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.
Arctic Icy Blast
35 to 50 mile an hour gusts were forecast. 35 constant was the feel. With a unforgettable reminder of how wind and its chill make walking, lets say, more of a challenge. The way to Loadpot Hill Picking Askham as a midpoint between my friend and I, Loadpot Hill, with not ridges to be blown from and a summit of only 671m we thought we may emerge unscathed. Whatever the weather threw at us. Boundary Stone And, we did. Though there was the odd spot where I was almost tempted to pull the plug and go back. Luckily the...
read moreFirst of the white stuff
At last it has snowed! Seriously wondering whether winter was ever going to happen this year, we have had a covering, may be ever briefly in Cumbria Having planned to get out for a hike anyway, I headed up to Langdale, where an equally snow smitten friend and I, ooed and aaaed going into the Langdale valley as if we’d never seen it, or snow, before. It wasn’t even a blue sky day! Just the kind of day with enough mist and murk to put off most walkers, yet not make navigating the familiar totally impossible. The snow wasn’t even deep...
read moreWay up another Wainwright or Three
My first Lake District Walk of the new year. To Haweswater reservoir, that which drowns the valley of Mardale. Mardale, is a mere hop-skip-and-hike away from Kendal, if approached from Kentmere. To start from Mardale adds a road trip of 25 miles Taking the road trip on Sunday I slogged up Gatesgarth Pass to Harter Fell and round and down Riggindale. The weather was benign for December. In this winter of global warming we have had precious little snow, yet a biting wind clawed over Nan Bield Pass. The milder weather is more incentive for...
read moreWalking the Cumbria Way – Hints, Tips and Practicalities
If I’m in the Lake District I’m usual on a hill, on my way up, or down. The challenge of bagging Wainwrights has been and gone. I’ve completed the the Coast to Coast. crossing the country, and county, in a West/East direction and trekked in far away places. With the Peaks of the Balkans imminent, I unexpectedly had a diary gap, so what better way to fill it than with my first multi-day solo hike. Practically on the flat in generally, hilly Cumbria. How much of a challenge could that possibly be? If you want to be on...
read moreWalking the Cumbria Way In Five Days
Beginning in Ulverston, the CW wanders as due north as possible. Bar a brief hiccough on day two. Through the Lake District National Park, to its ultimate destination in Carlisle a mere 70 miles later. Day One Ulverston to Coniston 29.1 k 18.1 miles The Start There is a plaque on the wall as the start of day 1. Clearly defined. Having been dropped off in the centre of the town, it took a little wandering before I found it. Then I headed out of town by Gill Banks Beck, meeting only...
read moreAutumn in Cumbria
It’s been a while since I published on here. Blame houses. Or rather the ridiculously stressful system of buying and selling we have in England. It all takes so long! Everyone tells me how lucky I was to sell my house so quickly. The first viewing resulted in a sale, within the first week. But I then went away for three weeks with no idea of where I was going to live, except I’d decided on Kendal. The detail is boring, but suffice to say that it became all consuming when I came back from the Balkans...
read moreA hike through the Balkans
The last time I crossed the Balkans, the map wore different colours. Travelling through, what was then Yugoslavia, to Greece in the late 1970s. Not daring to leave the train with images of Midnight Express flashing through my eyes, and currency changed almost stop by stop as the Euro had hardly been conceived. Now the Balkans are open. Only Albania has the Lek and even here there was an easy acceptance of EU currency. Flights arrive from all over Europe and English, French, Italian and German are...
read moreShould I use a Map or a Book or App?
A topic I have debated at length before. Way back when in 2013! Yes, I have been scribbling and publishing for that long. So long that I’d almost forgotten I’d written about the benefits of all. But I think it’s worth revisiting as my life, and therefore perspective, has changed a tad. Then I was clearly struggling with maps and squiggly lines. Now, well I am a convert. After slogging through my ML and now vaguely making a living from leading and teaching others out on hills, I’d sooner have a map than a book to...
read moreA short walk up a hill
There was more to drive than walk from my home in S Lakes, to our eventual camp. But the day was hot, so the drive at the end of my day job tipped the temperature to a more manageable level. Sharp silhouettes were forming across the skyline, natural and created by man. Folds etched into hillsides unseen in the height of the day. We walked up, the sun dipped down. Throwing the distance into sharp relief and brightly clarifying closer colours. Setting up camp there was just the remnants of the harsh summer sun. ...
read moreWhich Way to Walk up Helvellyn?
I was up Helvellyn last week. A glorious blue sky day in what I am sure is going to be remembered as the ‘summer of 2018’. So many continuous days of Cumbrian sunshine. Unusual and welcome. A chance encounter with a friend, whom I also met on my last hike up this particular hill in the lovely February snow, made me start to wonder how many ways there are to walk up the hill, or go down, and how many I had set foot on since my fist walk up from Thirlmere aged about ten. As always on a good weather day there was a larger...
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