Thomas McEldowney Photography
What I like about this picture is that in all the time i have been in Manchester and all the times i have climbed on Snowdonia I never knew that the range could be seen from Manchester… or in this case, East Manchester / Stockport. The power plant is Fiddlers Ferry in Widnes, and to the left in the background you can see the mountains of Snowdonia
Uther Pendragon was reputed to have found and battled a large dragon-like serpent while in Cumbria – perhaps this was the reason he decided to found his kingdom in Mallerstang. Pendragon Castle, situated four miles south of Kirkby Stephen, is built on what’s thought to be the site of Uther’s castle, which would have been built some 600 years earlier. According to legend, Uther tried to re-route the River Eden to create a moat for the castle.
Pendragon Castle itself is now in ruins, having been built in the 1100’s by Hugh de Morville – one of the knights who killed Thomas of Canterbury.
Did you know that this weekend you are statistically highly likely to have someone tell you that you are statistically more likely to have a white easter than a white Christmas?
Originally uploaded by Josh Rogan
I love Kinder Scout – i don’t think i have been as lost on any other mountain as this one… and its not a real mountain anyway, more like a hill, but its as tricky a walk as any other thanks to its ability to get completley lost in fog, and to have a barren plateauas a summit – Its absoultely steeped in history from crashed planes to mass tresspass that gave way to the rights we have today to roam in countryside – its a great mountain – its also the one i proposed on so long a go.
Its great for all those reasons plus its less than an hour away, you can grab friends who don’t normally spend their weekends in head to toe gore-tex and drag them up, its not tough but its not without steep ascent and whether its bleak or glorious the summit is always great.
This is the first time I think i have seen the summit -i was almost disapointed that the fog and mist that has greeted me at the top before was not there – a great day out though and my first hill walk of 2008
As some of you may or may not know, part of my job entails me travelling to Poole, Dorset, on the South Coast of England every so often. Now while Poole is a not inconsiderable distance away, there are many worse places to be sent – in parts its absolutely beautiful – and the weather is certainly better than in the North.
I have brought my camera to Poole before but this time, due to the Labour Party Conference in Bournemouth, there didn’t seem to be a hotel in all of Poole so it was off to a pub in Studland for me.
As hotels go, it didn’t have wireless, not even internet, no trouser press, not even an iron, it only got 2 channels on telly, so no bbc news 24, i never saw breakfast as it wasn’t served till 9am – it did however have its own brewery out the back and a real log fire – it might actually be the best hotel i have ever stayed in.
What made this pub so special was not just the beer, the food or the fire – but the surroundings. It lies about 3 miles from the ferry, and about 10 miles from work, i decided to bring my bicycle down and try to get a bit of exercise on the way to work – and i’m very glad I did. If you have Google Earth installed, you can see the route here (right click and save as)
The first 3 miles or so until the ferry go through amazing scenery with patches of woodland absoultely teeming with deer – the commutes back from work were spent riding off road and following trail to find deer. As always in Poole the Sunsets didn’t disappoint, and when that was over, the finest full moon I have seen.
Betws-y-coed is a great place at the best of times but when it has a church fete that includes ferret racing and a classic car rally, its the best place ever to dander around feeling sore after a days walking
So, about 3 weeks ago I am talking to Richard about what walks he has been doing and he begins to describe a walk that in his words is ‘possibly the best walk i have ever done‘ – now this is a guy who has done some amount of walks – when he goes for a pint of milk it usually involves a full travese of the Peaks, so when he describes a walk this highly it has to be done.
The walk starts in Dolwyddelan which is a couple of stops down the line from Betws-y-Coed – in fact the train is a great way todo it, as long as you catch the 8:07 (saturdays) becuase there isn’t another train until 11am – The Map needed is OL17 – which we never had but luckly for us the local Spar is open early and stocks Maps as well and it is likely to finish in the pub over the road, the Gwydir some 5-6 hours later.
Is it the best walk ever? – Its certainly a contender – its has fantastic scrambling up some impressive rock, it has beautiful forest, it has lakes, disused quarrys – it has very very few people on it and it has what must surely be some of the best views in Wales looking back onto the Snowdon Range – its certainly a contender.
So I have been sent to Poole for a couple of weeks with work, and I have to say there are certainly worse places to be sent – Kite Surfers out the front of the hotel when i get back from work till the sun goes down, fireworks on the quay every thursday and a boat cruise around Poole Harbour… and I have been working too
too hot for this one – about 20k round the western fells – a tough enough walk made even harder by the heat – the next day was spent splashing around in Wastwater
Rob has just uploaded his gallery of sunday at Wastwater and ravenglass beach
