on avalanche risk in Scotland is available at www.sais.gov.uk.
The ridge walks described in this guide, notably the Carn Mor Dearg Arête close to Ben Nevis or Striding Edge on Helvellyn, are potentially dangerous, and care should clearly be taken. Away from the obvious challenges of navigation, terrain and the gradient of a slope, an ever-present variable factor is the weather. Weather in the UK, particularly in Scotland, is notoriously changeable; Scots are not joking when they refer to ‘four seasons in one day’. Even in summer, the weather on the highest county tops can be extreme: high winds, thick mist and sometimes snow.
10 top tips for mountain safety
Always go equipped with a compass and map (and GPS if you can) – and know how to use them.
Plan your route in advance.
For the more challenging tops, work out an escape route should conditions deteriorate unexpectedly.
Always wear appropriate, comfortable footwear and carry waterproofs.
Always check mountain weather forecasts.
Know your own fitness levels.
Prepare for the temperature to be several degrees lower at the top of the hill than at the foot, and take the potential wind-chill factor into account.
Never be afraid to turn back or reduce expectations.
Make sure you tell somewhere what you plan to do, and tell them when you return.
And never forget: the hill will still be there tomorrow.
Merrick and Loch Valley from the Rig of the Jarkness (Route 56) (photo: Ronald Turnbull)
ALAN HINKES AND THE COUNTY TOPS
What does a man do once he has conquered the world’s 8000m mountains? He climbs England’s county tops, of course. Alan Hinkes, the first Briton to scale the 14 highest peaks on the planet, took up the challenge in 2010 to raise money for mountain rescue teams. Starting on The Cheviot and finishing on Helvellyn, Hinkes visited 39 county tops in just eight days. The summits chosen by Hinkes were predominately the historic county tops. There were three exceptions, however: in Oxfordshire he scaled Whitehorse Hill rather than Bald Hill; in Warwickshire he swapped Ebrington Hill for Turner’s Hill; in Cheshire he replaced Black Hill for Shining Tor. Reflecting on his marathon effort, Hinkes said: ‘The British mountains are not insignificant and I love to be out there, especially in Yorkshire and the Lakes. Other places might fascinate me at first impact but after being there a while I realise my heart is in the British hills.’
ENGLAND
Introduction
Worcestershire Beacon in the snow (Route 16)
From the lowlands of East Anglia to the high lands of the Lake District, England’s county tops are a broad assortment of hills and mountains. The highest of all is Scafell Pike, one of the so-called ’Three Peaks’ (along with Ben Nevis and Snowdon), as well as being the summit of Cumberland. Writing in one of his pictorial guides, hill chronicler Alfred Wainwright described Scafell Pike as ‘the ultimate, the supreme, the one objective above all others’.
From south to north, England’s county tops are at first lofty, with the highest points of Cornwall, Devon and Somerset all exceeding the 400m mark. The summits of the Home Counties and those around London come next: all low-lying and all under 300m.
Vertically challenged they may be, but these hills are not without attributes. Terrific views are guaranteed from Black Down in Sussex, Leith Hill in Surrey and Dunstable Downs in Bedfordshire, while the county tops of Cambridgeshire and Essex, and Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire, can be combined in entertaining walks. The pimples of the east are the lowest in England, with Huntingdonshire’s Boring Field the ultimate nadir. The high points of Norfolk and Suffolk are not much higher, but at least breach the 100m contour.
The westerly hills – Black Mountain in Herefordshire, Shropshire’s Brown Clee Hill and Worcestershire Beacon, as well as lovely Cleeve Common in Gloucestershire – will reaffirm the walker’s faith in the county tops. And from then on the hills begin to soar. First there are the boggy summits of the Peak District, with Derbyshire’s Kinder Scout – the scene of the Mass Trespass in 1932 – the best known of their number.
And finally England’s crowning glory: the Lake District, where Scafell Pike, The Old Man of Coniston (Lancashire) and Helvellyn (Westmorland) lie in wait. Here the walker treads in the footmarks of Wainwright and Wordsworth as he crosses England’s highest and most superlative mountains. Rising just 2km from the Scottish border is England’s last county top, The Cheviot, a brooding moorland mountain often immersed in swirling mist.
England’s 39 county tops, described here in 36 walks, encapsulate the vast array of the country’s high places, found in virtually every National Park and numerous Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
1 CORNWALL
Brown Willy 420m SX 1587 8000
| Location | Bodmin Moor, 6.5km SE of Camelford |
| Start | Car park (free) at Poldue Downs road head. SX 1383 8191 |
| OS map | Landranger 201 (Plymouth & Launceston), Explorer 109 (Bodmin Moor) |
| Difficulty | 3 |
| Enjoyment | **** |
| Distance | 7.5km (4.5 miles) |
| Ascent | 390m |
| Time | 1.5–2hrs |
The name ‘Brown Willy’ normally raises a titter, but there is nothing funny or frivolous about Cornwall’s highest point. Surveying brooding Bodmin Moor and the spectacular north and south Cornish coastlines, Brown Willy is a splendid hill that regularly features in lists of the UK’s best-loved high points. The moor’s most famous inhabitant (allegedly) – the Beast of Bodmin – needs no introduction; many claim to have spotted a black panther-like creature slipping through the mist. Brown Willy also features in an annual out-and-back race from Jamaica Inn (best known on account of Daphne du Maurier’s novel of the same name, published in 1936) on New Year’s Day, which is run ‘regardless of the weather’. The route described here takes the walker through wild moorland scenery and among rocky outcrops synonymous with Bodmin Moor.
Summit of Rough Tor
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