Tag Archives: The Lakes

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

Counting the Stones on the Brough-Bowes Turnpike

BELDOO Moss is not the most spectacular hill in the north Pennines. Few people have heard of it; even fewer have tramped across it. But it does harbour one or two surprising features that make it worth a visit. I’ve … Continue reading

Posted in Archaeology, Bronze Age, Cup and ring carvings, Great North Road, Hiking, History, Mountains, The Romans, Walking | Tagged , , , | 26 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

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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

The Circles that You Find . . .

A final trip back into the Bronze Age in search of rock carvings . . . Continue reading

Posted in Archaeology, Bronze Age, Cup and ring carvings, Environment, Geology, History, Industrial archaeology, Mountains, Stone Circles, Walking | Tagged , , , | 26 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

Long Meg – Standing with the Stones

Neolithic memories in a stone circle on the edge of the Lakes Continue reading

Posted in Archaeology, C2C, Cycling, Environment, Geology, History, Mountains, Quarrying, Walking | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Yew Crag Incline and the Quarryman’s Bedstead

Searching for history in abandoned slate workings above Honister Pass . . . Continue reading

Posted in Climbing, Environment, Geology, Hiking, History, Mountains, Quarrying, Slate quarries, Walking | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Coasting the Coast to Coast

IF anyone saw a C2C cyclist shoot over his handlebars on the seafront at Roker, Sunderland, at the weekend, and felt a momentary pang of concern as he landed with a howl and his bike on top of him – … Continue reading

Posted in C2C, Cycling, Mountains | Tagged , , | 2 Comments