Journeys by hiking, running, cycling and touring
So I was minding my own business, when the marketing bods at JD Sports (shiny new owners of Blacks) came up to me desperate to give me some gear and asking me to tell them what I needed. Not wanting to cause offence, a short while later I took delivery of two items - a … Continue reading Gear Review: Montane Atomic Stretch Jacket
Ennui, noun : a feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement. Yep, that sounds about right. With a forecast 14 weeks of working away in Edinburgh spread over several months, this was always going to be a bit of an ordeal. Living in a hotel; working long hours, typically 7am … Continue reading Ennui in Edinburgh
I love beer. It's so liberating. It makes ideas that you'd never otherwise voice come to the fore and be shared with the world.I hate beer. It gets one into scrapes that one didn't intend. And makes one look a wally when you backpedal on what you'd said you'd do.An impromptu couple of swift pints … Continue reading Dithering (London LOOP Part 2)
I stepped out from the front door and headed for the river. With 15 miles to walk, I decided that starting by walking in the opposite direction to pick up the riverside path the easy way wasn't really the best idea, opting instead for a nondescript footpath between houses and a fence that should lead … Continue reading Asterix and the Defence of the Thames (London LOOP Part 1)
The observant among my readers will have spotted that I wasn't alone on last weekend's trip to the Lakes. Indeed it was hoped to be a small group, but in the end only my friend Cath (who can be found on Twitter as @wellycath) was able to join me, and the central theme of the … Continue reading Perceptions from a First Lakes Backpack
The creature stepped from the bog, covered in jet black ooze, spread its arms wide and started to lurch in my direction. I took out my secret weapon and brandished it in front of the foul wretch attempting to fend it off... Well, when I say "damsel", that's ordinarily the last word anyone that knows … Continue reading A Tour of the Tarns with a Damsel in Distress
Selecting and Buying the Pack A few months ago, and in contemplation of walking the Cambrian Way this year, I started looking around for a replacement large capacity backpack. That is a replacement for my old workhorse Lowe Alpine Khumbu 65:80 which I picked up cheaply in Decathlon a couple of years ago (also in … Continue reading ÜLA Epic
Stuart was staring at his phone as I made a beeline for him through the crowd at Manchester Piccadilly - not difficult as he tends to stand head and shoulders above everyone else. Within a few minutes we were in the station pub taking on essential fuel for our trek. I found myself handing over … Continue reading Modelling on the Pennine Way
Mainland Europe disappeared into the ship's wake, Nordkapp growing ever smaller as our latitude inexorably increased. Clouds and cold blue seas the only view from here on, as I occupied my sea day with my usual regime of laps of the deck (4 to the mile), guest appearances at the morning quiz and afternoon quiz, … Continue reading The Arctic “Expedition” – Part 2: The Icy Wastes
All around us was a barren landscape of rough close cropped moorland vegetation, punctuated every so often with reindeer trotting about nonchalantly and completely ignoring the bus as it roared past. Every so often a glimpse of the icy sea appeared between hills, but very little in terms of human habitation. This really was the … Continue reading The Arctic “Expedition” – Part 1: To the Top of Europe
I waited for everyone else to disappear from the office for lunch to mark the departure of a colleague, and then counted down the clock until I could decently head off in the other direction. Within minutes I was at Euston and looking at a train almost an hour earlier than the one I'd planned. … Continue reading A Peak District Mini-Adventure with Twitter Chums
This tent was provided to me free of charge by Go Outdoors for the purposes of this review. It's summer and festival season once again, and so it wasn't a huge surprise that the list of tents GO asked me to pick from to review focused firmly on that market. Not a festival-goer myself, I skipped … Continue reading Review: Hi Gear Atom 3
The Plan Every year from 2008, my Dad and I have walked a section of the South West Coast Path (SWCP), taking 4-5 days per section, and walking anywhere between 40 and 60 miles, depending on the terrain and logistics. Some years my brother has also joined. Having decided to do the SWCP the "wrong … Continue reading South West Coast Path 2013
Things are going to be going a bit quiet on here shortly, due to the work situation, but before that happens I've got one last big trip coming up. After that I'm only going to be able to get out for the odd weekend. So it's time to make the most of the time outdoors … Continue reading A quick update
Day 1 After four hours in the car, we pulled up by the Cornewall-Lewis memorial in New Radnor, and I couldn't wait to get out of the car and escape David's not very satisfactory attempts at navigation. Not that that was an end to it - with his final geography GCSE paper in a few … Continue reading The geography field trip