Winter trips can be a tricky beast to manage. With the sun setting at what seems like mid-afternoon, it can be hours between the end of a walk and a nice, hot dinner. So here we are at Ilam Hall in the Peak District, enjoying improbably good weather, but even …

Ian moved house. Not very far, but enough to warrant a housewarming & a group trip to Norwich. Our last visit to Norwich was 25 years ago when they still had a youth hostel, but this time we had to rough it in the Travelodge at Acle.

Friday night saw most …

Our September trip was to the 1912 Centre in Harwich. The 1912 bit relates to when the building was first built. Following a devastating fire it was decided that Harwich old town needed a dedicated fire station. Ironically it was built on a lot vacated due to fire. Up to …

August Bank Holiday and where better to go than the edge of Dartmoor for a taste of West Devon life. The hostel at Okehampton is especially handy for the railway station, it having been converted from the old goods shed. Naturally this meant that several people joined us for the …

Bridges YH is a traditional youth hostel located in stunning, Shropshire countryside, bounded by the Long Mynd on one side and the Stiperstones on the other. There is even a very nice pub just a few yards away, so close to perfection. I really can’t think why it’s …

A Matter of Stile!

Our July walk took us through surprisingly hilly countryside between the Cambridgeshire villages of Linton, Horseheath and Bartlow. We encountered historic features including a section of Roman road, huge burial mounds, medieval wall paintings, and a rare historic stile!

I don’t know that stiles are …

Any trip to Scotland from Essex is going to be a long way, but I must admit that our trip by train in June was actually quite a nice way to do it. Good company, plenty of snacks and a book to read- plus, of course, very pleasing views out …

Our Early May Bank Holiday was spent in the small town of Bwlch in the Brecon Beacons, or Bannau Brycheiniog as we should call them now.

There’s not much in Bwlch these days except for a traditional pub and a rather splendid bunkhouse. Naturally we were staying in the …

Through the middle of the Lake District there is a Roman road, which once linked Ambleside Roman fort with Brougham fort near Penrith. It ran for about 20 km over the high fells with the highest point at 828m, named High Street after the road it sits on. Some bits …

It was a lonely spot. A rustic cottage deep in the woods, distant from the hum of civilisation. Just the wind in the trees and the screech of an owl, and the darkness pressing against the windows. The whole building had a pervasive chill, as if dying, only to be …