author, mountaineering writer – books, blog, opinion
We live in an era of epic endurance challenges, where people believe there’s no point getting outdoors unless you do something bigger, longer or quicker than everyone else. But it’s possible to do a challenging walk while thoroughly enjoying yourself, and without running.
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It’s been four years since my last visit to the Lake District. A return visit was long overdue and the Easter weekend offered a good opportunity. We set our sights on the Northwest Fells, an area of peaks that I’ve only explored in impenetrable hill fog.
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After taking Edita up Scafell Pike, the highest peak in England, last year, it was a no-brainer to introduce her to a UK hill-walking classic: Helvellyn via Striding Edge. It would be fun for me too, because I hadn’t done it for 23 years.
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I had only climbed the highest mountain in England once, from the east side 22 years ago. It was time for me to climb it from Wasdale on the west side, and it was time for Edita to climb it for the very first time.
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A sunny bank holiday weekend in northern England was the signal for a visit to the Lake District. As we headed out for a backpacking and wild camping microadventure in Ennerdale, I couldn’t quite believe that it had been five years since my last visit.
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In the 1930s the valley of Mardale in Cumbria was flooded to create Haweswater and supply water to Manchester. I imagine it was pretty shocking at the time, but 80 years later only a fool would let it spoil their enjoyment of a very pleasant Lakeland walk. It was glorious weather when I strapped on my rucksack at the start of a two day backpacking adventure.
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I’m going to say something that I don’t believe many people say: some of my favourite hills in the English Lake District are the rolling grassy bogland hillsides of its northern fells. There are some impressive looking mountains in the
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2010 saw the 10th anniversary of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act, otherwise known as the Right to Roam, an historic piece of legislation which saw over a million hectares of open countryside in the UK classified as “access
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