Originally, I got a bit obsessed with trying to complete these lists, but in the last couple of years I’ve focussed more on the quality of the walks and on making it enjoyable. Nevertheless, I’m still tracking how I’m doing and using the lists to help plan routes.
There’s numerous sites out there with information on the lists (a good place to start is Wikipedia.
The lists are described here in roughly the order of importance that I personally attach to them.
Wainwrights – the 214 fells of the Lake District as documented by Alfred Wainwright.
Trail 100 – a list compiled by Trail magazine representing the 100 “best” hills in the UK. Clearly this is subjective and in a sense arbitrary, but it’s a good list and I’m in general agreement that these are the best of the best. Because this list is not determined by criteria such as height, drop etc, it is a fixed list.
Nuttalls – two lists (one for Wales, one for England) compiled by John and Ann Nuttall. The criteria for inclusion are a height of 2,000ft and a drop of 50ft on all sides. Over the years a number of hills have been demoted from or added to the list as more accurate surveys are completed. Notably, Castell y Gwynt, a subsidiary top of Glyder Fach, was found to be not only a distinct summit but also over 3,000ft. Sadly, this came shortly after I completed a round of the Welsh 3000ers, passing Castell y Gwynt by yards and meaning I now have to go back.
Hewitts – Hills in England, Wales and Ireland over Two Thousand feet. A stricter set of drop criteria than the Nuttalls – 30m (98ft). The Hewitts in England (178) and Wales (138) are therefore a subset of the Nuttalls.
Wainwright Outlying Fells – After he completed his 7 Pictorial Guides and was getting on a bit, Alfred Wainwight turned his attention to the lower hills lying on the fringes of the Lake District National Park. The result was the book “The Outlying Fells of Lakeland”. Unlike the main 7 Pictorial Guides, the Outlying Fells are covered as a series of walks, with some walks visiting several summits, some of which are nameless. This list is gleaned from that book. I’m not specifically targetting completion of these, but as my main Wainwright quest spreads out from the central fells, it is inevitable that some of these come into play. So I’m recording which ones I’ve done and any that I can mop up, then great.
Marilyns – hills of 150m (500ft) prominence irrespective of absolute height. So this includes all the lowland high points too. Completing these is such a difficult and commendable achievement that I have no chance – there’s just too many. But I’m tracking my progress anyway.
Current Stats
No. | Out of | % | |
---|---|---|---|
Trail 100 | 43 | 100 | 43% |
Munros | 1 | 283 | 0% |
Hewitts – England | 108 | 178 | 61% |
Hewitts – Wales | 36 | 138 | 26% |
Hewitts – Ireland | 0 | 211 | 0% |
Hewitts – Total | 144 | 527 | 27% |
Nuttalls – England | 155 | 253 | 61% |
Nuttalls – Wales | 46 | 190 | 24% |
Nuttalls – Total | 201 | 443 | 45% |
Wainwrights | 167 | 214 | 78% |
Wainwright Outlying | 21 | 116 | 18% |
Marilyns | 58 | 1554 | 4% |
Birketts | 263 | 541 | 49% |
Lakeland Tarns | 69 | 302 | 23% |