| Catstye Cam | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 890 m (2,920 ft) |
| Prominence | 63 m (207 ft) |
| Parent peak | Helvellyn |
| Listing | Hewitt, Nuttall, Wainwright |
| Coordinates | 54°32′00″N3°00′33″W / 54.53326°N 3.00909°W |
| Geography | |
  Catstye Cam Location in the Lake District National Park | |
| Location | Cumbria, England |
| Parent range | Lake District, Eastern Fells |
| OS grid | NY348158 |
| Topo map | OS Landranger 90, Explorer OL5 |
Catstye Cam is a fell in the English Lake District. It is an outlier of Helvellyn in the Eastern Fells.
The name of the fell is also given as 'Catstycam', a spelling preferred by Alfred Wainwright in his influential Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells . A third variant, 'Catchedicam', is also quoted by him. Other guidebooks such as Collins Landranger [1] and Birkett [2] follow Wainwright with 'Catstycam', although the maps of the Ordnance Survey always use 'Catstye Cam'.
The Helvellyn range runs broadly north to south for about 7 miles, remaining above 2,000 feet (600 m) throughout its length. Helvellyn itself sits near the centre of this ridge and displays the characteristic form of many of these fells, namely smooth grassy slopes to the west and shattered rock to the east. Helvellyn sends out two eastward arêtes, razor-thin ridges between deep mountain corries. The southerly spur is Striding Edge, easily the most famous ridge in the district, and its northern partner is Swirral Edge. From the summit plateau of Helvellyn a rough slope drops to the start of Swirral Edge, and this narrow ridge curves gracefully down and then back up over half a mile, terminating at Catstye Cam.
Taking on the classic mountain shape of a pyramid, Catstye Cam draws the eye in any view where the overtopping bulk of Helvellyn is hidden behind. As Wainwright said "If Catstycam stood alone, remote from its fellows, it would be one of the finest peaks in Lakeland. It has nearly, but not quite, the perfect mountain form with true simplicity in its soaring lines, and a small pointed top, a real summit that falls away on all sides". [3] Even with the connection to Helvellyn, Catstye Cam still has a prominence of over 200 feet (60 m) due to the pronounced bow of Swirral Edge. High Spying How on Striding Edge, by comparison, is nothing but a rock turret, an independent peak in almost no-one's estimation.
East of the summit the ridge declines quickly to Red Tarn Beck, whilst there is a third ridge to the north west, giving Catstye Cam a triangular plan. To the north, between the two descending ridges, is an area of crag. The other two faces are steep but smooth.
South of Catstye Cam, nestling between the encircling arms of Helvellyn's two edges, is Red Tarn. This pool is named for the colour of the surrounding screes rather than its water, and contains brown trout and schelly, a fresh-water herring. The depth of Red Tarn is now about 80 feet (24 m), although in the mid-19th century it was dammed with boulders to increase capacity. [4] This was carried out to provide additional water to the Greenside Mine in Glenridding, the water race still visible as it crosses the slope of Birkhouse Moor.
A second tarn once existed in Brown Cove to the north at Catstye Cam, but this is now reduced to a couple of small pools widening the stream. Brown Cove Tarn was another creation of the Greenside mine, a stone faced dam being built in about 1860. The dam is still in place but water now leaks through the base, the extended tarn-bed a smooth patch of luxuriant turf. A water leat passing beneath the north face of Catstye Cam to Red Tarn Beck can still be traced although it is now in ruins. [4] [5] Water from Brown Cove and Red Tarn unites at the base of the east ridge to form Glenridding Beck, flowing on through the village to Ullswater.
The principal rock type is the dacitic lapilli-tuff of the Helvellyn Formation. [6]
The summit of Catstye Cam is small and neat, bearing only a tiny cairn. The view is extensive and even the looming Helvellyn only adds to the drama by showing its eastern face in close detail. Striding Edge is also seen in profile across Red Tarn, lines of pilgrims frequently queueing at the bottlenecks. By contrast Catstye Cam is often almost completely deserted. [1]
Catstye Cam is normally climbed from Glenridding, either by its east or north west ridges. Both are steep, but there are no technical difficulties. A fair path also climbs via Red Tarn to the midpoint of Swirral Edge, from where a brief detour back to the summit can be made. By far the best option is a circular tour via Striding and Swirral Edges. This takes in Birkhouse Moor, Helvellyn and Catstye Cam, one of the most breathtaking walks in the country.
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 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.
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 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.
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 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 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.
Stony Cove Pike is a fell in the Far Eastern part of the English Lake District. It stands on the other side of the Kirkstone Pass from Red Screes, and is on the end of a ridge coming down from High Street. It is separated from its neighbours by the deep col of Threshthwaite Mouth, so is a Marilyn – the sixteenth highest in the Lake District.
Carl Side is a fell in the English Lake District, forming a part of the Skiddaw "family" near the town of Keswick and prominently visible from its streets. It is listed in Alfred Wainwright's Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells as one of the Northern Fells.
Red Tarn is a small lake in the eastern region of the English Lake District, in the county of Cumbria. It is high up on the eastern flank of Helvellyn, beneath Striding Edge and Catstye Cam. Red Tarn was formed when the glacier that carved out the eastern side of Helvellyn had melted. The lake along with three others in Lake District is a habitat for the very rare and endangered Schelly fish. Red Tarn was a dam in the nineteenth century that used boulders that raised the water level some eight or nine feet in order to supply power to the Greenside Mine at Glenridding. Today the tarn is a popular rest stop for hikers and nature goers.
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 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.
Seat Sandal is a fell in the English Lake District, situated four kilometres north of the village of Grasmere from where it is very well seen. Nevertheless, it tends to be overshadowed by its more illustrious neighbours in the Eastern Fells, Helvellyn and Fairfield.
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 (760 m) Hart Side rises above the col separating it from Green Side by 75 feet (23 m).
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.
Sheffield Pike 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.
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.
Brim Fell is a fell in the English Lake District. It stands to the west of Coniston village in the southern part of the District.
Bowscale Fell is a hill in the English Lake District. It rises above the village of Mungrisdale in the Northern Fells. Bowscale Fell stands at the extreme north east the Blencathra group, connected to this higher fell by the intervening Bannerdale Crags. In common with many fells the western slopes are smooth and convex while the eastern side exhibits crags.
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.
