Wild Boar Fell
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| Wild Boar Fell | |
|---|---|
 The summit trig point |
|
| Elevation | 708 metres (2,323 ft) |
| Location | North Yorkshire/Cumbria, England |
| Range | Pennines |
| Prominence | 344 metres (1,129 ft) |
| Parent peak | Cross Fell |
| Topo map | OS Landranger 98 |
| OS grid reference | SD757988 |
| Listing | Marilyn, Hewitt, Nuttall |
Wild Boar Fell is a mountain (or more accurately a fell) in Mallerstang on the eastern edge of Cumbria, England. It is often considered as one of the far eastern Lakeland fells, and at 708 metres (2,323 ft) is either the 4th highest fell in the Yorkshire Dales or the 5th, whether counting nearby High Seat (709 m) or not. (In fact neither of these are, at present, in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, although there are plans to extend its boundaries in the near future to include Mallerstang). The nearest high point is Swarth Fell which is a mile-long (1.5 km) ridge to the south, at grid reference SD754965. To the east, on the opposite side of the narrow dale, are High Seat and Hugh Seat.
Wild Boar Fell is a dramatic sight and a landmark for many miles around. Approached from the north it gives the misleading impression that it is a peak (see photo, above left). But from the south of the dale at Aisgill its true profile is seen, not dissimilar to Ingleborough, with steep sides and a flat top (consisting of a cap of millstone grit).
The classic route for walking up Wild Boar is via the bridle way from Hazelgill Farm, ascending west to High Dophinsty before following Scriddles ridge top to Blackbed Scar. Once there you are on Wild Boar Fell's table top plateau, a rather boggy expanse. The summit is marked by a trig point and Sand Tarn is about 300 m (1,000 ft) to the west, just below the summit.
The views from the top make a spectacular panorama. The Howgills , Pennines, the Lake district fells, the Yorkshire Three Peaks can all be seen and, on a clear day, there is even a glimpse of the sea at Morecambe Bay.
[edit] History
The fell gets its name from the wild boar which inhabited the area over 500 years ago.[1] But it is unusual, for this area of Viking settlement, that its old Norse name seems to have disappeared, whereas the names of many of its features, such as The Nab, Dolphinsty, etc., retain their Norse origin. It may (or may not!) be significant that the gods Freyr and Freya rode on wild boars.
(Freyr’s boar was named Gullinbursti ("Golden Mane") and Freya's Hildesvini (Battle Swine)).
A tusk of "the last wild boar caught on the fell" is kept in Kirkby Stephen parish church.
A common feature of many Pennine dales and Lake District fells are the groups of cairns on the high ground. There is a fine cluster of "stone men" on The Nab of Wild Boar Fell - and a smaller group on subsidiary peak, Little Fell (559 m, 1834 ft) at grid reference NY766008, 2 km to the north. There seems little agreement on when, why, or by which people such cairns were built. (One common suggestion, that they were built by shepherds as markers for paths, may explain some of the cruder "piles of stones"; but groups like those on The Nab surely need a more convincing explanation).
In earlier times the Millstone Grit - or gritstone, which forms the flat top of the fell, was used for making millstones (some partly formed millstones can be seen on the eastern flank); and the sand from the beach of Sand Tarn was used by local people to sharpen knives and scythes - they made "strickles" by sticking the sand to wooden blocks with tar.
During World War II Wild Boar Fell was sometimes used for training tank crews from the army base at Warcop in the handling of tanks in difficult terrain.
[edit] External links & References
- ^ A. Wainwright, Wainwright in the Limestone Dales, Guild Publishing, 1991 (page 12-16)
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