Worthy Blog

This ongoing blog is to convey my developing thoughts on achieving a harmonious solution to choosing and categorising all the contenders for the Worthies. I had initially hoped that discussion through our social media channels would assist with input to determine best practice, but sadly it’s generally rather quiet for me out there in Meta … Read more

Triangulation Matters: Monuments of map making

Hill tops are fascinating places, often being adorned with fine cairns, monuments and, very frequently, trig pillars. Such structures can provide significant narratives in the chronicles of a mountain adding one of the many aspects of human interaction with the heights. In this feature we are going to explore trig points, or Triangulation Stations, which … Read more

The Compelling Case For The Coast

Hillwalking isn’t just about climbing hills. Those who solely climb hills are missing out on an equally enjoyable means of ascent and descent – the coastline. There are coastal mountains of course but the summits rarely consist of a trig point directly suspended above a sea cliff, making their coastal status dubious. On the other … Read more

Judging the Worthies – Part Two

I certainly suspected that introducing objectivity into the selection process for the Worthies would be tricky and it has indeed proved to be exceptionally complex, because subjectivity inevitably interferes with every appraisal. I reached out to various groups for perspective on what qualities attracted them to climb a particular hill and the answers were rather … Read more

Worthy Criteria – Judging the best (part one)

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

A Quest For The Worthies

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, categorised generally by statistical classifications and mostly based around relative elevation rather than the perception of quality. For an exhaustive directory see the … Read more