Category Archives: Uncategorized

There’s a wise saying that has been around for as long as I remember: ‘Save the best till last’.  It’s a saying I’ve often resorted too and smiled at in doing so. An example: as a child, I clearly remember saving the best part of my tea till last. So, it was at the startContinue reading “Long Strides towards ‘Freedom’. A 44 km walk from Holmfirth to ‘The Yorkshire Sculpture Park’ ……. and back!”

Last week I enjoyed the pleasure of meeting Terence the Turkey as I headed out on my latest walk in the hill country made famous by the BBC in it’s ‘Last of the Summer Wine’ series of yesteryear. This week I met ‘Laurence’. ‘Laurence’ is probably not this rooster’s name, but it is the nameContinue reading “Derbyshire and Back: A 33 km Circular Walk in the Holme Valley”

11 days after my last big walk and blog, it was wonderful to get back outdoors and into the superb landscape that is known as ‘Summer Wine Country’. The scenery is simply stunning in these parts. I knew it was going to be a fabulous day of walking. My start gave an immediate endorsement toContinue reading “‘Terence and the Daffodils’ A 16 mile circular walk in the Holme Valley”

‘The Accidental Tourist’ was a 1988 film release by Warner Brothers and starred William Hurt and Kathleen Turner. I’ve never watched it. Maybe I will. It was only after a Google search that I knew it even existed.  I only mention it because I really like the title particularly as it seemed to neatly sumContinue reading “Home from Holme A 38km circular walk in the Holme Valley”

After a self-enforced 3 week absence from the hills of West Yorkshire, it was time to once again lace up my boots and head out: this time into a new landscape and from a new direction. The reason for all this novelty? Last Friday, we moved out of our much loved house of 26 yearsContinue reading “A Slip and a Slide with the Snowdrops: a 16 mile walk from Holmfirth to Greetland”

They say a week is a long time in politics. I would like to suggest it has felt an even longer time as a resident of Calderdale. Unbelievably it was only a week since my snow crunching walk to the farm in the middle of the M62. This week, after the threats posed collectively byContinue reading “A Slip and a Slide to Scammonden Steps”

“Freedom” Over the last 2 weeks, since the new year, my thoughts have been dominated by that evocative single word immortalised in the cinematic world of ‘Braveheart’. This is the captivating film starring that famous ‘Aussie-Scot’ Mel Gibson as William Wallace and his fight for Scottish Independence in the 13th century. I am the firstContinue reading “Motorway Madness: a Snowy Walk to the Farm in the Middle of the M62”

Well the inevitable has happened. On Saturday we got the dreaded NHS ‘Track and Trace’ text to tell us that we had been in contact with someone who has tested positive for Coronavirus. Inevitable? It certainly feels like it. That’s the bad news. The good and better news is that we are now 4 daysContinue reading “‘And the Bells will Ring on Christmas Day’”

It was a beautiful winter’s day as we shut the gate, left the garden and our locked-down ducks, behind. A dry and sunny Tuesday was the perfect mood-lifter and I was feeling particularly upbeat: today my walk was going to be fun. I had company. My youngest son Jake was back for Christmas from universityContinue reading “Like it or Loathe it? A ‘Marmite’ Walk to Crow Hill”