Picture Post: More snow forecast for Pen Y Ghent

This year could see a repeat of that if weather forecasters are to be believed, as more wintery weather is expected to hit the region in the coming weeks.

Standing at 694m and together with Ingleborough (723m) and Whernside (the highest at 736m), it forms one of the Yorkshire’s famous ‘Three Peaks’ and was first scaled in 1887. It is also part of the Pennine Way.

One of the most famous features of Pen-y-Ghent are the bare ‘rakes’, which are made of millstone grit and limestone and which were left exposed on its western face after a huge thunder storm in 1881 washed away all the topsoil.

There are also Neolithic remains, known as the Giant’s Grave, close by - the site can be found off the Stainforth to Halton Gill road near Pen-y-ghent House.

The fell is visible from the Settle to Carlisle Railway, particularly when arriving at the station at Horton-in-Ribhlesdale, where it looms majestically into view.

The name Pen Y Ghent comes down to us in the old Cumbric language, which is related to modern day Welsh. Thus, the word ‘pen’ means ‘head’ and ‘y’ is the definite article ‘the’, while it is thought ‘ghent’ could either be a tribal name which was attached to the mount or a corruption of the Welsh word for ‘edge’ or could allude to ‘winds’ (gwynt).

Whatever the true meaning, if snow does settle on the peak and surrounding area, it will transform an area already renowned for its natural beauty into one even more eerie and breathtaking.

In 2010, as snow and solemn silence smothered the land, the drifts around Pen Y Ghent were several feet deep, in some places entirely covering walls and stiles.

The seven day forecast for the peak shows a slight ‘snow risk’ on Monday and Tuesday but with an 80 per cent change of snow on Thursday.

Technical details: Picfture taken on a Nikon D800 camera with a 70-200mm lens at 145mm with an exposure of 1/200th sec at f20 with an ISO of 640