Last year I reported to Alan Dawson that I was at stage 6 of his 'Seven stages of bagging' - ambivalence and opportunism - even though my total was well over 900. Alan duly printed that in Marhofn 2009 under 'Excuse annexe'. That made me think; was I making excuses? Was I really ambivalent about bagging? Clearly not, as I am doing my second round of Wainwrights with my wife (Verena) as she does her first round, and we are loving every minute. I also harbour ambitions to finish my Irish Corbetts. So was it just Marilyns I was ambivalent about? I looked at my bagging record after completing Munros, Corbetts and Grahams (in 2005) - 40 Marilyns in 2006 (helped by my early retirement and opportunity to do remaining Marilyns close to my home in north Lancashire); 29 in 2007; 29 in 2008. Clearly a diminishing performance compared with the good old days over 2000 feet before 2006.
Early 2009 brought a long trip to do a boring heathery lump (Hoove, 35A). Perhaps hills like that explained why my Marilyn tally was almost static. But wait a minute! In March Verena and I had a long weekend in Sussex which produced great walking. As well as visiting the Seven Sisters and Beachy Head, most of the South Downs Marilyns were pretty good, as was Leith Hill (ok, so Verena thought me a little insane when it came to Crowborough and Botley Hill). Insanity struck again in March when helping John Barnard and Graham Jackson prove that Hill of Tillymorgan was still a Marilyn, but was followed by a cracking walk over East and West Lomond. April brought a few more in Perthshire and Fife, with Norman's Law proving to be a surprisingly fine wee hill.
By April, then, I was warming again to the task of reaching the Upper Hall, and I managed to purchase from Alan virtually the last original copy of RHB. Marhofn arrived in May and I noticed that both Dun Caan and Ben Tianavaig (17A) featured in the Marilyn poll under 'Best Scottish island hills under 600 metres'. A week with my walking group in a Scottish lodge, this time on Loch Duich, gave Verena and me the chance to dodge the iffy weather and bag them both. They were memorable days, particularly as we saw a sea eagle gliding above the sea cliffs on Ben Tianavaig. Then again, I dragged her up Beinn Conchra (12A) in the mist and rain (steep grass, no view, so no point, in Verena's opinion).
But by now I was really beginning to scratch the 'Upper Hall itch', and June saw a brief solo trip to North Wales, Shropshire and Herefordshire, which yielded 11 more. Some ok hills (Penycloddiau, Moel y Golfa, Brown Clee Hill), but some frankly ridiculous ticks (View Edge, Hegdon Hill). Why was I doing daft things like Hegdon Hill, which was a mere 30 metres from the car? Then again, if I was not 'scratching the itch' I may never have found Dun Caan and Ben Tianavaig.
September saw our group at Tobermory youth hostel with the town suffering post-Balamory blues in the mist and rain. I avoided more surveying with TV stars Graham and John by seeing off four Marilyns, the best walk being to Beinn Chreagach and Creachan Mor via cliffs above Nun's Cave and Carsaig Arches. Tantalising views through mist down huge cliffs - would be a stunning walk on good day (how many times have I said that?). By the Monday we were back on the mainland catching Beinn Mhor (19A) on the way home. More rain, but not a bad wee hill.
A trip to Porlock in early November, meeting some old work colleagues, allowed for Walton Hill, Wills Neck and Periton Hill on the drive down. Quite satisfying, although it's anybody's guess where the highest point is on Periton Hill amongst the dense forest. Very pleasant walking on Exmoor to pick up Dunkery Beacon and Selworthy Beacon.
Mid November was the walking group's weekend in Brecon, which proved to be alcoholic as usual, spurred on by the wet and windy weather. Still, ten hills were climbed, the best being Mynydd Llangorse, Mynydd Troed and Ysgyryd Fawr. Worst were Coety Mountain and Bradnor Hill (38B), which was a quick 500-metre dash from the car across the golf course.
At new year we were at Port Charlotte youth hostel on Islay. The Hogmanay walk was another wee Beinn Mhor, from the Mull of Oa car park on a splendidly cold and crisp day, with outstanding views to Mull of Kintyre and Northern Ireland.
So, there we have it, 53 for the year! Not remarkable, but a big improvement on recent years, leaving only 11 left to reach the Upper Hall. The question is, will I want to 'scratch the itch' after passing 1000?
Postscript, 12 Feb 2010:
Being a retired person with time for such matters, I decided to double-check my total with particular emphasis on the accurate number of Scottish, Welsh and English Marilyns to make sure the figures were correct. Imagine my horror (joy?) when I reached the following conclusions: 822 Scottish, 5 Manx, 73 Welsh and 137 English, giving a total of 1037! I should have smelled a rat some time ago because my total had usually been just behind Graham Jackson, but of late he had drawn well clear - I now knew why. I wasn't sure whether to celebrate entering the Upper Hall or hang my head in shame.
