Builder completes 214-summit challenge carrying a pile of bricks

While most of the country was basking is sunny weather, 53 year-old Nigel Howell has tackling driving rain and high winds to reach his final peak The Great Gable at the weekend.

He has earned the nickname of The Hodfather and it has taken him since March 2023 to complete his unique challenge. The peaks, known as Wainwrights, total 36,000 metres. No-one has ever completed the feat while carrying a hod of bricks.

Over consistent weekends Nigel has left his Coventry home at 4.30 on a Friday morning and ticked off as many as 7 peaks in a weekend, before returning home for a brief rest and back to work on Monday morning.

His adventures have often raised bemused looks from fell walkers in the Lake District. “Some of them even thought I was carrying the bricks to build a barbecue at the top,” he says.

Through the physical highs and lows, the father of 3 is raising money and awareness for the charity Mind Over Mountains because he has always struggled with his own mental health. He says: “I fell in love with the Lake District 25 years ago and have been visiting regularly since. The mountains keep my demons at bay and I want others who are struggling to experience how freeing the mountains can be.”

Nigel was a hod-carrier when he first started out in the building trade more than 30 years ago. The practice of carrying bricks and mortar on your shoulder while climbing a ladder with one hand has long since been abandoned for safer working practices.

But when he started Nigel found he was one of the best – so much so that he accepted a challenge from workmates and took part in the 1995 Two Castles Race from Warwick to Kenilworth while carrying his load of bricks.

Since then, he has climbed Kilimanjaro (the highest mountain in Africa), hiked Hadrian's Wall and walked coast-to-coast all carrying a hod of bricks. This 2-year Lake District challenge will be his hardest yet – and it all ends this weekend.

The charity he is supporting, Mind Over Mountains, organises walks and weekend wellbeing retreats to help people facing mental health issues.

“Evidence consistently shows a positive relationship between spending time in nature and good health and wellbeing. So with our walks and weekend retreats we offer much more than an escape into nature,” says charity boss Ian Sansbury.

“Participants are accompanied by our skilled counsellors and coaches who walk, talk and, most importantly, listen.”

Each year in the UK around 1 in 4 adults are affected by mental health issues, which places considerable stress on NHS waiting lists. Mind Over Mountains works with local GPs who can prescribe time in nature as a way of improving mental wellbeing. At the same time anyone who feels they could benefit can sign themselves up for a walk or retreat via the charity's website www.mindovermountains.org.uk