Clougha Pike

Clougha Pike is a hill in the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire, England. From the west it looms over the Conder Valley, the city of Lancaster and Lancaster University. It is visible from as far away as Barrow-in-Furness, South Lakeland mountains such as the Old Man of Coniston, and Blackpool Tower. From the west, it appears to be a large dome shape, with a cliff-like section at the very top. From the south-west, a series of notches or cloughs are visible in its flanks, giving the hill its distinctive name. The notches vary in size and run across the side of the hillside, but not down it. The largest notch has had part of its floor filled in by a small lake and swamp and is a dramatic gritstone boulder-strewn feature. These notches are thought to have been cut by meltwater flowing south-west from the area of Littledale, along the side of a glacier which occupied the Quernmore valley. They are known as marginal notch channels and are among the best examples of these features in Britain. ()