Category: Website News
A change of technology
18th September 2006 Welcome to a revitalised corner of the digital world! After some hiccups with Blogware, I decided it was time to take matters into my own hands and set up a personal blog using WordPress and MySQL. This is where you'll find my musings on all things outdoors, straight from the heart of the British countryside.
The endeavour of transforming this virtual space has been both challenging and educational, much like the trails that lie before me in the great outdoors. Just as I have carried over my previous musings, I intend to carry on sharing the stirring journeys, stunning landscapes, and energising experiences that make the outdoors such a treasure trove for the soul.
In this new chapter, I look forward to delving deeper into the wilds of Britain, discovering hidden delights nestled in the valleys and exploring the uncharted paths that beckon me with their allure. From the highlands of Scotland to the shores of Wales, each destination offers a unique blend of experiences that enrich my understanding of this remarkable island.
My fascination, much like what is found in the pages of many an outdoor magazine, is not just about reaching a summit or conquering a challenging trail. It's about the moments in between, the stillness of nature that allows for self-reflection, and the sense of satisfaction that comes from overcoming obstacles both physical and mental.
Whether you're an experienced outdoors person or someone who simply appreciates the beauty of nature, I invite you to join me in exploring the wonders that our beloved British Isles have to offer. Together, we'll navigate the twists and turns of the trail, share in the joys and challenges of the outdoors, and discover the magic that lies just beyond the horizon. Here's to new beginnings, exciting adventures, and endless days filled with the invigorating spirit of the great outdoors!
Photos of Arran now online
2nd September 2006 Following my quick visit to the Isle of Arran at Eastertide, I have been putting together a new album in my photo gallery dedicated to photos taken while there. One of these is below so you get a sense of what I have for you to savour. Details of the trip itself will appear in another post.
Why have a website?
31st August 2006 If you have been having a look around my blog, you'll notice that it is a loosely organised collection of thoughts around hillwalking, photography, public transport and website updates. That's because I want somewhere to share these otherwise my website would become more of a rambling mess than it is at the moment (seriously though, I hope that it's not that bad). There are other things that I could add here like thoughts on web design and development but I feel that would dilute the whole purpose too much.
Nevertheless, I have noticed two types of websites that are similar to my own: ones devoted to hillwalking and ones concerned with landscape and architectural photography. The latter can get quite serious with their owners travelling either far afield or being up and about their craft at both extremes of the day in summer and out all day at the other end of the year. Also, tripods are a necessity for these folk (must force myself to use mine at some point). Then there are the hillwalking websites. These also have photos but they are to illustrate the route being described rather than for their own sake. This need not be formal as you will see from Fraser Dickson's site. The purpose of his offering is to describe his experiences on the hill but he indulges in (digital) photography along the way. Another extreme is offered by Sandy Saunders' The Walk Zone where there is no route text at all, only photos taken out on the featured walks.
So where does my site fit in? Somewhere between these two extremes as it happens and there are three elements to the information that I present on the photo gallery website and here in my blog: photography, walking (urban as well as rural) and travel. The photography element of this is obvious: it is the whole point of my main website. I also have a directory of links to other photo galleries. Walking (and cycling) and travel provide the commentary to the photos and there is also a visitor directory on there. Indeed walking and travel are backbone of what I post here too. Therefore, a suggestion would be to separate the photo gallery from walking and travel. It's an intriguing idea and one that I might just consider.
Inverness photos added
29th August 2006 
In spite of its status as the main administrative centre in the Highlands and Islands, Inverness always seems to be a place where I have never spent more than a few hours. Here's a list of my encounters with the city, starting before it attained city status:
July 1998: On a day trip from Edinburgh, I passed through the city on my way to Urquhart Castle and Loch Ness. Sadly, the day was cloudy and it even rained in the evening. Nevertheless, I did get a chance to walk around the city centre.
July 1999: A short stop on my way back to Edinburgh from my first visit to the Isle of Skye. The sun was out and I managed a few photos.
August 2002: Only stayed long enough to change buses on another Portree-Edinburgh journey. Rain was plaguing Portree when I left Skye, but Inverness was drier. My priority, though, was to meet up with friends in Edinburgh and a change of bus in Perth was ahead of me.
May Day weekend 2006: Stopped off for a few hours on Sunday while on my way from a cloudy Fort William to a sunny Pitlochry. Some accommodation booking took place (don't expect Inverness TIC to be open on Sundays out of season, though) and I got in some photography in the sunshine before a train took me to my destination.
The new photos are from my latest visit and feature the castle and the River Ness. There could have been more of them if I had stayed in Inverness rather than Fort William: a serious possibility due to a motorcycle event taking place in the latter. Every May Day weekend, bikers descend on Fort William and book up almost every room in the town. Even the hotels get booked out: bikers are particularly after single rooms and you could find that double and twin bedrooms getting let as singles to satisfy demand. I can understand their logic: it is still the off season up there so any trade gets welcomed and who'd blame them. I'll know it for the future, though. Genteel Pitlochry offered no such difficulties (once I remembered the name of the hotel into which I had booked...). The same level of accommodation provision allowed me to arrange a four-night stay there at short notice in July.
New Yorkshire Photos
24th June 2006 The duller weather that we have been having recently has allowed me to stay away from the hills and engage in a blizzard of website updates. Since the holiday year at my work starts in July, I took some time off to use up my allocation and got through a few things. I'd probably have headed off somewhere but for the weather forecast and my needing a breather after all these weekends that I have been away over the last month. Even so, I did get out on my bike when the sun came out yesterday evening.
Last December, I got to York to do a spot of Christmas shopping (yes, that!) and my camera came too. For a few months, a picture of the York Minster taken from the city's old walls graced my desktop. Now it graces www.assortedexplorations.com and my desktop features a view of the Isle of Arran (more on that later).
Ribblesdale in the Yorkshire Dales features some of the wilder country in the area. It is also home to Yorkshire's Three Peaks. Although, they are not peaks as such, the three peaks in question are among the highest in the Pennines, that hilly English backbone extending from Derbyshire to the border with Scotland. There was a time when one of their number, Ingleborough, was thought to be the highest point in England. That honour has since gone to Scafell Pike in the Lake District.
My acquaintance with the Three Peaks started with a view from a train window while on journeys between Yorkshire and Edinburgh in 2000, while I was working in the former. It wasn't until 2004 that I scaled Pen-y-ghent, the one that I first saw four years earlier. That day started off cloudy, a bit like what's outside my window right now, before the cloud cover broke up to give a fantastic evening.
However, it wasn't until earlier this year that I surmounted the other two: Ingleborough and Whernside. Apart from meeting slushy snow, my day out on Ingleborough was as uneventful as my exploration of Pen-y-ghent and nearby Plover Hill. Also, the sun showed its face as I neared Ingleton (Ribblehead station was my starting point). After this, I decided to complete the trio with a yomp over Whernside, the highest of the lot. The trek has everything going for it: views of the Howgill Fells and the country around Ribblesdale. However, to see all this you need the weather. It started well and I had ample opportunity to sample views of Pen-y-ghent and Ingleborough, but there were plenty of grey clouds up north. This was a sign of things to come: as I contended with iced-up flagged paths (I preferred the snow-covered banks by the side) on my final approach, the clag came in. Armed with a good map and provided with a clear track and an almost continuous wall, I was safe (my concern for safety meant that I missed out on the trig point atop the hill: a minor point in the circumstances). In addition, there were other folk about (a mad bunch, us hill bums). Apart from the odd snowflake, everything remained dry. Going down, though, I encountered rain and it was a damp trudge back to Ribblehead station (and a cold wait until the train home arrived: need to get a new waterproof jacket; the water resistance of the one I have has given up the ghost).
Following that experience, you'd think that I wouldn't return but I do have designs on a ramble from Ingleborough to Dent. There is more to see in these parts yet.
