Days Out

The Watkin Path – Plan B

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During the October half term holidays, we had a plan to get up early and head to the Pen-y-Pass car park on Snowdon.  We were going to take in the lakes along the Miner’s Track, have a picnic and head back, dependant on how far Rowan’s legs fancied walking.  We knew we would have to get up early as the car park fills up quickly, but knowing, 1. How popular a walk Snowdon is and 2. How rubbish we are at getting up super early, we had a plan B.  Now there is the option of the Snowdon Sherpa, a bus that can take you from other car parks and villages round the foot of Snowdon to the Pen-y-Pass, but the thought of taking our ruffing furry pair on a bus wasn’t appealing.  When we arrived at the car park, nowhere near early enough, plan B – the Watkin Path, was put into action.

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West Shore and Newborough – To The Beach

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A holiday in October means there is no guarantee of the weather (not that there is any time in the UK really).  The night we arrived in Wales, I stayed up late till high tide as we had arrived just in time for Storm Brian and the caravan site was on flood alert.  I wanted to go to bed knowing that we weren’t going to float off in the night – we didn’t.  The next day was still really blowy with showers so, not wanting to stay in the caravan all day, we drove to West Shore Beach at Llandudno.

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Beacon Fell – Shortcut to Mushrooms

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This September, Rowan started school.  Despite being really exciting times for all of us, in all honesty, I also felt quite aggrieved.  No longer could I just take a day of work and go off exploring with him.  And our Friday adventure days are no more.  Rowan really loves school though, and has settled into his routine far quicker than I have.  Weekends suddenly seemed really full, with no time to do anything.  By the end of September, I had reached the stage where, no matter what, we WERE going to get outside and enjoy being in nature.  Beacon Fell, on the edge of the Forest of Bowland, near Preston was to be our destination.  Not only is there a sculpture trail to follow, but it is also a dark skies location and I wanted to have a look around before we make our way up for a night time excursion at some point in the future.

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Wainwright Walk 4 – Kentmere Round Plus One

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At the end of August, I was really excited to be out in the Lakes with my lovely friend Kathryn again.  Back before our children arrived, we had volunteered with Fix the Fells together, regularly making the journey up the M6 to spend the day with brilliant, passionate people repairing or maintaining the upland paths.  (You can find out more about the great work they do here.)  This time, our destination was Kentmere, to try and tackle the “more challenging than we had walked in ages” Kentmere Round.

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Whitby, Day One – Fossil Hunting

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Back in August, I decided I wanted to take Rowan away for a couple of days before he started school.  Rick doesn’t get as many holidays as me, so leaving him at home with Rocky and Pebble, we headed to North Yorkshire and the lovely seaside town of Whitby.  Traffic on the A64 meant the drive took a lot longer than we thought, so we arrived much later than we had planned.  We were determined to make the most of our time there though.  After dropping our things at the bed and breakfast, we set out to explore the town.

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Betws-y-Coed – The Miner’s Bridge

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I seem to have been so busy recently I’m just finding the time now to sit down and write about out walk in Betws-y-Coed during our recent long weekend in North Wales.  The forecast for the day was sunshine and rain showers, so we decided to go for a stroll alongside the river, Afon Llugwy, at Betws-y-Coed.  Having visited before, we know that parts of the walk were in woodland, so if it rained, we would be afforded a bit a shelter.

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