Our trip to Scotland had by necessity been fluid in the planning. As always, we'd purchased our train tickets as far in advance as possible to benefit from the cheapest available fares. But with various distractions of the 'day job' and a house move to prepare, we left the finer details to just a few nights before.

Black Combe is a lonely outpost, tucked away in the southwest corner of the Lake District. No other fell reaches 600m before you reach Harter Fell, nearly 17km away. This isolation has its advantages. William Wordsworth described the views from Black Combe as ‘the amplest range of unobstructed prospect may be seen that British ground commands’.

Ingleborough and Whernside are fine – Yorkshire’s two highest peaks – but Pen-y-ghent has no right to be included in an elite group. Like a weedy kid hanging out with his older brothers, it gets to be part of the gang through its connections rather than its credentials.