Simms

Why every mountain in England?

The main reason is variety. Like most people, I have my favourite hikes, my favourite mountains. But having a list that requires ticking off ensures you don’t just end up walking the same paths over and again, and forces you to venture to new places. Some of these places I definitely wouldn’t visit again, but I’ve found some cracking trails that I wouldn’t have otherwise visited if they weren’t on the list. The Howgill Fells, in particular, is an example.

What, exactly, is a mountain then?

Hewitts, Nutalls, Humps, Tumps, Dodds…

These are just some of the definitions used to describe mountains in the UK. All relate to different heights and different drops. So, at what height does a hill become a mountain? Many people take 2,000 ft as the threshold height, which is 609.6 metres. However, the UK government use 600 m as the height threshold for freedom of access laws. This seems like a good place to start.

What, exactly, is a Simm?

A Simm then, is a hill in England, Wales or Scotland, with a minimum height of 600 m and a prominence of 30 m. Simm = SIx hundred Metre Mountain. There are 192 within the boundaries of England. There are another 150 in Wales, and a whopping 2,191 in Scotland. Let’s just concentrate on England for now.

Where, exactly, are they?

As you would expect, the majority of the Simms in England can be found in the Lake District. 117 of them to be exact. There are 36 in the Yorkshire Dales, 26 in the North Pennines, 8 in Northumberland, with one outlier just outside of the National Park, 3 in Dartmoor and 2 in the Peak District.

A list, you say?

Below is a list of all 192 Simms in England, along with their location, height, and a date of when I summited the ones that I’ve already ticked off. As of July 2024, I have now visited 66 of the summits. If there’s a blog post relating to a summit, I’ll also link through to it in the table.