Great Dun Fell, Cumbria (9. Large cairn (Knock Old Man))

The chances are that now you have reached the top, you can feel the wind. However it is probably a normal wind; you would certainly know about it if it was the Helm Wind. The ‘History of Cumberland’ published between 1794 and 1797 carried a detailed description of the Helm Wind clouds: “This helm or cloud exhibits an awful and solemn appearance, tinged with white by the sun’s rays that strike the upper parts, and spreading like a gloom below, over the inferior parts of the mountain, like the shadows of night.” In 1830, the Reverend William Walton provided a few remarks on the Helm Wind to the Royal Society: “It is accompanied by a loud noise, like the roaring of distant thunder: and is carefully avoided by travellers in that district as being fraught with considerable danger.” A few years later, at a meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, the Reverend J Watson presented a paper on the Helm Wind. He said: “Its effect on the spirits is exhilarating, and it gives a buoyancy to the body. The country subject to it is very healthy, but it does great injury to vegetation, by beating grain, grass, and leaves of trees, till quite black.” He correctly assumed the primary cause of the wind: as it blew from the east coast and rose upwards among the hills the air cooled. From the summit, it rushed down with great force into a lower and warmer region. Directions to stop 10 Continue following the Pennine Way for about 500 metres. Stop when you reach the summit cairn of Knock Fell. If the weather is clear you can enjoy views across to the Lake District in the west.