The Postcard
A postally unused postcard with a divided back, on which the following has been hand-stamped:
'Free Post Card Enlargement.
Further copies 4d. each.
Hedley Price, North St. and
West St., Bedminster, Bristol.'
The object on top of the pole looks rather like a man's hat.
Scafell Pike
Scafell Pike is the highest and the most prominent 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 and the Scafell massif.
Scafell Pike forms part of the inactive Scafells volcano.
The name Scafell is believed to derive from the Old Norse skalli fjall, meaning the fell with the bald summit, and is first recorded in 1578 in the corrupted form Skallfield.
Formerly the name was spelled Scawfell, which better reflects local pronunciation. This spelling has declined due to the Ordnance Survey's use of Scafell on their 1865 map and thereafter.
Scafell Pike is one of a horseshoe of high fells, open to the south, surrounding the head of Eskdale, Cumbria. The ridge forms the watershed between Eskdale and Wasdale, which lies to the west.
The narrowest definition of Scafell Pike begins at the col of Mickledore 831.6 m (2,728 ft) in the south, takes in the wide, stony summit area and ends at the next depression, Broad Crag Col, c. 877.6 m (2,879 ft).
A more inclusive view takes in two further tops: Broad Crag, 935.3 m (3,069 ft) and Ill Crag, 930.9 m (3,054 ft), the two being separated by Ill Crag Col, 882.3 m (2,895 ft). This is the position taken by most guidebooks.
Scafell Pike also has outliers on either side of the ridge. Lingmell 807 m (2,648 ft), to the north west, is invariably regarded as a separate fell, while Pen, 760 metres (2,490 ft), a shapely summit above the Esk, is normally taken as a satellite of the Pike.
The rough summit plateau is fringed by crags on all sides with Pikes Crag and Dropping Crag above Wasdale and Rough Crag to the east. Below Rough Crag and Pen is a further tier, named Dow Crag and Central Pillar on Ordnance Survey maps, although known as Esk Buttress among climbers.
Broad Crag Col is the source of Little Narrowcove Beck in the east and of Piers Gill in the west. The latter works its way around Lingmell to Wast Water through a spectacular ravine, one of the most impressive in the Lake District.
It is treacherous in winter, as when it freezes over it creates an icy patch, with lethal exposure should you slip.
Scafell Pike has a claim to the highest standing water body in England in Broad Crag Tarn, which (confusingly) is on Scafell Pike proper, rather than on Broad Crag. It lies at about 820 m (2,690 ft), a quarter of a mile (400 m) south of the summit.
Scafell Pike is a Marilyn summit which automatically makes it a HuMP and a TuMP. Scafell Pike is topologically unusual because the Marilyn qualification contour line (150 metres below the summit) passes around Scafell which is itself a HuMP.
The summit was donated to the National Trust in 1919 by Lord Leconfield:
"In perpetual memory of the men of the
Lake District who fell for God and King,
for freedom peace and right in the Great
War 1914–1918."
There is a better-known war memorial on Great Gable, commemorating the members of the Fell & Rock Climbing Club.
The actual height of Scafell Pike is a matter of definition or guesswork. The highest point is buried beneath a massive summit cairn over 3 metres high, and it is not known how high the fabric of the mountain rises under the cairn.
Traditionally the height was given as a very memorable 3,210 feet (978.4 m).
Scafell Pike is one of three British peaks climbed as part of the National Three Peaks Challenge, and is the highest ground for over 90 miles (145 km).
Geology of Scafell Pike
Scafell Pike consists of igneous rock, including breccia, andesite and rhyolite, as well as geothermal tufa, dating from the Ordovician period; it is geologically part of the Borrowdale Volcanics, and along with the other peaks of the Scafells, forms part of an extinct volcano which was active around 400-450 million years ago.
Scafell Pike Summit
The rugged summit of Scafell Pike was shaped by glacial erosion during the Last Glacial Maximum, during which the Lake District was overlain by ice sheets with thicknesses of several kilometers.
The summit plateau of Scafell Pike, and that of other neighbouring peaks, is covered with shattered rock debris which provides the highest-altitude example of a summit boulder field in England.
The boulder field is thought to have been caused in part by weathering, such as frost action. To the north of the summit are a number of high altitude gills which flow into Lingmell Beck. These are good examples in Cumbria for this type of gill, and are also biologically important due to their species richness.
Scafell Pike Tourism
Scafell Pike is a popular destination for walkers. There is open access to Scafell and the surrounding fells, with many walking and rock climbing routes. Paths connect the summit with Lingmell Col to the northwest, Mickledore to the southwest, and Esk Hause to the northeast, and these in turn connect with numerous other paths, giving access to walkers from many directions.
The shortest route is from Wasdale Head, about 80 metres above sea level, where there is a climbers' hotel, the Wasdale Head Inn, made popular in the Victorian period by Owen Glynne Jones and others.
According to the National Trust, as of 2014 there were over 100,000 people per year climbing Scafell Pike from Wasdale Head, many as part of the National Three Peaks Challenge.
Scafell Pike as a Survey Point
Scafell Pike was used in 1826 as a station in the Principal Triangulation of Britain by the Ordnance Survey when they fixed the relative positions of Britain and Ireland.
Angles between Slieve Donard in Northern Ireland and Scafell Pike were taken from Snowdon in Wales, as were angles between Snowdon and Scafell Pike from Slieve Donard.
Given the need for clear weather to achieve these very long-range observations (111 miles (179 km) to Slieve Donard), the Ordnance surveyors spent much of the summer camped on the respective mountain tops.
As the highest ground in England, Scafell Pike has a very extensive view, ranging from the Mourne Mountains in Northern Ireland to Snowdonia in Wales.
