UKC

Hi there

I want to walk all the wainwright fells.

Quite experienced, so want to do it all on my own.

However, I lack documentation about how to do it.

A website tells me I can buy something online about how to do the 214 fells in 59 walks or something.....is there anywhere I can get this for free?

Or does anyone have any guides about my venture?

In reply to aujayeb: Get the maps out and plan your own routes, it would be so much better than following the normal trails to the tops.

In reply to aujayeb:

There is a book by Stuart Marshall called "Walking the Wainwrights" which sets this out. But, some of the routes are long and hard going and I'd agree with the second poster - much better to plan your own routes.

Also that book doesn't have enough detail in by itself. You still need maps and route finding ability.

I might even be so bold as to recommend buying the Wainwright Guides themselves. Great guides and great to just read off the hill also.

In reply to aujayeb: I use a combination of the 7 guidebooks, which have AWs views on ridge walks - which can be useful, together with Hill-Bagging.co.uk, which shows me groupings of fells and then the OS maps.

In reply to TheDrunkenBakers:

Thanks. What do you mean by AW?

Those books will set me back something like 80-90 pounds!

In reply to aujayeb:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Wainwright

The books are about a £12 each and can be purchased separately.

In reply to aujayeb:
Blimey, your thinking of walking all the Lakeland Fells and don't know AW!

In reply to aujayeb:
Alfred Wainwright, after whom the Wainwright fells are named.


And a more delightful sets of books about British hills you will never find.

You just need a list of the summits and a BMC lakeland map. Twelve quid if you're a member and then you're good to go.

This is the Lake District we're talking about - no savages, no dragons, no shark infested swamps, just a gentle corner of England where you can wonder around at will. Pick a route and go.

In reply to Jim Lancs:


Sure about that? Ive been to a few Keswick Pubs on a Fri/Sat night and some were more scary that any you'll find in a fairy story.

In reply to aljones27:

It depends how you want to approach things. The Stuart Marshall book is aimed at getting the hills ticked in as few days as possible.

I personally haven't found the routes hard going- I did one the other day from Grasmere: Silver Howe, Blea Crag, Pavey Ark, Harrison Stickle, Loft Crag, Pike of Stickle, Thunacar Knott, High Raise, Sargeant Man, Tarn Crag and back to Grasmere: 5 hours 30 minutes.

So, if you want as quick a completion as possible and don't want to plan your routes, that book is very useful.

Having said all that, there's something special about an unhurried stroll around Wainwright's hills.

In reply to bentley's biceps:

Awesome reply. I suppose I will hunt around for that book. I am not bothered about doing my own routes....

For background, I am moving back to the UK for two years and will leave permanently after that, so want to do that before as will be living in Newcastle.

Thanks

avi

In reply to aujayeb:

I'd say get the Harveys Superwalker maps as they have all the wainwright fells handily marked in red.

Also they are waterproof which is always useful in the lakes.
From my experience of wainwright bagging the books are massively useful with some of the more obscure/hard to find fell summits

All the mountains are on this site. It's good to keep track of what you do.

http://www.hill-bagging.co.uk/progress.php

It's easy to plan your own routes like someone said get a Harveys map or the BMC map.

In reply to trish1968:

Thanks, will buy the book and the map

In reply to aujayeb:

Just be warned that some of the summits Wainwright selected for his books aren't exactly inspiring (Mungrizdale Common perhaps being the best example) so try to have a mixture of days doing the classic horseshoes and ridges along with days picking off the lesser tops.

That's not to say that some of the lower tops aren't worth doing - the Mell Fells are lovely viewpoints away from the main mass of fells - just be prepared for some dull, if quiet, walks.

There's probably around 160 of the tops that feel worthwhile with a lot of the rest being points on a ridge - Birkhouse Moor, Birks, Arnison Crag & Hart Side being examples from the Eastern fells - they don't even feel like separate entities and there are many points on ridges that have more prominence that don't get a separate chapter.

Whatever, enjoy all your days out in the Lakes.

ALC

In reply to trish1968:

Best site on the net.

In reply to a lakeland climber:
Although I went over Birkhouse Moor and Arnison Crag as parts of walks on Helvellyn and St Sunday respectively, and in both cases I was quite glad that I went that way rather than just trogging along the usual route for the nth time.

The idea of trying to charge round all the Wainwrights as quickly as possible seems a little weird to me, but ticking them gradually is a great way of forcing yourself to do something outside of the default old favourites...

In reply to aujayeb:

This is the Stuart Marshall book - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Walking-Wainwrights-With-Stuart-Marshall/dp/1850587...

I use that along with the BMC to the Lake District and some guidebooks the wife bought. It's not hard to plan your own walks however. The Marshall book definitely requires a bit more of an adventurous approach as his walks to sometimes take you off the beaten path. But as others have said, it's the Lake District, nothing serious. If you're a fit walker, you won't have any problems with the walks in that book and it's quite possible to do it all in 30 or so walks.

In reply to mattrm:

Thanks. I know the criticism for bagging the list, but I think it is something worthwhile achieving over two years

In reply to aujayeb: Mail me and I will mail you back Stuart Marshall's spread sheet for the Wainwrights in 35 outings. I set up my own spread sheets by area but this is a help.

I also found that stridingedge.net was an invaluable tool. Really good photos and the ability to string some of the remote hills together.

You do need to do your own planning but I'll take help along the way.

In reply to trish1968: And of course:
- http://www.ukhillwalking.com/logbook/set.php?id=14

All the Wainwrights shown on OS maps, and you can log your progress as you tick your way through them.

In reply to aujayeb:

As good as the BMC map is, it doesn't cover all of the Wainwrights - there are 25 missing, split across the Northern and Western fells.

In reply to aujayeb:

Yeah, ignore the criticism and go for it, you'll get a lot of great days out of it. Personally I'd be tempted to sit down with the original books and a couple of OS maps and plan my own walks though, rather than just getting a walkthough. Seems rather more in the spirit of exploration and discovery that AW would have approved of...

Speculative question - which of the books would be easiest to "tick" in a single continuous walk? And which would involve the least redundant "there-and-back" bits? I'd guess Northern or Central would be easiest, maybe...

In reply to aujayeb: I have a great book by Bob Allen called walking the ridges of Lakeland. I've only got the first volume and its out of print now. It suggests routes based on the aw guides. He took a map of the lakes and drew straight lines between all the tops that wainwright connects with a ridge route. It gives you all the classic ridge walks / horseshoes but also some interesting routes that don't at all appear to be obvious when you just look at the map.

As I couldn't get hold of vol. 2, I went through my wainwrights and did my own version of this map using a topo style map that shows just the wainwright tops. You can buy these in fishers, Keswick, to use as a tick list. Some good routes come out of it if you want to devise your own link ups.

Anyone got a vol 2 they want to sell?

In reply to TheDrunkenBakers:

yeah that site is quite good, i have an app on the ipad called hill lists that i started a few years ago, so going with that....

In reply to mattrm:

all in 30 or so walks? amazing!!

In reply to aujayeb:
I've done just over 100 of them now. I use the Stuart Marshall book but only loosely, as a guide to planning my own walks. There is a site called go4awalk.com that will suggest others (if you pay)

In reply to birdie num num:
Ha.yeah, I am not keen on paying for a walk

In reply to aujayeb:

The beauty of the BMC map is that (like the old OS 1" tourist map) the shading makes the terrain and especially the ridges stand out which makes route planning a doddle. I've come up with some cracking walks after only a few minutes of study that I've not seen described in books.

Except for the ones not on that map, obviously.