Geek's Corner
Fun facts
Total distance: 677 miles, 1083 km
Total ascent: 71,363 feet, 21,757m
About 2.5 times the height of Everest
Highest point: Helvellyn, 3,116 feet, 950m
Day 50 crossed the spine of Islay from east to west.
How long did it take?
50 days including six rest days and a day of frustrating ferry travel, divided into rough "weeks" (some longer than others)
Week 1 Blewbury to Stratford-upon-Avon
Week 2 Stratford-upon-Avon to Castleton (actually Hope, a few miles further on)
Week 3 Hope to Menston
Week 4 Menston to Ullswater (Glenridding)
Week 5 Ullswater to Annan
Week 6 Annan to Ayr
Week 7 Ayr to Islay (Saligo Bay)
The route
If you asked Google to find a route between these two points, much of it would be on the hard shoulder of the M6. We've chosen a different route to take in interesting hills and other scenic features, and to visit friends along the way.
(this includes the ferries)
It was fairly gentle for the first couple of weeks through the Cotswolds and Birmingham, then hardened up through the Peak District, the Pennines and the Lake District. We descended to the Solway Firth, over the Southern Uplands of Scotland, then along the Ayrshire coast. After our first ferry journey, we crossed Arran (though not the mountains, due to weather), then two more ferries took us to the Kintyre peninsula and across to Islay. We crossed the island to Saligo Bay and looked out over the Atlantic towards Canada.
More bits of geography
Prominent hills
Hills are classified according to their prominence, their height above the lowest point between the hill and any higher neighbour.
Marilyns: 150m
Humps (Hills of Hundred Metre Prominence): 100m
Tumps (Hills of Thirty Metre Prominence): 30m
Even a Tump can have an excellent view, as we have discovered.
Munros: Scottish hills over 3000' with sufficient prominence as originally selected by the original classifier, Sir Hugh Munro. We won't be climbing any on this trip.
Corbetts: Scottish hills over 2500' with 500' prominence
Furths: English and Welsh hills over 3000' with similar prominence
Tumps
Blewburton Hill, 110m, 361' (Day 1)
Wittenham Clumps, 121m, 397' (Day 1)
Thorpe Cloud, 287m, 941' (Day 12)
High Wheeldon, 422m, 1384' (Day 13)
Bradwell Moor, 471m, 1545' (Day 14)
Back Tor, 538m, 1765' (Day 16)
Stoodley Pike, 402m, 1319' (Day 19)
Weets Top, 434m, 1432' (Day 25)
Calders, 674m, 2216' (Day 28)
Whatshaw Common, 485m, 1591' (Day 29)
High Spying How, 863m, 2831' (Day 31)
White Side, 863m, 2831' (Day 31)
Raise, 882m, 2893' (Day 31)
Stybarrow Dod, 844m, 2768' (Day 31)
Skiddaw Little Man, 868m, 2847' (Day 32)
Amagill Hill (Moss Castle), 217m, 712' (Day 37)
Beld Knowe, 506m, 1660' (Day 39)
Hods Hill, 567m, 2060' (Day 39)
Lowther Hill, 727m, 2385' (Day 39)
Meikledodd Hill, 643m, 2110' (Day 41)
Humps
Black Hill, 582m, 1708' (Day 18)
Blackstone Edge, 482m, 1581' (Day 19)
Uldale Head, 504m, 1745' (Day 28)
Harter Fell, 778m, 2552' (Day 29)
Great Dod, 857m, 2811' (Day 31)
Clough Head, 726m, 2381' (Day 31)
Knott, 701m, 2299' (Day 32)
Hods Hill, 567m, 1860' (Day 39)
Black Lorg Hill, 681m, 2234' (Day 41)
Giur-bheinn, 317m, 1040' (Day 50)
Marilyns
Rombalds Moor, 402m, 1312' (Day 21)
Penyghent, 694m, 2276' (Day 26)
Ingleborough 724m, 2375' (Day 27) Whernside 736m, 2415' (Day 27)
The Calf, 676m, 2220' (Day 28)
High Street, 828m, 2716' (Day 29)
Helvellyn, 950m, 3116' (Day 31)
Skiddaw, 931m, 3053' (Day 32)
Blackcraig Hill, 700m, 2296' (Day 41)
Watersheds
The watersheds (boundaries between the drainage systems of different rivers) are an important geographical feature - sometimes very obvious on the ground, sometimes not. Here I've listed only watersheds between rivers that flow into tidal water at a different point. (That definition is relevant for rivers that flow into the Humber estuary: the Trent, the Don, the Aire and the Wharfe are all considered separate, since they meet below the highest tidal point; similar considerations apply in the Solway Firth).
Days 1-6: Thames
Days 6-10: Severn
Days 10-16: Trent
Day 16-17: Don
Day 17-18 : Aire
Day 18 : Mersey
Day 18-19 : Aire & Mersey (6 crossings)
Day 20 : Aire
Days 21-25 : Wharfe
Day 25 (and momentarily on 26): Aire
Day 25-27: Ribble
Day 27-29: Lune
Day 29-31: Eden
Day 31-32: Derwent
Day 32-34: Eden
Day 34: Esk
Days 34-35: Sark
Day 35: Kirtle Water
Days 35-39: Annan
Day 39: Clyde
Days 39-41: Nith
Day 41: Dee
Days 41-42: Nith
Days 42-44: Ayr
Watersheds are less significant close to the coast - I've ignored minor streams
Day 45: Irvine, Garnock
Day 46: Ayr
Day 47: numerous streams on Arran coast
Day 48: mostly at sea
Days 49/50 (Islay): Margadale River, Gortantaoid River, Loch Gruinart, Saligo River