Pike of Stickle, also known as Pike o’ Stickle, 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 moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle of Man, pa ...

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 ...

. It reaches a height of 709 metres (2,326 feet) and is situated in the central part of the

national park A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual ...

in the valley of Great Langdale. The fell is one of three fells which make up the picturesque Langdale Pikes (the others being Harrison Stickle and

Loft Crag Loft Crag is a fell in the English Lake District, situated west of Ambleside in the valley of Great Langdale. Along with the neighbouring fells of Harrison Stickle and Pike of Stickle it forms the picturesque Langdale Pikes, which when viewed fr ...

), one of the best-known areas in Lakeland. A "stickle" is a hill with a steep prominent rocky top, while a "pike" is a hill with a peaked summit, the name being therefore partly tautological.

Topography

The Langdale Pikes form a raised rocky parapet around the southern and eastern edges of a high tableland centred upon

Thunacar Knott Thunacar Knott is a fell in the central part of the English Lake District in the county of Cumbria. Topography The main spine of the Central Fells runs south from Bleaberry Fell to High Raise, before turning sharply east en route for Blea Ri ...

. Pike of Stickle stands at the western end of this system and its crags fall south from the summit, presenting an arresting view from the valley floor 2,000 ft below, or from further afield.

stands next along the rampart, with Thorn Crag and Harrison Stickle further to the east. 'Behind' Pike of Stickle to the north is the depression of Harrison Combe, beyond which are the twin tops of Thunacar Knott. Westward the height of the land gradually falls away to Martcrag Moor, a wide plateau with a few small tarns near the summit (1,795 ft). Martcrag Moor represents the end of the Central Fells as defined by

Alfred Wainwright Alfred Wainwright MBE (17 January 1907 – 20 January 1991), who preferred to be known as A. Wainwright or A.W., was a British fellwalker, guidebook author and illustrator. His seven-volume '' Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells'', publis ...

, providing a high-level connection to

Rossett Pike Rossett Pike is a fell in the English Lake District. It is located at the head of Mickleden, one of two tributary valleys of Great Langdale. Topography A bridge of high ground connects the Southern and Central Fells, running from Bow Fell in th ...

in the Southern Fells. Pike O'Stickle

Geology

The rearward slopes show evidence of the Pavey Ark Member, pebbly

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicat ...

and

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 ...

. The Langdale face displays several strata: from the top The Lingmell Formation, Crinkle Member and Bad Step Tuff. These are composed, respectively, of

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 ...

lapilli Lapilli is a size classification of tephra, which is material that falls out of the air during a volcanic eruption or during some meteorite impacts. ''Lapilli'' (singular: ''lapillus'') is Latin for "little stones". By definition lapilli range ...

-tuff and breccia;

rhyolitic Rhyolite ( ) is the most silica-rich of volcanic rocks. It is generally glassy or fine-grained (aphanitic) in texture, but may be porphyritic, containing larger mineral crystals ( phenocrysts) in an otherwise fine-grained groundmass. The ...

tuff and breccia; and rhyolitic

lava Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or ...

-like tuff.British Geological Survey: 1:50,000 series maps, ''England & Wales Sheet 38'': BGS (1999)

Summit

Despite the peaked profile the summit is wide enough for a sizeable

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 prehi ...

surrounded by a small level area. Loft Crag and Gimmer Crag steal the attention in the foreground while

Bowfell Bowfell (named ''Bow Fell'' on Ordnance Survey maps) is a pyramid-shaped mountain lying at the heart of the English Lake District, in the Southern Fells area. It is the sixth-highest mountain in the Lake District and one of the most popular ...

impresses across Langdale. A wide swathe of the Southern Fells is in view, whilst even distant

Skiddaw Skiddaw is a mountain in the Lake District National Park in England. Its summit is the sixth-highest in England. It lies just north of the town of Keswick, Cumbria, and dominates the skyline in this part of the northern lakes. It is the ...

puts in an appearance.Mark Richards: ''The Central Fells'': Collins (2003):

Ascents

Pike of Stickle rises steeply from Langdale, culminating in a narrow tapering summit which gives excellent views of the head of the valley, the fells of

Bow Fell Bowfell (named ''Bow Fell'' on Ordnance Survey maps) is a pyramid-shaped mountain lying at the heart of the English Lake District, in the Southern Fells area. It is the sixth-highest mountain in the Lake District and one of the most popular ...

and Crinkle Crags showing well. The fell is usually climbed from Great Langdale with either the New or Old Dungeon Ghyll

Hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

s as the starting points. There are a number of routes, the most common ascent being a path that slants across the hillside from the New hotel passing between Thorn Crag and Gimmer Crag and then turning left at the

col In geomorphology, a col is the lowest point on a mountain ridge between two peaks.Whittow, John (1984). ''Dictionary of Physical Geography''. London: Penguin, 1984, p. 103. . It may also be called a gap. Particularly rugged and forbidding co ...

. A quieter route is by Troughton Beck; the walker starts from the Old hotel and goes four kilometres (2½ miles) towards the head of the valley before bearing right and following a zigzag path at the side of Troughton Beck. This route gives the walker an unusual view of the fell from this unfrequented side. There is another route directly up the Stickle Stone Shoot: this route is steep and has become severely eroded in recent years and is no longer recommended as a means of ascent or descent. The Langdale or

Borrowdale Borrowdale is a valley and civil parish in the English Lake District in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England. It lies within the historic county boundaries of Cumberland. It is sometimes referred to as ''Cumberland Borrowdale'' ...

sides of

Stake Pass Hill passes of the Lake District were originally used by people in one valley travelling to another nearby without having to go many miles around a steep ridge of intervening hills. Historically, in the Lake District of northwest England, trave ...

can also be used, giving access onto Martcrag Moor. In the Netflix show Snowflake Mountain, the cast climb a mountain in the same area (Lake District) that is stated to be the same height (2,236ft) as Pike of Stickle.

Stone axe factory

Pike of Stickle is the site of one of the most important

neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several pa ...

stone axe factories in Europe. The most prominent quarries are situated above the scree slopes on the steep southern face of the fell. The factory was set up here because of a vein of greenstone, a very hard

volcanic rock Volcanic rock (often shortened to volcanics in scientific contexts) is a rock formed from lava erupted from a volcano. In other words, it differs from other igneous rock by being of volcanic origin. Like all rock types, the concept of volcanic ...

, which comes to the surface around the head of the valley. Evidence of axe manufacture have been found in many areas of Great Langdale but it is the screes of Pike of Stickle which have yielded the most discoveries. There is a small cave at the top of the Stickle Stone Shoot near the summit of the fell which was part of the stone axe factory.

References

Image:Pike_of_Stickle_from_Troughton_Gill_B.jpg, Pike of Stickle as seen from Troughton Gill. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pike Of Stickle Fells of the Lake District Hewitts of England Nuttalls South Lakeland District