Helm Crag via Gibson Knott – Lake District Walks
May 29, 2021
Helm Crag is one of those iconic fells, instantly recognisable looking north from Grasmere village.  And it’s been a tempter as we’ve wondered the village or passed it by on our way to higher things.  However, it was only on reading Mr. Wainwright’s Lakeland guide on said fell that I discovered it is “affectionately known as The Lion and The Lamb”.  OK, that’s a new one on me….and I may be the last person not to know this fact.  More importantly, why does Helm Crag have this other more famous name?
Helm Crag a.k.a The Lion and the Lamb
Mr Wainwright’s words “The resemblance of the summit rocks to a lion is so striking that recognition is instant”. Â As previously mentioned, this was a new piece of information for us, so to read also that “in fact there are two lions and each guards one end of the summit ridge”. Â How can I have missed two of them? Â
Having this information before our walk, and having asked other fell walkers, we were told “the” lion could be seen from The Travellers Rest Inn to the east of the fell. Â We looked, we studied with binoculars, we didn’t see. Â On returning from our walk and looking through our photos we think the following is the lion often referred to. Â Apparently this northern ridge formation is known as the lion couchant (couchant meaning lying on its legs with its head up), but as Mr Wainwright says “the outline most like Leo is not the official “Lion” at all”. Â OK, I can sort of see that lion. Â To see the “official” lion and the lamb, the summit of Helm Crag needs to be reached.
The ascent from Grasmere via Gibson Knott
We are not keen on there and back walking routes, preferring instead a nice circular. Â In order to do this with Helm Crag, it’s necessary to come at it from another fell (or several). We decided to walk along Greenburn Valley to the east of the fell and climb up to Gibson Knott…hmm, is that two Wainwrights in one walk? Â OK, we did.
The Summit - Spot the lion(s)
As we were looking specifically for a lion and a lamb, we felt sure that once at the top it would be obvious. Â The official “lion and the lamb” is at the south east end of the ridge (above) and we could instantly see a larger rock and a smaller one which we have assumed are the said lion and lamb. Â Do they look like a lion and a lamb? Â Not really, I wonder who started this? Â Onto more important things…. Â Should I climb onto its head?
The northern ridge is also known by some other names; “The Howitzer” and “The Old Woman Playing the Organ”. Â I’ll let the reader decide…
Join us for a walk to Helm Crag...
I finish, much as Mr. wainwright does in his chapter on Helm Crag, with a space reserved “for an announcement that the author had succeeded in surmounting the highest point”. Â The highest point in this instant is on top of the rock formation at the northern end of the fell. Â Mr. Wainwright did not, despite several attempts, achieve this goal. Â Perhaps on a future visit I will investigate the possibility….or perhaps I too will be leaving this post with no future updates.
