A WEST Cumbrian school hiking club took on England's highest mountain at the weekend.

St Bees School's The Wainwright Walking Club climbed Scafell Pike on Sunday.

Eight staff members and 18 students took part in the hike.

In a blog post, Mr Silk, one of the teachers, said: “this was our best [walk] yet.”

The group has now taken in three walks since its launch in September.

It has been growing in size, with more students attending this walk than any other so far.

Mr Silk elaborated on why the walk had been so successful.

"Maybe it was the allure of England’s highest mountain," he said. "Even if one would like to think that it was the result of momentum built up by the excitement of the two previous walks."

He added: "Certainly, the weather was better this time and that was to be thankful for as at the top, with the wind howling, it was certainly not warm!

"Along with having our biggest group yet, which included boarders, weekly boarders and day students, we also had at least one student from every year group, which really is great."

Scafell Pike is 978 metres above sea level.

It is very popular with mountain climbers across the country, and has seen an increase in walkers since the pandemic.

The Wainwright Walking Club is named after Alfred Wainwright.

Mr Wainwright described routes to over 200 summits in his seven volume Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells.

These were published between 1955 and 1966.

Mr Silk described the walk: "The walk up to Styhead and then Sprinkling Tarns was steady, but with calm weather and high spirits, we soon soldiered onto our first Wainwright for the day.

"Here, we stopped for lunch, and perched at 907m it was rather windy and increasingly cold.

"We staggered on across Ill Crag and then Broad Crag before the final scramble up the hill and the top of our country (well for most of us).

He continued: "After considerable back-slapping, we escaped the wind and trotted down the hill before a brief climb to the top of Lingmell Fell our third and final Wainwright of the day.

"A long descent was punctuated by the occasional moan and groan about hurting knees and ankles, but we all made it safely back to the Wasdale Head Car Park.

"A hugely satisfying day, and a well-deserved supper was waiting for us at the school."