This is a rather new classification in contrast to some of the others that I’ve mentioned in recent posts. It is maybe a stretch to refer to these as mountains. Although some of the summits do have mountain like characteristics, they don’t meet most standards used define what is mountain. So I’ll refer to them as summits rather instead.
To celebrate the life and work of Ethel Haythornthwaite, the Ethel summits were designated in 2021.
She was a pioneer in protecting the countryside and was instrumental in helping the Peak District become the countries first National Park in 1951.
Definition of a Ethel?
Most of the summits are over 1,300 feet (400m) although the list does also include other summits of significance.
How many Ethel summits are in the Peak District?
Spread across the Peak District National Park there is 95 Ethel summits.
27 hills have a height below 400m but have other characteristics that make them special. These include hills such as Parkhouse Hill and Thorpe Cloud.
37 of the summits stand between 400m and 500m. Including some of my favourites like Chrome Hill (the Dragons Back) and Higger Tor.
27 stand between 500m and 600m and are mostly found in the western and northern stretches of the park. With my personal favourites being the The Roaches, Shutlingsloe and Shining Tor.
4 of the Ethel’s are over 600m. This includes the three Nuttalls that can be found in the National Park, Kinder Scout, Bleaklow and Higher Stones.
Five of the hills also share the classification of Marilyn with a prominence of over 150m. The list also includes the six country tops from Staffordshire, Derbyshire, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester.
How many Ethel’s have I ticked off
In the last 18 months I’ve managed to bag 48 of the 95 summits during my adventures around the Peak District and hope to tick many more off my list this year as well as returning to some of my favourites.
Are you on a mission to bag the Peak District Ethel’s I would love to hear your favourites?
There is a great app for ticking off the Ethel’s but I’ve also included a link below to a spreadsheet of all the summits.