Wainwright’s Missing Mountain ? Traditional Cache
Wainwright’s Missing Mountain ?
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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The case for a 215th Wainwright ? Keen hill baggers will know there has always been 214 Wainwrights, no more or less, but has that always been the case ? Whilst the number of Munros has varied over the years, currently standing at 283 - the number of Wainwrights has been constant. A surprising fact to many is that there have been 324 different Munros in Scotland over the years. But should there ever be a ‘Wythop moment’ (see Sale Fell 3) where a previously unknown 3,000ft mountain is discovered in the Lake District then it would not, could not, be classified as a Wainwright. To be fair it is unlikely that such a mountain exists…… but ! Keen readers of the Wainwright guidebooks will be aware of the anomaly that is Helvellyn Lower Man. Turn to pages ‘Helvellyn 21’ or ‘Whiteside 9’ and you will find ridge routes leading to it – but when you look for the accompanying chapter there isn’t one. These are the only ‘Ridge Routes’ that lead to a summit without its own separate chapter. On ‘The View’ page of all chapters from where Helvellyn Lower Man is visible it is written in upper case print. In most, if not all, views across all seven guides, upper case indicates a separate chapter, whilst lower case is a lesser height. Yet Helvellyn Lower Man is always upper case. This is constant throughout all the seven guides. Are there any other upper case hills that do not have their own chapter ? Redrawing all the view pages in The Eastern Fells would no doubt have been a large task and it is maybe understandable that once the decision was made to withdraw Helvellyn Lower Man from the guidebook then the pages were just left. Why subsequent books continued to show views with Helvellyn Lower Man in upper case is another imponderable ! But, a more careful look at the Helvellyn chapter itself shows some pages with an upper case Lower Man, and some with a lower. Indeed on ‘Helvellyn 3’ we find “Each of the fells named in this diagram IN CAPITAL LETTERS is the subject of a separate chapter in this book.”. And yes, Lower Man is lower case, but opposite on ‘Helvelllyn 4’ it’s back in capitals !! If Helvellyn Lower Man was an original pre publication Wainwright, why did it not make the final draft ? Standing at 3,033ft it would now be recognised as the 5th highest hill in England. The re-ascent is a modest 60ft; but an examination of even only the Eastern Fells will reveal several ridge routes with less – Watson’s Dodd from either of its neighbours, Stone Arthur from Great Rigg, Nab Scar from Heron Pike etc. Even Nethermost Pike only has 100ft of re-ascent from Helvellyn. What features would Lower Man have to offer had it been given its own chapter ? The north ridge towards White Side is the narrowest section of the main Helvellyn spine, and Browncove Crags is another good feature. It also boasts the neatest summit on the ridge. So where does this leave us ? Was Helvellyn Lower Man originally a separate chapter, only to be removed at some stage? We may never know – unless lurking somewhere in a dark recess of Kendal Town Hall there is a dusty folder with his original draft – and what a find that would be ! Did he originally envisage any other hills having separate chapters – Broad Crag or Ill Crag, to name but two; or my personal favourite for promotion – Knock Murton with its nearly 500ft of re-ascent from Blake Fell (see GC27X75) I don’t know whether the Wainwright Society have had any views on this – I’m not a member even though I finished my round back in 1977; and I don’t recall having to join the Scottish Mountaineering Club to register my Munro round. This cache was inspired by a nagging in my mind over many years of the status of Helvellyn Lower Man. An article in The Angry Corrie (TAC 77) brought more focus and a rereading of the guides made me think that, if nothing else, there is cache in here somewhere.
Since writing this I have come across, on Crinkle Crags 20 that AW was aware of this inconsistency, but his explanation doesn't really add up as he points out in the same paragraph that Broad Crag and Ill Crag, like Lower Man, have their own page - but are in lower case.
The cache itself is a small tupperware box containing only a log book and pencil. There is room for TB’s and Coins. Like all my caches it is a tat free zone, and hopefully will remain so. It is located about 20 metres from the small western cairn on the summit. Looking towards Thirlmere it is in the furthermost group of visible rocks. See spoiler photos. The cache is placed with the permission of United Utilities Thirlmere Office.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
[Please read description and see spoiler photos]