All 6 entries tagged The Great Outdoors

Walking World

Writing about web page http://www.walkingworld.com/home/index.asp

A great days walking was had in the lovely early autumn sunshine of yesterday. The weather couldn't have been better (although its hard to imagine that looking out at a blanket of grey this morning).

Walked from Snowshill- Stanway-Stanton-Snowshill, great varied scenery and terrain with some steep climbs. Woods, banks, open fields and countryside, lovely villages plus masses of pheasant, grouse and even a young deer. The tower at Broadway was in view as we walked back to the village, and to top it all was a gorgeous fire-ball sunset from the Fosseway on the drive back. It was great to be able to walk in such great scenery just an hour from home, and without using any nasty motorways.

It was the first time I had bought a walk on-line at Walking World which is pretty good – you can search for a walk and it gives you directions with photographs, where to park is applicable, a road map and the section of the OS map required with walk marked out. The walk cost £1.50 but you can subscribe and have access to all the walks. All well and good except for the fact that the instructions seemed to miss out a whole section! Good thing we had the OS to give us some bearings!

: 27 Sep 2004 10:52 |  Tags: The Great Outdoors |  Comments (3) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Over hill and dale

A trip to the Yorshire Dales was just what I needed to brush away a few cobwebs. Following a lot of heavy rain, water was gushing everywhere, the rivers were swollen and the roads still quite flooded in places. Based in the village of Thwaite it was great to unwind and enjoy some Yorkshire hospitality. Needless to say, we didn't go hungry! Despite being completely kitted out for torrential downpours we managed to walk without any rain, and it was great just to drink in the scenery. We passed a small herd of Highland cattle and I fell in love!l It was just the cutest cow I have ever seen.

: 19 Aug 2004 23:29 |  Tags: The Great Outdoors |  Comments (3) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Seagull attack

The recent comments on seagulls (see coments that developed from my last entry) reminded me that although I have just created a wallpaper with seagulls gracefully soaring in the air, they can be very mean. Very.

Last year whilst sitting on the sea wall at St Ives munching a piece of pizza, I was ruthlessly attacked by one as it attempted to snatch my lunch from my hand. They were divebombing all and sundry and the only way we could eat lunch in piece was for one of us to keep guard while the other ate. It was pretty big and heavy and almost knocked me over. Big, and very greedy.

: 04 Aug 2004 17:31 |  Tags: The Great Outdoors |  Comments (7) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Extreme Gardening

You have heard of 'Extreme Programming' but now I have defined for myself 'Extreme Gardening'. This involves a great deal of speed, effort and ruthlessness and involves cutting, hacking, and digging with a disregard for nettles, brambles and the like. It is also an undefined process where the gardender doesn't actually know for sure where he or she is heading at the onset. Hence the gardener may develop a sudden dislike for certain plant or shrub and a brutal desire for its removal. The object in question was a well established rhubarb plant (nothing that requires that much sugar to be edible can be good for me). Suddenly the desire to eradicate it overcame the gardener. Two hours, 8000 calories, 2 blisters and 3 bags of huge woody tubers later, the plant and its remnants had gone. The newly defined bed lay woody and naked awaiting the more gentle process of extreme planting.

Come to think of it, its not dissimilar to the design process :)

: 26 Jul 2004 16:47 |  Tags: The Great Outdoors |  Comments (2) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Walking in Circles

On Saturday we found ourselves at Sutton Park in Sutton Coldfield (I say 'found' because we had planned to go further afield but time ran out on us). The chap in the visitor centre handed us a map and with great confidence explained where we were and suggested a good five/six mile walk taking in various sections of the park including viewing some wild ponies. (I had been there once as a child but didn't realise the park was that large). So, wild ponies bound we strode off as we thought best. 3 hours later having found no ponies, and having taken in the same lake twice, we found ourselves at what we thought was our car park, only to discover we were a good mile away! It was all good fun though and there was plenty of sunshine and not even a drop of rain. A fun day afternoon out and some good exercise but perhaps we need to brush up on our orienteering skills!

: 05 Jul 2004 12:32 |  Tags: The Great Outdoors |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

A Wet Walk

Despite the continuous downpour on Saturday I was determined to walk so we did a six mile circuit around Uley, a section of the Cotswold Way which diverted around a rather interesting burial tump. Some steep banks and wooded areas made the walk varied although due to the relentless rain it was quite nice to get back to the car!

: 28 Jun 2004 10:58 |  Tags: The Great Outdoors |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem