A dog from Ripley has become the first to claim every mountain in England, according to its owner.

Jon Birtle, a civil engineer, and Bentley, a nine-year-old Yorkshire Jack Russell terrier, completed the challenge this month.

Mr Birtle said Bentley had become the first dog to ever climb all of the mountains in England.

Their escapades date back to 2019 when Mr Birtle turned 50 and wanted to “do something out of the ordinary".

So to celebrate his landmark birthday, the pair set out to climb Pen-y-ghent in the Yorkshire Dales. They enjoyed the challenge so much Mr Birtle decided to attempt the other two Yorkshire peaks with Bentley.

After that, Mr Birtle began researching all of Yorkshire's mountains.

After climbing all 41, he upgraded the challenge to taking on all 180 mountains in England above 2,000 feet (610 metres), which are classed as Hewitts.

The pair battled bad weather, lockdowns, exclusion zones and injuries to complete this feat.

Man and dog averaged a climb every three weeks over five years in an adventure that has taken them from the Yorkshire Dales to the Peak District, the Lake District and Dartmoor.

They trekked over 600 miles and Bentley has recorded over half a million steps. Their climbs have now achieved the equivalent of scaling Mt Everest more than 15 times.

Mr Birtle took a date stamped photo of Bentley on every summit and soon amassed a keen following on social media who watched their journey.

He said:

After each mountain climb, the pair finished the day in a pub to celebrate with a lager and a treat for Bentley.

Mr Birtle added:

Mr Birtle said he is now looking at taking on more long walks and is considering a coast-to-coast route for his next challenge.

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