author, mountaineering writer – books, blog, opinion
The whole of Europe is in the middle of a scorching heatwave. Here in the Cotswolds the grass is as brown as a hay bale and the thermometer has been touching 30°C. It seemed like a good time to go hill walking in the Lake District, where good weather seemed guaranteed for a change.
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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’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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