Caudale Moor - John Bell's Banner

About Caudale Moor - John Bell's Banner

Rising steeply above the Kirkstone Pass, this bulky Birkett offers a sprawling, often boggy summit plateau. While its southern slopes are gentle, the western face drops dramatically into Caudale, guarded by the dark crags of Caudale Rivings. It serves as a pivotal junction between the Patterdale fells and the High Street range.

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Did You Know?

• •The fell is known by three distinct names: Stony Cove Pike refers to the 755m summit, while Caudale Moor covers the wider upland. John Bell’s Banner specifically identifies the large boundary cairn on the southern shoulder, named after a local 19th-century figure who marked his territory there.
• •Its position at the head of the Kirkstone Pass provides a grandstand view of the road snaking far below. From the summit cairn, the view north looks directly down the length of Patterdale toward the shimmering reach of Ullswater, framed by the Dodds and the Helvellyn range.
• •The crossing to its neighbor, Thornthwaite Crag, involves a precipitous 200-metre drop into the col of Threshthwaite Mouth. This steep, scree-filled gap is one of the most abrupt and rugged transitions between any two fells in the Far Eastern Lake District.
• •As both a Birkett and a Synge, the fell is physically separated from its neighbours by deep depressions, making it a Marilyn—a hill with at least 150 metres of topographic prominence. This isolation ensures that the views toward the Scafells across the central Lakes are entirely unobstructed.
• •Despite having three different names to choose from, most walkers simply remember the fell as the place they got their boots soaked while trying to locate the highest point amidst the mossy summit pools.