Kirkstone Pass is a mountain pass

Mountain pass

A mountain pass is a route through a mountain range or over a ridge. If following the lowest possible route, a pass is locally the highest point on that route...

 in the English

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...

 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...

, in the county of Cumbria

Cumbria

Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...

. It is at an altitude of 1489 feet (454 m).

This is the Lake District's highest pass that is open to motor traffic and it connects Ambleside

Ambleside

Ambleside is a town in Cumbria, in North West England.Historically within the county of Westmorland, it is situated at the head of Windermere, England's largest lake...

 in the Rothay Valley

River Rothay

The Rothay is a spate river of the Lake District in north-west England. Its name comes from Old Norse and translates literally as the red one. This has come to mean trout river. It rises close to Rough Crag above Dunmail Raise at a point about 1542 feet above sea level...

 to Patterdale

Patterdale

Patterdale is a small village and civil parish in the eastern part of the English Lake District in the Eden District of Cumbria, and the long valley in which they are found, also called the Ullswater Valley....

 in the Ullswater

Ullswater

Ullswater is the second largest lake in the English Lake District, being approximately nine miles long and 0.75 miles wide with a maximum depth of slightly more than ....

 Valley - the A592 road. In places, the gradient is 1 in 4. Brothers Water

Brothers Water

Brothers Water is in the Hartsop valley and is a small lake in the eastern region of the English Lake District, in the county of Cumbria. Once called Broad Water, it lies at the northern end of Kirkstone Pass, affording picturesque views on the descent towards Patterdale.Dorothy Wordsworth, having...

 provides a picturesque view, on the descent to Patterdale.

The Kirkstone Pass Inn stands close to the summit of the pass. Formerly an important coaching inn

Coaching inn

In Europe, from approximately the mid-17th century for a period of about 200 years, the coaching inn, sometimes called a coaching house or staging inn, was a vital part of the inland transport infrastructure, as an inn serving coach travelers...

, it now caters primarily for tourists

Tourism

Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...

. It is the third highest public house

Public house

A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...

 in England.

Slate quarrying

As well as lead and copper mining, quite a large undertaking of slate mining has been taking place over the years. Pets Quarry, currently being worked by "Kirkstone Green Slate Company" is just before the highest point in the pass, from Ambleside. Caudale slate mine is a few miles further down, on the Ullswater side, and was last worked at the beginning of the 20th century. All adits to the mine are now blocked. Nearby is the Hartsop Hall Lead Mine.

Name

The name of the pass is derived from a nearby stone, the Kirkstone, which stands a few yards from the roadside of the A592 leading to Patterdale, several metres from the Inn. The stone is so named as its silhouette resembles a church steeple, 'kirk' meaning church in old Norse

Old Norse

Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....

, it is easily spotted coming both ways on the pass.

Cultural references

In Cue For Treason

Cue for Treason

Cue for Treason is a children's historical novel written by Geoffrey Trease, and is his best known work.-Plot introduction:The novel is set in Elizabethan England at the end of the 16th century. Two young runaways become boy actors, at first on the road and later in London, where they are...

, the best known novel of the children's writer Geoffrey Trease

Geoffrey Trease

Geoffrey Trease was a prolific writer, publishing 113 books between 1934 and 1997 . His work has been translated into 20 languages...

, much of it set in Cumbria, one character adopts the pseudonym "Kit Kirkstone", taken from the Kirkstone Pass.

The Witch of the Westmoreland by musician Archie Fisher

Archie Fisher

Archie Fisher MBE is a Scottish folk singer and song writer.-The early years:Archie Fisher was born in Glasgow on 23 October 1939 into a large singing family. His sister Cilla Fisher is also a professional singer, as was his late sister Ray. In 1960 he moved to Edinburgh and appeared regularly at...

includes the lines weary by Ullswater, and the misty brake fern way, down through the cleft of the Kirkstone pass, the winding water lay.

External links