As anyone familiar with the Lake District will know, Blencathra is one of the Northern Fells in the English Lake District.

I named this website after it, as it is my favourite mountain.

Blencathra means the Devil's Peak in old Cumbrian. It is supposed to have been the home of Afallach, a Celtic God of the Underworld. It is also known as the Saddleback, due to its shape when viewed from the East.

The mountain itself is huge, towering over the village of Threlkeld, north of the A66 between Penrith and Keswick, with its Southern side being a most impressive sight of slim ridges protruding from its summit. On the Eastern side is Sharp Edge, above Scales Tarn, a narrow arete much harder than Striding Edge on Helvellyn. And for those wanting a gentler walk, Blease Fell on the Western side offers a much safer, broad slope for an ascent.

As you can see from the pictures, Blencathra really is the mountain with everything!

A THOUGHT SUGGESTED BY A VIEW OF SADDLEBACK IN CUMBERLAND

by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

On stern Blencathra's perilous height
The winds are tyrannous and strong;
And flashing forth unsteady light
From stern Blencathra's skiey height,
As loud the torrents throng!

Beneath the moon, in gentle weather,
They bind the earth and sky together.
But oh! the sky and all its forms, how quiet!
The things that seek the earth, how full of noise and riot!