THE BEST JOB IN BRITAIN?

If you’re feeling chilly on your walks at the mo, spare a thought for these chaps. These are the three Lake District Fell Top Assessors, and each day through the winter months, one of them climbs to the rugged, 3118ft summit of Lake District giant Helvellyn to provide ‘boots on the ground’ condition reports to help keep walkers safe. Their intel is fed to lakedistrictweatherline. co.uk and @LakesWeather on Twitter, providing detailed reports of the weather and ground conditions on the tops, meaning walkers can make informed decisions about their plans.

Assessor Zac Poulton says the job may be more vital now than it has ever been.

“As we’ve seen many new visitors to the national park over the summer months, I think it’s more important than ever to ensure that people know that the fells in the winter are a very different place. You do need to be prepared with the weather and conditions forecast, the knowledge, skills and equipment, and also be aware of your own capabilities.”

EVERYDAY HEROES: Felltop Assessors Wes Hunter, Jon Bennett and Zac Poulton. Colleague Wes Hunter says: “We’re incredibly lucky to have Helvellyn as our ‘office’ and this year many people who may usually visit the Lake District won’t be able to, so we’ll do our best to throw in some stunning photos on social media as well.” And if you’d rather climb Helvellyn from your armchair, snap up Life of a Mountain: Helvellyn, the final film in Terry Abraham’s astonishing trilogy about the most famous fells in the Lake District. Sumptuously filmed and full of wonderful characters (including our own Stuart Maconie taking on Striding Edge for the first time), it’s a sublime slice of virtual hillwalking. You can get the DVD for £17 from stridingedge.com