Songs on the Summits 1918-2018

'The World's Greatest War Memorial'

At the end of the First World War the Fell and Rock Climbing Club created what was described as ‘The World’s Greatest War Memorial’ by giving 12 mountain summits to the nation with the words ‘we dedicate this space of hills to freedom’.

Two other summits were also gifted by private landowners, making 14 in total.

One hundred years after the ‘war to end all wars’ finished, we commemorated the extraordinary vision of this great gift with a rather special project, called:

To mark the breathtaking vision and generosity of this gift to the nation, we commissioned an arts project as part of the Trust New Art programme funded by Arts Council England.

Informed by the mountaineering principle of ‘leave no trace’ we worked with Mouthful –  leading professional musicians from the North of England – and amateur singers drawn from community choirs in Cumbria, Yorkshire, the North East and as far away as Somerset.

The 'Fellowship Choir' learned, performed and recorded the suite of songs on many of the 14 summits dedicated as memorials after the end of the war. They walked 25 miles, climbed over 3,000m of ascent and performed live on 10 of the summits, supported by an incredibly generous and wonderful team of mountain leaders.

Cumbrian songwriter, musician and teacher Dr Dave Camlin  created a new arrangement of the moving speech by poet, climber, war veteran and FRCC member Geoffrey Winthrop Young that was ‘declaimed in a trumpet voice’ on the summit of Great Gable at the dedication ceremony.

The song, entitled 'The Fellowship of Hill, and Wind, and Sunshine' was performed and recorded on the summit of Great Gable in May 2018. You can listen to the recording here:

Here is the list of songs performed by the Fellowship Choir during the centenary year of the end of the First World War.

1. The Fellowship of Hill, and Wind, and Sunshine - a new composition by Dave Camlin, lyrics by Geoffrey Winthrop Young. Performed on Great Gable.

2. The Change - an arrangement of Ghandi's exhortation 'Be the change you want to see in the world' by Mary Cohen. Performed on Green Gable.

3. Ya Basta - an arrangement of a poem by Antonio Machado by Val Reagan. Performed on Grey Knotts.

4. Friends - by Tommon Milne. Performed on Lingmell.

5. The Joy of Living - a new arrangement by Dave Camlin of Ewan MacColl's last song. Performed on Scafell Pike.

6. Inversnaid - Dave Camlin's arrangement of the Gerrard Manley Hopkins poem. Performed on Broad Crag.

7. This Land is Your Land - by Woody Guthrie. We'd planned to sing this on Great End, but the weather was so bad we sang at Sprinkling Tarn instead.

8. Dear Native Regions - Dave Camlin's arrangement of Wordsworth's poem written on leaving Cumbria for the first time. Performed on Thorneythwaite Fell.

9. Meet on the Ledge - Dave Camlin's arrangement of Richard Thompson's song. Performed on Glaramara.

10. Old Straight Tracks - by Dave Camlin. Performed on Allen Crags.

An innovative research project into the impact of special places

The project also forms part of a research partnership with the University of York who recorded the mountain-top performances in virtual reality.

The virtual reality recording was installed at Keswick Museum and Art Gallery so that people who were unable to walk to the summits themselves could also join in the project by singing 'with' the choir in virtual reality.

All participants were asked to complete some surveys to research the impact that group singing in these special outdoor spaces has on people's sense of place, and to find out whether that impact can be replicated by singing with a virtual choir. This part of the project , was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

The Great Gift

Great Gable has become a deeply symbolic place for the outdoor community.

Few people know that it was not just Great Gable that the Fell and Rock Climbing Club gave to us to care for on behalf of the nation, but all the land above the 1,500ft contour line surrounding the peak – including 12 summits in total, that stretch out on either side of Sty Head Tarn.

The start of an avalanche

At the time, it was the largest gift of land that had ever been placed in the care of the National Trust, for the benefit of the people of Britain forever.

The gift of the 12 peaks to the Trust by the Fell and Rock Climbing Club was made in 1923. They are Lingmell, Broad Crag, Great End, Seathwaite Fell, Allen Crags, Glaramara, Kirk Fell, Great Gable, Green Gable, Base Brown, Brandreth and Grey Knotts. 

Scafell Pike was also dedicated as a war memorial in 1919 by Lord Leconfield, and Castle Crag in 1920 by the relatives of 2nd Lieutenant John Hamer, dedicated to his memory and to that of 'the men of Borrowdale'.

These donations triggered a series of endowments to the Trust and a marked a transformational moment in the nation’s relationship with beautiful landscapes, paving the way for the formation of the first national park.

Now the National Trust cares for nearly 20% of the Lake District national park, which is visited by 15 million people each year.