It’s three and a half weeks since I walked the South Downs Way and I guess it’s time to switch my brain on and do a little analysis. I knew what this post was going to say, word for word, while I was limping through the countryside but when I got home and tried to … More What I learned about myself, long-distance hiking and kit on the South Downs Way
Not all of it! I didn’t walk the entire length of the South Downs Way. I didn’t even walk the entire length of what I had planned. But I managed 28km of it, which is 17.5% and that’s not bad. My plan was days one and two as given by both the South Downs Way … More I walked the South Downs Way!
Every year, my friend Tom and I go for a “Christmas Adventure”. We started doing it in 2014 and it’s become a beloved ritual. We even managed it in 2020 and 2021 (with special guest Catherine!) – we both had to drive, which meant no wine and we had to keep our distance but it … More A winter’s day at Mudeford: Christmas Adventure 2022
Yesterday I talked vaguely about having a lazy weekend. Hot tub, children’s books, biscuits, that sort of thing. Well, today let’s do the “what did I do?” post. Friday doesn’t count. I arrived Friday and stargazed from the hot tub. Very nice. On Saturday, after an early-morning snow flurry, I went to Yeovil in the … More Glamping in the snow
And we come to the semi-live part of Blogmas! At the time of publishing, I’m in Germany and I only had a handful of hours last Monday afternoon to get this post finished between returning from my glamping trip and heading off at 5am for the flight to Germany! Anyway, welcome to the Forager shepherd’s … More A winter wellness break in a tin hut
In November 2021, a man was severely injured in an accident in a cave in south Wales. The subsequent rescue involved around 300 people and took 54 hours. It made national news. It made international news. I wrote a blog post about the complexity of the cave and why it took so long. And now BBC … More The Rescue: 54 Hours Under the Ground
Sparkle & Ice is my favourite of Girlguiding’s large-scale events. That’s partly because I’m a polar bear and I like things that are meant to be cold and/or wintery and partly because I like the weirdness of it. We don’t generally camp in the winter, because we’re not tough enough and the girls certainly aren’t … More Sparkle & Ice 2022: the warmest Sparkle ever!
On Thursday, I left you at the foot of Fan Brycheiniog, after having climbed to the summit and then descended the sharp ridge and walked down the mountain that way. It was getting dark by the time we got back to the car and pretty properly dark by the time we were driving back to … More I decided not to climb a mountain in Wales!
At the weekend I went to Wales for a Region level 3 walking weekend. In our part of the country, landscapes that fit the Remote criteria are a bit harder to get at than they might be for people who live further north, so when we do a level 3 walking weekend, it’s usually in … More I climbed a mountain in Wales
That’s a total clickbait title – for the first time, I deliberately didn’t book a qualification at Try Inspire Qualify because there were none I wanted to do that I haven’t already done. Try Inspire Qualify has a lot in common with Camp Wildfire, actually: a lot of adults taking the weekend off being responsible … More I didn’t qualify at Try Inspire Qualify!
I Am A Polar Bear 