My target for 2010 was to reach what I called 40-40-400; that is, 40% of both English and Welsh Marilyns and an overall total of 400. This meant that I needed 28 new Marilyns; ten in Wales and six in England - not too onerous a task, I thought. January started well with two hills bagged near Glyn Ebwy (Ebbw Vale) but, after a holiday abroad birding, I found that 28 had turned into 29 with the deletion of Baystones, my last hill of 2009. A quick tick, Wilmington Hill, restored the lost one and steady progress was then made, including a circuit of Waun Fach in late April. This meant that I had passed the 40% mark of Welsh Hewitts - or have they been abolished? Perhaps I will call them Sweats again (CW: oh no you won't). I bagged a Dartmoor hill, High Willhays, in early May before travelling to Mull on a long weekend. Disappointment again, dipping Ben More by a few feet, and just one new hill bagged.
The Marhof meet in June put me back on track, with seven hills bagged including a Corbett, two Grahams and three Hisboatts - hills in Scotland between one and two thousand feet (CW: that trips off the tongue - we won't be using it again). I then had a few days in Cumbria which netted two Marilyns and enough Hewitts to clear 40% of England.
At the beginning of July, I required five Welsh and one English Marilyn to reach my tally. Y Golfa above Welshpool and two hills above Abertawe got me close, and a weekend at Tywyn in August, with a ride or three on the Talyllyn railway, cleared the Welsh target with two to spare.
At August bank holiday I booked into Kirkby Stephen hostel and set off for Garsdale to bag Baugh Fell. Having reached my English target on its summit, I toyed with the idea of continuing on to Swarth Fell. However, the usual Pennine weather (grey, wet and windy) persuaded me to return to Garsdale. As I followed a drystone wall over hummocky ground, my right leg found a hole and went in a different direction to the rest of me and took a hefty knock. Whilst I was fortunate not to break anything, I have been on half-power until recently. Hopefully, with therapy, bagging will recommence in 2011.
