So after last weeks walk from Pentewan to Mevagissey, we again stayed coastal, and returned to an area of mine and Linda’s most frustrating walk. We’d visited the area north of Bude back in April 2023 with an afternoon walk to allow the rain and cloud to clear as the day went on, well that…
After getting back from the Lakes in early August, we’d lost our walking mojo. We’d done one walk, the previous week, on southern Dartmoor, but this was now my birthday weekend, at the end of September and we really hadn’t been walking properly for 5 or 6 weeks. Time to start changing that with another…
So it had been around 5 weeks since our last walk in the Lake District, and we’d taken a bit of a sabbatical away from walking. Not for any specific reason, although we did start packing the house up, in preparation for our upcoming house move. Finally in mid-September we decided to head out again,…
I wanted to write something about my Lake District journey, sharing what I’ve enjoyed and some bits that I’d preferred to have missed. This might be a long post but then again I am cramming 14 years and 92 walks into one post. This would include my favourite walks and fells, some of the underrated…
So we were heading away from the Lakes and we try to look for somewhere to stop off to break up the journey. Normally this would be in Lakeland and involve a longer drive to Plymouth, but this time we drove a bit and then headed to somewhere. Rufford Old Hall was our choice, firstly…
So when you’ve completed a list of something, what do you do next. Well I suppose you look to do it all over again. I’m not one of those people that has to wait until list one is finished, before you can start counting list two summits. So I’ve already been up Helvellyn a couple…
So this was it, 14 years, 30 visits to the Lakes, around 24,000 miles driven and 91 walks. It all boiled down to this final walk, which would be number 92 and would take me to almost 540 miles of walking to bag all of them. Lots of people leave an easier fell to finish…
So having walked Blencathra and Mungrisdale Common the day before, we look to sort out a gentler walk from the house. My auntie, uncle and cousin were also coming up from St Helens to visit for the day, so we decided on a walk around one end of Derwent Water, straight from our doorstep. My…
So it was time to get on with the walks that would finally finish off my Wainwright 214 journey. For some reason I hadn’t done Blencathra, despite it being Wainwright’s most written about fell, and the one with the most ascent routes. It had certainly been one that I’d thought about the most, and when…
So here I am, potentially my last visit to the Lakes to bag new fells from the Wainwright 214 list. I needed just two walks to finish off the list, and join the ever expanding number of members, who have completed them all. Not that this is planned as my final ever visit, if all…
A good day was forecast weatherwise and we thought we needed a bit of serious climbing, to put us in the right fitness for our Lake District holiday, which was due to be a week later. So why not head to the highest point in England, south of Kinder Scout in Derbyshire, which is High…
In attempts to bag any list (in this case my second round of Dartmoor tors/hills and Linda picking up her first) you can end up in some spots that aren’t that great. Back in April we did a walk around Trendlebere Down and to Water Cleave Tor, which was pretty rough to say the least,…
So our second evening walk this year and another really good sunset. This wasn’t the normal walk for our sunset, as we normally head out to Pew Tor/Pork Hill/Cox Tor area to catch the sun setting beside Brent Tor. This walk however would be number 57 of my Round 2, but only one square this…
This was a short Dartmoor walk, just as the weather started to improve and warm up a bit towards the end of June. We fancied somewhere central and I had an eye on picking off lots of my second round of tors. Both Blackslade Rock and Bovey Rock sits beside lanes, so are easy to…
So this was day 3 and the final section from Mullion to the most southerly point in the UK, Lizard Point. Unlike Land’s End which feels like the most westerly point in the mainland, but it isn’t, the Lizard is the most southerly. The good news is the Lizard also doesn’t have the tacky fun…
So, day 2 of our walk from Penzance to Lizard Point and we leave our little overnight cottage in Rinsey Croft, heading for Mullion and specifically the Old Inn, where we had a night booked. The distance would be exactly the same as the day before, but with no driving before the walk it felt…
So it was time for our coastal path trip away, picking the middle of June for the normally decent weather, and with it being still in school time the midweek walking should be quieter. Last year we had done a 3 day loop around Land’s End from Penzance to Pendeen, and this time we again…
A trio of tors in the title, but this isn’t Dartmoor, instead I was on Bodmin Moor this time out and ticking off more than 3 tors as well. This was a visit into Cornwall to try and pick off a number of tors there, hopefully this time, without too much fencing and difficult ground…
Back to Dartmoor after our mammoth coastal walk last time out and an area on the eastern side of the moor, not too far from Widecombe. The walk would pick up a number of Dartmoor 365 squares and was walk number 56 on my second round, this one grabs squares Q16, L14, L16, M14, M15…
l last walked in this area in September 2022, when I headed west from Port Quin to Polzeath, but it was the area to the east of Port Quin that I wanted to finish off. I had walked from Tintagel to Dannonchapel back in October 2021, remembering how difficult that section was. I’d looked at…
It was well into spring and we hadn’t been out for an evening walk yet, so time to put that right. The plan on any evening walk is to keep the driving and walking distance down, find somewhere that is interesting or looks good in different light and might have a sunset. With a mainly…
So this was our last walk on this visit to the Lakes, picking off 3 fells that I needed. The awkward Hartsop Above How, which I like that Wainwright included, as it makes you think about “how to get it”, then St Sunday Crag and Birks. The only way to to do these three together…
After a day around Ambleside we headed off to bag my last Southern fell, in Grey Friar. I’d looked at various routes up to Grey Friar and done a couple of walks of the Coniston Fells that could have taken it in, but in the end it was left as a solo fell, needing to…
Between the four walks we did on this visit to the Lakes, we had a look around and visited a few places that I’ve never been to before, and always thought it would be good to see. Considering we were near to Skelwith Bridge you’d have though that Skelwith Force would be on the agenda,…
So with ticking off Catstycam and Birkhouse Moor, I’d completed Wainwrights 204 and 205. Now for numbers 206 and 207. This started with a drive over Wrynose Pass, not so bad in drying weather and along the valley to Cockley Beck, before a left turn to Birks Bridge. The car park was fairly empty as…
Well this would be my penultimate drive to the Lakes, in order to bag the Wainwrights, on my way to the ultimate 214 total. Around 400 miles of driving before a step was taken. You’d think that sort of drive would put me off walking when I got there, errr no, it didn’t and doesn’t!…
A walk before we headed to the Lake District and I’m not quite so sure why I picked this area. When you head to the Lakes you will need your fell walking legs, this area around the centre of Dartmoor is reasonably flat and involves a bit of road walking. So perhaps not the best…
This was a walk to pick off 3 of my tors that I needed for my Round 2. To be honest there is very little need to go to Water Cleave Rock otherwise, as its a horrid walk in, especially near to the main path which drops down from Water to the Clam bridge. There…
As we neared the end of April the weather started to turn a bit, more sunny days in between others with rain. But at least we now had the drier weather we would expect at this time of year. We decided on a National Trust property as one of our outings this week, and headed…
The boys are back in town, as the 3 of us undertake a walk around the western side of the moor. The reason for this area was to give my youngest a look at this side of the moor for his 10 tors yomp in the middle of May. Our last outing was at Christmas,…
After two walks where the sun shone at Mawgan Porth (here) and Willsworthy (here), we’d had two dull walks at Princetown (here) and Shipley Bridge (here). So what would we get this time, well a bit of a mix to be honest. It started very nicely with some warm sun, before clouding over a bit…
A walk of a much shorter distance than normal for us, but this was due to the strong winds still in evidence from a storm, whose name escapes me now. I also wanted us to stay pretty low, so we decided on an area which I had last visited in 2021 (when ridiculous comments about…
Easter Sunday and we were out again, keen to make up for a sluggish start to walking in 2024, with 2 walks in 2 days. This was was a bit more leisurely than the previous days efforts, when we headed up to Hare Tor. This would be walk number 50 in my attempt to bag…
After almost a month away from Dartmoor, caused by our trip to South Wales and the previous week’s stunning walk along the North Cornwall coast (here), we were back. This was Easter Saturday and I think we’d missed the sodden ground and greasy mud too much!! That said, we’d picked another sunny day to walk,…
So after our little trip away to South Wales, we rested a week before looking to head out again. We’d remembered that last year, we’d got some free parking before Easter at Porthcothan, and needing to complete the section to Mawgan Porth we headed off to grab a walk the weekend prior to Easter. On…
So time for our last walk in the Brecons, and we’d been talking to Andy from SurfnSlide about walks in his local area. We’d agreed a meet up time and a walk around the Grwyne Valley, which he’d done before, admittedly in some lovely warm conditions with sunshine. After a long drive down a long…
Walk number two of this visit to the Brecons (Bannau Brycheiniog), and after a day of fairly heavy and persistent rain, we stayed on the eastern side of the National Park, to avoid the worst of any showers coming in from the west. It worked pretty well and we only had one long ish batch…
Well it has been almost 3 years since my last visit to the Brecons (Bannau Brycheiniog) and it was a long overdue return. As mentioned on my last walk around the Granite Way and Meldon reservoir, my next outing would be Wales. As with last time I visited these parts (and for that matter when…
Birthday time for Linda and I’d decided to take her away for her pressie to a nice hotel in the middle of North Devon, Northcote Manor. Known for its good food, it has a spa, nice grounds and some good views to Exmoor. We’d headed up on the Saturday and spent a fun and relaxing…
February and March are busy with birthdays in my calendar, with my youngest first up, then my mum and finally in February is Linda. Then I have two of my nephew’s early in March before my eldest at the end of that month. We started out with my youngest, he’d had a rucksack for his…
It had reached the middle of February and we had still not ventured to the coast for a walk. In fact we hadn’t done any coastal walk since 8th December at Brixham (here) and before that a proper walk from Holywell to Crantock near Newquay (here), it was well overdue. We put this right with…
Another weekend and another head scratch to see where we could walk. The weather was looking pretty good around the south and southwest edges of the moor, but not so good when heading into the middle. Not that it would have been raining in Princetown and Postbridge, but more that there wouldn’t be any sunshine.…
The first difficult walk of the year, and probably the hardest walk since we headed out to Flat Tor and Kit Rocks in September. We’ve had lots of walks of around 6, 7, 8 miles at most recently, but nothing with the steep rise and fall of this area. This was walk number 46 of…
So after a couple of weeks of drier weather, the murky thicker clouds returned to the South West of England. Not to worry however as Dartmoor has plenty of walks around its outskirts, allowing us to enjoy walking through woods, lanes and villages whilst picking off the odd tor and a Dartmoor 365 square or…
The second walk of 2024 and not our fastest of starts for our year of walking, but then again we have plans for more evening walks which may help with the totals, especially when the nights draw out. This was walk 44 of my second round picking up squares G14, H13, H14 and H15. I’ve…
The first walk of the New Year and unlike last year, where we’d walked 3 times by this point, this was our first one. A mix of bad weather and Linda picking up a bad pain in her neck, had meant we’d stayed away from walking. We also chose a short route with very little…
So that was 2023 gone in the blink of an eye and we all start to look at walks and places to visit for 2024. I’ll save talking about 2024 for lower down in this post and first look back at 2023, which will go down as one of my best walking years with plenty…
So the last walk of 2023, New Years Eve, and where should we head off to? I’d looked at Shipley Bridge, Horrabridge or further afield to Lustleigh. But the weather wasn’t looking that good anywhere, we didn’t want to travel far (mainly because we were late getting up) and nothing too high up. Burrator fitted…
The Christmas walk, and due to working a bit between Christmas and New Year, it was a day or two later than it normally would be. The boys were also back together, for the first time since our walk up Snowdon in August. This was due to my eldest working every Saturday, he’s saving for…
So the day before Christmas Eve and we were scouring the weather reports, to decide on the best day to walk over the festive period. Both myself and Linda were in work between Christmas and New Year, meaning we had a 4 day window to plan at least one walk. Looking at the weather, we…
With the winter months comes lots of walks along lanes, through woodland and picking off the odd village. This walk certainly had the first two of those, but no villages to speak of, just a house or farm beside a lane to change the view. However what we did have was tors, and lots of…
Not since Bonfire Night have we had a proper walk with some sunshine in it, this walk was done in the second week in December and still no yellow disc in the skies above us. As I type here I can hear the wind howling outside as another named storm barrels through. Its not been…
We’d booked a couple of days off work and had a few things planned, one was a day just bimbling around, record shops, lunch, that sort of thing. Another was a proper walk somewhere, and finally some sanding on a dark stained dresser. The sanding took 2 of those days, and still isn’t finished, although…
A walk that suits the winter weather, with plenty of lanes, villages, Dartmoor squares and a short dart on to Dartmoor proper for a couple of tors, before leaving via the lanes again. This walk is number 39 of my second round, picking up O4, O5, P4, P5 and Q4. The walk started from the…
November weather has been, well, awful. Week after week of rainy days, even when they forecast a dry day, it would have heavy showers in it. Confidence on the reporting was low, as the weather companies only seemed to accurately report when it would rain all day. Photos online of cold frosty blue sky days…
I always enjoy walking in Shaptor Woods, and when looking at the tors I have left to complete my 500 list for a second time, I realised that a few were in or around this gorgeous woodland. It wasn’t just the changing colours on the leaves that I enjoy in here, but the size of…
I’m enjoying our walks on this side of the moor recently and no doubt over the winter period we will look for others in this South West corner of Dartmoor. Setting out from Peter Tavy gives a few options for a walk, you could head towards Mary Tavy along the Dartmoor Way, or up to…
A revisit to a brilliant museum, providing plenty of education for the adults and additional knowledge for the two boys. Both my boys know lots and lots of information about the exhibits in here, and as they have in the past, they shared that as they went around. It is apt that I post this…
Despite October being pretty wet in the main, especially after the first week of the month, we seemed to get lucky each weekend, with some nice sunshine to accompany our walks. This walk in the centre of Dartmoor was no exception, again the sun was shining and reasonably warm for the time of year and…
So a walk in an area that probably doesn’t get enough attention, considering its the area on Dartmoor nearest to my house. I’ve walked a lot around the Trowlesworthy Warren, but heading back to Hen Tor doesn’t happen very often, and that’s a mistake. This would be walk number 36 of my second Dartmoor 365…
After a run of 7 walks in 8 by the coast in the summer months, September brought a run of Dartmoor walks, with four in a row. The weather in early October was pretty good, so we decided that another seaside trip was needed, this time to North Cornwall and Watergate Bay. This a popular…
Four walks in a row on Dartmoor now, although the next walk will be back to the coast. This is a lovely area, with some nice quiet lanes, villages and a gorgeous woodland valley with a river running along the bottom. The river in question is the Teign as it winds on its way east…
Since we had got back from Snowdonia we’d been on a run of Dartmoor walks, not for any reason, it was just the way it fell. This time we headed east for my birthday walk, and a walk from the village of Haytor Vale (it has a pub so we parked there!), this was walk…
A year after we walked up to the East Dart Waterfall in some of the hottest weather I’ve walked in (remember the long hot summer of 2022), we again started out from Postbridge on a similar walk. We walked in the opposite direction this time, and headed out the back of the waterfall, through Sandy…
So the first walk after our Snowdonia trip and the weather was set warm and sunny. This was the start of September, and that one week of nice sunshine that we had, before it disappeared again and returned to the same rubbish we had in July and August. This was a walk that I hadn’t…
After our Snowdon walk, we had two days in three that involved car journeys. Firstly, on the Wednesday, I had to bring my eldest down to Gloucester, so he could return to Plymouth with his mum to get his GCSE results. Then on the Friday we were leaving Snowdonia, and heading to Bolton, for my…
So after a couple of warm up walks of Cnicht and Moel Siabod, we’d reached the big one, Snowdon or Yr Wyddfa in Welsh. This walk would see us all break through the 1000 metre barrier and for Linda and the boys its their highest walk. After a bit of research on the best routes,…
A bit of sunshine on this Sunday as we headed out again, the day after our blowy walk up Cnicht. The clouds were still skudding across the sky, but at least we got plenty of views, blue skies and no rain on this walk. Instead of the normal starting point of Capel Curig, we decided…
So this was to be our summer holiday, not this time to the Lakes, but Snowdonia (Eryri) alongside a couple of special events. My cousin was getting married in Llangollen, so we booked a Premier Inn in Oswestry and stayed a couple of nights there. Then we had a week in Penmachno, and looked for…
One last walk before we packed the car and headed off for an adventure around Llangollen, Snowdonia and Bolton. This walk was decided on to make sure I could walk the planned Snowdon and Moel Siabod routes and would slightly extend the length I walked around Falmouth, the week before. This was walk 31 of…
I’d had a couple of weeks off walking in order to try and give some rest to my feet and the Plantar Fasciitis that I was struggling with. I had managed to calm things down a bit and I was felling a bit better, aware though that I had holiday booked in Snowdonia on the…
With a run of walks by the coast (5 in a row) we were ready for another adventure on Dartmoor. It had been over a month since our last outing, a sunset walk around the Staple Tors, so we looked far afield for a place to see some tors and pick off lots of Dartmoor…
The boys had both finished school, well my eldest had finished his GCSE’s a month earlier and my youngest only had an activities week to do before his summer holiday, so basically he was finished as well. We headed up for another night in Bideford, using up some Christmas hotel vouchers we had. We’d previously…
You’d have thought that having walked around Land’s End on a 3 day expedition that we’d be sick of having the sea on our left hand side. Not a bit of it, this was a revisit to Start Point for myself and a first proper look for Linda, in an area that never fails to…
Our final day of our 3 day walk and all change on the weather front and the path front. Gone are the wide paths and high cliffs, the cloudy, dry weather or very warm and sunny weather. Instead we had grey dank clouds, drizzle with overgrown paths full of gorse and bracken. The drizzle itself…
treksandtors 