to such places.
More often than not, the highest point is glaringly obvious and will be marked by a cairn, trig pillar or monument. When it is not, such as the tops of Hertfordshire, Oxfordshire and Suffolk, an attempt is made in the route description to identify the exact highest point. Occasionally the location of the summit becomes a purely subjective matter; it is then up to the walker to decide on his or her highest point.
Using this guide
This guide is split into 82 route descriptions, taking the county tops of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland in turn. Six of those routes visit a pair of county tops because they are so close that they can easily be tackled together, while three further routes describe ascents of shared county tops, notably Ben Macdui, the summit of both Aberdeenshire and Banffshire. The Cheviot in Northumberland and Hangingstone Hill in Roxburghshire can also be easily visited in a single walk, but separate routes are given for the sake of preserving national identities.
The cairn straddling the summit of Dunkery Beacon, Somerset (Route 3)
Looking across Antrim from Slieve Gullion (Route 79)
At the beginning of each of the 82 route descriptions the following information is provided: height of the top (or tops) (in metres), location, where to start, map or maps required, difficulty and enjoyment ratings, distance (in kilometres and miles), ascent (in metres) and time required for the entire walk (see ‘Timing’ below). These information boxes are followed by a route description and a map indicating the start/finish point (except in the case of the longest routes which begin with a long walk in where the start/finish is off the map), the advised direction of travel and the location of the county top.
Difficulty
Each walk is given a difficulty rating between zero and five, which is based on a raft of factors, including route-finding, ascent, time, distance and terrain. The ratings are, however, all relative. A moderate walk will become harder in snow or in high winds, for instance. The ratings are simply to give a general impression of what the walker is likely to expect if they embark on any of the walks. Ben Nevis, Ben Macdui, Ben More Assynt and Carn Eige may not be the hardest mountains to climb in the UK, but they are certainly among the hardest to climb in this book, hence they are rated as five for difficulty.
Short-distance walks or ones involving a small amount of ascent are rated as zero or one. Longer walks requiring navigation skills and over rougher ground score two or three. Walks that are longer still (in distance and time), traverse complicated landscape, involve many hundreds of metres of height gain and loss, and are in locations where weather conditions can change rapidly, are rated as four or five.
Enjoyment
Ratings between zero and five are also given for enjoyment. Do not infer that a county top with a zero or one score means it is an awful place that is hardly worth visiting. It simply indicates that it is not as exciting as Helvellyn or Snowdon. Generally speaking, enjoyment and excitement levels go up the higher one ascends, but that is not always the case. Hills such as Holyhead Mountain on Anglesey, Leith Hill in Surrey and Worcestershire Beacon are fantastically rewarding places to visit, despite their relatively low altitude.
Enjoyment is, of course, hugely subjective. Climbing Ben Nevis can be a joy. There can be no greater feeling than standing on our nation’s summit. But a clag-shrouded, wind-buffeted Ben Nevis is a different proposition. Enjoyment levels begin to plummet and enthusiasm starts to flag. Weather, as always in the UK, is a great determinate of mood.
Timing
A frequent complaint about guidebooks is that the author has under- or overestimated times for walks. It is hard not to make a similar error. Wide time margins have therefore been provided in some cases, giving the shortest time for quick and experienced walkers and the longest time for those who prefer a slower pace. If anything the timings in this guide may be on the fast side. After you have followed a couple of the routes, however, you should be able to gauge where you fit into the ranges given and estimate your likely time accordingly.
Ascent
The total ascent – given in metres – includes not just the cumulative height climbed from start to summit, but also any encountered during the descent. Again, like timing, the amount of ascent may differ if slightly alternative routes are inadvertently followed.
When to go
The UK’s temperate climate means its hills and mountains are accessible year-round, although the highest Scottish mountains, Snowdonia, the Lake District peaks and the Pennines are likely to be snow-covered for long periods during the winter months. There are access restrictions on two of the county tops – High Willhays in Devon and Mickle Fell in Yorkshire – because both rise on Ministry of Defence land. Great Rhos in Radnorshire also lies close to a military ammunition testing area. Further details on access to these hills are given in the respective sections for each county top.
The best-known and most popular county tops – Ben Lomond, Ben Nevis, Dunkery Beacon, Helvellyn, Scafell Pike and Snowdon – can be tremendously busy during periods of fine and settled weather, especially during school holidays and the summer months. Ben Nevis is notoriously congested, with an estimated 160,000 people – a quarter of them charity walkers – scaling the mountain every year, the vast majority by the same path. To avoid the crowds on Ben Nevis and the other busiest county tops, begin an ascent early in the morning or go out of season.
Getting there
Unfortunately, public transport is not geared around the UK’s hills and mountains. Buses and trains will only get the walker so far. It may not be the most eco-friendly way, but a car is usually the easiest and quickest option and advice on where to park is given in the information box at the start of each route description. Mountain bikes can be used to speed ascents, particularly on long walks such as Ben Macdui and Morven. To get to Arran and Hoy (on Orkney), ferries must be called upon, departing from Ardrossan in Ayrshire and Stromness on Orkney’s Mainland respectively. Air and sea services operate between the Scottish mainland and Orkney and Shetland.
Safety in the hills
The UK’s hills and mountains can be challenging and daunting places, claiming dozens of lives each year. In 2009, mountain rescue teams in England and Wales dealt with 37 fatalities, while a further 667 people were injured. The number of reported incidents has increased year-on-year since 2004, rising from 609 to 1054 – close to three a day – in 2009. Falls and trips represent almost half of all mountain incidents, while many other call outs were prompted by walkers who were overdue or lost. Meanwhile, mountain rescue teams in Scotland reported 20 deaths and 60 serious injuries in 2008. Of the fatalities, seven occurred in summer walking conditions and six in winter. The busiest group was Lochaber, the team with responsibility for Ben Nevis. The two mountain rescue teams operating in Northern Ireland – Mourne and North West – were called to 54 incidents in 2008. Across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, teams dealt with 13 deaths (although four were the occupants of a light aircraft) during the year. More than half of the 214 incidents happened at weekends, with Sunday being busier than Saturday.
Rime-coated toposcope on Ben Macdui (Route 68)
Heavy winter snowfall in 2009 and 2010 also greatly heightened the risk of avalanches, particularly in Scotland. Three climbers died in an avalanche on Buachaille Etive Mor, a Glencoe Munro, in January 2009, in what
