...in which we're defeated by weather, so shelter indoors to hear from one of the UK's great adventurers: Cockermouth-based James Forrest, who has bagged all 1,001 mountains in the UK and Ireland, and broke records walking both the 446 Nuttalls and 214 Wainwrights. An escape from the nine-to-five was, James tells us, the drive for his first challenge – to conquer every mountain in England and Wales in the shortest documented time. But his heart was always in Lakeland, which led to his 2020 self-supported round of the Wainwrights. In a reflective interview, we hear about the highs and lows of an epic walk; we ask whether 'adventure' can be a ruse to escape everyday life; we consider our changing relationship with the fells as we spend more time in them; and we learn why James is "never, ever, ever" returning to the Brecon Beacons.
James' book Mountain Man is published by Bloomsbury. Available from all local bookshops.
James can be found at amesmforrest.co.uk
Countrystride #64: Joss Naylor
Countrystride #63: Danny Teasdale - Ullswater after the storm
Countrystride #62: GRANGE-OVER-SANDS & Hampsfell
Countrystride #61: Norman Nicholson - Son of Millom
Countrystride #60: Wad - The wealth of Borrowdale
Countrystride #59: Rural visionary - John Dunning in the Westmorland Dales
Countrystride #58: Swaledale - Meadows & mines
Countrystride #57: Helvellyn
Countrystride #56: Life in the woods - Working the Rusland rainforests
Countrystride 55: Threlkeld - A story of stone & steam
Countrystride #54: Damsons of the Lyth Valley
Countrystride #53: The lost history of hill farming
Countrystride #52: Cumbria Way with Paddy Dillon
Countrystride #51: Skiddaw House - Loneliest house in England
Countrystride #50: The young people of Cumbria
Countrystride #49: Wainwright on Haystacks - An anniversary retrospective
Countrystride #48: Hadrian's Wall
Countrystride #47: Lakeland pilgrims
Countrystride #46: Cumbria in a campervan
Countrystride #45: Review of 2020
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