Introduction
If readers would like to contribute an article for the Guest Contributor page heading please contact me, my email address appears on the About Me page heading. The 0nly two things I ask is that the article should be hill related and importantly I should not end up in court through its publication! Otherwise the choice of subject matter is down to the Guest Contributor.
About
the Author; Tim Synge
 |
| Tim Synge on Maiden Moor |
The
Synges
By Tim
Synge
I
find it hard to believe that it is now over five years since I wrote my
previous article for Myrddyn’s fantastic site, but there it is in black and
white: Saturday 25 April 2020. It was
entirely true that I was “investigating the possibility of a short print run
for what would be a twenty-fifth anniversary second edition”, but, as the
evidence shows, that print run never saw the light of day. What is more, the undertaking I made, to the
effect that “if it does not work out, I will release a list in the next twelve
months” did not come to fruition.
My
apologies to any reader who has been waiting patiently for the promised second
edition. I am pleased to report that it is being published this summer, albeit
as a thirtieth-anniversary second edition.
This is very satisfying for me personally; as I intimated in my previous
blog, there were some aspects of the presentation of the first edition which I
felt could have been treated in a different way and I have addressed these.
There are also many substantive changes, both to take account of the extensions
to the LDNP in 2016 and to reflect various other changes that I have decided to
make with the benefit of 30 years of insights and feedback. I should like to take this opportunity to
describe and explain the key changes.
Regarding
additional summits, and as I indicated in my previous article, I had already compiled
a list of summits in the new area (or, granted, no longer quite so new!) of the
LDNP east of the A6. This covers a lot
of ground above 300 metres in altitude. These
summits have made it into the new edition and include Tumps and (my term)
subsidiary tops. I have created two new
sections, which are respectively north and south of Borrowdale, to cover this
area: the first covers Bretherdale and the second encompasses Whinfell Common
and Grayrigg Common. The map extract
below shows partial coverage of the Bretherdale area.
 |
©
Crown copyright 2025 Ordnance Survey AC0000868938
|
Image: Extract from
the map covering the Bretherdale area in Tim’s book |
Alongside
these new summits, I have added a small number of summits in areas already
covered in the first edition. Several of
these are derived from the work of Ronnie Bowron and others who have
highlighted differences between the true summit, or highest point of a fell,
and the described Wainwright summit. I
have taken the opportunity to double up and include both summits in selected
locations. I have also included the
three Crinkle Crags which were not in my original list, as the ridge makes a
great area to explore if time is not pressing.
After some deliberation, I have also removed a handful of summits from the list. I apologise to those baggers who have completed the original 646 or 648 Synges and who may feel that deletions will detract from the list or possibly from their achievement. In the course of my work on the new edition, I identified summits in two distinct groups which, with the benefit of hindsight, would not have made it into the original survey today. The first group comprises summits on private land. I have referred to my “youthful enthusiasm” in including these in the first edition and I hope that I have not been the cause of any friction between walkers and landowners. I do not wish to encourage trespass and so they have gone. The second group contains a few summits which are generally agreed to be of very little merit. Identifying these has been an interesting exercise!
My
research for the second edition included a review of many of the comments left
by walkers in the logs on www.hill-bagging.co.uk. I am
grateful to everyone who has left feedback alongside their username and the
date of ascent as, in addition to typical diary-type records, these often
contain practical advice on matters such as parking and routes of ascent and - source
of fascination for me - opinions on the summit reached. It is pleasing to be able to report that many
baggers appreciate some of the idiosyncrasies of my list and report that a
trudge to what may seem like an unassuming and slightly dull little subsidiary
point on a ridge can lead to a delightful new view being revealed, or a
location on an unexpected crag or edge which gives a sense of achievement. The comments are invariably thoughtful and
well made. In a very small minority of
cases, there has been almost universal agreement that my choice was a poor one
and I have therefore removed a handful of summits. I am pleased to say that these number less
than a dozen. An appendix to the book
lists them.
One
of my objectives as I drew up my list of summits for inclusion was to recognise
every Tump in the National Park. Early drafts achieved this, but I have in the
course of my work removed two. The first
is Dacre Bank, which, despite its proximity to the A66, is difficult to reach. The effort required to find a safe start
point for a very short expedition outweighs the benefits of reaching the top
and so it has gone. The second is Long
Fell. A number of baggers have reported
difficulties in reaching the summit on account of the neighbouring quarry works
and this is a situation which is unlikely to improve. Again, my pragmatic solution has been to
remove the summit from my list. On the
other side of the coin, Martin Roberts will, I hope, be pleased to know that
his recommendation for the inclusion of High Rigg South East Top has paid off.
 |
| Image: the summit of High Rigg South East Top |
Another
enhancement is the replacement of my hand-drawn maps with licensed Ordnance
Survey mapping. This will facilitate
identification of the location of each summit.
 |
| Image: Extract from the book's coverage of Region 3A which includes High Rigg |
Reflecting
on the last five years, one thing that has changed is that I have become aware
of the interest in the Synges from fellrunners.
I first realised this after a flurry of new orders for my book
materialised earlier this year (surely half a dozen rates as a flurry for a
30-year old book?!) This could hardly be
coincidence and I deduced that there must have been some specific coverage
which had prompted this renewed interest.
A brief search revealed a series of YouTube videos made by fellrunner
John Miles who was embarking on a series of reports on his Synge-bagging
exploits. (Yes, I have told him that
“Synge” is pronounced “Sing”!) Shortly
after this, my attention was drawn to an article in the Westmorland Gazette
reporting on the achievement of leading Ambleside AC fellrunner Will Barton in
completing the Synges with his dog.
When
I started walking in the Lake District over 40 years ago, fell running struck
me as an unusual activity; how could these strange runners possibly venture out
without a 20-litre pack laden with extra layers, Kendal Mint Cake and map and
compass? How could they cope without
leather boots and Vibram soles? Now,
fell running is seen by most as a perfectly normal and accessible activity and
I am delighted that my list is already offering new challenges for runners.
As
Myrddyn as given me a very generous word allowance, I would like to round off this
blog by touching on another aspect of the preparation of the new book. It may interest readers to know that I am
self publishing it. I contacted Sigma
Leisure (who have relocated from Wilmslow, Cheshire to Ammanford,
Carmarthenshire) to see whether they might be interested in a new edition. They replied saying “we are uncertain as to
whether it would have a wide enough appeal to be financially viable”. Time will tell whether they are right or
wrong and it is probably unnecessary to add that I am not doing this to fund my
retirement. (It would of course be nice
to cover my costs, but even that is by no means certain!)
Once
I decided that ad hoc revisions were no longer going to suffice, I contemplated
the best way of publishing an update. I
suppose that I could have simply sent my revised list to the DoBIH team and to
Phil Newby at Haroldstreet and let the changes gradually find their way to
anyone who may be interested, maybe reinforced by an article here. However, it seemed to me that the book
required revision and that a printed volume was still of interest to a few, so
the choice was never really in any doubt.
I
set to work revising spreadsheets and determining how best to work with OS
mapping, and the “manuscript” soon took shape.
It will be clear that it is a redevelopment of The Lakeland Summits
rather than a completely different offering.
I have retained a number of characteristics of the earlier book
including my own summit referencing system and the map symbols denoting each
category of summit.
With
no need to persuade a publisher of the merits of the book, ultimately, getting
a book printed is remarkably easy. As
for the selling of the book, this is very much a work in progress. At the time of writing, it is available on
Amazon and I am working on getting it into bookshops and outdoor shops in
Cumbria.
I
hope it will bring pleasure to many for another 30 years.
Tim
Synge
Tim
has asked whether he may take this opportunity to offer copies of The Synges
to readers. If you would like a copy
sent post-free to a UK address, please email thesynges@gmail.com for payment details quoting Mapping Mountains. (The post-free offer will remain valid until
the end of 2025.)
