THIS is very much a personal journey which sees the author 'climbing up and through the history' of 16 of the 'most unique' mountains in Britain.

It is, of course, a very subjective claim but Simon Ingram applies a broad scope to his exploration of the chosen peaks so he can encompass his own experiences as well as the history, science, myth and magic associated with them.

The Cumbrian mountains featured are Great Cable, which dominates Wasdale, Loughrigg Fell overlooking Ambleside, and Cross Fell which rises above the eastern flank of Cumbria.

The other mountains explored are Beinn Dearg, The Black Mountain, Cadair Idris, Crib Goch Cnicht, Schiehallion, Ben Loyal, An Teallach, The Assynt Hills, Askival, Ladhar Bheinn, Ben Macdui and Ben Nevis.

As if to add to the foreboding nature of such remote places, Ingram has chosen to include a limited selection of gloomy black and white photographs of the mountains, which help to tell their story of without the need for captions.

The author has been an outdoor journalist and writer for more than 10 years. He is the editor of Trail, a national hillwalking magazine.

ALLAN TUNNINGLEY