Journeys by hiking, running, cycling and touring
A few days family camping offered an opportunity to fill-in a long-standing gap in the South West Coast Path, and was well-timed as a warm-up walk for this year's main SWCP trip the following weekend. We headed down to Somerset, along a road we've travelled so many times that our car has its own special … Continue reading A Golden Cap and a Filled-in Gap
 West Drayton to Fulwell (14 miles) For once my pre-walk faff with various electronic walk tracking devices worked smoothly and all that delayed me getting straight onto the trail from the station was the cup of tea I bought in the station newsagent. Even that didn't take me long to get on the outside of, … Continue reading Planes, Cranes and Oxbow Lakes (London LOOP Part 7)
I've got some stuff for sale. Some of it I've had quite a while, but most of it has actually not been used much - not because it's crap, I've just been a very bad boy and bought lots of gear that I can't possibly all use. Further details and photos of each item are … Continue reading Outing Some Gear
Although slightly cheered by discourse with dormmates last night, the whole rigmarole of staying in the YHA seemed to have been an exercise in trying my patience, and I was glad that phase of the trip was over. Now I could look forward to simply dealing with whatever nature threw at me and any problems … Continue reading Finishing off the Eastern Fells – Part 2
Four years ago the family had one of those holiday weeks where everybody got to do what they wanted, achieved by us all having separate holidays - my son went off to Scout camp, my wife and daughter headed for Paris, and I had the luxury of a whole week in the Lakes. The usual … Continue reading Finishing off the Eastern Fells – Part 1
Moor Park to West Drayton (14.74 miles) I stepped out of Moor Park station to a slightly less oppressively hot day. Back down the wooded path alongside the tube line, some clear damage sustained since I last passed this way. Across the railway and through the streets of Northwood, I arrived at Batchworth Heath and … Continue reading Blackberries, Reptiles and Pointless Detours (London LOOP Part 6)
We almost didn't make it to Austria, with a 45 minute journey to the airport taking 2 hours as we were forced to take to the country lanes to avoid the M25. We then found ourselves in the slowest check-in queue ever such that we actually checked-in after it had technically closed and arrived at … Continue reading Out and About in Austria
I'm posting a lot less about gear nowadays, but that doesn't mean I've gone off it! I took a number of new or newish things to Wales with me and did a few things differently for this trip. Here's how they did. Fuizion Freeze Dried Food Because I had stocks of other brands of food … Continue reading Cambrian Way – A few gear highlights
Day 12: Storey Arms to Llyn y Fan Fawr - Making up lost ground That "night in" did me a power of good, especially as I'd arrived at camp fully laden with water and early enough to simply chill out and enjoy being at camp, with none of the pressures of the previous night's desperate … Continue reading Cambrian Way #5: Storey Arms to Llandovery (Days 12-13)
Day 10: Friday 11 July 2014 - Filling in the Blanks I woke early to a gloomy and rainy world. Thankful that I'd all but completed the packing the night before, it didn't take me long to get the last few bits together and be on my way, walking to the station in a light … Continue reading Cambrian Way #4: Merthyr to Storey Arms (Days 10 – 11)
It's been over a year, but finally I'm getting back to the Cambrian Way. In a little over 10 days I've gone from not even considering doing it to impatience to get out there on the trail. The Lakes has had most of my attention for the last year, but happily now the balance is … Continue reading Back on the Cambrian Way
Although there's some controversy over who actually uttered this well-known quote, with people usually ascribing it to Winston Churchill or Mark Twain, the fact remains that hitting a small ball with a stick over a long distance to a small hole, is a singularly odd pastime and one I struggle to understand the obsession for. … Continue reading Tree Love and a Good Walk Spoiled ? (London LOOP Part 5)
I'd like to thank Gina (@CumbrianBlondie) for nominating me via her blog - The Adventures of Cumbrian Blondie. The Liebster Award was originally an idea to spread by word of mouth (or should that be word of type?) blogs with relatively low readerships - not because they're crap, but more because people might not have … Continue reading The Liebster Award
The Day After the Night Before No one had seemed that bothered about staying in the pub, helped by the live music act's rather dubious renditions of what had up to that point been some well-loved songs, and so we all decamped to, errr camp. An evening sat around the camp, warding off midges and … Continue reading Beer and Bogs in Borrowdale
The first thing I saw as I stepped off the bus at Rosthwaite, a stop short of where I ought to, was Eagle Crag, one of my most favourite fells, peering out from behind Rosthwaite Fell. This just reminded me that it's ages since I've been to Borrowdale. Quite apart from the challenge itself, it … Continue reading The 10-in-10 (ish)