| Birketts | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | over 1,000 ft (304.8 m) |
| Prominence | no specific formula |
| Geography | |
| Location | 541 Lake District Birketts : 209 of the 214 Wainwrights : 59 of the 116 Outlying Fells |
Birketts are the 541 English peaks described in Bill Birkett's 1994 guidebook, Complete Lakeland Fells. The author defined them as all hills within the boundary of the Lake District National Park in Cumbria which are over 1,000 feet (304.8 m) in height.[2][3]
Bill Birkett's book became a popular list for peak bagging in the Lake District, along with the more popular Wainwrights.[4] Because both lists are based on historical books, unlike for example the Murdos, their constituents remain fixed, regardless of revisions to height or other metrics. In this regard, they are similar to the Scottish lowlands, Donalds. The Long Distance Walkers Association maintains a register of people who have completed the Birketts.[5] One of Birkett's peaks, Pillar Rock, which is also classed as a Nuttall, but not a Wainwright, requires climbing ropes and climbing equipment to summit.[1]
There are 541 Birketts, which include 211 of the 214 Wainwrights, and 59 of the 116 Wainwright Outlying Fells.[6][7] Birketts range from hills, such as the smallest Birkett, Great Stickle, at 1,001 feet (305.1 m), to major mountains in the British Isles, such as Scafell Pike, at just over 3,209 feet (978.1 m).[7] While 65 of the Birketts have a prominence above 150 metres (492.1 ft), and are Marilyns, 159 have a prominence below 15 metres (49.2 ft), and 42 of these are below 5 metres (16.4 ft).[7] 54 of the 514 peaks are solely Birketts, and meet no other mountain or hill classification in the British Isles.[7]
- ^ a b "Pillar Rock". HillBaggingUK.
Pillar Rock, qualifying as a separate summit to Pillar (Lake District) itself in the Nuttalls and other lists [the Birketts], is the bane of summit baggers everywhere. Wainwright says that, to walkers "Pillar Rock is positively out of bounds. Don't even try to get a foothold on it". It's graded as a "moderate" rock climb.
- ^ "The Birketts". HillBaggingUK. 2018.
The Birketts are all the Lake District hills over 1,000ft as listed in Bill Birkett's Complete Lakeland Fells.
- ^ Bill Birkett (1994). Complete Lakeland Fells. Carnival. ISBN 978-0583333672.
- ^ "Database Notes". Database of British and Irish Hills. 2018.
Such is the popularity of the English Lake District that a number of lists have emerged specifically for that region. The best known is the Wainwrights, which was almost certainly not conceived as a list. The Birketts is a more recent listing of Lake District Hills. The Wainwright Outlying Fells and the Birketts were each published as a set of walks rather than a list, but as with the Wainwrights, a tradition of climbing them has developed.
- ^ "Hillwalkers' Register". Long Distance Walkers Association. 2018.
- ^ "Wainwrights and Wainwright Outer Fells". HillBaggingUK. 2018.
The Wainwrights: The Wainwrights are a list of hills appearing in the seven volumes of Alfred Wainwright's Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells; the list is subjective – some of the hills are not summits at all – just prominent points at the end of a ridge or spur from a higher mountain.
The [Wainwright] Outlying Fells: Wainwright produced an additional volume entitled The Outlying Fells of Lakelands. - ^ a b c d "Birketts". Database of British and Irish Hills. 2018.