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.
Inclement June
And so I went for a walk – again. Not too much planning. Little attention to detail. No beginners on this walk! We could manage whatever the weather could throw at us. I hoped, when I eventually looked at the forecast about five minutes before I left home. Low cloud. Possible rain. Buffeting! June! There are a few places in Cumbria it takes me longer to get to than Manchester. Wasdale Head, last week. Martindale this week. Our reason for going, because we don’t go very often…. Understandably. So up Beda Fell. At...
read morePillar via Yewbarrow
Summer? Is it here? Has it gone already? Hopefully it will come back again. If not maybe it will stay over in Europe, as I’ve rashly said ‘yes’ to walking the Tour of Mount Blanc in August. Some fairly serious training walks to fit in betwixt now and then. Pillar felt like a good start. Especially including the longer hike up over Yewbarrow. A somewhat innocuous upturned boat of a hill. Whose aft and stern, on closer inspection, present more of a challenge than many Lakeland routes. Those green dotted lines may represent ‘rights...
read moreA Monro
So to day three and a forecast of more buffering. A case of hedging bets. Hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. A long ‘hike in’ to bigger hills has the advantage of smaller ones en-route. To be hiked if the wind defeated resolve. I’ve not ‘bagged’ many Monros but Carn Ban Mor must be amongst the easiest ascents to over 1000m there are. Apparently, though over 1000m, its not a Monro because it is too close to Sgor Gaoith, which is a Monro. All far to trivial to worry...
read moreThe Chalamain Gap
Chalamain sounds more the Wild West than Scottish Highlands. But stories were of tents ripped to shreds and maps been blown away rather than cowboys lurking in the hills Weather warnings yet again of the perils of crossing ridges. Munros were probably off the agenda. So we set off past the soft sand beach of Loch Morlich and along one of Scotland’s infamous long hikes in. On forest tracks to Rothiemurchus Lodge. Then a slow a ascent in to the Lairig Ghru. Sheer rock face eventually replacing rolling...
read moreMeall a Bhuachaille
There are no certainties when playing the lottery of Scottish weather. In January I arrived to green, full of disappointment for winter training only to wake to a joyous coating of white the next morning. Mid June, with cheap -ish train tickets booked weeks in advance, the only affordable way, there was still the trepidation of a possible washout. Aviemore defied the odds, dry, while trees round the station waved wildly. Not promising for wild camping in the Cairngorm mountains. Long northern summer days meant there was...
read moreSea to Sky Cumbria
Nothing out of the ordinary I thought, when wondering what to write about on this self indulgent page. Looking at my photos for the last seven days, I am reminded again how diverse Cumbria is. I’ve been by the sea on the Kent Estuary. In pristine park land where the grass ins grazed closure than the Queen of Hearts could cut it with her nail scissors. Then there was a stroll in my role a NP volunteer over the gently undulating folds of the Dales way from Staveley to Windermere. With a ride back on the train. And so to the...
read moreAway from the crowds
Arriving at Old Dungeon Ghyll relatively late on a May bank holiday weekend was not such a bright idea. Having National Trust membership with associated ‘free’ parking is worthless if the car park is full. As it was by 10am. Still, I ‘squooze’ in the overflow provided by the hotel and waited for my companions to arrive. They’d have to park behind me and strategically block my exit. Parents, dogs and children flowed around as if penned to the valley floor and it was hard to imagine where they’d all disperse to. Yet amazingly, once away...
read moreNow for Nantucket
If not literally a flying visit, this 24 hour stay enabled by plane, boat and train encompassed the metaphorical. Boston slows life to a walk after the frenetic pace of NYC. On Nantucket’s shores it slides to near halt. Once a whaling port, the island has switched from a dangerously hectic life for those whom had little choice to make it their home, to one where the those with more wealth and leisure time, hold second homes in use only for sunny summer days. Houses with names such as Hedge Fun and Suture Yourself give a clue to those...
read moreWansfell from Brockhole
Volunteer duty with the National Parks. Looking after people, showing them the way round the Lake District Hills. Always interesting. Volunteering on n a recent park walk I discovered a route I’d not taken before. Starting from Brockhole, and met some wonderfully interesting people. Seven from eleven were from the US. Being a naturally garrulous person gives a new captive audience for my increasing knowledge of Lake District trivia. The A65 is the most hazardous feature of the walk. Heading a little south from Brockhole it has to be...
read moreBoston Brick Road
Following the red brick line. There may not have been any lions or wizards on Boston’s brick road, but the city has its fair share of historical use of iron, death and destruction . Two of the 16 points of interest on the famous Freedom trail are grave yards and the rest relate, for the most part, to war with the British or the slave trade. There’s a few glitzy buildings churches, and memorial stones. You’ll see characters dressed… ‘in character’. You can pay to be guided But with an app, a map and a double brick line, you can’t really go...
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