High Point

In 2008 Mark Clarke embarked on a journey to visit the highest point in each of the eighty-five historic counties in Great Britain. Over the course of four years, he walked over 500 miles and climbed over 100,000 feet, sampling all that is great about Britain along the way.

Mark’s journey took in the mountainous summits of Scotland and Wales (Ben Nevis, the county top of Inverness-shire, and Snowdon, the county top of Caernarfonshire) as well as dozens of less visited high points, such as the unfortunately named Boring Field in Huntingdonshire.

High Point is Mark’s account of his experiences and the challenges he faced in his travels – including suffering a broken leg on a remote hillside in Scotland while walking alone. It is rich with historical information and observations about Britain’s counties and serves as an indispensable guide to the historic and modern counties of Great Britain and their highest points.

Each county has its own gazetteer section with information about the county, the county top, Mark’s ascent and local information. High point walk directions are accompanied by an Ordnance Survey map to help you plan your own High Point adventure.

Mark Clarke’s interest in hill walking started when he was at school and took part in the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme. As part of this and other school activities, he made several visits to Snowdonia, culminating in his Gold Award expedition over four days and fifty miles – following in the footsteps of his two brothers and in the process pulling off the perhaps unusual feat of three brothers each achieving the Gold Award. The mountain skills and disciplines which he had learnt in Snowdonia sat idle for many years subsequently, but happily stood him in good stead on his High Point project – he even used the very same compass which he had used in Snowdonia some forty years earlier. He has a MA from Oxford University and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants. Until 2008 his career was in the financial services and management consultancy sectors and in Whitehall. Since then, he has taken up a variety of part time non-executive roles in business and not for profit organisations. Mark lives in London with his wife of over thirty years, Alex, and has three children, all of whom are now in their twenties.

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