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Great Dodd (meaning: ''big round hill'') is a mountain or fell in the English Lake District. It stands on the main ridge of the Helvellyn range, a line of mountains which runs in a north-south direction between the lakes of Thirlmere and Ullswater in the east of the Lake District. Great Dodd, with a height of 857 m is the highest of the fells in this range to the north of Sticks Pass. Walkers may approach Great Dodd from either High Row near Dockray to the east, or from Legburthwaite to the west – or along the main ridge track from either north or south. Scramblers with climbing skills may be attracted to three gill climbs on the western side of the mountain. The summit of Great Dodd is a smooth, grassy, rounded dome, like its two southern neighbours, Watson's Dodd and Stybarrow Dodd. Together, these three are sometimes called "The Three Dodds." These three are made of volcanic rocks of the Borrowdale Volcanic Group, and the tops of all three are covered by the same sheet of rock, which was formed in a series of huge volcanic explosions accompanying the formation of a volcanic caldera about 450 million years ago. Two attempts were made to mine mineral veins in the rocks of Great Dodd, but neither attempt was successful. ==Topography== Three ridges lead from the rounded summit of Great Dodd. The west ridge leads over the shoulder called Little Dodd, and then turns north-west to the rocky pinnacle of Calfhow Pike and to the col separating Great Dodd from Clough Head. Calfhow Pike would have little significance in more rugged areas of the Lake District, but here in the midst of smooth green slopes it is a conspicuous landmark visible for miles around. Although it has little prominence, it is a pleasant top giving good views of the surrounding grassy slopes and the valleys below. A short south-west ridge leads to Watson's Dodd, where it merges with the north-west ridge of Stybarrow Dodd to drop into the valley at Legburthwaite. To the north-east a long ridge leads to the subsidiary stony top of Randerside (729 m). From there it broadens into Matterdale Common, becoming steadily wetter underfoot, before splitting into two on either side of Groove Beck. The more southerly ridge heads over High Brow (575 m), fringed by Dowthwaite Crag which broods over the road-end settlement of Dowthwaitehead. The further tops of Low How (497 m) and Cockley Moor (455 m) are passed before this branch of the ridge peters out in extensive conifer plantations, and then the ground climbs again to Great Mell Fell. The northern branch of the ridge is edged by Wolf Crags above the Old Coach Road, beyond which a wide grassy moor sweeps north across Sandbeds Moss and Flaska to the A66 road and the dismantled Penrith to Keswick railway.〔Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map〕 Great Dodd stands on the watershed between the Eden river system to the east and the Derwent river system to the west. Its western slopes used to drain into St John’s Beck, a tributary of the River Greta, which in turn joins the River Derwent at Keswick. When Thirlmere Reservoir was constructed in the late 19th century, two of Great Dodd’s western streams, Ladknott Gill and Mill Gill, were captured by a water leat and diverted into the new reservoir.〔Alfred Wainwright: ''A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, Book 1: The Eastern Fells'': London: Frances Lincoln (2003) (): ISBN 0-7112-2227-4〕 The northern slopes of Great Dodd drain either into Mosedale and Mosedale Beck or into Trout Beck. These also flow into the River Greta (via the River Glenderamackin) and then to the Derwent. However, the eastern and southern slopes of Great Dodd drain into Deepdale and Aira Beck, which flows into Ullswater. The lake drains into the River Eamont, which then joins the River Eden near Penrith.〔 The beck in Deepdale undergoes a number of name changes. Beginning as Browndale Beck as it flows through the hanging valley of Deepdale, it becomes Rush Gill as it drops to Dowthwaitehead, and is then called Aira Beck. This is the head stream for the famous waterfall of Aira Force, a popular tourist sight. Similarly, Groove Beck, which rises on Matterdale Common, the north-east ridge of Great Dodd, becomes Thornsgill Beck and then Trout Beck, before joining the River Glenderamackin. There are no tarns on Great Dodd, and very few exposures of rock. Small crags do line the lower western slopes above St John's in the Vale. Lad Knott is the most prominent of these, and the deep ravine of Mill Gill also exposes the rock. On the north-east ridge Randerside, Wolf Crags and Dowthwaite Crag all display the rocks.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Great Dodd」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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