Who “owns” hill lists ?

For baggers of British and Irish hills who take their hobby seriously, there is a very useful database of summit data on the website www.hills-database.co.uk – the Database of British and Irish Hills (DoBIH).  It lists data for over 9000 summits, including which hill lists that summit belongs to.

But who “owns” the lists ?

Increasingly accurate GPS technology has enabled recent surveys to determine summit heights to within a few centimetres, leading to the reclassification of a number of hills.  One of which, Beinn a’Chlaidheimh, caused a bit of a stir following a 2011 survey.

It is generally accepted that the Scottish Mountaineering Club is the “owner”/”guardian” of the list known as Munro’s Tables, as it was originally compiled from within the SMC and the club has published a number of updated lists over the years.  Also, the SMC has never made clear what the definition of a Munro is; they are Scottish hills with a height of at least 3000 feet but no prominence (or drop) measurement has been specified, leading to debate about apparent inconsistencies.

But, it is clear that that if a hill is under 3000 feet high, it can’t be a Munro.

Most, if not all, of the recent surveys have been carried out by a team of keen amateurs who submit their findings to the Ordnance Survey for verification. If the OS has any doubt about the method or accuracy, it will recommend that the survey be carried out again with suggestions about the method to be employed.  Ultimately, the OS is the arbiter of height data within Great Britain.

The survey of Beinn a’Chlaidheimh, confirmed by the OS, measured its height at 2999 feet; close to but below the Munro threshold.  But it took the SMC over a year to remove it from Munro’s Tables.

Despite the length of time taken, what happened wasn’t out of the ordinary:

                      i.        a hill is surveyed,

                     ii.        the measurement is confirmed by the Ordnance Survey,

                    iii.        the measurement indicates that a particular hill list needs to be updated,

                    iv.        the owner of the hill list is notified,

                     v.        the required change to the hill list is made.

This is the generally accepted way of maintaining hill lists, but some disagree.  I’m with the dissenters.

When a person compiles a list, they define the criteria for inclusion.  They “own” the criteria, not the list.

The DoBIH appears to have become, or is becoming, the single accepted repository of hill data.  So when it comes to light that an attribute of a hill (e.g. height or prominence) changes, the database will be updated and the appropriate hill lists can also be updated.

But updating hill lists should only occur if the amended data within the definition criteria is absolute.

For instance, it is easy to say whether a hill is a Nuttall or not as both the height and prominence criteria are specifically defined.  It is also easy to say which hills are not Munros but not quite as easy to say which are, as the definition is not clear.

Although a number of hill lists are “owned” by organisations such as the SMC, many are the product of individuals.  In the case of a list compiler dying, who then “owns” the list ?  Can a list be bequeathed ?  Whose permission does a surveyor have to get for a hill to be added to or removed from a list ?

Once the criteria of a hill list have been defined, the hills contained within the list will be subject to change, based on ever increasingly accurate surveys, but nobody “owns” the list.  Only cold hard data will determine whether a hill belongs on a list or not.

Touching Distance

Not words that describe the proximity of this trip’s fells to home, but something rather less tangible – the fact my remaining Wainwrights and Outlying Fells could be completed in 2 days, if I chose to do so.

Today’s objectives were those fells furthest away from home, in the far west of Cumbria – one of them so far west it lies outside the national park !  The end of Nannycatch Lane was the starting point for Flat Fell and Dent; dent being the fell lying outside the national park.  Cool and overcast conditions didn’t detract from the relaxed walking.  The true summit of Dent is rather uninspiring but the lower Wainwright summit is adorned by an impressive cairn.

Dent - the Wainwright summit

Wellington was the start of my walk up Blengdale to the Outlying Fell Ponsonby Fell – which “is very nearly in this category” of “fells not worth climbing” – according to Wainwright.  It’s not the best fell I’ve been to the top of, but its views and isolation lend it some value.  The stroll to Swainson Knott afforded views towards some of the most western of Wainwright’s 214 fells and the walk back to car on the forestry tracks rounded off a pleasant excursion.

Muncaster Fell was the final top of the day, which although climbed previously, I couldn’t be wholly sure that I had reached the actual summit which is listed as a rocky knoll near to the trig point.  From the summit I could see my final Wainwright – Seatallan – looming above a smaller fell which, after checking the map, I found to be my final Outlying Fell – Irton Pike.  This took me by surprise but seemed appropriate that the end of my Wainwright ticking odyssey was in sight, both figuratively and visually.

Muncaster Fell trig pillar

So, my final 4 Outlying Fells are Green Quarter Fell, Hollow Moor, Boat How and Irton Pike – my final 3 Wainwrights are Buckbarrow, Middle Fell and Seatallan.  I’ll be ticking these off, as well as the remainder of the FRCC 244 and Fellrangers, over the next few months with the finish on Seatallan to complete 4 lists on the same day.

I hope the sun will be shining !

Viewpoints

Each time I drive over Shap summit on the M6 I glance to the side to look for the small pyramidal summit of Kidsty Pike.  It’s a striking view amongst the rounded summits of the far-eastern fells and one that’s not overly familiar to those bagging the Wainwrights.

My goal for the day was to tick the Outlying Fells of the Seat Robert and Howes chapters in Wainwright’s book 8, and possibly the Nuttall of Branstree NE top.  It was yet another excursion into the Shap fells but probably my last for quite some time.

Seat Robert summit

The walk was one of solitude although the summits thereabouts are easily won and are pleasant places to be, despite the boggy nature of the terrain.  Seat Robert is a place to linger, with superb views of Cross Fell to the east and the High Street fells to the west.  Fewling Stones is an equally relaxing spot.  And both have a good view of the outstanding Kidsty Pike.

Haskew Tarn

Haskew Tarn was a worthwhile distraction from the summits, although as it was a day following a recent cold spell, the ground was easier to walk on than I suspect it would be once it had thawed.

Brunt Tongue

I descended to Mosedale Beck bridge where I rested for a while and enjoyed the view of the Brunt Tongue ridge, before taking in the ascent to the Howes ridge.  The walk had taken longer than expected so I was in two minds about ticking the Branstree top, but as it was the only Nuttall in the far-eastern fells that I hadn’t ticked, I decided to go for it as I didn’t want to return just for that summit.  There was quite a bit more snow at this height, but a fellrunner had left some convenient footprints for me to follow, making the walk just a bit easier.

High Street

There was an excellent view of the east face of High Street from the small summit cairn, but there wasn’t much else to recommend staying here for any longer.  I retraced my steps and easily reached the top of Howes before descending some well-consolidated neve on the way to Nabs Moor.  This afforded a nice view of Swindale before heading for home via the Mosedale Beck bridge and the boggy track back towards Tailbert.

This 10-hour day allowed me to tick 7 Outlying Fells, leaving only 7 to do.  Unfortunately, they’re spread out over the national park from far west to south-east but I’m sure that one or two will surprise me with some unusual views.

A New English Mountain

While browsing on Twitter this morning I came across a tweet posted by Grough announcing a “new” mountain had been found in England – Thack Moor.

Of course, the summit in question has always been there and its height has been constant – no tectonic upheaval has caused the mountain to rise – but recent surveys have determined that its summit height exceeded the 2000 feet required for “mountain” status.  And the margin by which it exceeded the benchmark height ?  2 centimetres !

By all accounts Thack Moor is one of a number of otherwise unremarkable northern Pennine moorland summits with its appeal being the quiet afforded by its relatively remote location – just north of the Hartside Pass summit on the A686.

The article on Grough’s website has significance for those hillwalkers who bag either HEWITTS or Nuttalls as Thack Moor has now been added to both of these hill lists.

There are usually grumblings within the bagging community when a mountain is promoted with some debate about whether those who have previously completed a list need to visit the “new” summit.  I take the view that if somebody has completed a list as it stood on the date of completion, they can retain “completer” status.  But I’d head out and tick it if I hadn’t already done so !

As many hill lists are specifically defined by summit height and prominence, I welcome these surveys as I am always keen to see accurate data – it’s a characteristic of my job !  Some say that the lists should be left alone – a view taken by many Munro enthusiasts – but I disagree.  If a definition is based only on measurable criteria then the classification will always be subject to change resulting from increasingly accurate surveys.

The Nuttalls is a list that I’m slowly working my way through so Thack Moor has now been added to my “To Do” list – I’m looking forward to visiting an area of the country that I’ve not been to before.

G & J Surveys (a team whose members are Graham Jackson, John Barnard and Myrddyn Phillips) carried out the survey with the results being confirmed by the Ordnance Survey.  This is the team whose previous surveys have resulted in the “demotion” of a Munro or two over the past couple of years.  I’m sure they’ll provide a few more reclassifications in months and years to come !

Deer Country

A sabbatical of 4 months had seriously impacted my plan to complete the Wainwrights and Outlying Fells this year.  So, to feel as if I was making some progress, I chose a route with a significant number of previously unticked summits that could be completed within the slowly growing hours of daylight.  Also, due to the recent cold spell, usually boggy terrain would most likely be frozen so this opportunity should not be ignored.  Shap was the obvious choice.

Parking in a large layby at the summit of the A6 at Shap, I headed downhill towards Hause Foot Farm at the bottom of, as Wainwright described, the loneliest valley within the national park.  It was quite easy to reach the ridge of the Crookdale Horseshoe and the first summit of High House Bank.  The broad ridge led easily to Robin Hood and then to Lord’s Seat, at which point I thought that I was not going to see any other walkers during the day. But a chap had walked up from Crookdale and after a brief conversation, he headed east along the ridge I had just walked, as I set off over varied ground towards the Nuttall of Harrop Pike.  I took advantage of a quick photo stop and headed towards more isolated country and Ulthwaite Rigg.

Despite a couple of days of above zero temperatures, the ground underfoot was quite firm.  Although the top inch or two had thawed, there was a permafrost-like layer underneath, strong enough to prevent my boots sinking into the peat.  Cold spells are definitely the best conditions to journey on to the fells west of Shap.

Descending towards Ulthwaite Rigg I spotted what I first thought were a number of fell ponies.  Once I’d looked through my monocular I clearly saw that they were a herd of 16 or 17 deer.  I got to within about 400 metres before they turned tail and headed down towards Sleddale Beck.  I saw them again as I traversed towards Great Saddle Crag but my viewpoint soon changed to leave them out of sight.  I saw another three as I climbed up the final slopes and two of them headed towards the previous herd and the third ran off towards the east.  This summit was the most defined of today’s Outlying Fells and offered welcome rocks upon which to rest.

Deer on Ulthwaite Rigg

On the next traverse to Sleddale Pike  I saw another, larger, herd of deer; this time about 50 in number which the previously seen third deer had joined.  Like the previous herd, they made their way down towards Sleddale once they realised I was heading in their direction.  The isolation of the Shap moors suits deer far more than humans, as proved by the numbers seen.

From the tiny cairn on the summit of Sleddale Pike the large granite erratic of Gray Bull is easily seen.  When I reached it I was tempted to climb it but didn’t want to risk a less than straightforward downclimb in winter boots.

Grey Bull - a Shap erratic

I crossed the slopes of Wasdale Pike, disturbing another herd of 20 or so deer, before dropping down in to Wasdale to cross Wasdale Beck and then head up to the top of the plantation.  From there, the walk to the car was the final easy stage of the walk, one which had seen the ticking of one Nuttall and six Outlying Fells.

Loweswater Fells

“The lesser heights and foothills of Lakeland, especially those on the fringe, are too much neglected in favour of the greater mountains, yet many of these unsought and unfashionable little hills are completely charming.”

I have walked over and stood on many of these “lesser heights and foothills” in the past few years and Alfred Wainwright’s introduction to Low Fell describes them perfectly.  The terrain is generally quite benign but the views, stood apart from the clustered higher fells, are often superb.

Easy lanes led to the slopes of Darling Fell followed by the crossing of Crabtree Beck to the Wainwright summit of Low Fell.  The cairned viewpoint a short way to the south leads the eye past water and mere to the heart of the high western fells.

Buttermere valley from Low Fell

Low Fell is one of those fells of which Wainwright’s summit differs from the true highpoint.  He obviously picks a point that he thinks has more merit due to view or terrain, and I wonder how many walkers miss their tick because of an alternate summit.  Mellbreak and Whiteside are two more examples.

This ridge’s second Wainwright of Fellbarrow is easily reached by strolling over the Birkett tops of Sourfoot Fell and Smithy Fell.  The descent off Mosser Fell needs care to avoid a mauling by the gorse and lower down has some boggier ground to negotiate.

Knock Murton is another fell, neither a Wainwright nor an Outlying Fell, which offers an easy walk with superb views as a reward.  Such was the clarity of the air, details could be picked out on Criffel over the Solway and individual tops on the Isle of Man’s North Barrule ridge could be picked out.

Isle of Man from Knock Murton

Three Chairs

I’ve long been a fan of Andy Goldsworthy.  His sculptures are masterpieces in the use of natural materials set in natural landscapes with his use of rock being excellent.

I stumbled upon the existence of “The Three Chairs” when researching a walk up to Clougha Pike, a TRAIL 100 summit on the edge of the Forest of Bowland that overlooks the Fylde peninsula and Lancaster.  It took a bit of digging to establish exactly where the sculpture was situated, but I stumbled across a GPS track that gave me a very good idea of where to look.

The Victoria Monument on the Quernmore-Abbeystead road has a spacious car park from where I set off.  The fence follows a straight line over some boggy ground to Grit Fell and then the hunt for the chairs was on.  Walking north-west over some very populated grouse moorland, the chairs soon came into view.

The Three Chairs

There is some debate as to the true name of the work with the internet suggesting “Clougha Pike” and “Clougha Pike Chambers”.  They look like three tissue boxes stood on their ends and can easily shelter one or two (or maybe three) people each.  They offer a superb photo-opportunity and I took full advantage of this.  They were the clear highlight of the walk.

Ingleborough

Like many lower hills, Clougha Pike has some good views too.  Ingleborough is the most prominent summit seen although the view to Lakeland was obscured by low lying cloud.  Blackpool Tower was clearly in view; its dark framework structure contrasting nicely with the brighter sky below the cloud level.

a distant Blackpool Tower

The summit of Clougha Pike is adorned with three shelters and a trig point and would be a pleasant spot to relax in good weather although the changeable conditions for this visit weren’t too bad.  But I am sure that it is not one of the UK’s best 100 hills, as deemed by its inclusion in Trail magazine’s list.

But if you want some art on your travails amongst the hills, there can’t be many better places with such a notable artist’s work featured.