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A Cake Maker’s Debut at the Pateley Show
“9 to 5″ 🎶 – Dolly Parton “Maybe you should start with a smaller show”. These were the sensible words of my lovely friend Suzie (Sue) earlier in the summer as I confirmed my decision to become a debutant at the Pateley Agricultural Show. Wise words from Suzie, a magnificent home baker in her own…
A Gritty Ramble up the Ryburn Valley and round Ripponden
“Into the valley” 🎶 – The Skids “You just need to find your new tribe!” Back in 2023, at a time when I had really struggled mentally to adapt to so many life changes in such a short time, those immortal words had been uttered by my friend Jo, a simply brilliant headteacher who runs…
A Forage for Quakers on my own Doorstep
‘The Sounds of Silence’ 🎶 – Simon and Garfunkel Traditionally, in the UK, September is viewed as the start of the harvest and foraging time of the year. After a record summer of sunshine and heat, the hedgerows and byways of North Yorkshire are ripe with produce waiting to be seen, snapped and sometimes picked.…
‘Pateley Punches’…….
‘Fields of Gold’ – Sting 🎶 https://open.spotify.com/track/0I1DJdLt9BKOb7GWmWxCjo?si=7YVSVwmMQwSnxl5XTZVCCQ Pateley Bridge really punches’ ….! That was my overriding conclusion from my 6 mile amble through, above and beyond, the little market town that is Pateley Bridge, set in the heart of the beautiful Yorkshire Dales of North Yorkshire. Yesterday afternoon, Thursday 3 September, I parked my car…
‘Many rivers to cross’ 🎶- Jimmy Cliff (1972)
The Tale of the River and the Missing Footballs Good morning campers and welcome to the third and final part of my ‘Tales from the Dales Trail’: the 80 mile walk linking Ilkley, north west of Leeds, with Windermere, the iconic ‘capital’ of The English Lake District. I started my backpacking trek on Tuesday morning…
“Take me to the river and wash me down.” – 🎶 Al Green in 1974 and covered by Talking Heads in 1978
The Tale of the 3 Grumpy Landlords Welcome to Day 2 of my little jaunt along the 80 mile Dales Way, that links Ilkley in West Yorkshire to Windermere in the Lake District. Due to limited signal and charge this blog is written a day behind my actual walking day. Eg today is Thursday but…
“Forest Fire” 🎶- Lloyd Cole and the Commotions
“Spontaneity is a meticulously prepared art”. (Oscar Wilde) The last few days I have been itching to get off for a walk. On Tuesday 18 August 2026 I actually managed it It is some 14 weeks since I returned to North Yorkshire from Portugal and Spain, having spent 35 days walking the height of those…
A thwarted attempt on the 46km ‘Welsh 3000ers’
“It’s a wonderful life” 🎶- Black (https://open.spotify.com/track/0IWtEFQBwRHaMXZQtGEVcM?) I can’t remember the exact date: it was sometime in late May, early June, when I got the call. One of my 2 sons; it was either Harry or Jake, or maybe both, had told me that they were planning to attempt to walk the ‘Welsh 3000-ers’ with…
Gdansk: Poland’s Jewel in the Crown
Gdansk! Wow! We were told it was going to be good, They weren’t wrong! It really is a special city! Since retiring in autumn 2020, my wife Nicky and I, have been fortunate enough to visit 3 of the main cities in Poland: Krakow, Poznan and Wroclaw. All 3 have been stunning visits. This week…
“Another one bites the dust” 🎵 – Queen
Chapter 42 Hola Peregrinos, Welcome to the last chapter of my epic trip up the length of Portugal and a decent slice of north western Spain. I left home 41 days ago and managed to reach my goal of Santiago de Compostella after walking for 23 full days of that total. I’m now sat at…
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