Book Review
Reviewed by Mark Charlton
The Lake District Fells
Patterdale: Helvellyn, Fairfield and the East
Members visiting the George Starkey Hut in Patterdale will be interested in the latest comprehensive guide from Cicerone. Part of the Fell Ranger series, the Patterdale volume is a fully revised update of the original 2008 edition. Covering the area north of Ambleside towards Pooley Bridge and Threlkeld, it encompasses the whole of the Helvellyn and Fairfield ranges with detailed routes for 35 peaks and additional suggestions for longer skyline walks.
The guide is sectioned into the peaks but the layout is such that interconnected routes can easily be made. Route descriptions strike a good balance between the need for concise directions and the inclusion of more general information on points of interest. This always strikes me as key to a guide’s usefulness in the field: too much information and their function as a route finder becomes laborious: too little and the description becomes dull. There’s a nod to the iconic Wainwright guides in the use of topographical drawings, a practical complement to the excellent mapping based on Harvey 1:40,000 scale. Photographs are also of high quality as you’d expect.
The use of numbered starting points is easy to follow except on the few occasions when they are off the map (always indicated in the opening descriptions) but with a little perseverance it soon becomes clear and has the advantage of helping with interconnecting peaks. As does the inclusion of four ridge walks: Fairfield Horseshoe, Helvellyn Skyline, Great Dodd Ridgeway and the Deepdale & Dovedale round.
We often overlook the supplementary information in guides, which includes a list of the peaks, useful contacts, car parking and facilities. As ever in this series, the information is comprehensive and updates are posted on the Cicerone website.
Overall, an excellent addition to the Cicerone series and a must for the bookshelves of visitors to this wonderful heart of the Lakes.
Available from Cicerone Press (https://www.cicerone.co.uk): ISBN-13: 978-1786310347
£13.46 but AAC(UK) members get a 25% discount using the code AACLUB.
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