One Day in November

On 28 Nov my friend Chris and I met up for some easy walking in the Peak District Park

                                      The village of Hope is in the centre of the picture

We drove through Hope and Castleton to park beneath Mam Tor.Its an iconic mountain being the place where gritstone meets limestone means the mountain is unstable and collapsing on one side .There are very fine views and the hills had a light covering of snow.We walked along the great central ridge which John Hillaby (writer) thought is one of the finest walks.We went past Rough Tor and Back Tor to get back to the car as it got dark. The hills look better in winter , dont you think ?

I love this little hill , its full of character ,trees on one side and a steep cliff on the other.It want to  be a mountain but the trees have crept up the side and put it in its place, which is as a side show to the real deal , Mam Tor. Its gentle walking on prepared paths but just right for this time of year if you dont fell like pushing the envelope

 

Island hopping

On 15 October Oban was in sight again and a ferry trip to Tobermory on Mull was opportune. On the way to Mull from Oban we passed this beautiful lighthouse ,it takes your breath away its so beautiful .Behind is the island of Lismore.

We had a great view from the ferry of this castle on Mull, not sure what its called.

Tobermorey looks great , even when its dull and damp ! But there`s not much to do as there`s only one street and two or three shops. Its quite nice being forced to do nothing

On the 16 +17 Oct Iwas on a course called wind waves and tides .As you can see we didnt find much of it , but at least we found the sun .Our little group didnt like the look of three foot waves so we ended upgoing in circles practising paddlestrokes in the sheltered. Cuan Sound

Next day I took the ferry to Mull and Iona to see the Abbey .Being October I had assumed it would be very quiet , but no chance .Because of special holiday deals , five coachloads of people turned up on Iona together which was a bit much for a tiny Island .I was hoping to find some of the ancient atmosphere from the dawn of Christianity when Colomba first went there .It was surprising that there was a charge to get in the Abbey, surely Christianity is free ? So instead of going in I climbedthe hill for some fine views like this one

Five days in Scotland

I had booked a course of sea kayaking in Oban starting 6 sept . In our group there were six and an instructor  Amazingly we had dry weather most of the time .

The first day we started from Loch Feochan end .south of Oban and paddled back to Oban harbour ,about ten miles .Its was great .Oban is a really beautiful town situated in an outstanding area of islands lochs and hills

On the second day we started in a cold wind from Loch Creran and past the sea life centre ,and past the beautiful castle Stalker in this photo. At times it was rough when the sea went against the wind ,but mostly the wind was on our backs.

On the third day day we paddled out of Oban harbour northwards and under Connel Bridge to finish in Loch Etive in glorious sunshine where we did some rescue and recovery practise in calm water

For its a very special place ,the bit under the bridge is known as the Falls of Lorn as its a raging torrent when in full flow.

The next day when my course was over I headed over to Kinlochleven just a few miles north for some big hill walking.The Scottish hills are a challenge and not to be taken lightly

Here I am doing some wild camping in the Mamore range near Kinlochleven ,behind is Binnein Beag.Wild camping is not for the faint hearted, specially in Scotland ,but a wee dram made it more amenable

Here I am on the summit of Na Gruagachian looking north to Binnein Mor along a fine ridge .You can have this mountain to yourself any time of year !! That pack was so heavy

Four days in Scotland

The Start of June (5th) found a small group of  twelve friends in Scotland for a swim adventure in the Gulf of Corryvreckan. Its a mile or so of sea between the island of Jura and Scarba on the west coast.Its become famous for its huge whirlpool and rough water.We hired a small motor boat called Farsain, and amazingly everyone completed the swim even though it was extremely cold water ,but it was calm!!

This swim was featured in a program with Robson Green recently but many others have now done it.The following day was spent swimming on the island of     near Oban ,in a flooded quarry shown here ,the water was very clear and it was a great experience

The next day to complete the scottish waterthon I endulged in a bit of solo sea kayaking  near Oban .Setting out from Lunga Pier I paddled down Cuan Sound and over to Belnahua Island and then on to the Garvellach Islands for camping.They are historic as Saint Brendan had a monastery there when Christianity first came to Scotland. The monastery is still preserved and many remains are to be seen

The sea was as flat as any pond which was lucky for me as I cant paddle very well.

The Garvellach Islands are uninhabited but have some ancient dwellings and have delightful sheltered places to land a small boat or kayak ,like the one above.The kayak had all my camping stuff in it , the following day I paddled backto Lunga pier through the channel north of Scarba known as the Grey Dogs . It was scary as the current there can get up to eight knots and in full flow looks like a very fast river . I miscalculated thetimes and had to wait two hours for the tide to slow .

Rough Water Handling

Having done a little bit of kayaking ,being foolhardy , I wanted some wild stuff so went for a course called rough water handling, a weekend course in north Wales

Did we find rough water ? By heck we did.

Actually I was scared stiff with the three foot high waves in the tiderace, particularly when the others disappeared in the troughs. Expecting to capsize at any moment I wondered if the others would notice as I was at the back of the group

We stopped at this tiny little island with its strange tower , there were many seabirds so it was smelly and noisy ! The other guys managed great in the rough

There were some interesting caves accessible only from the sea

Next day we paddled down the Menai Straits with the tide for six miles. The current was strong as you can see, but we had some fun. In the picture on the right is Ross who is a level five coach and writes for a national magazine.

Our instructor Roger enjoyed playing in the Swellies, the water was fast!

Pulling the boats up this little slipway just past the bridges was a relief for tired backs , arms and bums!

sea kayaking

Some Sea Kayaking

The 27 April 2010 found me on Anglesey for the start of five days of sea kayaking .You never know what the sea has reserved for you so we had full satety gear including pumps and flares .All the guys on the course had some experience of kayaking

As you can see we used Capella boats made in good old Nottingham . One of us had a Scorpio (me actually). We found lots of rock gardens and sheltered coves to play in. Out of the cove the wind was stirring up a swell

           On the beach at glorious Llandudno discussing the plan, we felt a little out of place

One day we launched from the north beach at Llandudno and paddled round the headland.Slightly more committing as the cliffs are very high for three miles on the north side, so for our lunch break the only place to stop was halfway up a cliff. That was not easy climbing the cliff with five kayaks,but you fell the landing was soft!!

Next day we went to Puffin Island seen here below .When the tide is out you can walk there,but when its in there are often strong currents and tideraces. The island is home to many seabirds, but not many puffins! Some seals followed us for half an hour, maybe we looked edible

Another day we went to Point Lynas on Anglesey north coast and parked up the boats in this little creek .

We tried various self rescue techniques in the sheltered area ,even in calm water its very hard to do this,heaven knows its twice as hard in the rough stuff.You have to get back in the boat as fast as possible as the cold  water saps your strength in seconds ,and in minutes you could be dead !!

Welsh Wales

Having done 15 years of rope climbing, a change was needed so:
In 2010  I started  some serious kayaking early on. This is me on the left on a white water course run by pyb . It was a five day residential course , accommodation was in Capel Curig , but due to low water levels we paddled at Llangollen every day except the last, when we went to the river Trewyn near Bala .which was an hours drive down winding bumpy roads in a  minibus . It was huge fun although being march the water was as cold as it could be and falling in took your breath away literally .There were only three of us on the course which was a fine number

One day we paddled along this canal which for some reason ran next to the river but slightly up the hill !!. From the end of the canal we could access more of the rapids on the river Dee . Here we are doing a seal launch. Can you believe it only rained once in five days in wet Wales !!!