Great Calva

Great Calva
Seen from Birkett Edge on Bakestall, 2 km to the west. The track to Skiddaw House runs along the base of the fell.
Highest point
Elevation	690 m (2,260 ft)
Prominence	c. 142 m
Parent peak	Knott
Listing	Wainwright, Hewitt, Nuttall
Coordinates	54°40′08″N 3°06′07″W / 54.669°N 3.102°W / 54.669; -3.102Coordinates: 54°40′08″N 3°06′07″W / 54.669°N 3.102°W / 54.669; -3.102
Geography
Great Calva Location in Lake District, UK
Location	Cumbria, England
Parent range	Lake District, Northern Fells
OS grid	NY291312
Topo map	OS Explorer OL4

Great Calva is a fell in the Lake District, England. It is in the Northern Fells, lying roughly at the centre of this region of high ground. As a result, it is distant from roads and quite remote by Lakeland standards. Great Calva stands at the head of a major geological fault running through the centre of the Lake District, and so from the summit it is possible to see all the way south over Thirlmere. The subsidiary summit of Little Calva lies to the west.

Skiddaw and Blencathra are the best known of the Northern Fells, fronting the range as they loom above Keswick and the road to Penrith. Behind this wall is a further group of fells, commonly referred to as Back o' Skiddaw. This group is centred upon Knott and Great Calva is its southernmost top.

To the south of Great Calva, at the centre of the Northern Fells, is Skiddaw Forest. Confusingly this Forest contains no trees, —other than the windbreak of Skiddaw House — but is a marshy upland area at around 1,300 ft surrounded on all sides by higher fells. Three streams flow from Skiddaw Forest, dividing the Northern Fells into three sectors. Dash Beck runs north west, the River Caldew north east and the River Glenderaterra south. The three groups of fells can conveniently be thought of as the Skiddaw massif, the Blencathra group and Back O'Skiddaw. The single building in Skiddaw Forest is Skiddaw House which has variously seen service as a shepherds' bothy and a Youth Hostel.

Great Calva appears from Skiddaw Forest as a steep sided pyramid, clad predominantly in heather. The summit is a curving ridge half a mile long, with Great Calva at the eastern end and Little Calva to the west. The ridge itself is extremely wet underfoot. From between the two tops, Dead Beck runs down into Candleseaves Bog, the source of both the Caldew and Dash Beck. Great Calva has a prominent southern spur, around which the Caldew flows before steering north east for the Eden Valley. In a strict topographical sense Candleseaves Bog is the connection between Great Calva and Skiddaw, but it could hardly be described as a ridge route.

Running north east from Little Calva is a ridge which drops to a col at 1,797 ft, before rising up the flanks of Knott. There are a couple of small tarns on the Great Calva side of the depression. From the col Wiley Gill runs south east to join the Caldew and Hause Gill flows westward to Dash Beck.