Wetherlam
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| Wetherlam | |
|---|---|
| Elevation | 763 m (2502 ft) |
| Location | Lake District,  England |
| Range | Coniston Fells |
| Prominence | c. 145 m |
| Topo map | OS Landranger 89, 90, Explorer OL6 |
| OS grid reference | NY288011 |
| Listing | Wainwright, Hewitt, Nuttall[1] |
Wetherlam (2502 ft) is a mountain in the English Lake District. It is the most northerly of the Coniston Fells, the range of fells to the north-west of Coniston village; its north-east slopes descend to Little Langdale. It is connected to the west by a ridge to Swirl How.
In the past Wetherlam was extensively exploited for its mineral resources. The slopes on all sides are pitted with disused copper mines and slate quarries, making it the most industrialised of the Lake District fells.[2] The workings are on a small scale, however, and, according to Alfred Wainwright, unobtrusive: "this fine hill... is too vast and sturdy to be disfigured and weakened by man's feeble scratchings of its surface".[2]
[edit] Ascent routes
There are three natural starting points for an ascent of Wetherlam:[2] the village of Coniston to the south, and the valleys of Tilberthwaite to the east and Little Langdale to the north-east.
From Coniston a path and an unsurfaced road lead into the Coppermines Valley, the site of a number of disused mines; this is also the start of a popular path up the Old Man of Coniston. There are two possible routes to Wetherlam's summit from the Coppermines: either up the south ridge, called Lad Stones, or up the Red Dell valley to the west of the ridge.
Walkers approaching from Little Langdale or Tilberthwaite can take any of a number of paths to Birk Fell Hawse, a small col to the north-east of the summit at the foot of the ridge of Wetherlam Edge. It is then a steep ascent (around 200 metres in half a kilometre) up the latter ridge to reach the summit.
Wetherlam is often climbed as part of the "Coniston Round", a circuit of the skyline of the Coppermines Valley that takes in Swirl How, the Old Man of Coniston and optionally Dow Crag.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Chris Crocker, Database of British Hills (2005). Accessed 6 December 2006.
- ^ a b c A. Wainwright, "Wetherlam" in A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, Book 4: The Southern Fells [1960] (London:Frances Lincoln, 2003).
