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

A two day trek taking in the high country north of the upper Dee and a new crossing route to a southerly approach to the north eastern Arenigs. The outward section takes a new line to gain the old familiar ground of Mynydd Mynyllod. The crossing explores new territory including the little known Llyn Caer-Euni and ascends the easternmost hills of the Arenigs from the south, including the new summit of Orddu. As is often the case, following little used public footpaths in god forsaken parts of Wales was at times… interesting. On routes such as this, I’m beginning to like GPS based phone mapping ..read more

A few photos from a single day walk of the Delamere Way (DW) waymarked trail that runs south from Frodsham, east through the Delamere Forest and northwards through Cheshire countryside to Stockton Heath on the southern outskirts of Warrington. Inspired by a dry but mediocre forecast with sunshine at a premium, this trail near to home was a fitting choice, a good distance with little ascent save for a short sharp one to Beacon Hill near the start. The route is generally well waymarked with the DW arrow except, surprisingly, in the Delamere Forest itself where you need to keep a careful eye on t ..read more

An almost circular station-to-station route in the western Dark Peak, starting at Hadfield and ending at nearby Glossop. The Longdendale Trail starts at Hadfield station and follows the course of the old Woodhead railway for 6½ miles (10½km) past several reservoirs to the closed Woodhead tunnel entrance where it crosses the bridge to enter the River Etherow valley and ascends to Bleaklow via Near Black Clough. It then takes the very familiar section of the Pennine Way from Bleaklow Head across to Mill Hill and descends via a new line over Chunal Moor to Glossop. Having reluctantly refrained fr ..read more

A local winter stroll around Devisdale Common and Dunham Massey in sub-zero temperatures and a thin covering of snow. The trees had retained a pleasing amount of colour into early winter and the local views were enhanced by the snow, here are a few pictures. Another local walk earlier in the week in similar frigid temperatures had been unpleasantly revealing: following the DVT and pulmonary problem that hospitalized me a few years back, the consultant recommended not to do strenuous activity in winter conditions as we have in the past: deep breathing very cold air is asking for trouble and it ..read more