Category Archives: Climbing

Swindale – and this is Alvar Lidell . . .

Swindale has grit, bog, remoteness and bed linen. It’s a valley with attitude but no railway wagons . . . Continue reading

Posted in Climbing, Environment, Hiking, Industrial archaeology, Mountains, Quarrying, Railways, Slate quarries, Walking | Tagged , , | 18 Comments

Feet First: Keep on running . . .

This gallery contains 2 photos.

I HAVE a plan. Tomorrow is my day off because I worked Sunday. I’ll drive across the icy Pennines to the Lake District, abandon the car on a rough piece of land at a charming cross-roads above Dockray, climb Birkett … Continue reading

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Glen Roy – A Parallel World

GLEN Roy is the place that thwarted Darwin. That’s Charles Darwin – the man who turned conventional knowledge on its head with his revelation that our ancestors emerged from the sea, not the Garden of Eden. Glen Roy is a … Continue reading

Posted in Charles Darwin, Climbing, Environment, Geology, Glen Roy, Hiking, History, Louis Agassiz, Mountains, Parallel Roads, Walking | Tagged , , | 25 Comments

From Gable’s South Traverse to the Breaker’s Yard

IT’S 7.45am on Friday morning and I’m standing on the flight deck of HMS Invincible, watching the sun rise over a scarlet Morecambe Bay. I shouldn’t be up here; I should be down in the aircraft carrier’s aft engine room … Continue reading

Posted in Camping, Climbing, Hiking, HMS Invincible, Mountains, Napes Needle, Walking, Willie Horne | Tagged , , | 16 Comments

Madeira: The Royal Road to Ruin (Pico Grande . . . nearly)

THIS is a tale of bewilderment and defeat in a strange and hostile environment. It started out like any other day in the mountains – one man with a cheery whistle and a bag of food. Then things deteriorated . … Continue reading

Posted in Allotments, Climbing, Environment, Hiking, History, Mountains, Walking | Tagged | 12 Comments

Madeira: The High and Mighty (Pico do Arieiro to Pico Ruivo)

The most spectacular walk in the Atlantic . . . Continue reading

Posted in Climbing, Environment, Geology, Hiking, History, Mountains, Walking | Tagged | 15 Comments

Madeira: Walking with Water

Levada walking in the mountains of Madeira Continue reading

Posted in Climbing, Environment, Hiking, History, Industrial archaeology, Levadas, Mountains, Walking | Tagged | 8 Comments

Madeira: Stairways to Heaven

McEff discovers the mountains of Madeira. It’s more than a piece of cake . . . Continue reading

Posted in Camping, Climbing, Environment, Geology, Hiking, History, Mountains, Walking | Tagged , | 14 Comments

Voyage of a Dawn Treader (Buachaille Etive Beag)

THERE is something hauntingly primeval in watching the sun rise through a cold mist. And somehow a lonesome lorry roaring over the pass of Glencoe adds to the starkness . . .

Posted in Camping, Climbing, Environment, Glencoe, Hiking, Mountains, Walking | Tagged , , | 16 Comments

Kentmere – In the Footsteps of the Forgotten

Looking for history in the abandoned quarries of the Lake District Continue reading

Posted in Climbing, Environment, Geology, Hiking, History, Industrial archaeology, Life, Mountains, Quarrying, Slate quarries, Walking | Tagged , , | 13 Comments

The Quest for Breakfast Above Loch Lochy

ON the crest of a wet and desolate Cam Bealach, as rain streams in from the north, a desperate man wanders through the mire . . . Continue reading

Posted in Camping, Climbing, Cookery, Food, Hiking, Life, Mountains, Walking | Tagged , , , | 16 Comments

Farewell to Meall a Bhuiridh, Creise . . . and Fiunary

It all started with an LP cover – and thirty years later, that song still haunts me on moor and on mountain . . . Continue reading

Posted in Climbing, Environment, Geology, Highland Clearances, Hiking, History, Mountains, Quarrying, Walking | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments