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.
Photographing Puffins
When I left Oxenholme Station at 9am I did not realise that by 6pm I would be walking along bird bedecked cliffs and enjoying the company of puffins. I am now a little further north yet again. This time in Shetland, the most Northerly of the inhabited UK Isles. It was a remarkably easy journey. Train from Oxenholme to Edinburgh, bus link to the airport and a hop over on a propeller plane. Landing in across the sea and the perimeter road was, lets say, interesting. I was met at the airport by Caroline, my companion for the week, who had...
read moreHigh Pressure Hills
A perfect day for walking, maybe. High pressure and temperatures of 27°C plus, with a gentle breeze. The Coniston area was once a mining village and the industrial heritage is still very much on view. We walked from the top of Walna Scar road, passing the imposing crags of The Bell then turning left up to Low Water and The Old Man. Just emerging bracken and spring grass spread deep rich green down to the lake and beyond to Grizedale Forest. Ahead and left the grey quarry and slate remain from the old mines. The slate projects through the...
read moreReasons in Riga
Wandering down cobbled streets of pastel houses, warm evening sun with music around every corner it was difficult to believe I was in the same Riga I first visited in 1988. Then, and I have just checked my old photos, streets were empty bar headscarf clad ladies, scurrying across vast open squares surrounded by austere architecture. Now, Latvia is open for business. There is pride in this new democracy. Buildings have been restored to their former glory. Archways take you under the city wall, art appears in the oddest of places. Doorways and...
read moreReasons to go East
Eclectic architecture 26 miles of sand Restaurants to relax in Forests to walk in Wilderness History Night life Street life and shops…. For books on Latvia click… for further information on tours to Latvia email me and look in again in a few days
read moreA Trip to the East Side
Kemeri – Latvia – One Reason to go East – I am here with my Latvian father for a few days. The Kemeri National Park was established in 19917 to protect nature and various historical sites. I had found it on the Internet and was under the misapprehension it would be an easy place to find. Thank goodness I had local guides as I don’t think I would have found it under my own steam. Latvia is very flat with many lakes. Kemeri is mainly underwater. Even glancing to the side of the main road revealed dark peaty water. This dark soup is rich in...
read moreWalking The Tongue
The Troutbeck Tongue sits between the jaws of Hart Crag and the west ridge of Kentmere, by all accounts formed when its rocky core proved too much for the glaciers to shift. I looked down on the valley and The Tongue from Red Screes a few weeks ago and wondered how to get there. This is a good walk for anyone who is not feeling very fit as it is practically flat with an easy slope up the hill, yet it gives access to some classic Lakeland views and fells. Although starting on the main road from Troutbeck over Kirkstone Pass, time on the road...
read moreMorecambe Bay Walk
Occasionally, in Arnside, or Hest Bank an eclectic gathering of people begin to linger on the shore line. Looking out to sea and over the sands. There is an air of ‘something about to happen’. Linger with them and you may be swept along and across the Bay. Although Morecambe Bay sands are notorious and can be treacherous, with quicksand and fast flowing tidal bore, people have been taking the eight mile route across the sands, as opposed to 18 mile journey around it, for over a century. Take a look at the Ordinance Survey Map OL7 and you will...
read moreGreat Gable from Seathwaite
We shouldn’t gloat, but we do, especially when the wet windy rainy north west has the best weather in the UK. Just a perfect day for putting on boots and walking one of the landmark fells. One of the great things about the Lakeland fells is the lovely round topography. Although there may not be as many peaks or mountains as other countries, there are so many different ways to get up. Looking at the OS Map there is a positive web of green lines indicating rights of way over Great Gable. Six cross the Westmorland Cairn spreading to all...
read moreSo far, so good
Now well into the second quarter, just into the second third, of the year I thought I would take a quick check on the challenges I set for 2012 and see how many I have achieved. 1 Learn to use a compass – well I cheated on this, as I learned in 2011. But I have learned a few other skills. Mostly round my blog. Last week I eventually learned how to host a slide show from my own site 2 Photograph a puffin – Leighton Moss has given me some great shots of birds so far this year and in June I am heading for the Shetland Isles so there should be...
read moreOff the Beaten Track
The long evenings are here with us again and so even when walking can only commence after lunch there is still time for a walk. The lower fells to the west of Coniston with scudding clouds and dappled light may not be so dramatic as the central fells but the open moorland bowls of Torver Fell have their own beauty and present their own challenges. We did follow a route described in a cicerone book starting from a layby on the Greenodd to Coniston Road A5084. This mini horseshoe skirts around the sides of Torver common with the highest point...
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