Collected Musings of a Hill Wanderer

A weekend may have been spent around Cowal during the spring but it has taken until now to get the trip report more or less written, such has been the course that my life has taken. Just setting down the words took me back to that weekend and even to other walking trips where peace and quiet were abundant. That ambiance made it feel far, far away from the pressures of modern life and even recalling them is enough to distance myself from everyday cares and concerns. It’s the sort of thing that makes me want to undertake new trips featuring more of the same.

Though there may have been only two days of walking, there still has been enough written that a single posting would be very long so I am splitting it. After those entries, I need to share other outings too: Northumberland & Scottish Borders, Isle of Man, Northwest Wales and Gower. These may date from a few months ago but the pleasant experiences of walking out in the countryside remain fresh as I discovered while reliving those I enjoyed around Cowal.

In recent months, my excursions into the countryside have been around Macclesfield and involved cycling rather than walking. That there has been so much sunny weather this past autumn has made these snatches possible though it have been nicer to have had longer escapades too. Even the shorter local ones have left me with ideas to follow up such as an out and back stroll from Alderley Edge to Hare Hill and overlooking Pott Shrigley from Nab Head. Both are short outings but they could come in handy on the short days that abound this time of year. Of course, I feel the need to go further afield but I need to do some pondering and planning before something comes of that; a certain Cameron McNeish is editing a new magazine called Scottish Walks that could come in handy as will the ones that I usually consult. Before and during those though, there are some trips to share.

It often does happen to me that relating an outdoors outing can bring forward ideas for more. In this regard, my recent trip report for an Easter outing to Llangollen was typical. For one thing, it revealed what parts have yet to see my footfall but there’s more to it than that. Also, I took the opportunity to freshen up the Denbighshire album in the photo gallery that you can find on here. That act revealed a certain amount of dissatisfaction with photos that I already have in my collection, especially from those times before the arrival of digital photography swayed me from the use of film. Addressing a perceived need for better photos often is sufficient for getting me revisiting places already frequented.

Speaking of returning to come away with better photos, Derbyshire’s countryside has been one such target that has lain in my mind for a while but it now has been joined by a few of Denbighshire’s delights. Walking the Offa’s Dyke path from Trefor to Ruthin is just one of the brainwaves that have come to me because there is the Clwydian Way and the Dee Valley Way to keep me busy too. In fact, these could help me identify the hills in the above scene that I captured from amid the ruins of Castell Dinas Brân over six years ago. That point was driven home to me even more by an inability to figure out which top is which in photos of those hills captured last April while following part of the North Berwyn Way, yet another trail with more potential for hill wandering. After all those possibilities, there’s the Clwydian hills by Ruthin and Denbigh to be sampled too. This time last year may have seen me run out of both energy and ideas but that at least the latter doesn’t seem to be recurring a year later. Hopefully, there should be a bit of ambling this autumn, not that I am one to wish the year away just yet and I wonder if too many are doing exactly that at times.

After last weekend’s bout of madness on the web hosting side of things, this place is more or less back together again. Along the way, there may have been a lot of poking around backups to get things sorted but there are also were reminders of places where I haven’t been for a while as various entries saw reinstatement. In some cases, I ended up asking myself if it really was that long ago when I last was in some areas. The Brecon Beacons is one such hill wandering destination that hasn’t been savoured for quite a while and Pembrokeshire and Perthshire fall into the same category as does Galloway. Maybe I should poke around here more often whenever I run out of ideas though the likes of TGO should keep replenishing them, especially as I am catching up with a few issues of the magazine at the moment.

These inadvertent reminders have had me recalling how things were when I first started out blogging and how far things have moved since then; those early postings were more pithy and there may a point in returning to a little bit of that, especially if it means that you hear from me more often. There was a lot of talk about motivation and hibernation even in those days and those haven’t gone away though interruptions by work and family life make their intrusions known too. In one respect, seeing what I have already written should stop me repeating myself too often but being confronted by unfinished business is another counterpoint to those occasions when it is too easy to say that I have seen enough of hill country. After you, there always are new sights to see even if it is different light falling on a familiar location.

July hasn't been too unkind to us this year though that is far from being the case always as anyone with a memory can tell. That has meant a fair few weekends away for me and this one introduced me to Swansea and the Gower (the non-usage of the word peninsula is deliberate). Though were white skies instead of blue ones, the few hours spent around Rhossili were pleasant enough to leave me pondering a return when there are blue skies and sunshine. The coastline that I saw certainly was sufficiently alluring to deserve a return and one reconnaissance outing can be the starting point for more.

Speaking of starting points, I travelled to and from Swansea this past weekend  via the Heart of Wales train line to see what the countryside surrounding it is like and what the railway has its supporters. Grey skies didn't show things at their best but there were shapely steep-sided hills on which to set eyes but it looks as if a little more homework is in order before this part of Powys starts to see me exploring it. Much of the countryside looks lush with tree-lined fields so it can be difficult not to think it dramatic enough for further attention. In fact, it took the second journey through there for me to start to see the potential that exists for hill wandering and travel plans will need careful thought too. As things stand, this will remain a work in progress for now.

Last weekend also saw me head to Wales. This time, my attention centred around the Menai Strait with visits to Caernarfon and Bangor together with a little time to savour the Isle of Anglesey Coastal Path between Beaumaris and Glan-yr-afon. Following a public footpath and a spot of road walking extended the trot to Llandona and a stroll over Thomas Telford's bridge over the Menai Strait was fitted in too. It was the prospect of viewing the hills of Snowdonia from afar that drew me and could do so again. It was a weekend of hot sunshine and blue skies, which was a bonus though hydration and avoiding sunburn were items needing attention too.

With all the gallivanting in recent weeks, there is a pile of trip reports needing writing and they include those earlier escapades from the Easter and Mayday bank holiday weekends too. Nevertheless, the one for my Easter visit to the Vale of Llangollen is nearing completion with photos and final edits needed before it appears on here after what feels like quite a delay. Also, it is around this time of year that I have been known to take a longer trip away but I have no idea what's going to come of such a venture this year. There are ideas in mind but weather is looking a bit uncertain so it'll be a case of telling what happens after any event rather than following any fixed notion. If anything does happen, it'll add to that backlog but that is a non-complaint with what getaways do for the mind and spirit.

Since I have been adding musings regarding the delights of exploring the countryside on hear for over five year, I an pondering a little relocation. Recently, the part of the website that used be called the miscellany has been refashioned into travel jottings and correspondingly moved to a new home on the website. It was that spot thinking that got me looking at the possibility of doing something for my outdoors musings (replacing "blog" with "outdoors" in the address is what I have in mind) albeit with a good deal in the way of redirection for regular visitors. That's because I wouldn't want you to miss anything.

What may been apparent this year is that there have been less postings on here. The main reason for that is that work has been getting in the way of life more than used to be the case and I hope that things don't keep going like that. Saying that, there have been outdoors that been needing writing up too and the last few weeks has seen me add to that number. The first of these escapades had me sampling more of St. Cuthbert's Way, this time walking all of the way from Wooler to Kirk Yetholm. Having suffered reminders from my knees regarding what I'd done, it was just as well that the next day took an easier tack with a trot from St. Boswell to Melrose with some time spent around Dryburgh Abbey too. While there was a section taking me through the Eildon Hills, it wasn't too harsh at all. In fact, the heat of the day was reduced by the arrival of some cloud cover though it did break up while I explored the Eildons, taking in each of the three tops of what once was called Trimontium. Well, the Romans certainly didn't mess around when it came to naming things. The final day of my borders escape involved a bit more in the way of dawdling and, given the heat of the day, that was just as well and I got to see more of Melrose Abbey too.

A short visit to the Isle of Man came to pass too with another hike along the island's coastal path, Raad ny Foillan. Though the weather was a little on the temperamental side, there only was a single light shower during the time that I walked from Port Erin to Castletown and that was around Port St. Mary. This section is not as strenuous as the one between Port Erin and Peel. However, that is not to say that rounding the southwest  corner of the Isle of Man is not without appealing coastline because it happens to be one of those sections that gets good press and that's not without reason.

After those, what's needed is to process a few of the photos that came away with me from those trips without a full report and set to doing some writing. Given that the weather is being unsettled at the moment, I just need to set some time aside for doing just that. After all, there are visits of Llangollen and Cowal that deserve sharing.