Bentley the dog from Ripley becomes first dog to climb every mountain in England (UK) 13/May/2024

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 av