White Side
Encyclopedia
White Side is a fell
in the English
Lake District
. It is situated to the east of Thirlmere
and to the west of Glenridding valley. This places White Side in the Helvellyn range
of the Eastern Fells
, with Raise to the north and Helvellyn Lower Man to the south, both of which are of greater height.
. He gave White Side the status of a separate fell, a position followed by other guidebook writers. Wainwright suggested that the fell name could have come from the quartz
found on the western slope.
and scree
falling abruptly to Keppel and Brown Coves. In contrast the western face falls gently to Thirlmere, the upper parts being mainly grass. The lower parts do provide some rock, such as Brown Crag, but these are generally outcrops rather than true crags.
A great steep-sided hollow is gouged out of the eastern face, just north of the summit. This is the corrie
of Kepple Cove, backed by Red Screes. Kepple Cove once contained an artificial tarn
, although today the bed is merely marshy except after heavy rain. The water from the tarn was used in a hydroelectric scheme to drive electric winding gear at Greenside Mine. Commissioned in 1891, this was the first such system in the country.. It continued in use until the night of 29 October 1927 when the Kepple Cove dam burst during a heavy storm, leaving an 80 ft (24.4 m) wide gap in the earthworks. The resulting wave passed down the valley and through Glenridding village, flooding buildings and causing extensive damage. The breached dam can still be seen today.
South of Kepple Cove, between the southern ridge of White Side and Catstye Cam
is Brown Cove. This also held an artificial tarn, but this is now reduced to a couple of small pools widening the stream. Brown Cove Tarn was another creation of the Greenside mine, a stone faced dam being built in about 1860. The dam is still in place but water now leaks through the base, the extended tarn-bed a smooth patch of luxuriant turf. A water leat passing beneath the north face of Catstye Cam to Red Tarn Beck can still be traced although it is now in ruins. There are also the remains of a level driven into the headwall of Brown Cove, a stone arched entrance leading to an 80 yards (73.2 m) tunnel. Water from Brown and Kepple Coves unites with the outflow of Helvellyn
's Red Tarn to form Glenridding Beck, flowing on through the village to Ullswater
.
The western slopes of White Side are bounded by Helvellyn and Brund Gills, both of which originally flowed north to the Vale of St John. With the construction of the Thirlmere reservoir scheme in 1884 these streams were diverted to feed the lake a cutting being made through the low ridge which runs parallel to the shore.
in a sea of grass with the main ridge path crossing the highest point. Other than north and south where higher fells intervene, the view is good . The subsidiary top of Brown Crag (2,000 ft) on the western face also provides fine views of Skiddaw
and The Dodds.
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 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...
. It is situated to the east of Thirlmere
Thirlmere
Thirlmere is a reservoir in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria and the English Lake District. It runs roughly south to north, with a dam at the northern end, and is bordered on the eastern side by the A591 road and on the western side by a minor road....
and to the west of Glenridding valley. This places White Side in the Helvellyn range
Helvellyn range
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 point of the group....
of the Eastern Fells
Eastern Fells
The Eastern Fells are a group of hills in the English Lake District. Centred on Helvellyn they primarily comprise a north south ridge running between Ullswater and Lakeland's Central Valley.-Partition of the Lakeland Fells:...
, with Raise to the north and Helvellyn Lower Man to the south, both of which are of greater height.
Name
Strictly the name White Side refers to the western slope of a nameless summit. However it is often applied to the whole fell for convenience as was done by 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...
. He gave White Side the status of a separate fell, a position followed by other guidebook writers. Wainwright suggested that the fell name could have come from the quartz
Quartz
Quartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2. There are many different varieties of quartz,...
found on the western slope.
Topography and Mining History
The western and eastern faces of White Side are quite different in appearance. The eastern face is predominanlty cragCliff
In geography and geology, a cliff is a significant vertical, or near vertical, rock exposure. Cliffs are formed as erosion landforms due to the processes of erosion and weathering that produce them. Cliffs are common on coasts, in mountainous areas, escarpments and along rivers. Cliffs are usually...
and scree
Scree
Scree, also called talus, is a term given to an accumulation of broken rock fragments at the base of crags, mountain cliffs, or valley shoulders. Landforms associated with these materials are sometimes called scree slopes or talus piles...
falling abruptly to Keppel and Brown Coves. In contrast the western face falls gently to Thirlmere, the upper parts being mainly grass. The lower parts do provide some rock, such as Brown Crag, but these are generally outcrops rather than true crags.
A great steep-sided hollow is gouged out of the eastern face, just north of the summit. This is the corrie
Cirque
Cirque may refer to:* Cirque, a geological formation* Makhtesh, an erosional landform found in the Negev desert of Israel and Sinai of Egypt*Cirque , an album by Biosphere* Cirque Corporation, a company that makes touchpads...
of Kepple Cove, backed by Red Screes. Kepple Cove once contained an artificial tarn
Tarn (lake)
A tarn is a mountain lake or pool, formed in a cirque excavated by a glacier. A moraine may form a natural dam below a tarn. A corrie may be called a cirque.The word is derived from the Old Norse word tjörn meaning pond...
, although today the bed is merely marshy except after heavy rain. The water from the tarn was used in a hydroelectric scheme to drive electric winding gear at Greenside Mine. Commissioned in 1891, this was the first such system in the country.. It continued in use until the night of 29 October 1927 when the Kepple Cove dam burst during a heavy storm, leaving an 80 ft (24.4 m) wide gap in the earthworks. The resulting wave passed down the valley and through Glenridding village, flooding buildings and causing extensive damage. The breached dam can still be seen today.
South of Kepple Cove, between the southern ridge of White Side and Catstye Cam
Catstye Cam
Catstye Cam is a fell in the English Lake District. It is an outlier of Helvellyn in the Eastern Fells.-Name:The name of the fell is also given as 'Catstycam', a spelling preferred by Alfred Wainwright in his influential Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells. A third variant, 'Catchedicam', is also...
is Brown Cove. This also held an artificial tarn, but this is now reduced to a couple of small pools widening the stream. Brown Cove Tarn was another creation of the Greenside mine, a stone faced dam being built in about 1860. The dam is still in place but water now leaks through the base, the extended tarn-bed a smooth patch of luxuriant turf. A water leat passing beneath the north face of Catstye Cam to Red Tarn Beck can still be traced although it is now in ruins. There are also the remains of a level driven into the headwall of Brown Cove, a stone arched entrance leading to an 80 yards (73.2 m) tunnel. Water from Brown and Kepple Coves unites with the outflow of Helvellyn
Helvellyn
Helvellyn is a mountain in the English Lake District, the apex of the Eastern Fells. At above sea level, it is the third highest peak in both the Lake District and England...
's Red Tarn to form Glenridding Beck, flowing on through the village to 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 ....
.
The western slopes of White Side are bounded by Helvellyn and Brund Gills, both of which originally flowed north to the Vale of St John. With the construction of the Thirlmere reservoir scheme in 1884 these streams were diverted to feed the lake a cutting being made through the low ridge which runs parallel to the shore.
Summit and View
The summit bears a small cairnCairn
Cairn is a term used mainly in the English-speaking world for a man-made pile of stones. It comes from the or . Cairns are found all over the world in uplands, on moorland, on mountaintops, near waterways and on sea cliffs, and also in barren desert and tundra areas...
in a sea of grass with the main ridge path crossing the highest point. Other than north and south where higher fells intervene, the view is good . The subsidiary top of Brown Crag (2,000 ft) on the western face also provides fine views of Skiddaw
Skiddaw
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...
and The Dodds.