FELL walkers are being asked to help commemorate the 50th anniversary of a landmark in the career of a walking legend by scaling more than 200 mountains in one week.

May sees the 50th anniversary of the publication of the first of Alfred Wainwright's Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells and the Wainwright Society is hoping to mark the occasion with The Great Lakeland Challenge, a mass-ascent of each of the 214 mountains charted in the guides.

Since the first of the series of seven books was published, almost two million copies have been sold and they are still seen by many as the definitive guide to the Lakeland fells.

The Wainwright Society will record the ascent of all 214 fells in the Pictorial Guides over a one-week period from May 14 to 21, and individual walkers and walking groups can choose which mountains they wish to climb from a list which will appear on the Wainwright Society's web-site at www.wainwright.org/ challenge Registration is free to members of the society and £10 for non-members although payment will include automatic membership of the society.

Three pounds of each registration fee will be donated to the Lake District Tourism and Conservation Partnership that organises footpath repairs and other environmental projects in the Lake District.

Wainwright Society press and publicity officer John Burland said: "There's somewhere for everyone, from a strenuous ascent to a gentle stroll."

Members can apply via the website on www.wainwright.org/ register while non-members can register via credit card at www.stridingedge.com/register.

Postal applications should be sent to: Peter Linney, Secretary Wainwright Society, 3 Beech Close, Farnham, Knaresborough, HG5 9JJ.