ascent for Blencathra than any other fell. Blease Fell and Scales Fell provided easy walking on grass and fast routes of descent. Gategill Fell he noted as dull until the final arête is reached, while Hallsfell and Doddick Fell both received praise. Of the intervening gills, Scaley Beck was reckoned the most practicable, the other three being overly rough and devoid of interest. An ascent from ‘behind’, beginning from Mungrisdale, was also described. Ownership In May 2014, its owner, Hugh Lowther, 8th Earl of Lonsdale, listed the entire mountain massif plus the Lordship of the Manor of Threlkeld for sale, at a guide price of £1.75 million. The sale was started in order to pay inheritance tax. A number of offers were soon made for the mountain, and the agent handling the sale suggested that the initial guide price could well be exceeded. A community group, Friends of Blencathra, was set up in response to the announcement of the fell being listed for sale, and began fund-raising in order to make a bid. Mountaineer Sir Chris Bonington, broadcaster Melvyn Bragg and adventurer and television presenter Ben Fogle were among those to voice support for the group's bid. The National Trust (which owns 21% of the Lake District National Park) also backed the Friends of Blencathra, stating that it would not be placing a bid itself. Eden District Council listed Blencathra as an asset of community value on 7 July 2014, following a nomination by Friends of Blencathra. This was the first time the 'community asset' status had been given to a mountain, and gave the community group more time to secure funding and negotiate with the owner. In November 2015, the community group claimed to be making progress with the sale. Days later, H and H Land & Property, the estate agents handling the sale of Blencathra, announced the mountain was no longer on the market, claiming it would not be available to purchase for an 'indefinite' period of time. On 15 February 2016, Companies House published files confirming Friends of Blencathra had only raised £246,650 of the asking price in its first year of campaigning. Due to a lack of "serious" offers, Blencathra was withdrawn from sale in May 2016, as the Earl had found other means of paying the tax. Following this, the Friends of Blencathra were given an ultimatum to make a final serious offer following concerns