Recently I took myself off to remote Upper Eskdale and on my back I was carrying a time machine- a tent. Sleeping in a wild and remote place on the banks of a beck in spate with the wind whipping and the rain drumming the flysheet can be very therapeutic! Wrapped up warm and dry …
During the week I work part time as a health and social care consultant- training, mentoring, interim etc and then at the weekend I work as a professional mountain leader. Recently I was asked to do some navigation training- for someone who loves being immersed in the mountains but feels unsafe when the think mist …
The joy of working as a Mountain Leader is not just having the privilege of sharing one’s love of the outdoors with others but also to use the experience as an opportunity to encourage people to reflect on matters important to them. I recently guided 3 people on a hike which involved ascending Helvellyn via …
I recently completed a Mountain Leader Qualification assessment: an intense, physically and mentally exhausting five days in the Cumbrian fells with two nights out in high winds and sub zero temperatures. We were continuously assessed on our navigation; both day and night, in all weathers and mostly off path, as well as group leadership and …
A Terrible Beauty Every now and then one comes across something so unexpected and so poignant that it stops you in your tracks. This literally happened to me recently when descending from dense fog on the summit of Scafell. I had left the main path and struck out on a compass bearing to find an …
Photo gallery from 2 days walking to bring in the New Year and the contrasting weather and conditions couldn’t have been greater: the rain brings our focus closer in, the sun stretches us to look further ahead. Both are important…
The books stood open and the gates unbarred Begin again where frosts and tests were hard Find yourself or founder. Seamus Heaney After 40 years of working as a salaried employee in some wonderful organisations with great colleagues I have decided to take the plunge and enter the world of freelancing. I am still keen to …
Leaving the weather shelter of Nan Bield Pass Fog forms, fastens, closes in, disconnects. Nothing to see beyond the dew drenched grass As I too close in to feel protected. Why the malevolence of mist and moor? Can’t we still feel the ground beneath our boots? Feet never lie- trust the curving contours And let …
Latest gallery of photographs from East and Central Cumbria- includes a conjunction between the planets Venus and Jupiter
High, much higher than one can imagine The soaring skyline of Pike O’Stickle Ablaze. Fire-set rock alive again With percussive blows, little by little Rough cut quarry men, rough out axes of greenstone Volcanic tuff exposed in time lost land. They are at one with the stone, names unknown, Everything to hand, everything by hand. …