It’s a Win win for Jeff in the Peaks as he conquers his 500th 1,000ft summit
70-YEAR-OLD CLAIMS RECORD AT DERBYSHIRE’S WIN HILL
HYPOTHERMIA, a swarm of bees – nothing seems to daunt hill walker Jeff Kent.
When, in July 2019, he stood atop the impressive rocky-topped Win Hill, north-west of Bamford in the Derbyshire Peak District, he claimed a record: the first person to climb 500 1,000ft English peaks.
He still had some way to go to achieve his ambition – to identify and climb every one of the hills in central England that are above 1,000ft.
But, nine years after setting out on that bid, he reached his target – all 621 of them, plus 12 that are over 2,000ft. His tally includes all of Derbyshire’s 272 big peaks.
Now he has written a book, Central England’s 1,000-Foot Peaks, which is the first such guide to the region, and the fifth volume in his regional series of England’s 1,000ftplus peaks, which he has named collectively as The Kents, in honour of his countryside-loving parents.
Jeff, 70, from Stafford, has not stopped there: “I’m aiming to climb 1,000 of England’s 1,000ft peaks before even considering retiring from hill bagging,” he says, having identified 3,806 of them. His tally now stands at 690.
Jeff’s partner, Sue Bell, who is also his photographer, has joined him on every climb, braving all but the most awkward summits.
There have been plenty of hazards. At the top of Shropshire’s Henley Nap, Jeff found a bees’ nest: “I’m a stickler for getting to the precise hill tops, so the bees didn’t put me off, even when they swarmed around me when I stood on the highest point for my photo. Midges are far worse.”
On snow-covered Willstone Hill in Shropshire, he suffered from hypothermia: “April can catch you out! In 2016, the day was fine when we set off for a six-peak climb.
“But when we arrived, the hills were covered in snow, and children were sledging. I’d only got a shirt on and a fleece with me. There was a biting wind and no shelter. By the third hill, I was shaking and feeling slightly disorientated, so I hurried down to the shelter of its Battle Stones rock stack.
“I was amazed how quickly hypothermia developed and how debilitating it was.”
“I’d never been on Win Hill before and saved it for my 500th 1,000ft peak because it’s an impressive hill. I ran the last few yards in joy to get to the summit. I felt elation and disbelief that I’d climbed to the precise tops of 500 1,000ft peaks.”
His trips to Derbyshire have been a challenge as, he says, our hills are the most awkward.
“Stone Edge is a straightforward climb from Holymoorside until the summit area above a disused quarry is approached. On our route a barbed-wire fence had to be negotiated and then a semiovergrown footpath up to and round the quarry edge. Sue drew the line at battling through a mass of 10ft-high bracken. She photographed me on the summit, from perhaps 50 yards away.
“Shire Hill, outside Glossop, is only 1,009 feet high. I thought it would be easy to climb.
“There was no problem getting to the summit area, but then I had to crawl through a gap under a barbed-wire fence into dense and partly prickly undergrowth. Identifying the precise top was difficult.”
The dramatic Tower at Alport Castles, northwest of Ladybower Reservoir, at over half a mile long is thought to be the largest landslide in the UK. So Jeff climbed it twice.
“The Tower demands great respect. It’s unstable, littered with loose rocks and not advisable to climb when the ground is wet. I was concerned that I might not make it, but I’d saved it up for the final Derbyshire 1,000ft peak and needed to succeed. After studying it, I selected a very steep, but firm-ground route to the top. I wasn’t happy with the photos Sue took from below, so I climbed it a second time, having only just descended it.
“The summit rock is narrow, with dangerous drops, so standing up on the highest point to pose,
I didn’t set out to climb all central England’s 1,000ft peaks, but that was where I ended up. Jeff Kent
was a particularly exhilarating experience.”
Jeff says his only training is in the winter when the ground is waterlogged and it’s too cold.
So, to keep fit, he runs a threemile, up-and-down hill road course from his home.
Remember, he’s 70! But Jeff, who is passionate about ecological issues, reckons his vegetarian diet keeps him trim and climbing steep slopes without stopping has built up his leg muscles.
Jeff began hill climbing at school: “It was a revelation. I think we were being trained to climb unconquered peaks in the Himalayas because we went out in any conditions, even at the age of 11 and in short trousers.”
His quest to climb all of central England’s 1,000ft peaks started after the death of his father in 2012.
“I needed the open air, the hills, so off I went. I didn’t set out to climb all central England’s 1,000ft peaks, but that was where I ended up.”
Jeff ’s books and other information can be found on his website https://www.witancreations.com.