Great Shunner Fell - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Great Shunner Fell is the third highest mountain in the Yorkshire Dales

Yorkshire Dales

The Yorkshire Dales is the name given to an upland area in Northern England.The area lies within the historic county boundaries of Yorkshire, though it spans the ceremonial counties of North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and Cumbria...

, North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, and the highest point in Wensleydale

Wensleydale

Wensleydale is the valley of the River Ure on the east side of the Pennines in North Yorkshire, England.Wensleydale lies in the Yorkshire Dales National Park – one of only a few valleys in the Dales not currently named after its principal river , but the older name, "Yoredale", can still be seen...

; at 716 metres above sea level.

The Pennine Way

Pennine Way

The Pennine Way is a National Trail in England. The trail runs from Edale, in the northern Derbyshire Peak District, north through the Yorkshire Dales and the Northumberland National Park and ends at Kirk Yetholm, just inside the Scottish border. The path runs along the Pennine hills, sometimes...

passes over its summit, on the way from Hawes

Hawes

Hawes is a small market town and civil parish in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England, being granted its market charter in 1699...

to Keld

Keld, North Yorkshire

Keld is a hamlet in the English county of North Yorkshire. It is situated on Swaledale, in the Yorkshire Dales. The name derives from the Viking word Kelda meaning a spring, and the village was once called Appletre Kelde - the spring near the apple trees.Keld is the crossing point of the Coast to...

. The popularity of this route had eroded

Erosion

Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...

vegetation from a strip 70 m wide across the moor

Moorland

Moorland or moor is a type of habitat, in the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome, found in upland areas, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils and heavy fog...

, which has been alleviated since 1996 by the construction of a path made of flagstone

Flagstone

Flagstone, is a generic flat stone, usually used for paving slabs or walkways, patios, fences and roofing. It may be used for memorials, headstones, facades and other constructions. The name derives from Middle English flagge meaning turf, perhaps from Old Norse flaga meaning slab.Flagstone is a...

s.

The summit holds a + shaped windbreak of which the triangulation pillar has been built into the northern 'arm'.

Great Sleddale Beck, which becomes the River Swale

River Swale

The River Swale is a river in Yorkshire, England and a major tributary of the River Ure, which itself becomes the River Ouse, emptying into the North Sea via the Humber Estuary....

after its confluence with Birkdale Beck

Birkdale, North Yorkshire

Birkdale is a dale in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, in North Yorkshire, England. The dale itself is very small compared to some of the other Yorkshire dales. It has one small hamlet called Keld. The dale itself is a tributary dale to Swaledale, another dale in the Yorkshire Dales...

has its sources on the northern slopes of Great Shunner Fell, while the southern slopes drain into the River Ure

River Ure

The River Ure is a river in North Yorkshire, England, approximately long from its source to the point where it changes name to the River Ouse. It is the principal river of Wensleydale, which is the only one of the Dales now named after a village rather than its river...

and Wensleydale.

The dominating rock type in the area is limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

, but millstone grit

Millstone Grit

Millstone Grit is the name given to any of a number of coarse-grained sandstones of Carboniferous age which occur in the Northern England. The name derives from its use in earlier times as a source of millstones for use principally in watermills...

forms outcrops extensively on Great Shunner Fell, and coal seams have also been worked on its slopes.

Great Shunner Fell is the most southerly remaining outpost in Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

for the yellow marsh saxifrage, Saxifraga hirculus.

See also