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Schiehallion
Location: Scottish
Highlands, Perthshire
Grid Ref: NN
713547
Height: 3553 ft (1083
m)
Status: Munro, Murdo,
Marilyn
Notes: An iconic peak
in northern Perthshire overlooking Loch Rannoch. Schiehallion's
symmetrical aspect led it to be chosen for an eighteenth century
experiment to determine the mean density of the Earth, and in
consequence the universal constant of gravitation. The experiment was
carried out by Nevil Maskelyne, fifth Astronomer Royal, and the
experiment involved the measurement of the mountain's precise shape, an
exercise that led to the development of contour lines.
Schiehallion is normally climbed along its long eastern ridge from a
start at Braes of Foss. An excellent path rises to within roughly a
kilometre of the summit but the rest of the way lays across an awkward
boulder field, which can be rather tiring. The panorama is superb and
includes the greater part of the Central Highlands and the Cairngorms
along with Fife, the Pentlands and Lowthers, and a glimpse of the
Strathfarrar Munros beyond the Great Glen.
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Schil,
The
Location: The
Cheviots
Grid Ref: NT
869223
Height: 1972 ft (601
m)
Status: Dewey,
sub-Donald
Notes: The Schil
is on the
England - Scotland border and is the last major summit on the Pennine
Way. Those not
walking
the Pennine Way who wish to climb it would do best to approach from
Kirk
Yetholm along the Way - the ascent would probably take some three
hours.
There is little foreground interest but the far panorama includes
significant
chunks of southern Scotland, out as far as the Tweed valley.
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Seat Sandal
Location: Lake
District,
Eastern Fells
Grid Ref: NY
343115
Height: 2415 ft (736
m)
Status: Wainwright,
Marilyn,
Hewitt, Nuttall
Notes: Seat Sandal
appears
as a great dome of a hill from Grasmere, which it overlooks from the
northeast.
Its long western flanks form the east wall of the pass of Dunmail
Raise,
between Ambleside and Thirlmere. It is an outlier of Helvellyn and can
be reached by the grassy col between it and Dollywaggon Pike. The col
stands
above Grizedale Tarn. The mountain panorama from Seat Sandal is very
good,
especially the views of Helvellyn, Skiddaw, and the fells west of
Derwentwater.
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Selworthy
Beacon
Location: Exmoor,
Somerset
Grid Ref: SS
919480
Height: 1012 ft (308
m)
Status: Marilyn,
Clement
Notes: The highest
point of
the detached part of Exmoor lying north of the Porlock - Minehead gap,
Selworthy Beacon is barely a kilometre from the Somerset coast and thus
boasts glorious views over the Bristol Channel and to Wales. It is
easily
ascended from either Porlock or Minehead by the Somerset coast path,
though
more sedentary walkers will notice the adjacent road and car park. A
bus
service runs to Selworthy Beacon from Minehead during the summer.
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Sergeant
Man
Location: Lake
District,
Central Fells
Grid Ref: NY
286089
Height: 2394 ft (730
m)
Status: Wainwright
Notes:
Regarded as
one of
the Langdale Pikes yet properly just a minor top of High Raise,
Sergeant
Man is a popular target for walkers ascending the Pikes from Grasmere
via
Easedale. The ascent is a fine expedition but for the quarter mile of
difficult terrain in upper Easedale below Belles Knott. The terrain
around the
summit
is surprisingly rocky. The best views are to the east and south,
encompassing
Easedale itself and the Helvellyn, Fairfield and Coniston fells.
There's
an easy ridgewalk to both Thunacar Knott and High Raise, and the
eastern
slopes (which include the delightful dell of Codale Tarn) are also
worth
exploring.
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Sgurr nan Conbhairean
Location: Scottish
Highlands,
Kintail
Grid Ref: NH
129138
Height: 3638 ft (1109
m)
Status: Munro,
Murdo, Marilyn
Notes: Sgurr nan
Conbhairean is in a magnificent position at the eastern end of the
north side of Glen Shiel. Although it's the 44th highest Munro its
ascent is relatively easy, by a stalkers' path from Lundie down in the
glen up to neighbouring Carn Ghluasaid and then a stroll along a broad
stony ridge. The view is crowded with peaks including the Affric,
Cannich and Strathfarrar hills to the north, the other Kintail peaks to
the east and the Lochaber peaks to the south. Some of the Torridon
hills sneak into the view to the far northwest.
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Sharp Haw
Location: Yorkshire
Dales
Grid Ref: SD
959552
Height: 1171 ft (357
m)
Status: Marilyn,
Clement
Notes: Sharp Haw lays a few miles northwest of Skipton and can be
reached fairly easily from the town by way of a series of lanes and
footpaths. It's the highest of a small cluster of tor-like hills.
Although the map shows no footpaths to the summit a good path does
exist, diverging from the right of way over the fell's shoulder, and
there's even a stile over the fence near the top. Skipton and Gargrave
are both in view, along with a fair chunk of the Aire Gap. Over the
northern arc some of the principal hills of the Yorkshire Dales will be
seen on a clear day.
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Sheffield
Pike
Location: Lake
District, Eastern Fells
Grid Ref: NY
369181
Height: 2215 ft (675
m)
Status: Wainwright,
Hewitt, Nuttall
Notes: Part of the
eastern ridge of Stybarrow Dodd, Sheffield Pike is most easily reached
from the path up to Stick Pass from Glenridding. The western arc of the
view is heavily restricted by the Helvellyn ridge, Faiefield and its
satellites are seen to the south and the High Raise ridge dominates the
view to the east. The only open aspect is to the northwest where
Penrith and the high Pennines are seen beyond the length of Ullswater.
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Silver
How
Location: Lake
District,
Central Fells
Grid Ref: NY
286089
Height: 1296 ft (395
m)
Status: Wainwright
Notes: Silver How
lays directly above Grasmere to the south west, the end of a
limb of high fell country extending southeastwards over Blea Rigg from
Sergeant Man (and ultimately High Raise). The ascent from Grasmere has
a bit of
everything and Silver How is an ideal first climb for the budding
Lakeland
explorer. The Langdale Pikes, Bowfell and Crinkle Crags are prominent
to the west while the Coniston group lays to the southwest and the
Fairfield group to the northeast, but the eye is naturally drawn to
Grasmere village itself.
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Skiddaw
Location: Lake
District, Northern Fells
Grid Ref: NY
260290
Height: 3054 ft (931
m)
Status: Hewitt, Furth
Munro, Marilyn, Nuttall, Wainwright
Notes: Skiddaw is the
fourth highest mountain in England and stands a handful of miles
northwest of Keswick, dominating both the town and nearby Derwentwater.
It is among the easiest of Britain's 3000 ft mountains to climb, the
standard route being a well-used path up the ridge of Jenkin Hill. The
climb from Keswick takes about four hours. The view over the southern
arc is a glorious panorama of Lakeland, while the lonely moors "back o'
Skiddaw" lay to the north and Scotland can be seen over the Solway
firth to the northwest.
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Sourfoot
Fell
Location: Lake
District, Western Fells
Grid Ref: NY
135233
Height: 1351 ft (412
m)
Status: Clement
Notes: A minor summit
in the Low Fell group between Lorton Vale and Loweswater. It is without
interest and is only worth visiting as part of a ridgewalk between Low
Fell and Fellbarrow.
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Souther
Fell
Location: Lake
District, Northern Fells
Grid Ref: NY
354291
Height: 1713 ft (522
m)
Status: Wainwright,
Dewey
Notes: An outlier of
Blencathra, Souther (pronounced "Sooter") Fell sits to the east of the
main massif, within a broad loop of the Glenderamackin river. It's an
unremarkable fell of rough grazing land, but it has a lovely
broadside-on view of Blancathra's eastern slopes including Sharp Edge.
There is a good footpath up from the back road near Scales.
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Sron a' Choire Ghairbh
Location: Scottish
Highlands,
Great Glen
Grid Ref: NH
222945
Height: 3074 ft (937
m)
Status: Munro,
Murdo, Marilyn
Notes: This Munros is
one of a pair that overlook Loch Lochy from
the north, and hence is very accessible. The easiest ascent starts at
Laggan Locls and takes the upper variant of the Great Glen cycleway to
the southwest, and then a rougher track up the Allt Ghlas Doire to the
col, and finally a stalkers' path that runs virtually to the summit
plateau. The view up and down the Great Glen is especially good.
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Starling
Dodd
Location: Lake
District, Western Fells
Grid Ref: NY
141157
Height: 2077 ft (633
m)
Status: Wainwright,
Hewitt, Nuttall
Notes: Starling Dodd
lays to the west of Buttermere's Red Pike and overlooks both Crummock
Water (to the north) and Ennerdale Water (to the south). To get to the
summit it's necessary either to climb the fell's flanks after
floundering through the marshy wastes of Mosedale, or walk out along
the ridge from the vastly superior and more exciting Red Pike. I'm not
convinced that Starling Dodd rewards the effort of climbing it,
something I can say about very few Lakeland fells.
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Stob Coire
an t-Sneachda
Location: Scottish
Highlands,
Cairngorms
Grid Ref: NH
996029
Height: 3858 ft (1176
m)
Status: Munro top,
Murdo
Notes: This top is
the highest
point of the headwall of Coire an t-Sneachda
("snow
corrie"), one of the "northern corries" of Cairn Gorm. From Aviemore
and
Strathspey it appears as a significant mountain in its own right, but
from
the parent mountain of Cairn Gorm it is revealed as just a bump on the
edge of the Macdui - Cairngorm plateau (top picture). The cliffs on the
northern side are dramatic, but on the southern side the ground drops
very
gently away towards Loch Avon. It's doubtful whether anybody has ever
set
out to climb Stob Coire an t-Sneachda in its own right, but it is
regularly
ascended by those crossing from Cairn Gorm to Macdui. The summit
picture
shows a retrospective view of Cairn Gorm. |
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Stuc a'
Chroin
Location: Scottish
Highlands,
The Trossachs
Grid Ref: NN
617174
Height: 3199 ft (975
m)
Status: Munro,
Murdo,
Marilyn
Notes: Laying on
the Stirlingshire
/ Perthshire border north of Callander, Stuc a' Chroin is one of the
three
mountains clearly visible from the plains of Falkirk and East Lothian
between
Glasgow and Edinburgh. Although it is normally linked with its
neighbour
Ben Vorlich in the guidebooks, a longer but easier ascent can be made
from
Callander with a path all the way. Views are tremendous and include
Scotland's
central lowlands, the Trossachs, the Arrochar Alps, the Ben Lawers and
Ben More groups, the western Mounth and parts of the Tay basin.
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Sugar
Loaf
Location: Black
Mountains
Grid Ref: SO
272187
Height: 1955 ft (596
m)
Status: Marilyn, Dewey
Notes: A fine,
shapely hill a couple of miles northwest of Abergavenny, on the
southern tip of the Black Mountains. The hill can be ascended by a good
track all the way from Abergavenny town centre from where it's a
half-day expedition. There's a good view of both the Black Mountains
and the Brecon Beacons further to the west.
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Swinside
Location: Lake
District, North Western Fells
Grid Ref: NY
243224
Height: 801 ft (152
m)
Status: Marilyn
Notes: If you ever
wondered about climbing that pretty little wooded hill on the northwest
corner of Derwentwater, then take my advice and don't bother. I say
this not because there are no rights of way on the hill and gaining the
summit is technially a trespass, but because it really isn't worth
climbing. The woods are opressive and unfriendly, the summit dome is a
pathless jungle and the view, surprisingly, isn't that great either.
Determined Marilyn baggers will find a way to the top. Everyone else
should leave it alone.
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Swyre
Head
Location: Purbeck
Downs, Dorset
Grid Ref: SY
934784
Height: 682 ft (208
m)
Status: Marilyn
Notes: Swyre Head is
the highest point of the Purbeck Downs, southwest of Bournemouth and
Poole in Dorset. It stands close to the coast path and thus has a
glorious view each way along the English Channel coast, from the Isle
of Wight in the east to Portland Bill in the west. The summit carries a
trig pillar though there is also a nearby tumulus, which is higher.
Swyre Head is a simple stroll from the nearby village of Kingston.
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Thornthwaite
Crag
Location: Lake
District,
Far Eastern Fells
Grid Ref: NY
431100
Height: 2572 ft (784
m)
Status: Wainwright,
Hewitt,
Nuttall
Notes:
Thornthwaite Crag lays at the junction of four mountain ridges, an
important footpath crossroads since Roman times when it formed part of
the highway known as High Street. Its summit carries a massive columnar
cairn, one of the most distinctive in the district. Its position
ensures that it has a huge variety of approach routes, but perhaps the
most common is from the south, via Froswick, as part of the Ill Bell
ridgewalk. Thornthwaite Crag's parent fell is High Street itself,
laying a kilometre to the northeast along a broad grassy ridge. The top
is relatively flat and the immediate panorama is of other Lakeland
fells, but short walks off the summit bring the four radiating valleys
into view. |
