Wainwrights are the 214 English peaks (known locally as fells) described in Alfred Wainwright's seven-volume Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells (1955–66). They all lie within the boundary of the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, and all but one (Castle Crag) are over 1,000 feet (304.8 m) in height. Over two million copies of the Pictorial Guides have been sold since their publication. In 1974, Wainwright published a supplementary volume The Outlying Fells of Lakeland (1974), which includes another 116 summits (described in 56 walks); these are the Wainwright Outlying Fells. Summiting all of the Wainwrights is a popular form of peak bagging in the Lake District, along with the Birketts. Because both lists are based on historical books, unlike, for example, the Munros, their constituents remain fixed, regardless of revisions to height or other metrics. In this regard, they are similar to the Scottish lowlands, Donalds. There are 214 Wainwrights, of which 209 are also classed as one of the 541 Birketts. Wainwrights cover a wide range of heights, from major mountains such as the highest Wainwright, Scafell Pike at 978 metres (3,209 ft), to Castle Crag, the smallest Wainwright at 290 metres (951 ft). Wainwright did not state any rules about what should be included in his guides, choosing instead to note his walks according to his favour and their relevance in the landscape, never himself considering the summiting of all of them to be an important accomplishment for others. The Long Distance Walkers Association ("LDWA") holds a register of walkers who wish it to be recorded that they have completed the Wainwrights. The first recorded continuous round of all 214 Wainwrights was completed by Alan Heaton between 29 June and 8 July 1985 starting and finishing at Keswick Moot Hall, with a total time of 9 days and 16 hours. Joss Naylor completed the round in 7 days in 1986 and held the record until 20 June 2014 when Steve Birkinshaw completed the round in 6 days and 13 hours, involving 320 miles (515 km) and 118,000 ft (36,000m) of ascent. Birkinshaw published an account of his run as There is No Map in Hell: The Record-Breaking Run Across the Lake District Fells (2017, Vertebrate Publishing: ISBN 978-1910240946). Birkinshaw's record was broken on 20 June 2019 when Paul Tierney completed the round in 6 days 6 hours 4 minutes. On 12 to 17 June 2021, Sabrina Verjee set a new record of 5 days, 23 hours and 49 minutes. The current record was set by John Kelly on 2 to 7 May 2022 with a time of 5 days, 12 hours and 14 minutes. Following the same route, on 26 August 2021, a team of 27 members of Durham Fell Runners, began what is thought to be the first attempt at a continuous relay of the 214 Wainwright Fells. Running through the night and day, the team completed the round in a time of 4 days, 6 hours and 50 minutes. (en)
Wainwrights are the 214 English peaks (known locally as fells) described in Alfred Wainwright's seven-volume Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells (1955–66). They all lie within the boundary of the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, and all but one (Castle Crag) are over 1,000 feet (304.8 m) in height. Over two million copies of the Pictorial Guides have been sold since their publication. In 1974, Wainwright published a supplementary volume The Outlying Fells of Lakeland (1974), which includes another 116 summits (described in 56 walks); these are the Wainwright Outlying Fells. (en)