Old Man of Coniston stretch from north of the summit toward the Coppermines. The Old Man of Coniston is the inspiration for the so-called "Kanchenjunga", the Lake District mountain Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons climb in the Swallows and Amazons novel "Swallowdale". The slate quarries and copper mines inspired "Pigeon Post", a later novel in the same series. Old Man of Coniston The Old Man of Coniston is a fell in the Furness Fells in the English Lake District. It is high, and lies to the west of the village of Coniston and the lake, Coniston Water. The fell is sometimes known by the
Swallows and Amazons book for UK daily newspaper "The Manchester Guardian" (forerunner of "The Guardian") Malcolm Muggeridge wrote: "Children's books are probably the most difficult of all to write; they are certainly the most difficult to review. For children alone can properly judge their worth, and children, very wisely, never review. An adult has to refer back to his own childhood and ask himself: Would I have enjoyed such a book then? The answer, in the case of "Swallow and Amazons", [sic] is very definitely, Yes. Moreover, the book is entirely charming quite apart from its qualities as child literature. This is rare;