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.
Evia
As if a chunk of the mainland has been snapped off and then not quite glued back together, Evia is only just an island. Those few hundred metres preserved customs and traditions far longer than mainland Greece. Once desperate to become part of Europe, Evia, now proud of its ‘old ways’ and, fearful of mass tourism, is fighting hard not to become the second Athens airport. An island where everyone knows everyone and strangers are still welcomed there is a mishmash of cultures with roots in invasions and infiltrations from both east and west,...
read moreAdventure of an Easyjet Flight
Yesterday to Athens; Travelling. It does all of those things it is supposed to. Broadens the mind etc etc. After all it is ‘an adventure’. Just sometimes it is not quite the adventure expected. Today was planned as the first, well may be second, day of a trip to Greece. In actuality it became The Adventure of Manchester Airport’, directed and produced by EasyJet. My hazy early start began well enough. A ‘planned’ overnight stay at an airport hotel, so as not to get up literally in the middle of the night, left me a little bleary eyed...
read moreBorrowdale Fells
There was a weather window in Borrowdale today. As if by arrangement the sleet battering my windscreen, as I drove down the valley to Rosthwaite switch off! At least we managed to get our boots on without getting soaked. But it lasted. The wind whipped away the rain clouds as we trudged up the valley towards Castle Crag. Recent warmth giving the low pastures a deep green hue as bracken, still in winter brown, was washed almost gold by sunlight. Clouds hung just above the higher fells and there was promise of at least a tussle, if not a...
read moreWye Valley Woodlands
Rolling hills and wooded slopes of the Wye Valley, somewhat softer than Cumbria. Even the weather was kinder. For the first time this year I didn’t have to carry waterproofs. No rain battering my face and gloves left in my backpack. May be the south has something going for it. Based with friends near Chepstow, Harry Potter country, my legs were unravelled from the 4 hour drive with an evening stroll along the Wye Gorge and back via Wintour’s Leap. Evening sun dipped in to the still river washing the banks with sepia at the end...
read moreGrisedale Pike
One of the most hiked Pikes but I had missed it. One hill, after 5 the day before it should be an easy! Famous last words. From the car park just west of Braithwaite the 791m begins with steps. A veritable stairway to heaven, testing of my cardiovascular fitness. After 10 miles the previous day no wonder my legs groaned. But I soon forgot. Turning round the village turned to miniature . Despite a misty sky the steep ascent fell away in a satisfying curve. Even better, the cloud started to clear. The down side. It was being blown away. ...
read morePictures from Caw
Notes from the day here! Leaking roads one of many floods Herdies Ennerdale from Haycock Greenbeck Haycock Seatallan Pots of Ashness Yewbarrow with Sca Fells Scoat Tarn Seatallan Shelter Seatallan Haycock Floods Steeple On the way to Haycock Wasdale Wall over Little Gowder Crag to Caw Down to Wast Water Gable behind Yewbarrow Caw...
read moreIn the Middle of Nowhere
Ever wondered where that is? The middle of nowhere. Caw Fell is about as close as you can get. Flanked by Wasdale and Ennerdale. Dominated by Pillar and the Sca Fells, not to mention two Red Pikes, it rises, slightly, from the connecting plateau and bog in such an insignificant hump I wonder it ever got on Wainwright’s list. That list. It was, is, on and so had to be done. Thankfully as an off shoot of a more interesting round from Wast Water. Though we nearly never arrived at the start. Even before I opened my curtains on...
read moreReasons to Stay North
So this is why I live here! The sun came out, and I went for a walk! After weeks of rain and wind there was hardly a breath as we got out the car by Dash Falls to begin another linear route over to Lonscale. There was, of course, Skiddaw and Little Man in the way. Snow painted the tops and clouds hung in the valley as I headed between Clough Head and Blencathra. Promise of a good day. Water crashed down Dash, filling the valley with an eerie roar. Heather clad slopes contrasting darkly against blue before we reached the snow...
read moreLinear Western Wainwrights
From my Wainwright list four hills from two ‘groups’ of fells, Burnbank and Blake, Great Borne and Starling Dodd lingered over in the west. Two days? Two half days? Surely they could be combined? So a linear walk was plotted, with Gavel Fell thrown in for good measure. Meeting in Buttermere, one car was left by the church before heading off along Loweswater to then park on the Lamplugh road (NY105225). There was even sunshine and some pretty good views over to Fell Barrow. On Burnbank the wind began to increase just a little. But the...
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