Reasons for Reasons
I was ‘raised’ – to use a phrase from our American friends – in south Lakeland and it has always remained home. Even though I left to study when I was 18 and didn’t return untill September 2010. A lot of years.
During those interim years I have had a great life, travelled and met some wonderful people and also have a managed to bring up my son fairly successfully. So, it although it was sort of ‘on the plan’, my move back North was not without trepidation.
As part of my ‘self affirmation’ that I had made the right decision I started a Facebook album ‘Reasons To Move North’. This has had wonderful comments from my friends but I never had the courage to make it public. Then recently I went on a Travel Writing Course with Zoe ,and much to my delight and surprise received more affirmation from positive comments on my travel writing. Something else which has always remained strictly within closed leaves.
A mindful review of my first year here followed and I realised that I had had an amazing twelve months. Yes, I have travelled away, but I have also done more here in the North West than I would have previously thought possible. And I have had so many visitors! People like it here! I have become a guide for friends and acquaintances who then spread the word about how wonderful the Lake District is. This led to my providing itineraries for weekends or longer visits. Some I accompanied, others I simply provided a ‘bespoke’ itinerary, with or with accommodation booked.
So, now it’s time to go Global!
And now I have built my own blog I have used my technical, from a previous life in IT, to build one for the Howgill Harriers. If you would like one put together then please contact me for a quote.
Braemar
So now I’ve walked my first Corbett. After the Wainwrights I have no intention of embarking on another list. Morrone, the hill, which just happens to be on the list of Corbetts, was conveniently placed by Braemar. An easy walk up from the hostel. We’d arrived in Braemar the previous afternoon. A weekend of walking planned over Easter. I forgot to order the weather and though Friday was fine it was not due to last. Taking advantage of the lull on arrival, a quick afternoon hike round, then up Creag Choininch. By 5pm the trees were...
read moreInverted Day
Spring appeared this week, may be only for a week? Being indoors was tantamount to torture. High pressure kindly hung around till Friday I even added sunscreen to my, as usual, ridiculously heavy backpack. Allowing time for the inevitable photo stops on the way past Troutbeck Tongue. Then more, as an intriguing fold of cloud flicked over the pass and the fickle Cumbrian weather ended the show. As I drove into thick cloud! And so it remained. Over Kirkstone and down to Deepdale. No wonder we’re obsessed with the weather with...
read moreDifferent Views
A bit like ‘coals to Newcastle’. A Weekend in London, much of it spent walking. Round parks and gardens. Along riverbanks and canals Even the odd street. Unexpected wildlife – and people… Even a fox which trotting nonchalantly round the gardens at Kew, below the parakeets. The garden theme continued at the Royal Academy where more than just Monet’s garden is currently on display. After being entranced by Monet’s lilies in Paris I was on a mission to see more. One of the murals brought together from three different galleries in...
read moreCumbria is Open
‘Hashtag’ Cumbria is open! This weekend it was open and beautiful. With the A591 round Thirlmere still out of action, businesses in Grasmere and Ambleside have been severely affected as has access to the hills surrounding Thirlmere. The A591 won’t be open till the end of May but the shuttle bus is an option worth exploring. Driving to Grasmere, to be dropped off at the far end of Thirlmere, it would have been quicker for me to drive round but the novelty value was worth the effort. Parking is still only £1.50 in Redbank Road carpark. Bus £5...
read moreBlack Crag from Coniston
Coniston and Coniston Old Man are usually synonymous with me and most other walkers. Head to this westerly Cumbrian village and I’m most likely to be parking at the end of Walna Scar and hiking up one of the big hills. But for a change I didn’t. Despite the lull, let’s hope it’s more than, I joined some friends in a more leisurely stroll. From the village, up to and past Tarn Hows to one of the more diminutive Wainwrights, Black Crag. Following the Cumbria Way out of the village, through pasture Guarded by trees who’ve watch walkers...
read moreSnow Week
Hordes of kids. Jostling lift lines. Raucous teenagers released from the rigidity of school. Traffic levels more like the M6 than a mountainside. Why would any childfree individual subject themselves to half term skiing? But not everywhere. Nestled in the mountains north of Milan beyond Lake Como, Madesimo is not much more than a smattering of houses and hotels. The ski area is not large, 40km in total, so don’t expect to ski somewhere new every day for a week. But apart from weekends, especially if you are up on the first hour of the...
read moreRusland Valley
Still wet, still windy and yet another named storm, Imogen, is approaching. Thankfully there was a unpublished lull before her arrival and a dry spell loitered over the north west for a day. As wind threatened to buffett walkers off the tops, if not surround in a dismal layer of grey, so we stuck to the lower fringes of Cumbria. Sandwiched between the hills and the sea, rivers meander across flood plains and small drumlin hills host clean, green woodlands. Heading a little south from Newby Bridge we soon swung west and over Canny Hill to...
read morePictures in the park
I sincerely hope that this winter is not typical of what is to come with the advent of climate change. At least not in my life time. (On a purely selfish note.) High winds and low cloud make the mountain tops dangerous and less than attractive places to walk. Lowlands still have things to offer, so neither my camera nor I remained under wraps. Levens Park has lots of family heritage as well as being lovely walk. My Great x3 Grandfather was head gardener and helped shaped the topiary in the formal garden, but that wasn’t my destination. Wet...
read moreNeedle in a Haystack
In my rather slow trek towards Mountain Leader status I’ve to make sure I can navigate myself without the aid of all the great technology and GPS. So it’s out with the map and compass. A battle with a meter square of robust paper marked with all the squiggles and dots unique to Ordnance Survey, or you can simply cut up the map into smaller squares? Now OS is online the relevant bit can be printed out, or just download the bit of map to iPhone. Surely not cheating as the download, unlike the app, won’t tell me where actually am, yet saves...
read moreSnow in 2016
Snow At last the white stuff arrived. Winter crept in quickly. Temperature dropped and the rain turned to snow. From 10 plus to – 5 within the week was a bit of a shock, but saying goodbye to the rain was no problem. Saturday was so cold two of my car doors were frozen shut. Definitely cause to thrown those extra layers in my backpack. With a high mountain walk planned for Sunday I’d arranged to walk a couple of the lower Wainwrights, Wansfell and Bayestones, with a friend still ticking from the list. My expectation of any kind of...
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