Swirl How

Swirl How is a fell in the Lake District’s southern Coniston Fells, standing between Coniston Water and the Duddon Valley. It reaches 802 metres and shares the top spot with the Old Man of Coniston, both marking the highest point of the historic Lancashire county. The range runs south from Wrynose Pass for about sixteen kilometres before fading near Broughton in Furness. Alfred Wainwright included only the northern half in his Pictorial Guide, calling the rest ‘Outlying Fells’. Later writers kept the whole range in their main volumes. Swirl How’s summit ridge shows bands of rhyolitic and andesitic tuff from ancient volcanic eruptions. The fell sends ridges in four directions, each feeding separate valleys and feeding four headwaters. The north ridge drops steeply to Greenburn valley where a Halifax bomber crashed in wartime. The wreckage was partly pushed over Broad Slack to hide it from pilots. An engine and propeller from the plane are kept in Coniston’s Ruskin Museum. To the south the ridge passes Levers Hawse and Great How Crags before climbing to Brim Fell and the Old Man of Coniston. Seathwaite Tarn below was dammed early in the 20th century to supply Barrow’s water. The eastern ridge leads over Black Sails to Wetherlam, while Swirl Hawse Beck feeds Levers Water. The summit bears a fine cairn near the Greenburn edge, offering views north across ranks of fells. On clearer days the Isle of Man, Morecambe Bay and the Pennines appear. Paths climb from Coniston, Little Langdale or via the surrounding fells, all carrying fair tracks. The name may come from Old Norse words for a whirling wind and a hill.