High Tove is a

fell A fell (from Old Norse ''fell'', ''fjall'', "mountain"Falk and Torp (2006:161).) is a high and barren landscape feature, such as a mountain or Moorland, moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle o ...

in the English

Lake District 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 (or ''fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...

, close to the geographical centre of the

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

n hills. It forms part of the watershed between the

Derwentwater Derwentwater, or Derwent Water, is one of the principal bodies of water in the Lake District National Park in north west England. It lies wholly within the Borough of Allerdale, in the county of Cumbria. The lake occupies part of Borrowda ...

and

Thirlmere Thirlmere is a reservoir in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria and the English Lake District. The Helvellyn ridge lies to the east of Thirlmere. To the west of Thirlmere are a number of fells; for instance, Armboth Fell and Raven Crag both ...

catchments, a ridge running broadly north-south.

Topography

Sitting astride the spine of the Central Fells, High Tove is an outlier of High Seat. It is separated from its taller northern neighbour by the Pewits, an extremely boggy depression. The ridge moves on south across further upland marsh towards

Ullscarf Ullscarf is a fell in the English Lake District close to the geographical centre of the Cumbrian hills. It forms part of the watershed between the Derwentwater and Thirlmere catchments, a ridge running broadly north-south. Topography Ulls ...

, passing over the three rocky (and dry) outcrops of Middle Crag, Shivery Knott and Watendlath Fell (summit unnamed on Ordnance Survey maps).

Armboth Fell Armboth Fell is a fell in the English Lake District, regarded by Alfred Wainwright as the centre of Lakeland. It is named for the former settlement of Armboth. The fell is a domed plateau, three-quarters of a mile across, jutting out to the east ...

lies to the south east of High Tove, connected to the ridge by a broad heathery saddle. High Tove covers around one and a half miles of the north-south ridge, which is approximately a mile in width. It is bounded on the west by Watendlath Gill and its main feeder, Blea Tarn Gill. These flow to Watendlath Tarn, a popular beauty spot. The tarn is available for private fishing, being well stocked with

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...

. It holds a wide selection of flora, including

water lilies ''Water Lilies'' (or ''Nymphéas'', ) is a Serial imagery, series of approximately 250 oil paintings by French Impressionism, Impressionist Claude Monet (1840–1926). The paintings depict his Fondation Monet in Giverny, flower garden at Fond ...

and is at least 50 ft deep.Don Blair: ''Exploring Lakeland Tarns'': Lakeland Manor Press (2003): Fisher and Launchy Gills provide the eastern boundaries of High Tove, flowing north and south around Armboth Fell respectively. Both are feeders of Thirlmere.

Geology

The summit is an island outcrop of the Thirlmere Member in a sea of drift deposits. The Thirlmere Member comprises welded rhyodacitic

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock cont ...

with

breccia Breccia () is a rock composed of large angular broken fragments of minerals or rocks cemented together by a fine-grained matrix. The word has its origins in the Italian language, in which it means "rubble". A breccia may have a variety of di ...

.British Geological Survey: 1:50,000 series maps, ''England & Wales Sheet 29'': BGS (1999)

Ascents

bridleway A bridle path, also bridleway, equestrian trail, horse riding path, ride, bridle road, or horse trail, is a trail or a thoroughfare that is used by people riding horses, riding on horses. Trails originally created for use by horses often now s ...

provides the pass from Watendlath to Armboth crossing the ridge. Unusually it keeps to the summit rather than a depression, in an attempt to avoid wet ground. A further path runs along the watershed, accompanied by a wire fence. This can prove useful for crossing the worst of the bogs.Bill Birkett: ''Complete Lakeland Fells'': Collins Willow (1994):

Summit

The top has a large

cairn A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the gd, càrn (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehis ...

, which in Wainwright's words ''offers a seat to travellers who wish to pour the water out of their boots.'' The views are good to the either side, the

Helvellyn range The Helvellyn range is the name given to a part of the Eastern Fells in the English Lake District, "fell" being the local word for "hill". The name comes from Helvellyn, the highest summit of the group. The Helvellyn range forms a ridge extend ...

nearby to the east and a wide selection of major fells visible on the opposite flank of the ridge. Higher neighbours obstruct the view to north and south.Mark Richards: ''The Central Fells'': Collins (2003):

References

{{Central Fells Fells of the Lake District