Great Cockup
Encyclopedia
Great Cockup is a fell
in the northern region
of the English Lake District
, one of the four Uldale Fells (the others being Longlands Fell
, Great Sca Fell
and Meal Fell
).
’s Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells
who describes the fell as functional rather than ornamental, writing:
"Viewed from a distance Great Cockup appears as a modest but extensive eminence with no obvious summit and nothing calling for closer inspection. First impressions are confirmed by a tour of exploration"
The fell's name originates from the Old English language
, a combination of the words "cocc" and "hop" where hop means a secluded valley and cocc means a Woodcock
. So the translation is probably "Larger fell above the secluded valley where Woodcock are found". The fell's name quite often causes mirth because of its slight rudeness
and reference to sexual slang
. Cockup can mean a mistake in the British English
language and the fell was visited by British television
personality Denis Norden
for one edition of his TV show It'll be Alright on the Night
, a programme which consists of out-takes from film and television which he calls "Cockups". The programme was called Alright on the Night's Cockup Trip and was broadcast in 1996. The fell's unusual name has also been adopted for a local beer
brewed by the Hesket Newmarket Brewery, called "Great Cockup Porter
" a dark coloured stout
with an ABV
of 3.3%.
butts 500 metres west of the summit, some of which have been dismantled leaving just the foundations in the ground and can be confusing to walkers as to their original purpose. The lower southern slopes of the fell has a large, isolated boulder which is marked on large scale maps, this is thought to be an erratic
left by a retreating glacier
. The fell has also yielded some rare fossil
s with unusual forms of dendroid graptolite
s being found on the slopes.
can be thick at certain times of the year. Great Cockup is linked to Meal Fell, 1.5 kilometres to the east, by the pass of Trusmadoor.
’s northern slopes while there is an excellent open outlook towards the Scottish Borders
.
Fell
“Fell” is a word used to refer to mountains, or certain types of mountainous landscape, in Scandinavia, the Isle of Man, and parts of northern England.- Etymology :...
in the northern region
Northern Fells
The Northern Fells are a group of hills in the English Lake District. Including Skiddaw, they occupy a wide area to the north of Keswick. Smooth sweeping slopes predominate with a minimum of tarns or crags...
of the English Lake District
Lake District
The Lake District, also commonly known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous not only for its lakes and its mountains but also for its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth...
, one of the four Uldale Fells (the others being Longlands Fell
Longlands Fell
Longlands Fell is a small fell in the northern part of the English Lake District. It is situated in the high ground known as the Uldale Fells, 5.5 kilometres south west of the village of Caldbeck...
, Great Sca Fell
Great Sca Fell
Great Sca Fell is a fell in the English Lake District, it stands seven kilometres southwest of the village of Caldbeck and is the highest of the four Uldale Fells .-Topography:...
and Meal Fell
Meal Fell
Meal Fell is a small fell in the northern region of the English Lake District, it is situated seven kilometres south west of the village of Caldbeck and is one of the four main Uldale Fells ....
).
Description
Great Cockup reaches a height of 526 m (1,726 ft) and merits a chapter in Alfred WainwrightAlfred Wainwright
Alfred Wainwright MBE was a British fellwalker, guidebook author and illustrator. His seven-volume Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, published between 1955 and 1966 and consisting entirely of reproductions of his manuscript, has become the standard reference work to 214 of the fells of the...
’s Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells
Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells
A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells is a series of seven books by A. Wainwright, detailing the fells of the Lake District in northwest England...
who describes the fell as functional rather than ornamental, writing:
"Viewed from a distance Great Cockup appears as a modest but extensive eminence with no obvious summit and nothing calling for closer inspection. First impressions are confirmed by a tour of exploration"
Name
The fell is known as "Great" to distinguish it from its smaller neighbour Little Cockup which lies on its north western shoulder overlooking the hamlet of Orthwaite with a height of 395 metres (1296 feet).The fell's name originates from the Old English language
Old English language
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...
, a combination of the words "cocc" and "hop" where hop means a secluded valley and cocc means a Woodcock
Eurasian Woodcock
The Eurasian Woodcock, Scolopax rusticola, is a medium-small wading bird found in temperate and subarctic Eurasia. It has cryptic camouflage to suit its woodland habitat, with reddish-brown upperparts and buff-coloured underparts...
. So the translation is probably "Larger fell above the secluded valley where Woodcock are found". The fell's name quite often causes mirth because of its slight rudeness
Rudeness
Rudeness is a display of disrespectfulness by not complying with the social "laws" or etiquette of a group or culture. These laws have been established as the essential boundaries of normally accepted behavior...
and reference to sexual slang
Sexual slang
Sexual slang is a set of linguistic terms and phrases used to refer to sexual organs, processes, and activities; they are generally considered colloquial rather than formal or medical, and some may be seen as impolite or improper....
. Cockup can mean a mistake in the British English
British English
British English, or English , is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere...
language and the fell was visited by British television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
personality Denis Norden
Denis Norden
Denis Mostyn Norden CBE is a former English comedy writer and television presenter. After an early career working in cinemas, he began scriptwriting during World War II. From 1948 to 1959, he co-wrote the successful BBC Radio comedy programme Take It from Here with Frank Muir...
for one edition of his TV show It'll be Alright on the Night
It'll be Alright on the Night
It'll be Alright on the Night is a British television bloopers show screened on ITV and produced by London Weekend Television. It was one of the first shows created with the specific purpose of showing behind the scenes bloopers from film and TV and it has been running since 18 September 1977...
, a programme which consists of out-takes from film and television which he calls "Cockups". The programme was called Alright on the Night's Cockup Trip and was broadcast in 1996. The fell's unusual name has also been adopted for a local beer
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
brewed by the Hesket Newmarket Brewery, called "Great Cockup Porter
Porter (beer)
Porter is a dark-coloured style of beer. The history and development of stout and porter are intertwined. The name was first used in the 18th century from its popularity with the street and river porters of London. It is generally brewed with dark malts...
" a dark coloured stout
Stout
Stout is a dark beer made using roasted malt or barley, hops, water and yeast. Stouts were traditionally the generic term for the strongest or stoutest porters, typically 7% or 8%, produced by a brewery....
with an ABV
Alcohol by volume
Alcohol by volume is a standard measure of how much alcohol is contained in an alcoholic beverage .The ABV standard is used worldwide....
of 3.3%.
Topography and Land Use
The fell has a series of stone built grouseGrouse
Grouse are a group of birds from the order Galliformes. They are sometimes considered a family Tetraonidae, though the American Ornithologists' Union and many others include grouse as a subfamily Tetraoninae in the family Phasianidae...
butts 500 metres west of the summit, some of which have been dismantled leaving just the foundations in the ground and can be confusing to walkers as to their original purpose. The lower southern slopes of the fell has a large, isolated boulder which is marked on large scale maps, this is thought to be an erratic
Glacial erratic
A glacial erratic is a piece of rock that differs from the size and type of rock native to the area in which it rests. "Erratics" take their name from the Latin word errare, and are carried by glacial ice, often over distances of hundreds of kilometres...
left by a retreating glacier
Glacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
. The fell has also yielded some rare fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
s with unusual forms of dendroid graptolite
Graptolite
Graptolithina is a class in the animal phylum Hemichordata, the members of which are known as Graptolites. Graptolites are fossil colonial animals known chiefly from the Upper Cambrian through the Lower Carboniferous...
s being found on the slopes.
Ascents
Great Cockup is almost always ascended from the hamlet of Orthwaite following the bridleway up Hause Gill for two kilometres and then leaving it and ascending Great Cockup's steep southern slopes to the summit. A direct ascent over Little Cockup is possible but the brackenBracken
Bracken are several species of large, coarse ferns of the genus Pteridium. Ferns are vascular plants that have alternating generations, large plants that produce spores and small plants that produce sex cells . Brackens are in the family Dennstaedtiaceae, which are noted for their large, highly...
can be thick at certain times of the year. Great Cockup is linked to Meal Fell, 1.5 kilometres to the east, by the pass of Trusmadoor.
View
The view from the summit is dominated by a good view of SkiddawSkiddaw
Skiddaw is a mountain in the Lake District National Park in England. With a summit at 931 m above sea level it is the fourth highest mountain in England. It lies just north of the town of Keswick, Cumbria, and dominates the skyline in this part of the northern lakes...
’s northern slopes while there is an excellent open outlook towards the Scottish Borders
Scottish Borders
The Scottish Borders is one of 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by Dumfries and Galloway in the west, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian in the north west, City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian to the north; and the non-metropolitan counties of Northumberland...
.