(That Was The Year That Was) With apologies to Millicent martin
With what was probably the last hill walk of the year behind me I thought it would be a good time to
take stock of what has been a very active year for me, walking wise at least. However it did not
start out that way.
In January I was laid low with a nasty attack of shingles and when I did eventually venture out into
the hills again I was so unfit that I needed 3 rests just to get to the summit of Glenridding Dodd
(a steep1000 feet of ascent) but somehow or other in the following months I worked my fitness up to
a level I hadn't been able to achieve for a decade or more and, perhaps as a result, have managed
more hill walking in the one year than in the whole of the previous ten.
I was lucky in three respects. Firstly the exceptional weather, secondly the considerable expanse of
pastures new within day trip distance of home and thirdly no serious recurrence of the knee problems
that had plagued me since the late 80s.
It hasn't all been chasing Wainwrights. SWEATS and Marilyns, particularly in the Dales, have figured
prominently and while 3 weekends in South Wales have yielded but one new summit I have as usual
enjoyed the old ground of the Myndd Du and may well have increased by a half dozen or more my
ascents of Fan Brycheiniog, etc.
I have never in the past kept much of a record of my wanderings but this year I have been able to
construct in retrospect quite a complete record from saved tracklogs, the only gaps being in South
Wales where I don't appear to have kept much of the repetition. The figures I quote below are
(touch wood) complete apart from the South Wales repeats and the occasional repeat of a summit on
the same day.
So, 167 summits of which 140 were new to me. Of the new summits 83 were Wainwrights, 9 were
Wainwrights Outlying Fells, 49 were SWEATS and 42 were Marilyns. The categories are of course not
necessarily mutually exclusive. Of the 27 repeats almost all (25) were Wainwrights.
Regrets? I've had a few. I was going to treat myself to an attempt on the Three Peaks but the only
walk I did this year that was anywhere near comparable (the Martindale Round) convinced me not to
try. This was also the year I was going to get to Ireland for the first time and finish the 3000
Furths. I didn't make it and I doubt whether I will get such a good chance again.
Best wishes for Xmas and the New Year to all our readers.
--
Roger Looking North over the Aire Valley (and Marley Gasworks) to Rombolds Moor Top Posters
killfiled on sight