Rucksack Club Journal Vol. II, No. 1, 61-65 (1911)

 

Original Optical Character Read with corrections, not necessarily complete. Names of mountains (for example Tryfaen) have not been corrected.

 

TWENTY - FIVES.

 

During the last few years there has arisen among some of the members of the Rucksack Club a new craze or hobby, which may be looked upon as a special form of the old passion for “peak­bagging” which has long been known to mountaineers. This hobby consists in visiting as many as possible of the English and Welsh summits which are more than 2,500 feet above sea level. The twenty-fiver is distinguished from the ordinary peak-bagger by the thoroughness of his work. The latter, for example, on going for the Cheviot is content when he has reached the triangle of stakes which marks the highest point of Northumberland. Not so the twenty-fiver. To him the triangle aforesaid only represents one of the several points of the Cheviot which require his attention. Cairn Hill and Bellyside Crag must also be visited, and there is, moreover, a point to which the ordnance surveyors have attached a bench-mark, but for which they have not been able to find any name. And if, as usually happens, the twenty-fiver is also collect­ing the highest points of counties, a short detour to the Scotch border will add the highest point in Roxburghshire to his list. Even in such a popular holiday ground as the Lake district there are summits which are scarcely visited, except by those guided by some such principle as the search for “twenty-fives.” Consider the Haycock, for instance. Last Easter two enthusiastic twenty­-fivers bagged this peak from Dungeon Ghyll, but both of them had neglected it when staying in Wasdale, before the lust for twenty-fives had come upon them. And how many members of the Ruck­sack Club can declare, upon their honour, that they have ascended Slight Side, Stony Cove, Stybarrow Dod, and the Grey Friar?

     But when a party of twentyfivers begin to compare notes, it is not the unconsidered corners of the Lake district or of Carnarvonshire that form the principal topics of conversation. They turn rather to the isolated peaks which offer no attraction to the rock-climbing fraternity, and whose distance from the nearest possible base of operations, forms the chief obstacle to be overcome. It is the northern Pennines, and the Brecknockshire mountains which hold the first places in the esteem of the true twenty-fiver, and he who fails to visit these hills misses what is in its way some of the grandest scenery in Great Britain. A list of the “twenty-fives” is appended, with a short description of each group.

 

THE CHEVIOT, a round-topped granite hill, is best approached from Wooler, from which station it may be reached within a day; but if it is proposed to traverse the mountain, two days should be allowed. The summits above 2,500 feet are :—

 

The Cheviot              2676 feet

Cairn Hill                  2545

Bellyside Crag          2656

(Nameless)               2547

 

THE CROSS FELL, or Northern Pennine group, consists of a high escarpment of carboniferous rocks, dipping to the east, and cut off on the west by the Pennine Faults. The summits are all capped with millstone grit, and bear a close resemblance to the highest points of Cheshire and Derbyshire. On the east side good accommodation may be had at Forest-in-Teesdale, over 1,250 feet above sea level; on the west the villages are lower, but nearer to the summits. The easiest approach is up Knock Ore Gill from Dufton. From the top of this gill a high level track traverses the Dun Fell or Milburn Forest group, about 2,300 feet above sea level, to Tees Head. The Peaks are :—

 

Skirwith Fell                                2562 feet

Cross Fell                                    2930

                      do                          2893

                      do                          2739

Fallow Hill                                   2563

Little Dun Fell 2761      otherwise called

Great Dun Fell                             2780     Milburn Forest.

Knock Fell                                  2604

                      do                          2582

Mickle Fell                                  2591

 

Mickle Fell is the highest point in Yorkshire. The highest point in Durham (Burnhope Seat 2,400 feet), is separated from Cross Fell by the Tees and South Tyne valleys.

 

THE LAKE DISTRICT may be divided into several groups of mountains. Two of these groups consist of. sedimentary rocks of the Skiddaw slate series, and have comparatively easy slops; while the remainder, consisting of the Borrowdale series of volcanic. rocks, are more rugged. The summits in the Skiddaw slate area are

 

Skiddaw             3054 feet

Low Man           2837

Saddleback        2847

 

and to the West of Bassenthwaite Lake :—

 

Grisedale Pike     2593 feet

Sand Hill             2525

Eel Crag             2649

Grassmoor          2791

(Nameless)         2533

   do                   2749

Sail                     2500

 

The summits in the volcanic area to the West of Sty Head are :—

 

High Stile            2643 feet

Green Gable       2643

Great Gable        2949

Kirk Fell             2631

Pillar Fell            2927

Steeple               2681

  do                    2746

Haycock             2619

Red Pike            2707

  do                    2629

 

Between Sty Head and Esk Hause, we have :—

 

 

Slight Side          2501 feet

Sca Fell              3162

Sca Fell Pike      3210

Broad Crag      

Ill Crag         

Ling Mell            2649

Great End           2984

Allen Crags        2572

Glanmara (sic)  2562

 

Scafell Pike is of course the highest point in Cumberland. Between Esk Hause and Dunmail Raise, are:—

 

Dow Crag                                2559 feet

Coniston Old Man                    2633

Fairfield                                    2611

Great How Crags                     2625

Wetherlam                                2502

Carrs                                        2525

Grey Friar                                2537

Crinkle Crags                           2733

Long Top                                 2816

Shelter Crags                            2631

Bow Fell                                  2960

Hanging Knott   

(Nameless) near Esk Hause      2903

High White Stones..

 

Coniston Old Man is the highest mountain in Lancashire. Further East again between Dunmail Raise and the Kirkstone Pass, are :—-

 

Red Screes                   2541 feet

Dove Crag                    2541

Hart Crag                     2698

Fairfield                        2863

Great Rigg                    2513

St. Sunday Crag           2756

Gavel Pike                    2577

Dollywaggon Pike         2810

Helvellyn                       3118

Striding Edge           

Cachedicam      

Low Man                     3033

White Dodd                 2832

Raise                            2889

Styharrow Dodd           2756

Watson’s Dodd            2584

Great Dodd                  2807

 

The summit of Helvellyn is the highest point in Westmoreland. The final ridge to the east of the Kirkstone Pass contains:—

 

Stony Cove                  2502 feet

Thornthwaite Crag...

Harter Fell    

High Street                   2663

Kidsty Pike                  2560

High Raise                    2634

 

making altogether eighty summits in England which reach the required level.

 

In Wales the first ridge to be considered is the Berwyn, an escarpment of volcanic ash facing south-west, and dipping north. east to the Dee Valley. It may conveniently be ascended up the dip slope from any station between Corwen and Bala. The summits are:—

 

Cader Fronwen    2568 feet

Moe! Sych           2713

 

The summit of Moel Sych is in three counties: Merioneth, Denbigh and Montgomery, and is the highest point of the latter two.

The principal mountain mass of Wales is in Carnarvonshire, and is of a very complicated geological structure. Sedimentary, volcanic, and plutonic rocks mingle in almost inextricable confusion, and exhibit every variety of mountain from the smooth felsite dome of Foel Grach to the sharp escarpment of Tryfaen. The range is divided into several parts by road passes. The peaks to the north of Ogwen Lake are:—

 

Drum                           2528 feet

Liwydnor Mawr           2745

Yr Aryg                       2875

Bera Mawr                  2587

Bera Bach       

Foel Grach                   3195

Foel Fras                     3091

Carnedd Llewel!vn. 3484

Yr Elen                        3151

Carnedd Dafvdd           3426

Braich Du                     3184

Craig Du                      3169

Pen Helig                     2731

Pen Llithing yr Wrach   2621

 

Between the Ogwen and Llanberis passes are:-

 

Carnedd y Filiast .     2694 feet

Mod Perfedd             2750

Foel Goch                 2726

Elidyr Fawr               3029

Elidyr Fach                2564

Y Garn                      3104

Trvfaen                      3010

Glyder Fawr              3278

Glyder Fach              3261

Caseg Ffraith    

Esgair Felen    

 

while the mass to the south of Llanberis Pass, known collectively as Snowdon, contains four summits:—

 

Crib Goch           3023 feet

Crib y Ddysgyll

Y Wyddfa           3560

Lliwedd               2947

 

Further west is the solitary peak of Moel Hebog, 2,566 feet; and on the other side of the district, and separated from the other mountains by Nant Gwynant, are:-

 

Moe! Siabod      2880 feet

Moelwyn            2527

 

Moelwyn forms a connecting link between the mountainous groups of Carnarvonshire and Merioneth. The latter consists of a single escarpment of lava, running in a large circle round the county, with the dip always away from Harlech, but the dip is so steep that on the Arans the best crags are to be found on that side, and not on the face of the escarpment. Besides Moelwyn, this bed of rock is responsible for the following peaks:-

 

Arenig Fawr          2860 feet

Aran Benl!yn         2901

Aran Mawddwy    2970

Craig y Ffynon       2557

   (Cowarch)

Mynydd Moel       2804

Cader Idris            2927

Mynydd Pencoed

Cyfrwy         

 

Of the above, Cowarch is the only one which cannot be reached in an easy day from either Llanuwchllyn or Dolgelly.

The only mountains in South Wales which reach 2,500 feet in height lie on the great ridge of old red sandstone which separates Brecknockshire from Glamorgan. This is undoubtedly the finest escarpment in Great Britain, and the rich colour of the rock gives a further charm to the scenery, which is not to be equalled elsewhere in this island. There is ample opportunity of approaching within easy reach of the peaks of this series either by road or rail from Brecon; but as accommodation is scarce, and good accommodation scarcer, the scrupulous pedestrian who insists on covering the whole distance on foot may meet with some difficulty. The peaks are:—

 

Carmarthen Fan           2632 feet

Cairn Du                      2863

Brecon Beacon            2907

                                    2704

Bryn Teg                      2608

Gwaun Rhvdd              2509

                                    2502

Gader Fawr                  2624

Waun Fach                   2660

 

Plynlimmon, which has been described by writers who should know better as the third highest mountain in Wales, only reaches 2,468 feet above sea level.

 

 

                                                          J.ROOKE CORBETT.