My copy of Wainwright’s The Outlying Fells of Lakeland is dated 1974 [£1.50] and I’ve hardly used it in those 40 years.  ‘a pictorial guide to the lesser fells around the perimeter of Lakeland written primarily for old age pensioners and others  who can no longer climb high fells but can still, within reason, potter about on the short and easy slopes of the foothills‘

I’ve covered a lot of ground in the Lakes over the years, walking and climbing, and I now avoid the overcrowded central areas. I also, unfortunately, come into the old age pensioner category. So when I fished this volume off my bookshelves and dusted it down this week a plan materialised. I daren’t venture abroad at present because of some unresolved medical issues so why not attempt to complete the outlying fells this winter?

The book is not as well laid out as his Lakeland Fell Guides and I found it a bit difficult to actually find the locality of some of the walks and their relationship to others. The internet helped out on that account with some lists and decent outline maps of the selected fell areas. Plans rapidly develop.

I have noted in my copy a few walks I have completed, namely 10, but suspect I traversed many more. so that leaves me with 46 chapters to go.  Each chapter is actually a walk.  As he often groups several fell tops into the same chapter/walk there is a larger number of Fell tops. Another list is produced on pages 270 – 271 of the 110 individual tops but this incorporates some inaccuracies, duplications and omitted nameless ones. I’ve marked down 24 of these I’ve visited, can’t believe I’ve not done more.

A more realistic list of 116 tops appears here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Outlying_Fells_of_Lakeland   Better just start again, I told you it was complicated.

Chris Jesty has published an updated edition which might help but that would be straying from Wainwright’s original. As I want to read and follow his accounts –  I’ve bitten the bullet.