White Side - Topography and Mining History

Topography and Mining History

The western and eastern faces of White Side are quite different in appearance. The eastern face is predominanlty crag and scree falling abruptly to Keppel and Brown Coves. In contrast the western face falls gently to Thirlmere, the upper parts being mainly grass. The lower parts do provide some rock, such as Brown Crag, but these are generally outcrops rather than true crags.

A great steep-sided hollow is gouged out of the eastern face, just north of the summit. This is the corrie of Kepple Cove, backed by Red Screes. Kepple Cove once contained an artificial tarn, although today the bed is merely marshy except after heavy rain. The water from the tarn was used in a hydroelectric scheme to drive electric winding gear at Greenside Mine. Commissioned in 1891, this was the first such system in the country. It continued in use until the night of 29 October 1927 when the Kepple Cove dam burst during a heavy storm, leaving an 80 ft (24 m) wide gap in the earthworks. The resulting wave passed down the valley and through Glenridding village, flooding buildings and causing extensive damage. The breached dam can still be seen today.

South of Kepple Cove, between the southern ridge of White Side and Catstye Cam is Brown Cove. This also held an artificial tarn, but this is now reduced to a couple of small pools widening the stream. Brown Cove Tarn was another creation of the Greenside mine, a stone faced dam being built in about 1860. The dam is still in place but water now leaks through the base, the extended tarn-bed a smooth patch of luxuriant turf. A water leat passing beneath the north face of Catstye Cam to Red Tarn Beck can still be traced although it is now in ruins. There are also the remains of a level driven into the headwall of Brown Cove, a stone arched entrance leading to an 80-yard (73 m) tunnel. Water from Brown and Kepple Coves unites with the outflow of Helvellyn's Red Tarn to form Glenridding Beck, flowing on through the village to Ullswater.

The western slopes of White Side are bounded by Helvellyn and Brund Gills, both of which originally flowed north to the Vale of St John. With the construction of the Thirlmere reservoir scheme in 1884 these streams were diverted to feed the lake a cutting being made through the low ridge which runs parallel to the shore.