Abstract
As a geomorphologist who loves walking the hills in my neighbourhood of northern England, Adrian Harvey’s excursion guide to the Howgill Fells is greatly received. This is a guide that is similar in many ways to those produced by the Quaternary Research Association on an annual to biannual basis to accompany their official field meetings and has been designed to introduce the reader to the landscape first by general overview chapters and then through a general road trip (Chapter 4) and a series of walks (Chapters 5–7 on the western, northern and southern Howgills, respectively). For those of you who live in the United Kingdom, you will know the Howgill Fells if you regularly use the M6 motorway to drive north on the west side of the Pennines. They rise abruptly from the valley of the River Lune, which forms the boundary of their north and west slopes and separates them from the spectacular uplands of the Lake District to the west. Immediately apparent to a geomorphologist driving this route are the numerous gullies and alluvial fans of apparently varied age that adorn the western hillslopes. Because of their proximity to the larger expanse of the Lake District fells, the Howgill Fells are often overlooked by hill walkers and geomorphologists alike but they contain a wealth of detail on recent landscape change that all who are interested in upland terrain should not underestimate. Thankfully, Adrian Harvey is well aware of this detail and has been researching the geomorphology of the area for more than 30 years, delivering along with his colleagues and research students a large number of publications on the nature and chronology of processes and landform change. This guide is an overview of that significant contribution and provides access to the academic details as well as the ground evidence for those who want to put the beautiful views into their scientific context, as I do myself whenever I venture into my surrounding hills for some exercise. Obviously, such guides are targeted not just at individuals like me, but more at groups and leaders of groups, such as those in schools and universities, as well as professional research organizations. For all who are likely to be interested, this is a well-organized, succinctly and professionally written and beautifully presented guide, reproduced at a convenient size for that pocket inside your waterproof jacket especially designed for the folded map.
The guide is organized into two main parts of equal length, with Part 1 reviewing The Geomorphology of the Howgill Fells and Part 2 providing details of The Field Sites. In both parts, we are provided with detailed information derived from the scientific output of Adrian Harvey and his team collected over three decades and now tailored to the user of a field guide to that output. Part 1 contains three chapters, the first giving an overview of the region with respect to its geology, glaciation and drainage evolution, the second focusing on Holocene landform evolution, partially in collaboration with Harvey’s colleague Richard Chiverrell and the third detailing the modern geomorphic system. Like the whole book, these chapters are lavishly illustrated, in full colour, with site photographs, maps and conceptual diagrams, with an obvious focus on postglacial processes and forms. As a glacial geomorphologist, I would identify one minor criticism at this juncture and that is the relatively light touch with which glaciation has been treated. I would, however, readily acknowledge that glacial geomorphologists have, like many hill walkers, overlooked the Howgill Fells and hence it is not a research theme that has been fully explored. Now I am in receipt of this guide, I have a good excuse to get out there and see for myself! While I am roaming this beautiful upland landscape, I will certainly be learning much about the Holocene and recent geomorphology, because the five chapters of Part 2 provide me with the intricate site-specific details of case studies used in compiling the overviews of Part 1. From here on, it is clear to any field teacher that the guide is designed to reflect the logistics of a typical field course. Chapter 4 provides us with the details of an ideal reconnaissance road trip around the Howgill Fells, with each stop of a circular tour being precisely located and the subjects of the view providing linkage between the concepts of Part 1 and the site-specific details of Part 2. We even get instruction on where to park, how many cars can be parked and where to go for a short walk. Similar details are provided in the following three chapters, with Chapter 5 dealing with the western Howgills (the Carlin Gill valley in particular), Chapter 6 with the northern Howgills and Chapter 7 with the southern Howgills, although in less detail than in the previous chapters due to the fact that Harvey’s work was not concentrated in the southern area. Annotated Google Earth images are provided for locational information throughout these chapters and landform process and forms are presented in Chapters 5 and 6 in intensely detailed field maps and sketches with time sequence reconstructions, all of which communicate very clearly the results of rigorous initial field research.
The guide finishes with Chapter 8 and some final reflections on the nature and pace of landform change, both geomorphic and vegetational, and places the Howgill Fells in the wider context of both its representativeness and its uniqueness. Harvey points out that the area is an excellent example of upland landscape change typical of many regions of Britain but he also stresses that geomorphic change here is unusually intense in terms of hillslope gullying and fluvial channel evolution. Harvey also poses some remaining questions, most of which relate to glaciation, which he readily admits is not his area of expertise. I think this is probably where people like me come in!
Armed with this guide, I am now fully motivated to check out the Holocene and recent geomorphology and vegetation change of the Howgill Fells, which have been so rigorously researched and reported here in a widely accessible way, as well as to make forays into that little known glacial signature. Harvey makes a plea in his closing remarks that this beautiful and fascinating landscape be conserved, and I am sure that many outdoor educators, just like me, will consider turning to the Howgill Fells for future field courses, especially now that such a well-crafted excursion guide is available.