Helvellyn
— — the ridge that walks itself.
Not only on a wall.
“The third-highest fell in England, between Thirlmere to the west and Ullswater to the east. The eastern face drops sharp into Red Tarn, held between Striding Edge and Swirral Edge, the two slim ridges that draw walkers up from Glenridding. The summit plateau is wide and bare. In the right weather the cloud sits exactly at the lip and goes no further. — from the studio
Helvellyn, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Helvellyn rises to 950 metres in the eastern Lake District of Cumbria, the third-highest mountain in England after Scafell Pike and Scafell. It sits on the long Helvellyn range that runs north-south between Thirlmere reservoir to the west and Ullswater to the east, within the Lake District National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2017. The eastern flank holds Red Tarn in a glacial corrie between two narrow arêtes, Striding Edge and Swirral Edge, the most photographed approach to any English summit.
The summit plateau is broad, grassy, and exposed, with no shelter. Weather changes fast: clear mornings often close in by midday as cloud builds up against the western fells. Winter brings genuine alpine conditions on the ridges, with verglas on the rock of Striding Edge and cornices on the eastern lip; the fell has a long record of winter incidents and is the busiest mountain-rescue ground in the Lakes. The Lake District Weatherline issues a daily fell forecast for the summit through the colder months.
The classic approach climbs from Glenridding on Ullswater, up Mires Beck, along Striding Edge to the summit cairn, and down Swirral Edge past Red Tarn, a round of about 12 kilometres and roughly six hours. A gentler line rises from Wythburn on the Thirlmere side. The summit holds a memorial to Charles Gough, whose dog stayed beside his body for three months in 1805, and a plaque marking the 1926 landing of a small aircraft on the plateau. The fell is on the Wainwright list of 214 Lakeland peaks.