February 9, 2010 at 12:35 am
· Filed under Northamptonshire, Walks
The Grafton Way is a 12.5 mile walk between Cosgrove (actually looking at the Ordnance Survey website, it seems to continue down the canal to Wolverton) and Greens Norton, passing past Towcester. The Grafton Way is joined to the North Buckinghamshire Way, The Grand Union Canal Walk, and Ouse Valley Way to the South, and turns into The Knighton Way at Greens Norton. The route is named after the Dukes of Grafton, who were large landowners throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.… Read the rest of this entry »
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January 25, 2010 at 11:20 pm
· Filed under Northamptonshire, Walks
After the excesses of Christmas and spending a lot of time in bed with various bouts of illness (what is it about evolving colds that won’t go away this winter!) the Offa’s Dyke team (well everyone except Alex) decided to break in the new year with a 13 mile walk around the Northamptonshire countryside South of Daventry.… Read the rest of this entry »
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January 18, 2010 at 8:31 pm
· Filed under Equipment
Having put together an equipment list for Offa’s Dyke before Christmas, and crossing off a few items friends and family kindly bought me, I took advantage of the sales (and in some cases a VAT freeze) to pick up a few items I needed.… Read the rest of this entry »
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December 30, 2009 at 11:12 pm
· Filed under Equipment, Offa's Dyke 4 MS
Just before Christmas I took the opportunity to have a look around a few outdoor and camping stores to put together a rough list of equipment that I would need for Offa’s Dyke in April.
I don’t think the list is particularly comprehensive – it was more a list of things that caught my eye, but if you can spot anything missing let me know!… Read the rest of this entry »
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December 24, 2009 at 11:32 am
· Filed under Camping, Equipment
Within a few minutes of posting “Help needed in choosing a hiking tent” to twitter a few weeks ago, a good friend of mine, who is emigrating, kindly offered to donate his 2 man North Face Tadpole tent to the cause.
The tent seemed ideal, all I need to do was head into London to collect it……… Read the rest of this entry »
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December 16, 2009 at 8:15 pm
· Filed under Camping, Equipment, Offa's Dyke 4 MS
I don’t really know very much about tents – I have owned three over the years, but they were all pretty much impulse buys.
I know even less about backpacking / hiking / expedition tents – I am assuming that being light and compact is important, but beyond that I haven’t got a clue!
Hopefully that is where you come in! This is an open invitation for suggestions and recommendations on what hiking tent I should get for Offa’s Dyke.… Read the rest of this entry »
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December 15, 2009 at 9:58 pm
· Filed under Snowdonia, Walks
This is a beautiful, enjoyable and not too strenious (well moderate) circular walk from Beddgelert. The walk goes along the exciting Pass of Aberglaslyn, then up the hill overlooking Beddgelert, before droping down sharply to the lake Llyn Dinas, and finally making it’s way back to Beddgelert, via the Sygun Copper Mine.
This walk gives an excellent taster to Snowdonia – part scenic gorge walk, part upland boggy moorland with glimpses of Wales’ mining heritage and with beautiful views across the valley to the mountains around Beddgelert. It is perfect to escape from the tourist trap of Beddgelert, or if you want to avoid the higher mountainous areas (due to weather or fatique!)… Read the rest of this entry »
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December 14, 2009 at 9:01 pm
· Filed under Offa's Dyke 4 MS
Subtitle – an Offa’s Dyke 4 MS Update
When I first announced our plans to walk Offa’s Dyke in aid of MS, back in March, it seemed such a long way away (over a year in fact). I had great plans – regular training walks, blogs about the best equipment to buy, interesting hours spent pouring over OS maps of the route….
Things started well – a trip to Snowdonia in June, Bodmin Moor in August, and back to Snowdonia in September… and then things went a little quiet…. to be honest I had kidded myself that I had ages, and I didn’t need to worry about the preparations.
Then it occurred to me… we are actually starting the walk in about 100 days time…. and we haven’t prepared anything…..
It was just the kick up the backside I think I needed!… Read the rest of this entry »
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August 28, 2009 at 6:54 pm
· Filed under Reviews
Map Addict, by Mike Parker, is a enjoyable, often funny, well written, and well researched tour of all things map related.
A few of the final chapters are a little weak in comparison to the rest of the book, and I think the book could have done with some colour photos to bring them alive (some of the black and white ones aren’t very clear), but nonetheless it is well worth a read!… Read the rest of this entry »
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August 26, 2009 at 10:20 pm
· Filed under Camping, Reviews, South West
Mena Caravan & Camping Park is a lovely, very friendly, spacious and secluded camp site situated on a hill just to the South West of Bodmin, Cornwall.
I was quite lazy when choosing this camp site – I basically did a Google search of camp sites near Bodmin and picked one of the top results – and I was not disappointed!
Best points: friendly, spacious, great for dogs & local meat
Bad points: none (honest, I really can’t think of any!)… Read the rest of this entry »
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