'My cancer is terminal but I'll keep climbing mountains'

Ian Teasdale is more than halfway through his Terminal Hillness project as he attempts to climb all 214 Wainwrights

"The key thing about cancer is, it throws you upside down," says Ian Teasdale, as he makes his way up Binsey Fell, an isolated spot overlooking the north of the Lake District.

Three years ago, he learned that his bowel cancer had spread to his lungs. This time it was terminal.

Born and bred in Cumbria, the 65-year-old turned to the fells to try to process the devastating news.

"I'm still me, but with C, as I like to say, and the real me likes going up mountains, so why shouldn't I continue to do it?"

Ian and his wife Catherine Wetherfield set off on the challenge of walking all 214 Wainwright fells, their name a nod to writer Alfred Wainwright, who authored a series of pioneering guidebooks about the area.

They are documenting their journey online through a project Ian has named Terminal Hillness.

He is also raising money to fund a cancer support centre for the charity Maggie's, which he hopes will one day be built in Carlisle. His total has hit £10,000.

Ian, who was born and raised in Cumbria, says the project has become an "important part" of his life

"I want you to be walking up the hill Ian, please," says Catherine, as the couple take on peak number 147.

They are halfway up Binsey and she is composing a photo for the blog.

"It's a shared experience, it's good in a marriage to do something like this," she says.

Catherine "made a rule" that the couple could complete their challenge when the weather was on their side.

"I'm the one on the hill that will slow us down," she says. "Ian might be the one with the stage 4 cancer but he's like a mountain goat on the hill and I'm 61 - and I have 61-year-old knees!"

Ian Teasdale and his wife Catherine Wetherfield are documenting their journey

The fell is busy with walkers and dogs heading to the summit. As they make their way up, the couple stop to tell of their project to strangers who share their passion of the outdoors.

"Having cancer does give you that confidence to doorstep almost anybody and talk to them and that's what we've been doing," says Ian, a theoretical physicist.

"There's also an intensity when you know that you have a terminal illness."

He looks at his surroundings, his voice full of emotion.

"Everything seems beautiful, everything seems rich and everything seems intensely..." he says, as his voice breaks.

"It's a profound experience up there sometimes."

The couple say they wish they had started the challenge sooner

On the windy summit, Ian pats the Ordnance Survey trig point and Catherine holds on to her woolly hat. That's Binsey ticked off.

"Cancer doesn't come into it, we are just walking up hills and it's a lovely project to do together.

"We should have probably done it all the years we have lived here."

The stunning views from here have a special significance for Ian. He can look out to the town of Aspatria where he was born, and into the valley where he lives now.

"The project's become a really important part of my life," he says.

"My life is reframed by cancer, so it's helping me to cope with the diagnosis itself.

"Everybody's different and everybody needs different things, but for me this really, really helps."

Ian is raising money for the cancer support charity Maggie's