Feeling refreshed after our two days playing and relaxing on Crantock Beach, we spent the next day exploring a couple of Cornish villages, heading first to Polperro, a 13th century fishing village on the south east Cornish coast.
After returning from a week long family holiday in Cornwall with Anma, Gangan and Auntie Kaz, it has taken me a bit to get back into things. Cornwall is a beautiful place, so different to the Lake District, yet with the same ability to make me feel relaxed and at home. The beaches and surf, rugged coastline, big skies and magical place names evoke a sense of calm and peace yet at the same time, adventure and excitement. We had a fantastic week. Continue reading
After a five year break, it’s my second Wainwright walk in as many weeks, this time with the whole family. As Rowan has been not just managing, but truly enjoying every walk we have been on, we decided we would make the drive to the Lake District so he could tackle his first Wainwright. Black Fell (with its very heavy metal name) was to be our destination, chosen for its diminutive height yet fabulous views, with a South Lakes location making for an easier drive from Manchester.
If you’ve read the “About Me” section of this blog, you’ll know that I used to regularly go walking in the Lake District. I volunteered with Fix the Fells and my Wainwright count was up to around 60. However, I have no records of when I walked these fells, I just know I have. Continue reading
Last Friday, Rowan and I returned to the Peak District, bringing along the furry pair in their swanky new non pull harnesses – an absolute necessity for me when out walking with two cocker spaniels and an enthusiastic little boy. Rowan’s map for this week was for the area around Mam Tor. The hill is steeped in history, with the summit of Mam Tor being the site of an Iron Age hill fort, the earthworks of which can be followed round the summit. Continue reading
On the Saturday before Mother’s Day we opted to do something a bit different to our usual wandering about in the countryside and visited Brockholes, a relatively young nature reserve in Lancashire. Brockholes, which is built on a former quarry, opened its doors to the public in April 2011. It features lakes, wetlands and woodlands, all designed to attract a number of different species of wildlife to the site, to make it their home. Continue reading
This week, we decided to take a different look at a place we have visited a few times before. Alderley Edge has many trails to discover and, in the past, we have always explored around the Edge itself. Now Rowan is finding his walking legs, we decided to go a bit further afield and explore the woods and fields in the area.
Last week we made our way to the Castleton in the Peak District for our day of adventuring. There are a number of caverns and mines to visit in this pretty little village (details here), as well as Peveril Castle, but as we had the mutts with us, our destination was Cave Dale. Cave Dale is part of the Limestone Way, a long distance footpath that runs 46 miles from Castleton in Derbyshire to Rocester in Staffordshire, taking in the stunning White Peak landscape along the way. We had a much shorter route planned.
On Saturday we decided to take the dogs somewhere we could let them off the leads and let them have a big run. Rocky loves the seaside, getting his paws wet and splashing about in the surf whereas Pebble prefers mooching and sniffing around, so we chose to visit the National Trust site at Formby. That way we could take in a woodland walk and stroll down the beach at one location, and maybe spot a red squirrel in the process.
Our latest adventure took us to the village of Barley in search of the Pendle Sculpture Trail. The sculptures, created by four different artists, were inspired by the history and people of the Pendle Witch Trials of 1612.
Exploring the Landscape 