Man scales 95 Peak District 'Ethels' in new feat

Each peak in the challenge is called an Ethel, named after Ethel Haythornthwaite

A man who began frequent walks after a health scare is thought to have become the first person to complete a new Peak District challenge.

It involves climbing 95 peaks known as Ethels, named after the founder of a countryside charity.

They range from Thorpe Cloud in the limestone White Peak, to the remote moorland summits of Kinder Scout.

Dan Cunningham said he felt proud to have walked all the Ethels and lose more than two stone along the way.

Mr Cunningham, 39, from Sheffield, started walking in the Peak District after being admitted to hospital in October 2020.

He said: "I had a very bad lifestyle. I was not exercising regularly, I was grossly overweight, I was not eating well and the knock-on effect of years of this had put my health at risk.

"I needed to make some pretty drastic and quick changes.

"I didn't really want to go back to the gym so I thought 'I've got this on my doorstep'."

Mr Cunningham walked his first Ethel in June 2021

Mr Cunningham would go for a walk between work and the school run.

In May 2021, the Ethel challenge was created for the CPRE Peak District and South Yorkshire charity.

Mr Cunningham said he heard about it and after a few weeks of consideration, decided to take it on.

"After you've done one, they become addictive," he said.

Within seven months he climbed all 95 Ethels, completing his last one in January.

Mr Cunningham has lost more than two stone in weight since he started climbing the Ethels

The challenge was named after Ethel Haythornthwaite, who founded CPRE Peak District and South Yorkshire.

It said she was a pioneering environmentalist who helped to protect wild areas like Longshaw and Blackamoor from development.

She was also a key figure in making the Peak District Britain's first national park, the charity said.

The Ethel challenge was created by one of the charity's supporters at a time when people were finding refuge from coronavirus lockdowns in the countryside.

It was designed to mirror the Munros in Scotland and the Wainwrights in the Lake District.

The charity congratulated Mr Cunningham on completing all the Ethels and said as far as it was aware, he was the first person to do so.