A DALES man is on a mission to conquer all the highest peaks in the British Isles.

Tony Ingleby, of Dent, is embarking on the mammoth challenge — the equivalent of climbing Everest 25 times – for six charities.

Sometimes sporting a kilt and offering to walk people’s dogs along the way, the 55-year-old started climbing Cumbria’s peaks in August.

He plans to complete the 214 Lakeland ‘Wainwrights’ and the 15 Welsh mountains over 3,000-ft by next March.

He will then move on to the Scottish Munro and Corbett peaks – those over 3,000ft and between 2,500ft and 3,000ft respectively – which will involve a climb of 1,120 peaks, cycling between each of them.

Mr Ingleby, who has worked as a drystone waller, gardener and mountain guide, is doing his ‘big walk for humanity’, as an inspiration to his four sons, who are aged between nine and 14 and live in Inverness.

“A large part of my motivation is to galvanise support to make the world a better place for all of our kids,” said Mr Ingleby.

One of his key aims is to encourage people to embark on a mass Boxing Day trek up Lakeland peaks.

“The idea is that they get sponsorship for a great day in the fells this Christmas, so we can all make a contri-bution to those in need in the world,” said Mr Ingleby.

His own favoured charities are the Red Cross, Combat-Stress, Macmillan Cancer Support, Police Orphans, Scope and Barnardo’s.

Mr Ingleby is tackling most of the peaks on his own, but is occasionally joined by friends. To find out more about the challenge, email him at tony@level-six.co.uk