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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great for planning days out on the fells, 2 Jul 2003
I have found Bill Birkett's book a really useful source of route ideas around the Lakeland hills. It takes in every Lakeland hill over 1000 feet, with each fell top being covered by one or more routes, varying from easy strolls to major expeditions (especially in winter).The book divides the Lakes into a few major geographical areas (e.g. Northern covers Skiddaw and everything north of there), with each of these areas being broken down into groups of adjoining hills. Each of these gets a three-letter code, like SCA for the Scafells. Within each group are several walks all visiting those hills, but starting from a number of different points. Once you have read the book a few times, it's easy to find walks leading to a particular hill, but if you know your starting point and want to find out what's possible, you can be leafing back and forth for some time. It does take some getting used to. The maps in the books are just sketches so a bit of work is needed to relate back to a map you might walk with. Also, the routes are not comprehensive in the way that Wainwright is, for example (though the author does give some routes which Wainwright does not, normally those needing scrambling). However, the descriptions of each walk are very clear and accompanied by excellent photos (all taken by the author) though once again there is no map extract to accompany it. The routes used are varied and not always the obvious ones, so you get a different slant even on familiar places. Bear in mind that the book is too large to actually take with you while walking, so you still need to have a map and route plan when out (no bad thing anyway). This is a great book for inspiration, a bit difficult to use as a reference, but if you are keen on walking in the Lakes you should definitely read it, and there's something for everyone in there. I didn't feel brave enough to tackle every route but it's nice to think that some day I might, and those I have tried have been thoroughly enjoyable.
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by Bill Birkett
by Mark Richards
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