After three days in Bologna we headed off for a change, a 25 minute train journey had us stepping onto the platform in Modena, home of balsamic vinegar, Enzo Ferrari, Luciano Pavarotti and some fantastic places to visit. We had a rough idea to visit the Duomo and then have a wander around, just enjoying…
So our third day in Bologna was kind of forced on us, a train strike across Italy had meant we stayed put. Train strikes can be regular in Italy, but this one was planned a month in advance so we accommodated it and planned accordingly. It did mean we had had 3 days in a…
So we’d walked to and back from San Luca, the sanctuary up on the hill, through the stunning porticoes. We passed through Porta Saragozza and walked until we found a quiet café for refreshment, out of the sun for a little while. Full of sandwiches and a cool drink we walked towards the centre, we’d…
The Porticoes or Portici of Bologna are a Unesco World Heritage Site and measure in at 62km long, with 40km in city centre. They are made from wood, stone, blocks, bricks, elegantly painted, or just a plain colour, they are long (4km), narrow (95cm) and high (12.94m). They started out as a way to increase…
So we’d finally reached the time to head off, Bologna was the destination as we nervously pulled into a Heathrow car park at 1am. Our flight was at 7:30am but we hoped we could sleep for a couple of hours in the car before getting the bus to the terminal. As it was Linda slept…
So our previous walk had been to see the lovely Holwell Bluebells and a nice sunset, with warm sunshine up until it went dark. This walk still had the warm weather and the sun breaking through later in the walk, but it was mainly in the trees, so no suntans on this walk. The area…
So May was passing us by and the weather hadn’t really got going, it was still pretty cold (low teens in celsius in Plymouth so colder on the moor) and there was lots of drizzly days. We’d seen a few pictures of Holwell and the bluebells when finally a couple of much warmer days came,…
I did think about creating a title for this walk which included armpits and bottoms, but I reverted to type and stuck with the names of the visited places. This is a walk heading into the central south moor and an area I don’t walk too often. It can be very boggy in here, the…
So back after our trip to Hayle and we wanted to get out again, only the weather wasn’t playing ball this time, infact apart from a very hot week at the end of May, the normally reliable month for sunshine was a wash out. This was the bank holiday weekend at the start of the…
We’d had two days of serious coast path walking, clocking up around 25 miles over the two days, so we decided to take things easier on our day travelling home. I had thought about including another day of coastal views but my feet weren’t happy with that idea, so instead we plumped for a National…
So after completing 13 miles the day before, you’d think we’d take it easy. Not so for myself and Linda, we headed for tougher terrain and a similar distance the next day, with a fantastic walk from Pendeen to Gurnard’s Head. The weather was superb again and as we pulled up at Pendeen car park…
So with just one walk under our belts on Dartmoor, we headed off again at the end of April for some coastal path walking. The weather again was superb (like it was in South Wales), and on returning to work the next week, I was told others would be booking the same time off as…
So we were back from Wales and headed out for a proper Dartmoor walk after some reasonably dry weather over the last month. I had a route in mind, although the bit after Round Hill Tor had me scratching my head as I was unsure if there was a clear path by the wall, leading…
So this was the end of our fantastic break away in South Wales, we’d seen Linda’s daughter, stayed in a superb little cottage (definitely return there), done 4 fabulous walks and we wanted one more day out before heading back down the M5. The sun was out again (it always shines on the righteous!) and…
Myself have Linda have been heading to the Brecons for the last 3 years and each year we’ve met up with Andy from Surfnslide for a walk. As a result of his guidance for our own walks, and the ones we have done together has meant seeing some fantastic spots all over the Brecon Beacons,…
I’ve had this walk in mind for the last 3 years and finally I pulled the car into some roadside parking and looked across the yellowy grass towards the high ridge that held Llyn y Fan Fawr beneath it. It was worth the wait. The weather was again, unbelievably kind to us. Apart from hazy…
This was walk number 2 of our visit to the Brecons this year and this one was one I’d see recommended on lots of websites (a bit like walk 1 around the 4 Waterfalls). Again this was a short distance of barely 4 miles, we weren’t in a rush to get round so took our…
Time for our second break away this year and our annual visit to the Brecon Beacons (Bannau Brycheiniog), which we always try to fit in in early Spring/before Easter time. The weather running up to this had been mixed, but we had at least had the odd dry day for across the month of March,…
So the wet weather had continued since the previous walk at Ashburton, but there was a small glimmer of something better. We planned a walk to start as the weather cleared, so we could enjoy the best of it. Well the rain and damp weather had decided to hang on a bit longer, and it…
After our break away around Cheddar Gorge we returned home to another week of poor weather. By Sunday we decided to get out, but any thoughts of tors, hills and coastline were ignored as the cloud was down, even sat at home. Ashburton is a place we have normally driven through on our way off…
We left the Cheddar area after a couple of lovely days celebrating Linda’s birthday, her choice for the short journey home was a stop off at the National Trust property of Knightshayes. This was my second visit here, but my first in the house. I first visited with the boys, my mum and dad, my…
Day 2 of our little break and we headed out to Cheddar Gorge, a place Linda wanted to visit for her birthday. We were still waxing lyrical about our visit to Wells the previous day as we drove to the village of Cheddar, but that all stopped as we entered the south western corner of…
So it was Linda’s birthday time and we’d discussed places to head off to. Linda wanted to visit Cheddar Gorge, so we worked out a way to include a couple of other places as well. We actually ended up visiting more than we’d originally planned, but that is for a later post, for now we…
So Linda was back from her mum and dad’s, and what would the weather do? We are still very much keeping it quiet here, it was very sunny, again!! Blue skies above with some white fluffy clouds flying through as this time a gale force wind was blowing, especially on our one excursion on the…
I mentioned last time about whispering it quietly, so I’ll say it again, this was another walk without a drop of rain. In fact the sun was out, skies where blue and the world looked stunning. Linda was still away visiting her parents, and without the car I took a bus to Lee Mill, a…
Whisper it quietly, this walk was done without a drop of rain on me! Linda was away visiting her parents so I headed out from home, looking to walk some new lanes and revisit parts done before. It had just finished raining as I pulled on my boots (more on these later) and headed out…
So January had been soggier than a teabag recently taken from the cup, and we moved into February, where surely the weather would get better. This might turn out to be true but for the first week (as I type) its rained every day, again. The weather forecast promised much for this day, damp low…
So January started superbly, some lovely cold crisp days and even a bit of snow, but from then on we’ve hardly had any days free from rain, with three named storms and lots of flooding. As a result Dartmoor is pretty much full of water, even more than normal. So on a break from the…
It feels odd sitting here after a week of the most torrential rain and a named storm passing through, that I should be typing about on of the most glorious walks I’ve ever had in January. The sun was warm, the skies blue and the area was picture perfect. We’d chosen a bit of a…
So the Southwest of England had received a bit of snow at the start of 2026, then cold plunging temperatures and a bit more snow. Not quite a mountain region of snow, but a fair bit for us. It also stuck around for 5 or 6 days on Dartmoor, which is also pretty good for…
2025 felt like a long year and we’ve definitely been busy, with some walking, lots of work done setting up the new house and garden and some nice trips away as well. As with previous years I’ll start with the review and look later at what’s in store for 2026 with some exciting stuff planned.…
So our first walk of 2026 and we headed, as we normally do, to Dartmoor. We only wanted a short walk, nothing too challenging, but away from the crowds that may well still be out in the holiday period. The area around Arch Tor is normally very quiet, most will head into Bellever Forest when…
Boxing Day walks seem to be a popular activity, as many people try to get out and walk off Christmas Day excesses. We have managed a walk on two of the last three, so make that three out of four now as we headed up for Dartmoor. The weather has taken a bit of a…
Well we nearly reach the end of the calendar year and we decided to try something different, a walk around South Hams, Aveton Gifford to be precise. We figured that Dartmoor was probably a bit wet and we’d done coastal last time out, so I’d picked up a book I’ve had for a while and…
After four Dartmoor walks in a row we looked for something by the sea, without driving too far. This ruled out a new coastal area for me as I’ve done all of south Devon and Cornwall, so a revisit was in order. The area around Noss Mayo is superb and on a day like today…
Buoyed by a lovely walk the week before around Bag Tor, with some lovely sunshine and the odd heavy shower, we set off for Dartmoor again. Unfortunately this time the weather was very dull and the palette on Dartmoor is fully brown and yellow now. It felt very bleak out there on this walk. We…
As we progressed into November, the weather worsened, the days shortened and our want to walk waned a little. However this was our 3rd week of walking, so we were just about hanging on in there. We decided to head to the Haytor area, and do a nice loop walk, which start along a lane…
So another trip to Dartmoor but without driving too far, also somewhere I haven’t been around these parts since 2021, so they were due a revisit. Linda hadn’t been to either of these tors, nor the Dartmoor squares involved of Corringdon Ball and Henchertraw, so with the decision made and the weather set fair (and…
Heading through October the weather was very mixed, continual weather fronts bring rain, some bright spells but the mild weather meant rain was never far away. This Sunday was due to rain in the morning and then clear from the west around 1pm. We figured a drive up to the moor, a short ish walk…
So we were back from the Lakes and we had a week away from proper walking and instead headed for a bit of culture, and a bimble around a small town on the southern edge of Dartmoor. Buckfastleigh is a nice little town with two churches (or one church and one Abbey to be precise),…
So after our Lake District week, we moved south, firstly to visit family and secondly to have a look around Liverpool. My auntie and uncle live in St Helens along with my cousins, my birth place, so I wanted to see them, and we did which was superb. Including a watch of my cousins eldest,…
The last walk of our Lake District break before we were due to head off to Liverpool, for a couple of days sightseeing. The weather was still superb but we were still feeling the effects of two longer walks, earlier that week. We’d also got used to being a little lazy in the morning, so…
So the main reason we were away in late September, was a birthday for myself, one with an 0 in it (yes you are all correct I don’t look 40 do I? 😁). After two big walks around Coledale and Newlands, we were a bit knackered. Our legs knew what they should be doing but…
You wait all year for a horseshoe and two come along in consecutive days!! After completing the Coledale Horseshoe the day before, we headed out again on another glorious day to complete the Newlands version. We were taking advantage of the stunning weather, despite some stiff legs and we figured we could take our time…
After our drizzly walk over Ling Fell the previous day, we’d looked closely at the weather. Unbelievably it was forecast to clear, not just for one day but the rest of the week, bingo! Being in the northwest corner of the Lakes, gave us great access to the fells around Braithwaite and it was there…
So the first proper day of our holiday in the Lakes, done to celebrate a birthday with an 0 in it for myself. Unfortunately the drizzly weather had followed us to the Lakes, and as you saw, from the fields around our previous walk to Scout Scar, they’d had rain up here as well (that…
It had been 13 months since our last visit to the Lake District, when I completed my 214 Wainwright mission. This time we had the advantage of picking walks that we wanted to do, revisits to good places, seeing some summits that I’d had no views from previously and taking our time. The weather for…
This post was something that I had thought about when I got that 10 year anniversary message earlier this year, I’d also passed 750,000 hits on the site as well, so I thought that I should do a celebration post to mark the event. Its true that I started in 2015, mainly out of a…
Bank Holiday Monday at the end of August and time to get out for a walk. We’d done house stuff on Saturday with a family get together on the Sunday, so we were ready for a bimble somewhere. Avoiding the obvious spots on a bank holiday is a normal tactic however on this day we…
So with the mind firmly focused on a walk with better paths, less long grass, but also including some of the boggier bits if possible and continuing to take advantage of the dry year. We set out on a walk from Postbridge with the plan to reach Sittaford Tor but pick off the tricky White…
So the end of our coastal walks had arrived, we’d completed 9 walks in a row by the sea and Dartmoor’s Shipley Bridge with the Zeal Tramway seemed a long time ago at the start of June (here). So it was back to Dartmoor and choices of where to go endless, because it felt like…
So the boys were with us for one final day and we’d decided to head to Land’s End for a wander around. They had been 2 nights before, doing a whistle stop tour to St Michael’s Mount, taking a quick photo or two, then trying to race the sunset to Land’s End. They made the…
As mentioned in the previous walk, myself and Linda were not alone in our trip to the most south and west area in the country. Both boys came with us and they joined us on the next two walks, they followed us down, with my eldest driving (they are growing up a bit quick aren’t…
So after having 6 walks in a row on the coastal path, we decided to keep the run going with another trip away. Only just back from Bideford and walks around Hartland Point, and we were off again, this time towards St Ives and Land’s End. We also had company, with the boys also coming,…
Day two of our stay in Bideford and we decided to just carry on from where we left off yesterday. We’d previously walked around to East Titchberry Farm, before heading inland and back to the car at Hartland. This time we parked at Brownsham (lots of National Trust car parks in this area, so I…
In writing up this walk I’ve been considering if I’ve actually got the name of this site correct, not too many tors for the last 5 walks, including this one. Infact it was the 8th June since I last stepped on Dartmoor and I’ve still got 4 more walks to write about, all of them…
So this was our second walk of our Weymouth stay, the previous day we’d been inundated with butterflies and today was no different. With all the dry weather its certainly helped our flighty friends and they have taken advantage of it. Today we saw lots of the same as our walk from Abbotsbury, with Meadow…
So I’ve completed a few walks over the years that have had plenty of insects, mainly butterflies, in the pictures. I make no excuses for the next three or four walks, where they will be inundated with butterfly pictures. This walk on the Dorset coast extends my coastal path efforts further east, pushing it towards…
So we’d stayed overnight in Barnstaple and as a result we were able to make an early start without the need for a 90 minute drive. We started again from the Long Bridge in Barnstaple, this time on the northern side of the estuary, heading for Saunton, hopefully. The route hugs the estuary again for…
So time for a bit of a change, after lots of Dartmoor, the Erme/Plym trail and South Wales we needed to redress the coastal balance. So far this year we’d only walked once by the coast (here at Rock) and that wasn’t enough. Normally during the year we look to book a longer section of…
It had been 4 years since I’d done a similar route and walked out to Redlake from Shipley Bridge. Since then they had installed pay meters at the car park and managed to re open the toilets. If the money from the car park goes into keeping the loos open then I’m for it, but…
So a slight change from the norm, we are still on Dartmoor, just, but not on the open moor or amongst the tors. This is a lovely village and National Trust spot, full of greenery, high cliffs and the river, the cause of the gorge. We’d had a little rain before visiting so we were…
And now for something completely different as Monty Python once said. The Erme Plym trail is a track which runs from Ivybridge down to Wembury/or on to Hooe and runs for around 15-16miles. The trail links to the Two Moors way, and effectively completes the Devon coast to coast. This isn’t my usual coastal walking…
It had been a couple of years since we had been to Holwell at bluebell time and we were due a revisit. The display we had seen in 2023 was truly superb, and probably difficult to beat (you can see that walk here), but we thought a loop over the tors to the west before…
We’d really enjoyed our last trip out to Dartmoor, along the western side around Bagga Tor and Standon Hill, so we decided to repeat a trip to that side of the moor. The area around the Corn Ridge has the same far reaching views as those from Standon Hill, with added tors and the West…
So the good weather continues, dry, sunny and warm seems to be the order of the day and no doubt these words will be added to, soon, with mentions of drought, hosepipe bans and leaky pipes! Whilst the weather is good, we look to head off into areas which can be pretty wet in normal…
After 6 weeks without any rain at all through March and into April, the Easter period brought a few showers and some cloudy weather. In the main it was still dry, but the ground, and particularly Dartmoor, needed some rain. This walk was after a rainy night, and walked in improving weather as the morning…
So we were looking for a walk which would take advantage of the lighter evenings, plus somewhere we hadn’t been for a while. Haytor is always good for a short walk and visiting at this time means it is far quieter than in the day. We’d also checked the weather, with a small chance of…
I’ll start this post with a bit of a warning, those with a squeamish disposition scroll down to picture four below the map, after reading this, and miss out the knee x-ray pictures! So to explain what happened, we’d been to South Wales and had three lovely walks, visited Linda’s daughter and seen lots of…
So the last of our walks in the Brecons for this year and we had a plan to meet up with Andy at Surfnslide, and you can find his fine version of the walk here, where we had, as he writes, “the meeting of the two great blog houses”! He’d planned a lovely circuit, up first…
So the day after our Pen y Fan walk, we woke to sunshine (typical) but felt a bit sore, and given that we wanted one last good walk before leaving, we needed a day off between the two walks. So regardless of the weather we headed for Abergavenny for a more gentle day. We’d seen…
So big walk time for our little holiday in South Wales, and one of the classics in these parts, the Pen y Fan Horseshoe. The weather was a bit unconvincing in its accuracy, with it changing 2 or 3 times in 24 hours, but we went for it anyway, with hope for some cloud free…
So another visit to South Wales, with family and friends to visit in the area and plenty of walking on the cards. Our trip last year had more normal March weather, with clouds and some rain at times. However this year the weather was excellent, with plenty of sunshine, with the exception of one walk…
So this was the weekend before our trip to the Brecon Beacons and the good weather of March is still with us. Its been a superb month for blue skies, with barely any rain, no doubt the water companies will have hosepipe bans in force by the end of April. But I’m happy, as it…
We were out looking for a newer car, we had two and decided that one was enough, so we would look to sell both of ours and combine for something with lower mileage that we liked. Two to three year old cars provide a decent value for money so we were looking around that year.…
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