Category: Wales
Options that come and go
29th March 2008 The options that I have in mind for this post are of the public transport variety. I have noticed that there are years when I visit an area a lot and that is down to number of factors: it might be somewhere new for me to explore and the weather conditions are more favourable there than other places. A window of opportunity for getting there using public transport can be yet another contributor.
After all, public transport options do change over time and not always for the better. One factor that contributes to this is public demand. There have been times when the frequency for bus services has been improved only for it to be cut back again, possibly because of patronage. An example of this that comes to mind is the T3 Trawscambria service that became hourly in 2006 but is as good as two-hourly these days, even if some services extend to and from Chester with Wrexham being the main northern terminus. the trouble with this is that there is the nagging question as to whether enough time was allowed for patronage to build up; that is something that might take a few years rather than twelve months in some cases.
The next thing that crops up in my mind is the loss of a public transport connection and rail-bus connections particularly come to mind. Sunday rail-bus connections in Bangor (in Wales, not NI) or the lack of them have disappointed me in the past. Having the bus leave before the train arrives does sound a bit ridiculous but short connection times are just as useless, especially when you recall how late trains can be.
Then, there regulatory hurdles to be overcome. One that recently came into play was the 50 km limit for local bus services brought into force following an EU directive. That has done for a Sunday Dalesbus service operated by Arriva and introduced changes where there previously were through services. I could see the 555 in the Lake District being hit by this as well. However, I suppose that England and Wales had a better express bus system like Ireland and Scotland, then all of this wouldn't cause any problems.
The route length limitation can be seen as a piece of regulatory madness but there are home grown ones in the U.K. too. One that annoys me a little is the intervention of the Competition Commission in the Scottish bus market following the coming together of Scottish Citylink and Stagecoach's Megabus. Thankfully, a sensible compromise was reached with services on some routes going to Parks of Hamilton and they are agreeing to work with Citylink as regards timetables and ticketing. Otherwise, it could have further fragmented an already fragmented system and is an exhibition of the sort of mindset that could stop us ever getting the joined up transport system that we so desire.
What has brought all of this to mind is the retiming of the Macclesfield-Crewe bus service on Sundays to leave twenty five minutes earlier. I seem to remember that an early departure from Macclesfield on Sundays was a possibility some years back but it has since disappeared for some reason. So, the earlier start for the bus service in question is very much a good thing, even if it means that last one home is earlier too. That earlier first departure restores the option of getting to Shropshire and Mid Wales after its being removed by train retiming. I hope to make good use of this opportunity to explore Shropshire and mid Wales a bit more. Who knows but I may even walk new sections of the Offa's Dyke Path. Not all of the world's going downhill...
2007: the excursions reviewed
7th January 2008 It's very human to look back at the turn of a year/decade/century/millennium/etc. and, this time last year, I took the opportunity to look over my travels in 2006. In the same vein, I now cast my mind back over the same sort of thing but for 2007 instead. If 2006 was to be the year of seeking out pastures new, then 2007 has been a year largely taken up with following long-distance trails into country familiar to me from a different angle and, more often than not, into country that I am visiting for the first time.
2007 was to start quietly with only one walking excursion in January. The weather didn't tempt but for a day when I went to Chirk for a trek to Llangollen that saw me hop over and back along the Wales-England border before picking up a small piece of the Offa's Dyke Path and leaving that to get to Llangollen before nightfall. It was a case of something old, something new, and put an idea into my head that laid the foundations for a walk later in the year. The long-distance trail ethic that was to pervade my walking in 2007 had made an early appearance.
February built up the long-distance trail trend with my exploring two trails. First up was the Pennine Way, with a hike from Hebden Bridge to Littleborough giving me a feel for the moors above Calderdale. Walks along the Pennine Way, still unfinished business in 2008, were to pervade my outings until the end of April. My second excursion took me up to Scotland for the southernmost part of the West Highland Way: Milngavie to Drymen. This was also a case of going into countryside new to me and, like the Calderdale trot, it was to give rise to more excursions later on.
The Pennine Way hiking continued in March, and it started again early in the month with a trek that saw me return to Calderdale for a walk from Todmorden to Burnley by way of both the Pennine Way and the Pennine Bridleway. This was followed up at the end of the month when I yomped from Haworth to Burnley.
My Pennine wanderings were set to continue in April and the first one plugged a gap in the itinerary from Edale to Haworth: Marsden to Littleborough via Wessenden Reservoir. It was to prove a claggy day until lunchtime, something that very much focussed the mind when it came to navigation. My next day along the Pennine Way was in clearer if blustery conditions. It also was to take me through some of the best countryside on the Pennine Way as I voyaged from Horton-in-Ribblesdale to Hawes. Rain was to beset me on my next excursion as I left Malham Tarn to head for Gargrave, but I left the rain after me in Malham and things cheered up immeasurably as I was nearing my destination for the day. Those two excursions left a gap that was filled on a tramp from Malham Tarn over Fountains Fell and Pen-y-Ghent to Horton on a day that when it felt like summer.
I started May with another trip blessed by fair weather. After years of admiring it, I finally made my way up to the top of Skiddaw. Some may view the manicured lines of the "tourist track" that I followed as dull, I'd rather not scare myself with descents that are too steep, so I well appreciated its gentler approach and I still found time to take in Little Man and Lattrigg as well. Next up in May was a trip that my memory reckons happened in July; it's just as well that I have this blog! I made my return to Chirk for another stroll along the Offa's Dyke Path, this time to Oswestry. Cloud predominated on the day, so photographic opportunities were rare. Even so, it didn't stop my having a good walk in countryside that was new to me. If I had more time, I would have dawdled more, so it might time for a return. In walking terms, the month of May went out with a bang: a two-day trek on the West Highland Way along the banks of Loch Lomond with an overnight stay in Rowardennan. I very much took a chance with the weather on this one, but Scotland didn't let me down on what is, for me, one of the finest stretches of the WHW.
June was to be a quieter month regarding walking and the long evenings were allowing me to get out in the part of Cheshire's hill country that is near me. These outings were to become a feature of the "summer". June soon became a sodden affair, yet I still returned to Rhinog country for a creditable stroll through a landscape that was anything but dry. The weather that we were getting was a foretaste of what was to come, making 2007 a year of two halves: one fabulous and one that returned us to reality. Alan Sloman was lucky to complete his LEJOG when he did.
July was for many a washout, yet I managed to get two decent Lakeland excursions out of the month. Both involved my heading to Windermere, with the first being an over and back hike to Kentmere and the second being a trek to Staveley via Kentmere. On both outings, I enjoyed the fine scenery in excellent weather, something that must sound ironic to those sodden by the floods of 2007. Yes, water had accumulated underfoot, but the worst difficulties, if any, were avoidable.
August saw me finishing two long-distance trails and starting on another one. The first to be completed was the West Highland Way, and that happened on my now habitual summertime stay in Scotland. That saw me complete of perhaps the noisiest stretch of the trail: that between Bridge of Orchy and Inverarnan and with some sun to enliven the views too. The other walking that I did during that trip was a soggy reconnaissance trip among the hills near Kinlochleven. The other trail completed was one passing not far from where I live: the Gritstone Trail. Hikes from Macclesfield to Congleton and from Eaton to Kidsgrove in pleasant conditions allowed me to bring my walking of the trail towards a good end. A final evening stroll was sufficient for me to walk the final short stretch around Bollington before I then walked home to my house. The bank holiday weekend at the end of the month allowed me the opportunity to start off the Rob Roy Way by walking from Drymen to Callander, with an overnight stay in Aberfoyle. This got me into nice countryside that I hadn't visited before, and it seems more than worthy of a return.
After what must sound like a bountiful August, hillwalking activities were less prevalent for the rest of the year, even if I had planned not to have things slow down. September and November stand out as months when you could have said that I had gone into hibernation. October saw me head out for a local constitutional to take in the Autumn colour, follow streams in local hill country and visit the South Pennines for a hike that was lacking in any real progress on completing the missing link in my Pennine Way journey. In December, I decided to vanquish any sense of hibernation by another wander among the hills lining the Cheshire-Derbyshire border, followed up by a fleeting unintended visit to the hill country of the Long Mynd near Church Stretton.
All in all, 2007 was another good walking year for me. Unless you lost out in the flooding (and I don't envy anyone who did: hope it all works out all right for them), it would be a travesty to remember 2007 for its sodden summer when we had so much clement weather earlier in the year. As it happens, the continual greyness that pervaded nearly all of 2004 remains with me, with 2007's bright spots easily causing me to forget any grey bits. The proverbial question of what 2008 will bring does raise its head, as it is wont to do; so also is the realisation that the future is not ours to see (we're probably better off!). I never go in for big plans anyway, but that doesn't stop me having ideas in my mind for when the opportunities to explore them arise. We'll see what happens...
Reconnaissance walking in South Shropshire
21st December 2007 Engineering works induced some timetable changes that presented the prospect of a Sunday visit to Knighton to explore some of the scenery around there. After all, the Offa's Dyke Path passes nearby, so it can't be bad. A bus journey from Macclesfield to Crewe set me up for an onward train journey. Everything was going well until tardiness by Arriva Trains Wales meant that I missed the train to Knighton. It's on the Heart of Wales railway, and so the level of service isn't at all frequent. Couple that with the absence of a Sunday bus service, and plans soon change.
As ever, I had a back-up plan in mind: this time, it was to be the Long Mynd near Church Stretton. Having passed by this striking hill country a number of times while destined for such places as Abergavenny, Crickhowell and Brecon, it was about time that I paid the area a visit, even as short as my first one turned out to be. The oversight had been caused by my not realising what was there. The sighting of the shapely prominences even had me wondering if I was nearing Abergavenny, the first time that I went down there. More wisdom has emerged since then.
Thus, I pottered up the Carding Mill Valley to the heights where Pole Bank tempted me until I saw the faintness of the path through the heather from Shooting Box. That still left me with a good bimble before I came back down again, by way of Haddon Hill and Bodbury Hill. These hills may not be high in those parts, yet the gradients are nothing to be mocked; they certainly gave my legs and lungs a decent workout. The day remained resolutely overcast, but that doesn't bother me, since the idea of a return is a tempting prospect. In any case, I still hope to get to Knighton, and the prospect of seeing the environs of Church Stretton under blue skies is another motivator. There may be much cause for repeat visits yet.
New scanner, new photos
9th July 2007 I don't normally mention computer technology on this blog, but I encountered some trouble with my scanner while trying to add new photos to the online photo gallery. As someone who continues to use film in these digital times, a scanner remains a very useful asset. I also have a digital camera, which is how most of the photos you'll find accompanying the trip reports on this blog have been captured, so I am keeping a foot in both camps.
With the inclement weather being visited upon us recently, my mind turned to some photo uploading, and I was staring with a few from trips to Wales. It was then that my usually reliable four-year-old Canon CanoScan 5000F played up. When I turned it on, the output returned was solid black. Re-running the thing a few times by hitting the preview button in Scangear saw the black turn to red and eventually the image came through but with a strong red or magenta cast that never quite went away. I fired off a query to Canon, but only got the usual stuff about drivers and cable connections. From that, I foresaw a few weeks of tick-tacking and was unconvinced that the conclusion was worth awaiting.
So, I picked up an Epson Perfection 4490 Photo from Dabs.com and gave it a workout with some photos from a trip to the Brecon Beacons last November. The setting up was the usual shuffle, but the software installation took an age to complete. It all works well, better than the Canon ever did, and that was a big improvement on the UMAX Astra 1220U that preceded it. A quick spot of image processing, which I always do to clean things up, was all that was required to get more than acceptable results. I was scanning prints, but negative/slide scanning is another option that I have yet to explore. Having an on/off button on the side of the scanner is a nice touch that I haven't seen before, and may even prolong the life of the machine and save a spot of energy to boot.
More recce in Rhinog country
1st July 2007 Not having ventured out on a day long hillwalking trip for most of a month (I have been venturing out locally on lovely evenings after work, but that's for another post), I took my chance on Friday and headed out to explore Rhinog country. The weather has been very unsettled recently but the promise of a mainly dry day with some sunshine lured me out and about, even if wet conditions could be expected underfoot.
The start of the day wasn't too promising: it was raining well as I made my way to Macclesfield train station. However, rain at 07:00 usually means that it dries up by 11:00 and by the time that I reached Wolverhampton, conditions were drier. Even so, showers were very much in evidence as my train passed through Shropshire and the hills of mid-Wales towards my destination. Things started to look better from Machynlleth on.
I had planned to make my Dyffryn Ardudwy but, due to some fumbling on my part (very unusual for me, but the idea of these being request stops probably made me overly cautious and I did miss the extra station because it was near a fold in the map), I unintentionally disembarked at Tal-y-bont, the preceding stop on the line. It was a fortuitous error and Tay-y-bont and Dyffryn Ardudwy are very close together anyway.
So, my walk started from Tal-y-bont and followed the delightful Afon Ysgethin with the sun making its appearance from behind the clouds every now and again. Unsurprisingly, given all the rain that we have been having, the said river was a foaming cataract (torrent would have been a tad too strong a description) and thoughts of falling into it wouldn't have been good ones to be having; as it happens, the visual delights ensured that they stayed away. If there was any doubt as to the origin of all that water, it was to be found later on the walk.
When the path among the trees ended, a right turn got me onto a track that was to expose me to views of some of the Rhinogs (Rhinogydd in Welsh). As if to draw me back again, the sun continued to be irregular in its appearances but sights of Moelfre, Diffwys, Y Llethr and others still beguiled. In time, I was to find that conditions underfoot were sodden but my Salomon boots continued to keep my feet dry and warm as I continued to find my way around to another crossing of Afon Ysgethin: Pont-Scethin. From there, I made my way to a good track that was headed from Llyn Bodlyn to Dyffryn; I left the wetness behind for a while.
There are some wonderfully untended footpaths in Wales and, having a spot of time, I unwittingly made my way from the Llyn Bodlyn track onto one of them. Previous adventures in the Conwy valley took me through some incredibly overgrown examples of the breed but they weren't soaking underfoot like this one. Patches of Gorse provided navigational "interest" (I was beginning to wonder if undertaking this was a sign of madness) and slightly uncontrolled progress on bumpy tussocky terrain in long meadow was another "delight". By the time that I did make my way onto tarmac again, my Salomons had let some water in to wet my feet; Sealskinz socks might be a good idea for another similarly damp outing.
The diversion hadn't impacted on my making my way home and I had some time to do a quick spot of shopping in Dyffryn before I headed for the train station and home. To me, the wildness of the Rhinogs remains more than appealing and I hope to return, maybe on a longer visit; there is certainly plenty to explore here. My boots are packed with newspaper and are still drying out, so waterproof socks may well have made it onto my shopping list.
