Category Archives: Climbing

Feet First: I’m Not a Pheasant Plucker . . .

SO I’m sitting at work doing my job – which consists of creating and editing the national news pages of The Northern Echo and one or two other things – when my eyes alight on a story from the Press … Continue reading

Posted in Climbing, Environment, Feet First 2012, Hiking, Hunting, Mountains, Northern Echo, Politics, Ranting, Walking | Tagged | 12 Comments

Haunts of Ancient Peace

Walking on the wind in the Howgill fells . . . Continue reading

Posted in Archaeology, Bronze Age, Climbing, Cup and ring carvings, Environment, Hiking, Mountains, Walking | Tagged | 19 Comments

A Final Voyage

YOU can see Scafell Pike – the highest mountain in England – from the forecourt garden of the terraced house in which I spent my early childhood. From the back garden of the bungalow the family moved to when I … Continue reading

Posted in Camping, Chockhead, Climbing, Death, Hiking, HMS Theseus, Korean War, Life, Mountains, Sanquhar, Walking | Tagged , , , | 41 Comments

The Howgills – and the Sound of the Wind

SOMETIMES it’s enough just to walk, to place one foot in front of another and allow the miles to slip by. What’s that old Irish saying . . . ?

Posted in Bronze Age, Climbing, Cup and ring carvings, Environment, Hiking, History, Mountains, Railway goods wagons, Railways, Walking | Tagged , , , , | 16 Comments

The Dodds, the Coach Road and the Railway Wagon

North of Helvellyn, on the Old Coach Road, and the mysterious railway wagon . . . Continue reading

Posted in Climbing, Environment, Ghosts, Hiking, History, Industrial archaeology, Mountains, Railway goods wagons, Railways, Walking | Tagged , , , , | 16 Comments

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 , , | 27 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

More Galleries | | 6 Comments

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