{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{short description|Mountain in Cumbria, England}} {{Infobox mountain | name = The Calf | image = The Calf summit.jpg | image_caption = The [[trig point]] at the summit, looking<br />towards the distant [[Pennines]] | elevation_m = 676 | elevation_ref = | prominence_m = 383 | prominence_ref = | parent_peak = [[Cross Fell]] | listing = [[Marilyn (hill)|Marilyn]], [[Hewitt (hill)|Hewitt]], [[Nuttall (hill)|Nuttall]] | location = {{center|[[Yorkshire Dales]], [[Westmorland and Furness]], [[Cumbria]], England}} | range = | coordinates = {{coord|54.36742|N|2.51403|W|type:mountain_scale:100000|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | grid_ref_UK = SD667970 | topo = [[Ordnance Survey|OS]] ''Landranger'' 98 | type = | age = | first_ascent = | easiest_route = | map = United Kingdom Yorkshire Dales | label_position = bottom }}

'''The Calf''', at an elevation of {{convert|676|m}},<ref name="hillbagging">{{cite web |title=The Calf |url=https://www.hill-bagging.co.uk/mountaindetails.php?qu=S&rf=2732 |website=Hill Bagging |access-date=19 December 2023}}</ref> is the highest point in the [[Howgill Fells]], an area of high ground in north-west England. It is in the north-west of the [[Yorkshire Dales]] in [[Westmorland and Furness]] in the county of [[Cumbria]] (historically it was on the [[West Riding of Yorkshire]]/[[Westmorland]] boundary). It can be ascended from the town of [[Sedbergh]] to the south, by way of [[Cautley Spout]] from the east, or up the long valley of Langdale from the north. The Sedbergh ascent is the most popular, and has the distinction of being on good paths all the way.

The summit commands an extensive [[panorama]], although foreground detail is obscured by the extreme flatness of the plateau. A twenty-mile skyline of the [[Lake District|Lakeland]] peaks can be seen, as well as the [[Yorkshire Three Peaks]] and many of the nearer Howgill Fells.

[[Alfred Wainwright]], in his ''Walks on the Howgill Fells'', describes a route from Sedbergh to Calders and The Calf as "the classic high-level walk on the Howgill Fells". He includes a drawing of the [[Triangulation station|trig point]] on the summit of The Calf, discusses a "reclining" standing stone 400 yards to the north-east which appears on large-scale Ordnance Survey maps, and spends a column of text discussing "the altitude of Calders", which he estimates as 2215 ft. He gives diagrams of the views covering the full 360 degrees, and sketches of the Lakeland skyline and the view of the [[Yorkshire Three Peaks]] to the south-east. He also describes ascents of the Calf from [[Castley]] ("this impressive expedition", "a beautiful walk"), Beck Houses<!-- Note to editors: Not the Beck Houses hamlet which has an article --> farm on the west of the Howgills (" this high-level traverse of the plateau splendidly reveals the topographical details of the Howgills") and [[Bowderdale]] ("the longest direct ascent of The Calf").<ref name=wainwright>{{cite book |last1=Wainwright |first1=A. |title=Walks on the Howgill Fells |date=1972 |publisher=Westmorland Gazette |page=6(1-6), 9(1), 10(1), 17(1)}}</ref>

'''Calders''', at {{convert|674|m}}, is about 1&nbsp;km SSE of the summit of The Calf. It is classified as a [[Hill lists in the British Isles#Hewitts|Hewitt]].

==References== {{reflist}}

{{Northern Dales}} {{Marilyns N Eng}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calf, The}} [[Category:Peaks of the Yorkshire Dales]] [[Category:Marilyns of England]] [[Category:Hewitts of England]] [[Category:Nuttalls]] [[Category:Mountains and hills of Cumbria]] [[Category:Sedbergh]]

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