AN ACCOUNT by Dorothy Wordsworth of her ascent of England's tallest peak on October 7, 1818, has inspired a new exhibition at the Wordsworth Museum, Grasmere.

"This Girl Did: Dorothy Wordsworth & Women Mountaineers" runs from September 1 to December 23 and explores the Dove Cottage diarist's place in the history of women's mountaineering.

Her manuscript description of the climb with her friend Mary Barker is among the earliest surviving accounts of this feat. By the end of the 19th century Scafell Pike would be recognised as a favourite among British climbers and mountaineers.

The Wordsworth Trust says the manuscript is "part of a rich tradition of early mountaineering about which we often forget: that is, women’s pioneering roles in advancing mountaineering and upland walking as a recreational activity".

The trust says Dorothy and Mary participated in the "invention" of mountaineering during the Romantic period. The new exhibition looks at how Dorothy inspired - and still inspires - people to find new ways of looking at mountains - "not conquering the mountain, but the journey".

"This Girl Did" will open on September 1 with a talk by academic Dr Joanna Taylor, titled "The very mountains’ child: Dorothy Wordsworth, mountaineering pioneer".

Dr Taylor has organised and curated the exhibition and its supporting events with Jeff Cowton, curator and head of learning at the Wordsworth Trust.

The exhibition will feature an installation by artist Louise Ann Wilson - "Women's Walks to Remember" - that has been on show at Dorothy's Room at nearby Rydal Mount throughout August. It celebrates the walking lives of Lake District women, and the importance of landscape and remembering.

On Saturday, September 29, a walk up Skiddaw in period costume will be led by Paul Davies, of the Grasmere Players, a keen fell runner, mountaineer and local GP. Everybody is welcome - "preferably in costume with ale and vittles" - to recreate the merry 1818 ascent by a jovial party of Dorothy's friends. The walk starts at 10.30am from Latrigg Carriage and Charabanc Park.

In mid-November, a film by adventure film-makers Jago Miller and Richard Berry is to be premiered at Kendal Mountain Festival reimagining Dorothy's ascent of Scafell Pike, with Eden artist Alex Jakob-Whitworth as Dorothy.

And on Saturday, December 1, at 3pm, Simon Bainbridge of Lancaster University will be giving a talk on women in the mountains, 1787-1829.

For more, see wordsworth.org.uk