March 5, 2012 at 3:46 pm
· Filed under Reviews
I enjoy history – in my early days at school I spent hours slaving over projects on subjects like the Vikings and the English Civil War, encouraged by my parents who took me on daytrips to battlefields and museums. The realities of academic history surfaced however whilst I studied the World Wars for GCSE with a less than inspiring history teacher and I lost interest (unlike my brother who went on to study Medieval History at University). Like with walking, my interest in history has been rekindled in later years, so I was quite excited to receive Charlie Connelly’s And Did Those Feet, walking through 2000 years of British and Irish history, from the aforementioned brother for Christmas.… Read the rest of this entry »
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February 28, 2012 at 5:07 pm
· Filed under Dogs
Before Offa’s Dyke, I wrote a blog post on the kit I was planning to take with me for my dog (you can read it here: http://www.mycountryside.org.uk/2010/02/15/the-weight-penalty-of-hiking-with-a-dog/). A comment today from Hilke has reminded me that I never really followed up on what I learnt from doing a long distance hike with a dog.… Read the rest of this entry »
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February 21, 2012 at 2:44 pm
· Filed under From Posterous
When outdoors, it never ceases to amaze me how my senses seemed heightened and enhanced – the coutryside seems to come alive with small mammals rustling in the undergrowth, my skin seems to be able sense slight changes in air temperature and wind, and I am suddenly aware of the rich variety of smells.
The outdoors was far from my mind today as I sat on a train on
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February 11, 2012 at 2:54 pm
· Filed under From Posterous
Whilst having a clear out in the house, I came across these varies mementoes of mine and Alex's adventure walking Offa's Dyke 4 MS.
Once again a massive thank you to everyone who supported us and donated – it was brilliant to raise so much money for a charity that has become even more important to me and my family.
Perhaps I need to start planning my next
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February 10, 2012 at 9:31 am
· Filed under Equipment, Reviews
Navigating maps, taking and sharing photos, tweeting, listening to audiobooks and checking in with loved ones – I use my smart phone a huge amount when enjoying the outdoors. Phones are getting better – with rugged phones like the Motorola Defy (or a standard phone in an Aquapac), they can survive the elements more and with power solutions like the PowerMonkey Extreme, battery life for multi-day trips is becoming possible. Screen technology has also progressed away from the single tap resistive screens (remember those styluses?) towards multi touch capactive screens. This however creates a problem for outdoor use – capactive screens need contact with skin which means cold hands in bad weather! The North Face Pamir Etip gloves (slogan: “Get cold weather phone friendly function without removing gloves”) aim to solve this problem and I have spent the last three months trying them out.… Read the rest of this entry »
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February 8, 2012 at 10:57 am
· Filed under Activities, Equipment
At the start of January, I wrote a guest post on Martin Rye’s blog (Summit and Valley, well worth subscribing too) about Social Hiking – what it is, a bit of history and a summary of some of the main functions. Here is the full post in full:… Read the rest of this entry »
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January 15, 2012 at 8:15 pm
· Filed under Activities
Do contact lenses freeze? That was the first thing I thought as I checked the evening’s weather forecast. Why my first concern of spending a night in a hammock in a wood in subzero temperatures was my contact lenses rather than, say, my inadequate sleeping bag, I have no idea! It was New Year’s Eve when, after chatting to a friend about his outdoor plans for the new year, I had agreed to join him at the local bushcraft meet a few weeks later. Perhaps thanks to the festive ale I was consuming, I had also apparantly (my recollection is a little vague) agreed to leave my tent at home and borrow one of his hammocks. After last year’s 1000 mile challenge, I had decided that 2012 was going to be about experiencing the outdoors (rather than clocking up mileage) – so why not spend a night in a hammock in a wood?!… Read the rest of this entry »
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January 5, 2012 at 3:48 pm
· Filed under Activities
Before I start thinking too much about 2012 (yes I know I am running a week behind!), it is probably right to look back on 2011. Throughout 2011 I attempted a personal challenge to walk 1000 miles – the challenge was an excuse to get outdoors more and, with trips to Snowdonia, Dartmoor, Peak District, Brecon Beacons, Cotswolds and South Downs, as well as plenty of hikes in my local area, it certainly succeeded. I completed just under 900 miles (more details on that on my other blog: http://www.sequencenevershortened.com/2012/01/01/i-walked-500-miles-but-i-didnt-quite-walk-500-more/) and here are some of the best bits:
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November 28, 2011 at 11:55 am
· Filed under Northamptonshire, Walks
A 17 mile hike through the farmland and woodland of Northamptonshire (and Buckinghamshire) just North West of Olney – via Ravenstone, Weston Underwood, Yardley Hastings and Yardley Chase Read the rest of this entry »
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November 17, 2011 at 10:21 am
· Filed under Equipment
A few years ago, before Offa’s Dyke – Alex and I were walking part of the Nantlle Ridge in Snowdonia. Alex was recording the route using Sports Tracker (I think), and I was using ViewRanger - what was surprising was the fairly large difference in calculated distance and height gain / loss.
This morning, I was reminded of this as I was mulling over… Read the rest of this entry »
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