For my early summer holiday I caught a flight from Birmingham International to Inverness in Scotland. Our plan is to walk up Ben Nevis and climb as many of the Munros as we can. I’ve only been to Scotland once before, and that was bicycle touring around Skye during an unusually dry week. The success of that trip meant I…
The Warwickshire Wildlife Trust flagship nature reserve is Brandon Marsh, its 220 acres of large, woodland and meadows. In the winter you have wintering birds on the pool, spring welcomes hundreds of froglets and the return of the song birds. In summer it is overrun with birds, dragonflies, butterflies and the occasional grass snake or lizzard. And autumn brings an…
The final Snowdonia walk over the Easter holiday was local to where we were staying. We started from Blaenau Ffestiniog and spent the afternoon climbing up through the slate quarries and old waste heaps. It was miserable weather when we woke up on the Friday morning. The mountains surrounding us were shrouded in cloud and heavy rain filled the valley.…
The first thing we did the day after arriving in Snowdonia was walk up to the top of Mount Snowdon. It is 1085 metres high, and the highest mountain in England and Wales. A bit of research beforehand revealed that there are 8 main routes to the top, ranked from hardest to easiest these are: Crib Goch – lots of…
My Easter holiday this year was to Wales with a couple of friends. We spent a day in the Wye Valley (and spotted a family of boar!) and then carried on to Snowdonia where we spent a few days walking in the mountains. I investigated the route from the Wye Valley to Snowdonia beforehand and found that Pistyll Rhaeadr waterfall…
I was in Newcastle for work and decided to take my camera along in case the opportunity arose to do some photography. By the time I finished it was dark but this meant instead of sleeping I could wander around a strange city in the dark and attempt my first go at night photography. Starting from the hotel in Gateshead,…
I spent the last month cycling through Ireland with my younger brother, we had 34 days to cycle the Wild Atlantic Way and get back to Liverpool in time for my older brothers wedding. We made it with a day to spare. We arrived in Liverpool and found it was tipping down with rain, drenching us within seconds of leaving…
This is the beginning of the ultimate bicycle tour, from our home in Launceston to the coast of Ireland and then across into Europe and around the Baltic Sea. Before all that though, here are the bikes. Mine is the blue Thorn Raven, and is to be my steady steed for the next four months. We set off from our…
The fishing boat crests a new wave, and balances for a split second before crashing down into the trough. On deck, the two sailors desperately fight to keep the boat afloat whilst attempting to steer for the sheltered harbour. Its high walls signal safety from the wrath of the weather. Hours pass and still they struggle the waves pushing them…
My last long-distance cycle of 2016 was from Bournemouth to the Isle of Portland and back. I spotted it on the map and was instantly interested in visiting due to it being connected by a narrow strip of beach and road to the mainland and the cloudy history that surrounds Church Ope cove. The Isle is 4 miles (6 km)…