A 2-day linear trek to the Black Hill massif with a long eastern approach via the Don valley and Winscar reservoir. The outward line follows the westernmost section of the Upper Don Trail (UDT), coincident here with the Transpennine Trail, to Winscar reservoir and ascends to follow Snailsden Edge to the group of deeply incised ravines around Ramsden Clough. The ascent to Black Hill from the Holme Moss mast is via Heyden Head. This approach is new territory for us, one of the very few pockets of the Dark Peak unexplored in our many years of walking here. The return initially follows the Pennine ..read more

A 2-day traverse of the Stainton fells in the far south-west of the Lake District. The outward line climbs Black Combe by the usual well worn path from the south-west, continues to Whitecombe Head and crosses Black Dub to ascend to the first of the Stainton summits and Whitfell. The return line is firstly through the remaining summits to Woodend Height and down to Devoke Water, then crosses a saddle in the hills to Brantrake Crags and descends to the Esk valley. The Esk trail is followed to Muncaster Tarn for an easy return and final descent to Ravenglass. The weather forecast suggested the no ..read more

A 2-day solo circuit of the Shropshire hills around Church Stretton. The outward line traverses the hill fort of Caer Caradoc and crosses the valley to ascend to to the heath/moorlaand plateau of The Long Mynd. The return descends the ridge of Minton Hill and Packetstone Hill to Little Stretton to recross the valley for a traverse of Ragleth Hill. The first day was unbroken sunshine with fantastic views, the second was misty and murky with dull local views but still enjoyable walking with plenty of interest. Full report & Photos ..read more

A 2-day circuit of Cwm Eigiau and the northernmost Carneddau hills, from Dolgarrog on the west side of the Conwy valley to Llandudno Junction station. The outward line starts at the Dolgarrog Dam memorial walk and climbs through the Coed Dolgarrog nature reserve to a low-level route around the Cwm Eigiau valley flank. The return ascends Tal y Fan and follows good paths and tracks through the hills around the Sychnant Pass, traversing Mynydd y Dref (Conwy Mountain) to Conwy. Full report & Photos ..read more

A curtailed hike of the western ridge of the Tarren hills, culminating at Tarrenhendre, descending via the Dolgoch Falls and climbing around Craig yr Aderyn to Llanllwyda. This is the first section of our longer planned route of three to four days that was effectively cut short by a dramatic mishap at the Dolgoch Falls on day two, a serious situation but one that could have been a lot worse – details in the full report. Full report & Photos ..read more

A few photos from a 2-day walk of the Mersey Valley Timberland Trail (MVTT), a route of ~21m (~34km) from Runcorn Hill to Oughtrington near Lymm, extended to start at Runcorn station and continue from Oughtrington to Altrincham. The trail is very sparsely waymarked as such in the eastern half and not at all in the west, as far as we could tell, though some faded illegible waymarks might have done so. The actual route sometimes varies in minor detail from the line shown on OS mapping, our map shows these small deviations as accurately as we can remember them. With a mixed weather forecast of su ..read more

A 3-day central route through the Pumlumon hills of mid Wales, traversing the mountain summits of Y Garn and Pumlumon, exploring Cwm Rheidol and the remote valley of Hyddgen and finally picking up Glyndwr's Way through the northern hills for a descent to Machynlleth. A large proportion of the route is on good paths and tracks with only a very brief amount of rough terrain. The route starts close to the little visited Llywernog Pond, east of the Bwlch Nant Yr Arian orienteering facility, and quickly enters the deserted heartland. After the mountains of Y Garn and Pumlumon it crosses the Afon He ..read more

A few photos from a single day walk of the Wetlands and Waterways Loop (WWL) route that, according to Visit Sefton, takes you around some of the flattest land in west Lancashire. Pretty cottages, nature reserves and quaint waterside pubs are just some of the things you can see along the way. The route passes Martin Mere, a site of the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, where a visit makes a delightful addition to the route. Photos ..read more

A superb 3-day extended mountain traverse of the Nantlle ridge, including the outliers of Moel Tryfan and Mynydd Mawr to the north and Craig-y-garn to the south. The deeply quarried Moel Tryfan is designated as a SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) for its geological importance and historical significance in the development of Glacial Theory. For walkers the slate quarrying operations have left a striking landscape of rocky cliffs and vividly coloured pools that briefly adds great scenic interest to the route. The isolated rocky dome of Craig-y-garn has often caught my eye whilst perusi ..read more

An experimental trek to test my capabilities for moderate long distance backpacking using the intro section of the Glyndwr’s Way (GW) national trail. I’ve backpacked a few of the trails as “fast-and-light” trips, but they were easy and, apart from my Hadrian's Wall trek, they were quite a long time ago: I wanted to test how I would fare now on a moderate trail maintaining the same pace, or reasonably close to it, and carrying about the same loads. To complicate matters there were impending rail strikes that would determine when decisions had to be made. The GW intro from Knighton was a good te ..read more