Your features category
I certainly suspected that introducing objectivity into the selection process for the Worthies would be tricky and it has indeed proved exceptionally complex, because subjectivity inevitably interferes with every appraisal. Walkers are drawn to the hills for countless reasons. Many seek challenge and the satisfaction of reaching a summit. That is a perfectly valid reason. … Read more
Compiling a list of the finest hills in Britain and Ireland is necessarily subjective, even if strict criteria is adhered to. Most lists are qualified by height and relative prominence, with no weight given to what we might define as quality. There are many books in the ‘Greatest Walks’ category, although all have precepts, limitations … Read more
Ben Mor Coigach forms the entrée to Coigach and Assynt, a land of mystical pointy mountains. Driving north from Ullapool to Ardmair Bay the imposing wall of Garbh Coireachan thrusts into view, an awe-inspiring sight, with the dynamic interplay of light and sea constantly reflecting the capricious atmospheric conditions. What most observers will not comprehend … Read more
Tinto is the prized mountain of South Lanarkshire, the Sunday afternoon ascent for thousands of local families, with its imposing bulk providing a background view to their daily grind. Tinto is certainly a distinctive presence, a vast, solitary dome rising above a loop in the River Clyde to a height of 2,334 feet (711m). Having … Read more
The impact generated when sighting Buachaille Etive Mor is profound and permanent. It never wanes, however many times the traveller witnesses its rearing prow surging from the fringe of Rannoch Moor’s barren expanse. Nature has fashioned a mountain from a child’s sketchbook, its accessibility to the passing motorist has bestowed upon it a Hollywood presence, … Read more
Black Combe is an outlier, the elephant in the room of the Lake District Wainwrights. It is an isolated sentinel occupying the south west tip of the National Park, yet linked by continuous high ground to the Coniston range, whose mountains jostle for attention amidst the celebrated heights of the national park. Black Combe shrugs … Read more
Welcome to the first of potentially hundreds of blog posts detailing my project to list, photograph and eulogise the finest hills in Britain and Ireland. There are already numerous lists of hills, although most are categorised around relative elevation, rather than the perception of quality. For an exhaustive directory see the splendid website: www.hill-bagging.co.uk where … Read more