Author Archives: McEff

About McEff

Alen McFadzean. Journalist on The Northern Echo, former shipyard electrician, former quarryman and tunneller. Climbs mountains and runs long distances to make life harder. Gravitates to the left in politics just to make life harder still.

Sutton Bank, Witches and Featherless Geese

Posted on May 7, 2013

A walk along the Cleveland Way from Sutton Bank . . . Continue reading →

Posted in Allotments, Bronze Age, Cleveland Way, Environment, Footpaths, Geology, Hiking, History, Iron Age, Legends, Walking | Tagged , , | 22 Comments

Forever Changing – Broad Majestic Duddon

Posted on April 25, 2013

A walk along the shifting sands of the Duddon estuary . . . Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Beer, Environment, Geology, Hiking, History, Industrial archaeology, Mountains, Second World War, Walking, William Wordsworth | Tagged , , , , | 13 Comments

London 5: Butchers, Saints and Sinners

Posted on April 17, 2013

BLOWN on a thin wind around a corner from the Barbican tube station past a private park surrounded by private railings to a place where knights once jousted on a meadow called the Smooth Field – which was situated just … Continue reading →

Posted in Beer, Cookery, Death, Environment, Food, History, Life, Pigeons, Politics, Religion, Walking, Writing | Tagged | 14 Comments

London 4: William Morris and a Wander Through Walthamstow

Posted on April 6, 2013

A WIND to slice ears off whips across the entrance to Walthamstow Central tube station. The temperature is below zero degrees Centigrade and snow settles behind chimney stacks on bleak roofs. This is London at Easter. There are no bunnies … Continue reading →

Posted in Beer, History, Life, Pigeons, Politics, Ranting, Walking, William Morris, Writing | Tagged , , , | 12 Comments

London 3: A Cold Wet Walk for Pie and Mash

Posted on April 3, 2013

THE worst weather is wet snow. It saps the spirit and soaks through to the shoulders. When it whips off a river on an easterly wind it stings and sucks life from fingers and feet. Just as well we’re searching … Continue reading →

Posted in Beer, Environment, Food, History, Life, Ranting, Religion, Walking, Writing | Tagged | 7 Comments

I Must Go Down to South Gare Again . . .

Posted on March 22, 2013

Searching for the meaning of life on the beach at Teesside . . . Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Hiking, Industrial archaeology, Life, Recycling, South Gare, Teesside, Walking | Tagged | 25 Comments

Only a Rosedale, I give you . . .

Posted on March 11, 2013

THIS set out to be a hike to the Rosedale iron mines – but I got tangled in a fox hunt and that’s far more entertaining. It was also a day of bewildering signposts, dazzling sunlight, heather fire haze and … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Climbing, Environment, Footpaths, Hiking, History, Hunting, Industrial archaeology, Mountains, Quarrying, Railways, Walking | Tagged , , , | 25 Comments

Mud: It’s Alive and Sticking

Posted on March 4, 2013

MUD. Don’t go there except with your feet. Let it fill your boots and stick like it’s supposed to. But don’t delve any deeper unless you want a shovelful of acronyms . . .

Posted in Environment, Footpaths, Geology, Hiking, History, Life, Ranting, Walking | Tagged | 27 Comments

A Blackpowder Blast From the Past

Posted on February 26, 2013

IUSED to blow up huge chunks of Cumbrian hillside for a living. I stopped doing it not through any regard for conservation or the environment, but because I’d noticed that none of my more senior colleagues ever reached retirement age … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Explosives, Geology, Hiking, History, Industrial archaeology, Mountains, Quarrying, Railway goods wagons, Ranting, Slate quarries, Walking | Tagged , , , | 25 Comments

Day Return to Bloworth Crossing . . . and Beyond

Posted on February 12, 2013

A walk along the mineral railways of the North York Moors . . . Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Climbing, Drove roads, Environment, Footpaths, Hiking, History, Industrial archaeology, Mountains, Railways, Walking | Tagged , , | 21 Comments

Stanwick Camp – A Thorn in the Foot

Posted on January 30, 2013

A walk to Stanwick Camp – the capital of Brigantia . . . Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Environment, Footpaths, Great North Road, Hiking, History, Iron Age, Life, Stone Circles, The Romans, Walking | Tagged , | 32 Comments

Circling the Wagons Beneath High Noon Hill

Posted on January 16, 2013

IT’S one of those days when nothing goes right, when the most straightforward of plans unravels and you stand in mist and rain with water trickling down your neck, and wonder what possessed you to swing your legs out of … Continue reading →

Posted in Country Land and Business Association, Environment, Footpaths, Hiking, Mountains, Northern Echo, Ranting, Walking | Tagged , | 31 Comments