The Relative Hills of Britain

I was (relatively) unaware of ‘The Relative Hills of Britain’ until 8 July 2000, when I attended a friend’s celebration of the ascent of his 800th such Hill.  During the course of this event a stranger called Alan Dawson thrust a Cicerone Guide into my hands in return for a modest sum.  His book lists, in various ways, all the ‘Relative Hills’ of Britain.  They are assiduously numbered, from 1 – Ben Nevis, to 1542 – Muldoanich (an obscure island off Barra). 

The book, published in 1992, lists all British hills with a height of 500 feet relative to the height of the surrounding area.  Alan christened them Marilyns. 

A rather eccentric namesake of mine has slowly been ticking off his ascents of these summits, mainly in Scotland as he lives in Aberdeen.  His tally currently exceeds 1000.  I go up hills quite a lot, but I’ve only climbed 400 or so Marilyns, so this guy could be considered a bit of a fanatic.  He contacted me recently to tell me he’d booked a few Travelodge rooms, with a view to climbing a few English and Welsh Marilyns.  Would I like to come along?

We meet later at Kendal Travelodge.  What exactly happens after that is anybody’s guess, but it is probable that we’ll climb a few Marilyns.

It should be fun – this blog may feature one or two summit shots.  Feel free to skim over them if you get bored!

The picture, BTW, is from one of our bases during the course of the week, from where there is a vast array of nearby ‘Relative Hills’.