Roseberry Topping

Its distinctive profile means it’s fondly known as Yorkshire’s

Matterhorn. A much easier climb though, with a summit at 1050 feet vs the Alpine giant’s 14,692 feet. It only got that famous profile in 1912, when a geological fault and nearby mining collapsed the summit’s western edge. Before that it looked like a sugarloaf. Captain James Cook grew up at nearby Great Ayton and began his exploring on this hill.

A pyramid to him was proposed for the summit; an obelisk was instead built on nearby Easby Moor.

The name Roseberry is thought to derive from Othenesberg, Old Norse meaning ‘hill of Odin’. Locals use the hill to predict the weather: ‘When Roseberry Topping wears a cap, let Cleveland then beware of a clap!’ Alan Hinkes OBE, the first Brit to climb all 14 of the world’s 8000m+ mountains, names this little peak as his favourite.