Wainwright's Lake District - The Southern Fells Quiz

Answer: Piers Gill

The main problem with the straight line route from Scafell to Scafell Pike is a 30 foot high rock face called 'Broad Stand'. This is not passable by walkers. The three wrong options listed are all (and the only) reasonably direct routes available for walking.
From Scafell, head to the saddle then turn left for "Lord's Rake", ahead and left for the "West Wall Traverse" and right for "Foxes Tarn". The "Foxes Tarn" route is the longest of these three but it is the route recommended in the 2nd edition. Foxes Tarn is noted on the sketch map as "merely a small pool with a boulder in it".
Piers Gill is a dangerous place, often taken by walkers mistakenly thinking it is a safe way off the Scafell Pike in bad weather or at night, frequently during the three peaks challenge. It isn't. A quick perusal of the Wasdale Mountain Rescue web site will show many rescue incidents caused by this error

Answer: Hard Knott

The 'Needle' is a vertical column of rock 50 foot on the outside face, where the path goes between the main rock face and the 'Needle'. It is not on the route to the top of the hill but it is apparently worth the detour. It is named Eskdale Needle as it overlooks the valley of Eskdale, but according to Wainwright it is the hill at the head of the dale which takes the name of the dale.

Answer: Black Fell

Tarn Hows is visited by a large number of people every year, but few realise it is not a natural lake. Originally three separate tarns, the stream was dammed in the Victorian era creating the present day lake. If you visit the tarn, don't miss the waterfalls on the outflow, 'Tom Gill'.

In his book 'Waterside Walks in the Lake District', Colin Shelbourne reckons that 'Tarn Hows' is so popular that "the only time you are likely to get the place to yourself is in the depths of winter. Say around three o'clock in the morning." Both Tarn Hows and Black Fell are now owned by the National Trust.

The summit cairn on Black Fell has a National Trust plaque on it, but more impressive is the cairn a little way to the south-east which is built in the form of a chair.

Answer: Gunson Knott

The highest is the second crinkle (counting south to north) and is called 'Long Top'. Beyond Gunson Knott the ridge continues via a depression to Shelter Crags, and thence to 'Three Tarns'. Three Tarns, notes Wainwright, "is a name not a description. A better description would be two tarns and a puddle."
Hanging Knotts may be found a couple of miles further north, and further north still are High Buzzard Knott and Low Buzzard Knott.

Answer: Rosthwaite Fell

Wainwright describes 'Tarn at Leaves' as having "a lovely name but no other appeal". Also to be found on this fell are Dovenest Caves, where Wainwright notes one can undertake the unusual sport of "a subterranean rock climb in darkness". In his chapter on Rosthwaite Fell, Wainwright discusses caves in general. Firstly he notes that natural caves are rare and minimal in the Lake District due to the far harder stone than the soft limestone of the Yorkshire Dales.

However when it comes to man-made caves due to mining there are many and they are very dangerous. Or to quote Wainwright on the matter: "In other words these black holes and pits are not merely dangerous but damned dangerous. Sons should think of their mothers, and turn away. Husbands should think of their wives, after which gloomy contemplation many no doubt will march cheerfully in to a possible doom."

Answer: Easy Gully

Cust's, Central and Branch are all steep 45 degree gullies not really suited to walking but some people may enjoy the challenge. Rock climbers will probably consider them a bit tame. There is no 'Easy Gully' on Great End, although both Pavey Ark and Dow Crag have gullies of this name. ('Easy' in these cases is a relative term.)

Answer: Illgill Head

Scree is loose fragmented rock. It is frequently found as small stones and pebbles but can also include larger pieces. It often moves underfoot as one walks on it threatening either ankle twisting or a tumble down the slope. Wastwater is England's deepest lake and according to Wainwright, (undoubtedly quoting other sources as I don't believe he personally inspected the depths of the lake), the scree carries on all the way to the bottom of it.

The scree does not interfere with a walk up to the summit of Illgill Head, but a nice walk around the shore of Wastwater is a different matter. To quote Wainwright on the issue of the scree, "Then just as the walker who has been forewarned of the difficulties of the route is beginning to wonder what all the fuss is about, and with the end almost in sight, there come a vicious quarter-mile compared with which the top of Scafell Pike is like a bowling green - here the screes take the form of big awkward boulders, loosely piled at a steep angle and only avoidable by a swim in the lake." "Ladies wearing stiletto heels will be gravely inconvenienced."

Answer: Harter Fell

The other hill in this area described by Wainwright is Green Crag. On the southern slope Grassguards is "a farm and is featured in 'The Plague Dogs' by Richard Adams" according to the note in the second edition of book four.

Answer: Lingmoor Fell

Lingmoor Fell is relatively small in height at just over 1,500 feet high. Lying between the Great and Little Langdale valleys. Oak Howe Needle is described by Wainwright thus: "As a spectacle, it is scarcely worth the effort entailed by getting to it." This makes one wonder why he mentioned it.

Answer: Sheep

Although Alfred Wainwright dedicated a volume to each of the listed options, the full inscription in volume four reads:
"Book four is dedicated to the hardiest of all fellwalkers, the sheep of Lakeland, the truest lovers of the mountains, their natural homes and providers of their food and shelter."
Of the 30 fells listed by Alfred Wainwright in volume 4, 29 have been mentioned so far somewhere in this quiz, the exception is the 'Old Man of Coniston'.