So we were on Day 7 of our holiday and it was time to move to somewhere new, the Dolomites. We grabbed a train north from Bologna station heading for Bolzano, where we would change to get a train further north to Ponte Gardena. As it was we worked out later on, there is a…
Firstly I’ll apologise for the number of photos in this post, there is a lot. But then again we crammed a lot into one day in Florence, probably more than we should and feet were aching by the end and we did around 12 miles in walking. As I’m sure lots of people know, there’s…
Our last day wandering around Bologna and what did we have left to do, we’d booked a train to Florence for the day after and we were leaving for the Dolomites after that, so we looked for some new spots. We searched the map and found we hadn’t been across to the University area, plus…
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 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…
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,…
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…
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…
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),…
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…
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 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…
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…
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…
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 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.…
Another Sunday and another half decent forecast, dry, some bits of sunshine, warm but a little hazy with the distance views. No complaints from me though as its early March and we could have all sorts of weather at this point in the year, and considering on this walk that I was stripping off layers…
A settled spell of weather had meant sunshine, and a fair bit of it. Not that it was warm, far from it, but the easterly winds usually means good things for us in the South West of England, as the eastern side sees more of the cloud. We probably saw two weeks of dry sunny…
So I have an apology to you all, I’m sorry that I said I was fed up with the grey cold dank overcast weather we’d had for the last few weeks. From the minute I hit publish on that walk the weather has clearly gone, right Steve, your wish is my command. Lots of rain…
So again the forecast was for cloudy skies and not much sign of sunshine. Up until the Saturday the weather had looked decent, with sunny spells, but on waking up this clearly wasn’t the case. The last 3 or 4 weeks seem to have been some sort of groundhog weather day, with a biting easterly…
A fine weather day and a chance to get out, walking plans were made and forecasts checked. The forecast had blue skies in the morning, with cloud building from the east as the day went on, so we were planning on a trip to the west around Lynch Tor and Stannon Hill. A really poor…
So a walk to pick off a couple of tors for Linda, one that I needed for my round 2, plus a new Dartmoor 365 square and a couple that we’d been to before, alongside a pub to finish. The Dartmoor square was E13 and Gidleigh and was walk 68 on my Round 2 of…
So the country was covered in snow and all the talk was of the weather, how cold it was and that “back in my day it was always like this in winter”! Plymouth got nothing, zero, nowt but Dartmoor got a decent covering of the white stuff, on a Tuesday and Wednesday, which is of…
I said at this point last year that 2023 had “passed in the blink of an eye”, well I’m not sure I even managed to get a blink in, and 2024 was gone. So here I am typing up what happened throughout last year. As with previous years I’ll start with the review and look…
So it was time for our first walk in 2025 and the weather was playing ball. Clear blue skies and cold, perfect winter walking weather. This walk was done before the snows hit most of Britain, with even Dartmoor getting a fair bit, closing the road where we parked on this walk, for a few…
So this was our last walk of 2024, which meant we’d walked 3 times between Christmas and New Year, which was a good walking end to the year. We decided to head to the coast and Bolt Head as the weather showed promise of maybe a bit of sunshine, rather than the low cloud misty…
This year we were pretty active between Christmas and New Year, heading out for a walk on 3 days, one day in work, one day a party and one day lying around lazing (New Year’s Eve). This was the second walk of the three and the boys joined us for one of my favourite walks,…
A walk which is more about bagging tors and having a good nosy around a village than anything else. We decided to head over to Lustleigh to grab the tors in Castor woods, to tick them off Linda’s list, and to tick them off a second time for myself. We would then right a wrong…
We jumped forward a few weeks now, the last walk was at the end of October around Stalldown Barrow and Cornwood. Now its the middle of November, we’ve moved house, wrestled putting up curtain poles, blinds and toilet roll holders and we are in need of a break, and a walk. We decided on the…
Late October, and when the weather is as good as this, it would have been a serious error not to head out and walk on Dartmoor. This despite us being in the middle of packing ready to move house a few days after this (the results of the packing can be seen on the previous…
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 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…
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,…
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…
treksandtors 