The Wasdale Horseshoe is a group of hills on the eastern fringe of the English

Lake District The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...

, to the west of the A6, south of

Shap Shap is a village and civil parish located among fells and isolated dales in Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, England. The village is in the historic county of Westmorland. The parish had a population of 1,221 in 2001, increasing slightly to ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

. They surround the valley of Wasdale Beck, a tributary of

Birk Beck Birk Beck is a minor river in Cumbria. Rising on the fells near Shap, Birk Beck runs south-by-south east, picking up Wasdale Beck (running east and draining ''Yarlside'' and ''Gargill'') and Bretherdale Beck (flowing east from ''Demmings Moss'' a ...

and ultimately of the

River Lune The River Lune (archaically sometimes Loyne) is a river in length in Cumbria and Lancashire, England. Etymology Several elucidations for the origin of the name ''Lune'' exist. Firstly, it may be that the name is Brittonic languages, Brittonic ...

. The horseshoe is the subject of a chapter of Wainwright's book ''

The Outlying Fells of Lakeland ''The Outlying Fells of Lakeland'' is a 1974 book written by Alfred Wainwright dealing with hills in and around the Lake District of England. It differs from Wainwright's ''Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, Pictorial Guides'' in that each ...

''. This Wasdale should not be confused with the better known

Wasdale Wasdale (; traditionally ) is a valley and civil parish in the western part of the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. The River Irt flows through the valley to its estuary at Ravenglass. A large part of the main valley floor is ...

, containing

Wast Water Wast Water or Wastwater () is a lake located in Wasdale, a valley in the western part of the Lake District National Park, England. The lake is almost long and more than wide. It is a glacial lake, formed in a glacially 'over-deepened' valley ...

, on the west of the Lake District. Wainwright's clockwise walk starts from the highest point of the A6 at . The summits reached are Whatshaw Common at , Little Yarlside at , Great Yarlside (the third highest of the Outlying Fells) at and Wasdale Pike at . Wasdale Pike is within the

Shap Fells Shap Fells is a Site of Special Scientific Interest part of which is within the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. It is located near the eastern boundary of the park, with one section to the west of the A6 road and another section t ...

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

References

External links

* Fells of the Lake District {{Cumbria-geo-stub