I
first started fell walking in my early teens, often with our village’s scout
group but also with my dad and his friends.
Along with the local area and the North York Moors, a little further
away, we would occasionally have a trip to the Lake District. For a few years after that time I turned away
from walking, concentrating on cycling, before eventually succumbing to a
sedentary life, overcome with the disappointments and failures of adulthood. But in time various events in my life started
nudging me, suggesting that I shouldn’t be so inactive, that I would suffer for
it in the end. A number of people at
work were into walking and I found their talking about it was reawakening my
long-buried enjoyment of the hills. On
my 40th birthday, I sneaked off to the Lake District and spent the
weekend at the Bridge Hotel in Buttermere.
I climbed a couple of the hills nearby and, although it left me limping
with the aching in my legs, I found I wanted more.
At
this point I hadn’t given much thought to ‘the Wainwrights’ – that is the 214
fells listed in Alfred Wainwright’s Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland
Fells. However, as the years passed and
I climbed more of the hills listed in his books, the idea grew to walk them
all, as so many have done before. Hence,
seven years later, I finally climbed the 214th one, Middle Fell in
Wasdale. It hadn’t been selected
particularly, it was just the way that holidays, convenience and other people’s
choices had led me. I had ended up with
five fells in Wasdale and so booked a couple of days in the Strands Inn in
Nether Wasdale to tick them off. The
weather could have been better – it was forecast to rain on and off for the
duration. It duly did on the last day
but I was fortunate enough for the rain to let up for an hour, precisely as I
got to the top of Middle Fell. The clouds
lifted, as if scooped up by AW’s hand above me, and I was granted a brief view
of the glorious views around me. The
clouds soon descended again and we returned to the village in drizzle.
As
I was approaching the top, I asked myself what I was feeling. At first, the answer was ‘not much’, this was
another fell, just like any of the ones I had walked before. A nice place, a nice walk, but nothing out of
the ordinary. But then I realised I was
grinning and noticed the elation that filled me. Suddenly I had the sense of achievement at
having walked over all of those felltops, seen so many places, in all sorts of
company and all sorts of conditions. For
a moment, I let myself felt quite pleased with myself.
As
I say, I have had many wonderful walks.
Fleetwith Edge with Jesper in the snow, a borrowed ice axe in my hand,
where the wind blew freezing cold on one side of the edge and the sun shone
warmly on the other. Scafell Pike with
Pete B in blazing sunshine; we cooled our feet on the way down in Sty Head tarn
and watched tiny fish come and investigate our toes. The Mosedale Horseshoe from Wasdale Head,
with Pete A, Rick and Ian; a proper big day in the high hills, including an
exciting scramble up Stirrup Crag.
Pillar is one of my favourite felltops, visible from all over the place
and with stunning views. Although my
favourite view, one whose beauty almost moved me to tears, was Eskdale from
Eskdale Pike, with the fearsome rocks of the Scafells above the wide, glacial
valley and the meandering, silver river at the bottom. There have been many excellent pubs too. The Royal Oak in Braithwaite is a regular,
early spring stopover; the Watermill at Ings is a frequent venue for food and
lovely beer; the Strands Inn is a brilliant find, being lively in a peaceful
valley and serving delicious beer. But
for location and splendid beer, the Kirkstile Inn at Loweswater takes some
beating, Buttermere being one of the best valleys there is.
People
keep asking me, ‘What next?’ I don’t
feel any pressure now, I find. When I
see the weather forecast, I no longer think, ‘Damn, no good for going up this
weekend.’ As I say, Middle Fell felt
just like one in a long line of fells, one in the middle, even. It’s not final, it’s just another step with
many more fells to be re-climbed, hopefully in better weather in some
cases. But, cheers, AW, thanks for the
inspiration.
