Category: Scotland
Collecting ideas…
2nd August 2012 The weekend before last saw me head to the Howgill Fells for an out and back trot from Sedbergh to The Calf. While the sky clouded over during my walk and there was an unintended deviation towards the end of the return leg, it remained an enjoyable affair, with my having traversed no fewer than five hilltops along the way. The first was Arant Haw with Calders, The Calf, Bram Rigg Top and Winders all following one after another and Calders being crossed twice. Much of it was on access land too, so it didn't matter much if I veered away from rights of way and, in fact, much of my course deliberately took advantage of this.
After getting in at least an outing a month since May, I would like to continue the pattern. Over the last few weeks, I have been dredging a few from previous outings that I made in the last few years. In its own, that visit to the Howgills was born of this strand of thinking, but there are others. A return to Ingleton for a circular hike featuring Twisleton Scars and Ingleborough with some sunshine and blue skies is but one of these others. Revisiting Teesdale is another, and it took the world of Twitter to remind me of that part of England. My sole visit to the dale so far also happened on an overcast day, so getting a day with better lighting and more interesting skies would be good too; that would make photographic endeavour all the more appealing. After all, someone has a very appealing image on their Pinterest site and I wouldn't mind having my own photos of Low Force (and High Force too) in similar conditions as well. The passage of the Pennine Way along there brings to mind the idea of exploring High Cup Nick near Dufton on the western side of the North Pennines. Again, there only has been a single outing in the Eden Valley so far, and I'd like to complement it with another. The weather was good that day, though travel issues curtailed the time that I had available, hence why I'd like to go back again.
There should be enough to be pondering from the above by catching up with a few issues of TGO while on a trip to Ireland added to them. They brought to my attention possible crossings of Lingmoor Fell in the Lake District and Beinn a' Chrùlaiste near Glencoe, both of which made use of roaming rights that we now have. The latter traverse reminds me that having a few Scottish trip ideas would be handy, and I was reminded of my pondering ascents either of Bynack More in the Cairngorms or a tempting Munro near Blair Atholl. Re-walking the West Highland Way between Bridge of Orchy and Kinlochleven was yet another. One new inspiration had caused me to recall older ones.
Maybe, I need to collate the various brainwaves in a permanent if ever-changing list somewhere so that I can inspect them in moments when nothing particularly can be extricated from my imagination, like during the latter half of 2010. Long-standing Welsh ideas like walking Ysgyryd Fawr near Abergavenny or returning to Pembrokeshire (featured in the current issue of Discover Britain, as it happens) would belong on there too. Maybe I need to re-read these prospective pieces more often than I do.
As it has turned out for me, the ideas that I have been using so far this year have treated me well, and all the inconvenient weather that has come our way doesn't seem to have stalled my hill wandering greatly at all. Now, I need to sit down and write about a few of them in place of thinking about possible new excursions, good though that is. The coming weekend looks not too promising for an outdoors excursion, so that may be a chance. That's not to say that other matters may not intrude, though...
More outings since last time
10th June 2012 This past weekend saw me stay at home after a few weekends away. Saturday turned damp all day around Macclesfield so a spot of domestic tidying and rearranging was a good escape from the conditions though a necessary shopping excursion had me out of doors for a little while too. Sunday may have come better but other matters occupied the day.
The Jubilee bank holiday weekend saw me return to Scotland for the first time in nearly twelve months and I have thoughts about not repeating that again. My base was Pitlochry in Highland Perthshire and I ventured to Dalwhinnie for a trot along the shore of Loch Ericht and to Blair Atholl for an incursion into Glen Tilt. Transport arrangements were such that I got to potter about Pitlochry too before heading off elsewhere for a few hours, with much of that time being spent beside Loch Faskally and River Tummel.
One unusual aspect of this Scottish getaway was that I only decided what I doing up there on my first night away from home. More usually, I leave home with ideas in mind but the weather forecast was such that I only could decide when I saw what I was getting. As it happened, I seemed to escape the deluges that fell elsewhere so I count myself thankful for that. Sun may have been obscured by clouds for much of the time but the only dampness I met was a light dusting of rain on Monday morning.
Temperatures weren't so high either and that made for pleasant walking conditions in wonderful alluring countryside. The incursions only may have been a taste of what is there but that did nothing to dispel a certain sense of satisfaction from what I had savoured. This contrasts with how I felt after spending a few days in the area nearly six years ago; then, it seemed that I was leaving unsated. Was it that I might have spread myself too thin or that hazy July days didn't offer much for photography that was the cause of this? If so, it amazes me that I left so much time go before making a return that more than dispelled that previous sensation.
The last weekend of May didn't have a bank holiday this year and hot sunny weather that visited us. Not only were many of us tempted out of doors to enjoy a brief experience of summer but events such as horse racing at York and the Edinburgh Marathon ensured that train services were far busier than usual too. It was an outing to Alnwick and Warkworth in Northumberland that was the cause of my discovering this for myself. The hot weather dissuaded me from a longer walk so shorter strolls taking in Northumberland's castles and a little of its coastline seemed a good option, especially after the cold that came my way the previous weekend. Overdoing exertion didn't look such a bright move to me and taking an easier less hurried course had its rewards too. Sometimes, a slower course reveals more of the character of an area.
Now that we are in June, it is tempting to look ahead to ideas for summer outings. When looking at my annual leave allocation for this year, I decided against an expansive escapade such as heading to the Western Isles. Those days have be rationed so shorter outings will need to be in order. There are no firm ideas in mind and I am grateful for those opportunities that have come my way already this year. Hopefully, there'll be a few more yet. Could a return to Perthshire's hill country be among them?
Stiffness
17th January 2012 In weather terms, 2012 started like a lion in some parts, with Scotland getting a particular battering. Before that, the second day of the year saw me crossing hills to pop over to Buxton. That act planted in my mind the prospect of exploring more of Macclesfield's hills this year. However, the following weekend was a quiet one for me.
The weather may have been offering in other places, but a prior commitment was the cause of my staying close to home and not getting out among hills in parts like Shropshire or even wandering along the streets of somewhere pleasing to the eye like Edinburgh or even Shrewsbury. That's not to say that I wasn't doing some more playing with ideas for outdoors outings, though.
While adjusting albums in the photo gallery, thoughts were drawn to revisiting places where I haven't been for a while. The online photo albums that attracted my attention were that for the Pennine Way and the Scottish Southern Uplands and Borders. The refresh involved adding photos were added, removing an old one rewriting a few descriptions. The trip ideas that came to mind while adjusting those photos included a stay in Peebles to explore the surrounding hills, as well as getting to walk more of the Pennine Way or even the Southern Upland Way. Old and not so old photos act as reminders for me of past glories and lure me back to where I found them before.
Last weekend's cold, frosty sunny weather was enough to draw out among more hills on Saturday. It was a day when any part of Britain's hill country would have delighted, and I did play with a walk around Sedbergh that involved an out and back yomp into and onto the Howgill Fells. Looking a bus timetables caused me to leave it for later in the year. Remembering how stiff I felt after a trot about Church Stretton's hills before Christmas was a factor too in not deciding to not set my sights too high. Thus, I opted for a hike from the Cat and Fiddle Inn to Buxton that mainly followed the Dane Valley Way with a deliberate diversion or two. After all, the prospect of seeing the Three Shire Heads bridge in full winter lighting was too good to miss; it may have added to the distance covered but proved to be well worth that. If all goes to plan, more will be said about the walk sooner instead of later.
Though our settled spell of weather is leaving us at the time of writing, there are promising signs for the coming weekend too. While my limbs were stiff on Sunday and Monday, I took that as a cue for trying to get out a little more often than last year, and January 2012 isn't over yet. What I am not planning is anything as frenetic as this month last year when I walked successively in Wales, Scotland and Ireland. Pacing oneself is no bad thing either, and quiet moments are essential for collating more ideas too. A recent catch-up with an article from one of last year's issues of TGO has me wanting to sit with it and pore over maps while ogling the contained photos of splendid Lake District hill country. Wandering needs forethought at times.
And so to 2012
1st January 2012 Having had a few days to catch up with a few recent issues of TGO, a realisation has popped into my mind: maybe basing myself somewhere on a trip away might allow me to get more from it, especially for those places that take a little longer to get to them. Using Dunoon as a base for exploring Cowal worked very well in 2011, so I need to spend a little time pre-assembling some designs so that they have some hope of becoming reality. Along with the wilder parts of Scotland, Northumberland also comes to mind with the longer travel times needed for getting there and because of my whetting my appetite for its hill country during the summer of 2011. Parts of Wales, such as the countryside round about Brecon or the Heart of Wales railway line also come to mind, as do the eastern fells of the Lake District in Cumbria and the Cairngorms in Scotland. Methinks that setting aside a little time to think these over might be no bad idea, and there are others that I could list here too, but there are enough mentioned for now.
The end of one year and the beginning of another is as good a time as any to take stock of things. One of these that comes to mind pertains to numerous loose ends outstanding in my hill wandering from the last few years. The biggest of these is the Pennine Way, along which I haven't walked for a while, and it now looks like multi-day trips are need to add to the mileage already completed. The mention of the Pennine Way also reminds that unused plans exist for walking Derbyshire countryside too, both new and already frequented. Then, there's the prospect of extending what I have walked of the Rob Roy Way and the perennial desire to savour more of what my home country, Ireland, has to offer the hill wanderer. Those should mean no shortage of trip ideas like what I felt to be the case at the end of 2010, at least until I started to catch up with then unread issues of TGO anyway.
2011 has been a busy year for me and I hope that 2012 lets me outside more often, though the future will decide that when it first becomes the present and then the past. After all, there's hill country near Macclesfield that needs to be revisited and other possibilities may come my way. Unlike the end of 2010 when I felt that I had run out of ideas, a year later sees me pondering a fair few options as the blog goes into its seventh calendar year, although its actual birthday is at the start of May; 2012 will see the sixth one being reached. Any designs that I concoct may not be as grand as those of other folk, but having a few of them manage to come to pass will more than do me. Hopefully, 2012 will turn out to be a good outdoors year for you, dear reader, too.
A look back at 2011
26th December 2011 For me, 2011 will have to be seen as one when work very much got in the way of hill wandering. Even if it did, I did get out on quite a few excursions over its course and some of them took me places where I hadn't been before then. Also, there was a sense of unfinished business with a few of them and that always produces ideas for new trips into the outdoors.
January
January started out well with a few trips away. The first took me to Wales when I walked from Roman Bridge station on the Conwy Valley railway line to Pen y Pass. A grey start became a glorious afternoon and repaid the nuisance of going through a forestry plantation where the right of way felt unwanted. Slipping on a branch into the wet didn't help either, but it was soon forgotten with the pleasure granted soon afterwards. Sometimes, it is worth overcoming any ardour.
The January trip took me north to Fort William. This time, sunshine was in short supply and Fort William was so foggy that anyone would need to ask themselves why they had travelled overnight to get there as I did. Crewe was very foggy when I left it, too, so this was a general feature and not just a local Scottish one. Nevertheless, a trot down the banks of Loch Shiel was not fogbound, and I was pencilling in plans for a return that have yet to be fulfilled. Glenfinnan saw a little sun too, though it didn't last, but thoughts of explorations on a longer evening beguile. There are thoughts of a shorter stroll around Cow Hill near Fort William, that too could act as a lure yet.
The last weekend in January saw me use up a ferry booking that was a contingency for getting to Ireland during the pre-Christmas freeze of 2010 but got deferred to allow its cancellation and refund. That latter intention got set aside, and I got to have an enjoyable yomp around Howth Head, near Dublin. There again was a quota in operation regarding the amount of sunshine, yet I got enough for photos of Ireland's Eye and Lambay Island. It would have been nice to have kept it for rounding the headland itself, but there was no detraction from my enjoyment, apart from the need to return under cover of street lights before it became too dark. Finding such a quiet haven so near Dublin was a pleasure, and looking across Dublin drew my eyes to the Dublin and Wicklow Mountains. From a previous escapade, I could pick out Great Sugarloaf near Kilmacanoge in County Wicklow. Viewing twinkling street lights from a quiet corner was a contrasting experience, too. It's remarkable what Dubliners have on their doorstep.
February & March
The only trip away during these months was one that took me to Oxford at the start of February. That certainly wasn't a waste of a good day, and I might be tempted to return again. In fact, it has me wondering about more urban walking destinations now that I recall it. Cambridge certainly has come to mind, but there's more than those, with more humble destinations like Shrewsbury, Oswestry, Lancaster and Carlisle all coming to mind briefly once in a while over the last few years.
April, May & June
In another year, the good weather in February and March would have drawn me out into the countryside on a few weekends, but 2011 was to see the next chance taken to await the start of April when I walked from Bollington back home while taking in the Kerridge ridge and the White Nancy. It may have been local but became an escape into peace in its own right. This was a reminder that there are places on my doorstep that needed frequenting more often.
It was to take until the latter half of the Easter weekend for there to be another trip away from home. Then, it was a return to Llangollen after a gap of a number of years and this was to be my first trip there that involved an overnight stay in the town too. The peace of Easter Sunday evening wasn't lost on me, though it meant leaving the crowds of Llangollen after me and a commotion of bleating to die down once a large party had passed a flock of ewes and lambs. The paths that I was walking were being retraced rather than being trodden anew, but that did nothing to detract from the fact that the everyday hurly-burly felt a world away. That there was no need to rush home was a blessing too. The next day saw me wandering through countryside where I hadn't been before and part of the North Berwyn Way for part of my walk. Not planning to cover too much in the way of distance meant that it was an unhurried hike, and they are always best. Those who hang around Llangollen without exploring the surrounding countryside really are missing out, even if that leaves it quiet for those of us fancying an escape from the frenzy of our working lives.
The Mayday bank holiday weekend immediately followed Easter this year and was extended by a royal wedding too. That encouraged me to head to Cowal for the weekend, and it was a worthwhile venture too with three walks on two days. The first took me by the shores of Loch Long and Loch Goil while en route from Ardentinny to Carrick Castle. That was followed by another on the same day: a section of the Cowal Way from the shore of Loch Goil to Strachur. It was all good quiet replenishing fare for the spirit and in a part of the world that must get overlooked a lot as well.
The weather in May wasn't so encouraging and June was a busy month for me too, though it too had its interludes of sunshine. One of those drew me out early one Sunday morning on a cycle from my home around by Pott Shrigley. A January encounter from a few years back had me wondering if some photography when the rhododendron bushes were in flower might be worthwhile. However, I hadn't bargained on the obscuring power of trees when they are in leaf, so I am not so sure about the results, even if the sun was in the right part of the sky. Maybe a trot to the top of nearby Nab Head might end up being more productive.
July
July saw a bumper crop of outings, with the first taking me along sections of St. Cuthbert's Way. That weekend started with a hike from Wooler to Kirk Yetholm, whose length left me tired but with a feeling that I had made a real start on exploring the landscape through which I had passed. The next day saw me walk from St. Boswells to Melrose while taking in both Dryburgh Abbey and the Eildon Hills. Lastly, I got to spend a few hours around Melrose Abbey in the summer heat.
The Isle of Man was my next port of call, with a walk along Raad ny Foillan from Port Erin to Port St. Mary and then to Castletown. Apart from a single shower, I seemed to have managed to pick a single sunny day in the middle of an unsettled spell of weather. It was sunny weather that drew me to castles and coastline around the Menai Strait. Apart from revisiting Caernarfon and its famous castle, there was Beaumaris Castle and a section of the Isle of Anglesey Coastal Path to be savoured too. That weekend finished with a sunny crossing over the Menai Bridge. It was a contrast to the damp weekend spent in Ireland that preceded it. The last weekend in July saw me pass through mid-Wales on the way to Gower. Conditions may not have been perfect or photography either along the Heart of Wales railway or in Gower, but these first tastes may be followed later with more.
Remainder of the Year
Autumn had its sunnier interludes too, but a busy working life limited my use of them to local cycles. One Saturday, I headed to Hare Hill and Alderley Edge, and that has put an afternoon walk between the two into my mind as a future possibility. Others were similar, and there were midday walks during a stretch when I worked from home, too.
A few days booked away from work in December offered their chances too. The possibilities lined up in the form of excursions to Church Stretton, Abergavenny and even Edinburgh. In the event, only the first of these happened, and it was a pleasurable outing too, with sleet showers doing nothing to dispel any sense of reverie. The leftovers can do for other occasions, so I need not be annoyed that they didn't happen. It's better not to be greedy.
Looking to 2012
Some years can be more predictable than others, especially when it comes to working lives. There were a few for me when they came close, but unpredictability is back again for me. 2012 looks to be a largely open book after a busy 2011 and a 2010 of two halves. Life away from work is always unpredictable, so there's no point attempting to see around all the corners.
On the hill wandering front, there aren't any big plans for me in 2012, although there are a good number of ideas that are available for turning into real escapades. A little extra space is necessary for making that happen, and that perhaps is one of the main lessons of 2011. If you cannot plan for an excursion and be ready to get away, then it just won't happen. A ready supply of ideas and a ready rucksack might turn those ideas into outings and confront any desire for torpor on the way out the door.
