2024 - A Year in Review

Welcome to the annual review! It has been a mixed bag this year. My Wainwright tally has been lower than the previous two years. This is in large part because I did not dedicate as much of my time to the Lakes this year; instead increasing my tally in the Peak District, the Yorkshire Dales and Wales. The theme of 2024 was the three peaks. In May, I completed the Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge. Then in August, I climbed Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon), the highest mountain in Wales which, having already ascended Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis, completed my aim of climbing the three national peaks. I have also probably climbed more hills than ever before this year, the total being 52. Though in part I think this is because I have been more meticulous in recording hills from lesser known classifications, such as Hewitts and Birketts. There were disappointments along the way. Most notably my 'grand' cycle tour which did not end up happening. But overall, it has been a great year for being outdoors. 

The Wainwrights

If my memory serves me, last year I ticked off 45 Wainwrights, my highest yet, and the previous year, I bagged 25. This year the number is 24. I am fairly happy with that number though. This was my first full year with a young toddler at home which means free time is much less abundant than it used to be. But also, in previous years my two solo camping trips were primarily focused on bagging Wainwrights, whereas this year, only the first day of my second camping trip was used for this purpose, which was when I completed the Kentmere Horseshoe. 

I started the year off early. Looking back through my photos I was surprised to see that it was on the 6th of January that I took a trip to Grasmere, where I summitted Tarn Crag via Easedale Tarn. It was a great experience visiting the Lakes during Winter and a great way to bring in the new year. On the 27th January, my mate Alex and I wild camped on Grisedale Tarn, ticking off Nethermost Pike, Dollywagon Pike and Seat Sandal. I next visited the Lakes at the end of March, wild camping near the summit of Beda Head. I bivvied this one, with a tarp above my head. I'm pleased we put the tarp up as it was a rainy night. 

On the 24th May I completed the Kentmere Horsehoe. This allowed me to bag a handful of fells, though I had, some years back, bagged Thornthwaite Crag when I first did High Street. From the 27th to the 29th May I supported a group of Duke of Edinburgh gold students who attend the college where I work. On the second day of the trip, I walked from Hartsop to Patterdale, ticking off two Wainwrights: The Knott and Angletarn Pikes. 

On the 19th of July, I visited the far east of the Lakes, parking at Mardale car park next to Haweswater. I made my way up to High Street via Blea Water. From High Street there is a ridge leading up to another top, which is called Rough Crag. Though not a Wainwright, it is a Nuttall. The other two Wainwrights I visited on this walk were Rampsgill Head and High Raise. 

On the 14th September, I went for a walk in the far north fells. I'd largely neglected this area up until this point. I parked in Uldale and ticked off six Wainwrights: Longlands Fell, Brae Fell, Great Sca Fell, Knott, Meal Fell and Great Cockup. This was a very enjoyable walk and my perception of the landscape was that it was somewhat different from what I have previously encountered in the lakes, perhaps more closely resembling the Howgills.  

I paid one final visit to the Lakes just before Christmas on the 19th December. I was hoping to park at Patterdale, but struggled finding a spot and I had no cash to use in the car park there. So I went further ahead to Glennridding. From here, I went on a wintery walk ticking off Birks, St Sundays Crag, then Arnison Crag on the way back. The conditions were quite difficult. I was battered by strong winds as I traversed Birk. It was also very cold with snow on St Sunday Crag. I was hoping to bag another fell on my route back, to take the year's tally to a more rounded 25, but the conditions meant the walk took longer than I anticipated. 

The view out to Ullswater from Arnison Crag

Other Hill and Fell Walks

As well as Wainwrights, I have been trying to tick off other classifications like Nuttalls, Marilyns and Birketts. I ticked off three Nuttalls in the Yorkshire Dales when I completed the three peaks challenge: Pen-y-Ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough. My Mam and I went on a couple of walks in the Howgills. This is also within the boundaries of the Yorkshire Dales national park, although it sits within the county of Cumbria. I love the Howgills. My interest in this area began when I was a student at Lancaster university and I used to marvel at the "sleeping elephants" as Wainwright called them, when I travelled down the M6 motorway. When on the tops, it is like being in another world. The Howgills cover a relatively small area compared with some other hill formations, but there is so much to take your interest. Although you are never far from civilisation, you often can't see anything below, giving it the feel of being more remote than it is. And there is quite a compact collection of ghylls and small valleys, with so many little pockets that you could pass the day away exploring. In the first walk in the Howgills this year, we parked in Sedbergh and completed a circular walk up the small fell that overlooks the town called Winder. In my second visit, I parked at the Temperance Inn at Cautley. We made the steep climb up Cautley Spout, a fantastic waterfall walk, then up to the Calf and some of the other tops before making our way down. 

Cautley Spout in the Howgills

In May, I camped for a night near Hathersage in the Peak District. I made a dent in the Ethels, ticking off eight: Higher Shelf Stones, Bleaklow Head, Featherbed Top, Crook Hill, Higger Tor, White Path Moss, Standedge Pole, High Neb.

In August, I had a week-long family holiday on Holy Island, a small Welsh Island off the coast of Anglesey. One day I drove to the small town of Llanberris, where I took the tourist route up to the summit of Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon). On this walk I also ticked off Garnedd Ugain, a Nuttall situated on a ridge not far from Yr Wyddfa's summit. Toward the end of the holiday, I walked up a small Marilyn on Holy Island called Holyhead Mountain. 

I ticked off a couple of Marilyns in the Rossendale Valley: Freeholds Top and Hailstorm Hill. I revisited the Darwen Moors for the first time in about seven years. Darwen tower, near the top of Darwen Moor, is a very popular spot for locals and the tower has become a local landmark. It is a folly that was built to commemorate Queen Victoria's Jubilee. Hikers can climb to the top of it for a panoramic view of the area. The last time I came, I just visited the tower and the trig, but the true summit of Darwen Moor is a bit off the beaten track so I made sure I bagged this. I also visited the highest point on the moors, Cartridge hill, which has a pile of stones on the top and offers views south to Belmont and Winter Hill. On another excursion, I ticked off a small hill near Burnley called Thieveley Pike on Deerplay Moor. I then drove to Withens Clough Reservoir in Calderdale, from which I made the short walk up to Stoodley Pike and its iconic monument known to Pennine Wayfarers. 

Cycling

Last year I wrote a blog post describing my grand plan for a cycling trip. The plan was to travel from my home in Langho to Ings in the Lake District and then to Chapel-le-Dale in the Yorkshire Dales. I had booked the campsites and my plan was to build up my endurance in preparation for the trip in late May. The training started fairly well. I was cycling into work quite regularly. Then on weekends I was upping my mileage each week. One week I cycled from my home to Garstang and in another, to Hebden Bridge and back. My personal highlight was cycling to Blackpool and back. This amounted to about 65 miles, the most I had ever done to this point. But after this, my progress seriously tailed off and I struggled to find the time to put in the mileage. 

As the date approached, I simply felt completely underprepared for the expedition, both in terms of my fitness and doing some maintenance on the bike prior to the trip. Also, I unwittingly booked a platelet donation appointment the day prior to setting off. Platelet donation is like blood donation, but takes a lot longer (about 80 mins) and my appointment was in the evening. Donating usually leaves me feeling a little lethargic the next day. So I changed my plans. In the end, everything turned out quite well. Ings village is fairly close to Kentmere so I decided to use this day to finally complete the Kentmere horseshoe. Then, as luck would have it, I found out that Chapel-le-Dale is on the Yorkshire Three Peaks route. Indeed, the track leading to the campsite I was staying on was on the route!

I reach the shore at Blackpool!

Wild Camping

I went on three wild camps this year with my mate Alex. The first was in January in quite wintry conditions. From a car park on the opposite side of the main road from Thirlmere Lake, we walked up to Nethermost Pike, a peak just south of Hellvellyn on the same ridge. The winds were strong and the visibility was poor on the tops. We continued following the ridge southwards, bagging Dollywaggon Pike, and then descended from the ridge to Grisedale Tarn (see an earlier post for more details on this camp). The next morning we bagged Seat Sandal before proceeding down raise beck, which drains Grisedale tarn on route back. The descent down raise beck was probably the highlight of the camp; a pleasant walk with eye catching waterfalls and pools. Though I am sure the ridgewalk would have been much more enjoyable if we could see our surroundings!

In March, we bivvied on Beda Head, sheltered from the rain by a tarp. I well remember the walk back to the tent on the morning as we had the pleasure of seeing a large congregation of deer. In October, we took the treacherously steep and windy road opposite the Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel in Great Langdale. We parked in the national trust car park opposite Blea Tarn. From here we walked up Lingmoor fell. The wind was battering us and we were becoming concerned that it would be a very rough night. Fortunately, we managed to find a more sheltered spot, which happened to offer fantastic views out to Windermere. 

A smashing sunrise above Windermere, admired from my perch on Lingmoor Fell

More to Come in 2025

In my next post, I will be discussing some of my plans for this year. My main aim is to put a sizeable dent in the remaining Wainwrights. I have 90 remaining and I am hoping to get these ticked off within the next two years. Anyway, I'll save further talk of this to the next post.