No.7 Before the Axe Falls

Before the Axe Falls

Pike O' Stickle

The Lake District

Cumbria

April 2024

Acrylic on canvas board

23.4" x 16.5"

Why I chose this scene/subject:

On that section, leg 3 of the BG, it's quite a distinctive peak. On my anticlockwise round, that's the view that hits you. It would have been around early evening, I felt that I was doing really well on my BG. As I left Wasdale car park, somebody said " enjoy it while it lasts, it's after Rossett Pike that the wheels will fall off ". When you say something like that to me, it really adds fuel to my fire. I thought, I'm not going to let my legs fall off at Pike O' Stickle. It's a key moment in most rounds, whether clockwise or anti-clockwise. after getting past this point and only having two full legs left from either Dunmail or Wasdale. It's pretty boggy, my kind of terrain, it's a really nice section, you can run most of it until you get to Bowfell when it starts getting rocky. There's also a fun little top to part scramble up to the summit of Pike O' Stickle.

Why I gave it this title:

When researching more about Pike O' Stickle, I thought it was interesting that there was once an ancient axe factory at this point. This tied in with it being a key point in the BGR. You need to get to this point before the axe falls on your BG attempt or otherwise find yourself defeatedly trudging on to Dunmail or totally bailing out and going down to the Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel.

Why it's in my Top 10:

I just really love that rock formation. Once you get up Steel fell, it's quite non-descript until you get to this feature. It holds a lot of good, bad and ugly memories from my own BG and supporting on many others.

I loved my chosen colour palette for this painting, giving it both a moody stormy feel whilst suggesting some early evening sunlight sneaking between the rainclouds and bouncing off the fells.

Next week it's No.8 Blood Boulder, Ruddy Rocks - Scafell Pike

See you then

Elaine.