You may well have heard people talking about Munros, Humps, Grahams, Nuttalls, Marilyns, Donalds etc, but what actually are they? Well, they’re all lists of hills in the UK, there are hundreds of lists, and in this week’s blog we look at the most common ones.

Ticking off these lists is referred to as ‘Peak Bagging’, or ‘Hill bagging’, and yes I have certainly been guilty of falling under the ‘Peak Bagging’ spell, particularly the Wainwrights. With only a few to go before I’ve bagged them all (not everyone’s favourite term), I can concentrate further North on the Munros.

One of the positives about ‘Peak Bagging’, is that it can take you to some fantastic places that you may not have ventured out to in the first place, and if it requires a tick list to get someone out into the great outdoors which is surely good for the body and mind, then that has to be a good thing doesn’t it. But are people so obsessed with ticking off as many summits in day that they are missing out on some of the views, local history, wildlife and geographical features etc. I can’t really complain as I have been one of them, head down with the must get up that next mountain mentality, but I am determined to head back to them hills and take my time on my second time around :)

Anyway enough of my rambling, excuse the pun, here are the most common lists of hills, starting with the big boys of Scotland, and don’t be surprised if you see a hill or mountain on multiple lists.

Munros - A Munro is a mountain in Scotland over 3000 feet which is on the Scottish Mountaineering Club official list of Munros. There are 282 of them and they’re named after Sir Hugh Munro, who first catalogued them all in 1891. There are roughly 7000 people that have climbed them all, and a legend called Donnie Campbell recently completed them all in less than 32 days.

Wainwrights - Hills or Mountains in the Lake District that Alfred Wainwright wrote about in his excellent 7 volumes of the ‘Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells’, and there are 214 of them. Wainwright did not have any rules about what should be included in his guides, and they cover everything from the lofty Scafell Pike to the lowly Castle Crag. Wainwright bagging is probably the most common hill bagging in England.

**Scafell Pike in the Lake District National Park is a Marilyn, Hewitt. Hardy, Wainwright, County Top, and Nuttall.**

Corbetts - Hills or Mountains in Scotland between 2500 feet and 2999 feet, with a drop of at least 500 feet on all sides (making them a subset of the Marilyns), and there are 222.

Marilyns - Hills or mountains with a drop of at least 150 metres on all sides, and there are 2010 of these.

**Suilven at 2398 feet in the West of Sutherland is both a Graham and a Marilyn.**

Hewitts - Hills in England, Wales and Ireland over 2000 feet with 30 metres drop on all sides, of which there are 525.

Birketts - 541 hills in the Lake District over 1000 feet listed in Bill Birketts Complete Lakeland Fells book.

Humps - 3818 hills of any height with a drop of at least 100 metres or more on all sides. The name Hump comes from ‘Hundred Metre Prominence’, and therefore by the definition, all Marilyns are Humps. The Humps of Scotland were catalogued in 1989 by Dr Eric Yeaman, but then the Humps of England and Wales were added and these were christened ‘Yeomans’

Grahams - 219 hills between 610 metres and 761 metres high, with a drop of at least 150 metres all around. Scottish hills in this range were originally called ‘Elsies’ which is short for Lesser Corbetts.

Nuttalls - The 443 hills and mountains listed in the book ‘The Mountains of England and Wales’, written by Ann and John Nuttall (includes all the Hewitts)

**Ingleborough in the Yorkshire Dales is a Marilyn, Hewitt and Nuttall.**

If you’re confused by these lists then have a look at Deweys, Donalds, Tumps, Synges, Dillons, Clems, Hardys, Archies, Murdos, then you will be really confused.

There are numerous websites where you can tick off hills on your lists,and log your progress. The most popular are https://www.hill-bagging.co.uk/ and https://www.haroldstreet.org.uk/

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