Blencathra: Portrait of a Mountain, Ronald Turnbull
A scan of the front cover of "Blencathra: Portrait of a Mountain" by Ronald Turnbull, published by Frances Lincoln Limited, 2010.
It's several years since I last bought any hillwalking-related books, but I spotted this one in the window of Bookends in Carlisle last week for the knockdown price of a tenner, and so as Blencathra is my favourite Lake District fell I thought I'd give it a go. I read it from cover to cover over the space of a wet weekend, and as there seems to be no end in sight to this spell of dismal weather, I thought I'd occupy myself for a few hours by tapping out some comments.
The first point to make is that although Blencathra forms the core of the book, all of the hills included in Wainwright's Northern Fells - excluding Skiddaw and satellites - are covered. Glenderaterra and Glenderamackin also get their own chapters. Like thousands of other hillwalkers, I climbed all of these fells during a round of the Wainwrights (1986/87 in my case), and since then many have been repeatedly revisited, the main exceptions being the grassy mounds to the north and west of Knott and - of course! - Mungrisdale Common.
The second point to note is that although several of the routes are sketched out the book is not, of course, a guidebook. Instead it's more of an inspirational read, and the most attractive feature to many people would probably be the photos - some of which are quite stunning. It's also crammed with fascinating historical information including, for example, the first written account of the ascent of Sharp Edge. However, my favourite tidbit is the potted life history of the self-castrating, mad vicar of Threkeld, the Reverend Naughley! Local geology is covered and there's an interesting account of the old mining industry, mainly focusing on Carrock Fell and High Pike.
The origin of many of the place names is included, and I was fascinated to learn that Mungrisdale is apparently derived from Mungo's valley of the pigs! In this context I'd be interested to know why the author drops the apostrophe from Hall's Fell on Blencathra, as this is the spelling used in all my guidebooks and on all my maps. The book is so carefully researched that I'm sure there's a good reason for this - I just don't know what it is!
On the downside, with the exception of the fabled fish of Bowscale Tarn - which are covered at some length - there isn't a great deal said of the local wildlife. Over the years I've made numerous visits to this area in search of various birds, butterflies (Mountain Ringlets at the Back o' Blencathra), bugs (Junipers Shieldbugs in Mosedale), and dragonflies (Keeled Skimmers at the foot of Carrock Fell) and I think there's enough going on here to merit a mention.
Back to the hills: All of Wainwright's routes up Blencathra are covered, in particular the six main ridges and four ravines. Although I've done all the ridge routes, I've only managed to force myself up two of the ravines (Blease and Doddick), and so the author should be commended for his dedication to the task! One feature common to many of these walks is the crossing of Scaleby Beck between Scales Fell and Doddick Fell, and - more crucially - the climb out of the gap on the west side:
www.flickr.com/photos/8453647@N05/4959779846
In my opinion this is technically harder than anything that can't be avoided on Hall's Fell Ridge or Sharp Edge, and on several occasions I've seen people really struggle here. In fact, for a period of time there was a chain rope hammered into the rock to facilitate the climb but this disappeared some years ago. Although I accept that this is not a guidebook, I still would have thought that this potential hazard was worth pointing out.
On the other fells covered, I was glad to see that my favourite routes up Bannerdale Crags (East Ridge) and Carrock Fell (Rake Trod) were highlighted.
In case anyone is interested, my own photos taken on or of Blencathra over the past ten years or so can be found here:
www.flickr.com/photos/8453647@N05/tags/blencathra
Photos relating to Bannerdale Crags, Bowscale Fell, Carrock Fell, Great Calva, High Pike, Knott, Mungrisdale and Threkeld can be accessed via the tags link.
In summary I think this is an excellent book, and as it's still widely available on-line, would perhaps make a good Christmas present for someone!
30 November 2015
Blencathra: Portrait of a Mountain, Ronald Turnbull
A scan of the front cover of "Blencathra: Portrait of a Mountain" by Ronald Turnbull, published by Frances Lincoln Limited, 2010.
It's several years since I last bought any hillwalking-related books, but I spotted this one in the window of Bookends in Carlisle last week for the knockdown price of a tenner, and so as Blencathra is my favourite Lake District fell I thought I'd give it a go. I read it from cover to cover over the space of a wet weekend, and as there seems to be no end in sight to this spell of dismal weather, I thought I'd occupy myself for a few hours by tapping out some comments.
The first point to make is that although Blencathra forms the core of the book, all of the hills included in Wainwright's Northern Fells - excluding Skiddaw and satellites - are covered. Glenderaterra and Glenderamackin also get their own chapters. Like thousands of other hillwalkers, I climbed all of these fells during a round of the Wainwrights (1986/87 in my case), and since then many have been repeatedly revisited, the main exceptions being the grassy mounds to the north and west of Knott and - of course! - Mungrisdale Common.
The second point to note is that although several of the routes are sketched out the book is not, of course, a guidebook. Instead it's more of an inspirational read, and the most attractive feature to many people would probably be the photos - some of which are quite stunning. It's also crammed with fascinating historical information including, for example, the first written account of the ascent of Sharp Edge. However, my favourite tidbit is the potted life history of the self-castrating, mad vicar of Threkeld, the Reverend Naughley! Local geology is covered and there's an interesting account of the old mining industry, mainly focusing on Carrock Fell and High Pike.
The origin of many of the place names is included, and I was fascinated to learn that Mungrisdale is apparently derived from Mungo's valley of the pigs! In this context I'd be interested to know why the author drops the apostrophe from Hall's Fell on Blencathra, as this is the spelling used in all my guidebooks and on all my maps. The book is so carefully researched that I'm sure there's a good reason for this - I just don't know what it is!
On the downside, with the exception of the fabled fish of Bowscale Tarn - which are covered at some length - there isn't a great deal said of the local wildlife. Over the years I've made numerous visits to this area in search of various birds, butterflies (Mountain Ringlets at the Back o' Blencathra), bugs (Junipers Shieldbugs in Mosedale), and dragonflies (Keeled Skimmers at the foot of Carrock Fell) and I think there's enough going on here to merit a mention.
Back to the hills: All of Wainwright's routes up Blencathra are covered, in particular the six main ridges and four ravines. Although I've done all the ridge routes, I've only managed to force myself up two of the ravines (Blease and Doddick), and so the author should be commended for his dedication to the task! One feature common to many of these walks is the crossing of Scaleby Beck between Scales Fell and Doddick Fell, and - more crucially - the climb out of the gap on the west side:
www.flickr.com/photos/8453647@N05/4959779846
In my opinion this is technically harder than anything that can't be avoided on Hall's Fell Ridge or Sharp Edge, and on several occasions I've seen people really struggle here. In fact, for a period of time there was a chain rope hammered into the rock to facilitate the climb but this disappeared some years ago. Although I accept that this is not a guidebook, I still would have thought that this potential hazard was worth pointing out.
On the other fells covered, I was glad to see that my favourite routes up Bannerdale Crags (East Ridge) and Carrock Fell (Rake Trod) were highlighted.
In case anyone is interested, my own photos taken on or of Blencathra over the past ten years or so can be found here:
www.flickr.com/photos/8453647@N05/tags/blencathra
Photos relating to Bannerdale Crags, Bowscale Fell, Carrock Fell, Great Calva, High Pike, Knott, Mungrisdale and Threkeld can be accessed via the tags link.
In summary I think this is an excellent book, and as it's still widely available on-line, would perhaps make a good Christmas present for someone!
30 November 2015