissible to fish the tarn which contains wild brown trout.