Lakeland fells

Today's the day ........................... to be Street wise

High Street is a fell in the English Lake District. At 828 metres (2,718 ft), its summit (to the right of centre in this picture) is the highest point in the far eastern part of the national park. The fell is named after the Roman road which ran over the summit.

The Roman road crosses the fell on its journey between the forts of Brocavum near Penrith and Galava at Ambleside. Situated in one of the quieter areas of the Lakes, the High Street range has quite gentle slopes with a flat summit plateau. It was these characteristics which persuaded Roman surveyors to build their road over the fell tops rather than through the valleys which, at the time, were densely forested and marshy thus making them susceptible to ambushes.

The fell's flat summit was also used as a venue for summer fairs by the local population in the 18th and 19th centuries. People from the surrounding valleys would gather every year on 12 July to return stray sheep to their owners. Games and wrestling would also take place as well as horse racing. The summit of High Street is still known as Racecourse Hill and fell ponies can be found grazing occasionally on its summit. The last of the these summer fairs was held in 1835.