Up the Pyg Track, down the Miners’ 5am. Shell shock. Cold, still dark. The cooking stove glows in the grey dawn, a yellow light dares to peek over the mountains across the lake. A single star still wanders lonely across the fading night sky. Behind us, our foe is wrapped beneath a white shawl.Continue reading “Snowdon – 7.7 miles”
Tag Archives: countryside
Capel Curig Circular – 7 miles
We’re in a tent again! Only this time, we’re somewhere a little different: Wales. Following two nights of near gale-force conditions, during which time we deeply questioned our life choices, we awoke to a calmer Tuesday morning and day three of our Snowdonia adventure. We were staying for the week at “Garth Farm”, a workingContinue reading “Capel Curig Circular – 7 miles”
Bodiam Circular – 5 miles
I take a long, hot sip from the bottle of cider in my hand. Beth is sitting beside me. Her eyes are wide, staring ahead, hands clasped firmly to her cheeks. We both watch as the thick plume of smoke rises through the air only a short distance across the dry, barren farmland. Continue reading “Bodiam Circular – 5 miles”
Staplecross Circular – 9 miles
Rain is cool. Rain is wet. How much longer ‘til we get Some? ~ Unnamed Vegetable with Bongos, Mr Potato Head Saves Veggie Valley, circa 1995 Things have gone beyond the bright, glowing yellow of mid-summer meadows. It has been several weeks now since the area last experienced rain, and things are starting toContinue reading “Staplecross Circular – 9 miles”
Bow Hill Circular – 12.7 miles
Well, we just had the loveliest weekend. To celebrate our first wedding anniversary, we took a trip to West Sussex for our seemingly annual foray into the South Downs National Park. We have just got home, and we very much made the most of it. Let us go back to Saturday morning.Continue reading “Bow Hill Circular – 12.7 miles”
Lamberhurst Circular – 5.3 miles
Six years ago, I drove over to Lamberhurst, for the first time. I met Beth at her little studio flat, in Crown House at the bottom of School Hill. On that sunny day, we went for a walk around the Scotney Castle estate. It was a perfect day. So perfect, in fact, thatContinue reading “Lamberhurst Circular – 5.3 miles”
Groombridge Circular – 9.6 miles
I am sitting on the ground. We’ve just visited the Rainforest Café at Disneyland Paris, which seemed different somehow from how I remembered it. Wilbur, the recently rescued Golden Guernsey kid, only a few months old, runs over to play. He leaps on my lap as he always does and goes all floppy forContinue reading “Groombridge Circular – 9.6 miles”
Wadhurst Circular – 6.8 miles
Let me tell you about five sheep encounters! We start with the sensible sheep. These came early in the day, mere minutes after getting going. Our path ran alongside a flock resting in the shade, unlike us. Ordinarily, I suspect they would have got up and walked away from the fence when weContinue reading “Wadhurst Circular – 6.8 miles”
Penshurst Circular – 9.3 miles
It has been two weeks since our Mark Cross extravaganza (by the way, I did not catch Orf in the end), and much has changed. We have a major fence controversy on our hands with our new neighbours and have been left feeling rather uncomfortable in our own home. But we have a plan,Continue reading “Penshurst Circular – 9.3 miles”
Mark Cross Circular – 8 miles
The herd stampeded across the meadow. There were more than we had thought; many more. And all the while, the great, grey matriarch stared fixedly at us. She knew exactly where we were and had no intention of letting two travellers slip away. We had a plan. I just prayed that it was goingContinue reading “Mark Cross Circular – 8 miles”
Matthew G. Huggins 