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| Blackbeck Tarn | ||
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| Name Meaning | The black stream[1] | |
| Type | Areally scoured (glacial) Summit tarn |
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| Outflows | Black Beck | |
| Max. Length | 228 metres (750 feet) | |
| Max. Width | 91 metres (300 feet) | |
| Max. Depth | 2½ metres (8 feet) | |
| Surface Area | 0.90 hectares (2.22 acres) | |
| Surface Elevation | 487 metres (1,598 feet) | |
| Access | Footpaths | |
| Topo Map | OL4 Explorer | |
| Coordinates | 54.504269 , -3.2340202 | |
| OS Grid Ref. | NY201128 | |
| what3words | suitable.simulator.fixated | |
Blackbeck Tarn is a summit tarn perched on the ridge of Haystacks. It is the largest in a group of tarns scattered across this spine of rock, which broadens here considerably, offering some of the finest views in all of Lakeland. Its neighbours include Innominate Tarn, Haystacks Tarn (also known as Summit Tarn), and several unnamed bodies of water of various sizes not much bigger than small pools. Sitting at a fairly lofty elevation of 487 metres (1,598 feet), this elongated, pear-shaped tarn is nestled in a hollow that was gouged out by ice action of the Last Glacial Period by a process called areal scouring.
Etymology
We know that on the 1867 Ordnance Survey map the name used then is the name we use today. There are several instances of Blackbeck, or Black Beck, the most obvious meaning being the black stream, from black (see below) + Old Norse bekkr (beck).
An alternative form is seen in the name Blakebeck, the first element being blake (pale, pallid, wan, sallow), which comes from Middle English blak (black) or blac (pale), and from Old English blāc, which also means pale, and shining or foaming.[1]
Geography
The landform on this exposed outcrop is unlike that in the valley below where, having visited this summit on many occasions in different conditions, artist William Heaton Cooper (1903 – 1995), describes it thus:
Here above the steep dark crags of Warnscale, instead of a long narrow ridge there is a crown of minor summits bursting out of a broad shelf, with tarns and old tarn beds sprinkled between the rounded outcrops not pale bleached rock, entirely opposite in feeling to the crags and screes and smoothed valley below. Even on the dullest day this place gives me a sense of light, and many times have I gone up to this ridge of the haystacks when all the summits have been covered in cloud, and have found myself in sunlight.[2]
This shallow depression is mostly surrounded by rock on its fringes, with a gentler slope to the south where it has a marshland feel to it where the water drains in.[2] At the narrower end of the tarn, the outflow of Black Beck tumbles dramatically in a cascade of 300 metres (985 feet) where it flows into Warnscale Beck, along with a confluence of several small becks. At this point the water flows directly into Buttermere. This waterfall slices through a steep ravine between the rock faces of Haystacks and Green Crag. Cooper also describes the view from the top of Haystacks through the cleft of the ravine as one of the more dramatic sights:
The foreground is so gay with sparkling contrast of pale ashen rock and dark heather. Sometimes the breezes play over the glassy surface of the water, sending spears of blue across the colourful reflections. Through the gap the profiles of High Crag and High Stile, smoky blue as they often are, fall steeply and dramatically into the unseen valley. Sometimes their slopes are crowned by plumes of cloud blown across the valley by a western wind.[3]
The ever-changing weather conditions are key to how the light affects the views from this sometimes barren-looking landscape. Cooper painted Blackbeck Tarn in his signature watercolours, a scene of muted colours in an eclectic mix that tantalises imagination and piques one’s interest.
The main path that cuts across the ridge crosses the outflow, from where there are far-reaching views along the Buttermere Valley. In the opposite direction, the huge bulk of Great Gable stands dominant in the skyline. At the water’s edge, there is a variety of water flora suited to these higher elevations. The tarn is shallow, at only 2.5 metres (8 feet), and water horsetail and lobelia are most at home during the warmer months of the year.
references
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