Great Cockup

Infobox Mountain
Name = Great Cockup
Photo = Great_Cockup_and_Skiddaw_from_Longlands_Fell.jpg
Caption = Great Cockup seen from Longlands Fell with the bulk of Skiddaw behind.
Location = Cumbria, ENG
Range = Lake District, Northern Fells
Elevation = 526 m (1726 ft)
Grid_ref_UK = NY273333
Topographic
OS "Landranger" 89, 90 OS "Explorer" 4
Prominence = c. 85 m
Parent peak = Knott
Listing = Wainwright

Great Cockup is a fell in the northern region of the English Lake District, one of the four Uldale Fells (the others being Longlands Fell, Great Sca Fell and Meal Fell).

Description

Great Cockup reaches a height of 526 m (1,726 ft) and merits a chapter in Alfred Wainwright’s Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells who describes the fell as functional rather than ornamental, writing:

Name

The fell is known as "Great" to distinguish it from its smaller neighbour Little Cockup which lies on its north western shoulder overlooking the hamlet of Orthwaite with a height of 395 metres (1296 feet).

The fell's name originates from the Old English language, a combination of the words "cocc" and "hop" where hop means a secluded valley and cocc means a Woodcock. So the translation is probably "Larger fell above the secluded valley where Woodcock are found". The fell's name quite often causes mirth because of its slight rudeness and reference to sexual slang. Cockup can mean a mistake in the British English language and the fell was visited by British television personality Denis Norden for one edition of his TV show It'll be Alright on the Night, a programme which consists of out-takes from film and television which he calls "Cockups". The programme was called "Alright on the Night's Cockup Trip" and was broadcast in 1996. The fell's unusual name has also been adopted for a local beer brewed by the Hesket Newmarket Brewery, called "Great Cockup Porter" a dark coloured stout with an ABV of 3.3%.

Topography and Land Use

The fell has a series of stone built grouse butts 500 metres west of the summit, some of which have been dismantled leaving just the foundations in the ground and can be confusing to walkers as to their original purpose. The lower southern slopes of the fell has a large, isolated boulder which is marked on large scale maps, this is thought to be an erratic left by a retreating glacier. The fell has also yielded some rare fossils with unusual forms of dendroid graptolites being found on the slopes.

Ascents

Great Cockup is almost always ascended from the hamlet of Orthwaite following the bridleway up Hause Gill for two kilometres and then leaving it and ascending Great Cockup's steep southern slopes to the summit. A direct ascent over Little Cockup is possible but the bracken can be thick at certain times of the year. Great Cockup is linked to Meal Fell, 1.5 kilometres to the east, by the pass of Trusmadoor.

View

The view from the summit is dominated by a good view of Skiddaw’s northern slopes while there is an excellent open outlook towards the Scottish Borders.

References

* A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, The Northern Fells, Alfred Wainwright ISBN 0-7112-2458-7
* [http://www.english-nature.org.uk/special/geological/protect3p.htm Graptolite bearing rocks on Great Cockup]
* [http://www.hesketbrewery.co.uk/brewery/beer_detail.php?beer_id=7 Great Cockup Porter on-line]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0303623/ Alright on the Night's Cockup Trip 1996]