Mabel Barker, a child of the 1880’s, grew up with a secret passion for the hills. To her, rock climbing was the sport of the gods; she could not believe her luck when Millican Dalton, famous caveman of the Lake District, invited her to do a roped climb. Supremely talented and naturally fearless, she was soon climbing with the best climbers of the day, making a stunning fourth ascent of Central Buttress with her dear friend and climbing partner, C.D. Frankland.

Even when tragedy struck, Mabel refused to become dispirited. This book tells the heart-warming story of a woman who lived to the full and fought for what she believed in, whether rescuing a starving Austrian boy from chaotic aftermath of the Great War, or founding her own school in Caldbeck, where pupils were taught respect and knowledge of their environment. Much of her writing was prophetic, giving insights into the origins of outdoor and experiential education. Her ideas are surely as relevant today as they were a century ago – particularly her insistence that human beings must live in close harmony with the earth they depend so much upon.

When Mabel Barker & Claude Frankland made the 4th & first female ascent of Central Buttress, they were spotted above the Flake (the top part of which Mabel had led). When asked by a party just finishing Keswick Brothers’ Climb, what route they were on, Mabel remembered Frankland’s reply:
‘ “Central Buttress: just go up the Flake,” said my partner, with careful indifference, and just as his second appeared. There are moments when it is rather good fun to be a woman. Probably no lady in history was ever so sure of creating a mild sensation by the mere fact of being where she was’