The 24 Peaks Challenge

Is it spring; is it winter?

Saturday 28th Mar Today's walk was a mixed bag. We had bitter northerly wind, rain, hail stone, and beautiful sunshine. Our lunch was glorious for 5 minutes before we had to shove half eaten sandwiches into pockets and dart for a church porch to get away from a sudden shower. A sharp incline at the start of the walk meant we were on a high ridge the whole way so the ground was reasonably firm. Highlights included seeing freshly born lambs (as in minutes earlier we think), 10,372 pheasants, woodpeckers, and a statue of a stag that we were both convinced was real for over 3 minutes...! Share

A Glimpse of Spring

Saturday 28th Mar Last week's walk was glorious sunshine and a picnic next to one of many chalk horses along the Wiltshire ridges. A favourite spot but a longer circuit that took us past an old military base, lots of dogs, and some very friendly locals. Share

Safe to say the water table remains full

Sunday 15th Mar Share

Wet and Windy Wiltshire

Sunday 15th Mar Safe to say the water table is still full to bursting, whilst today's training walk wasn't particularly challenging, and luckily a few days of not raining meant it wasn't a quagmire, I still crossed three flooded fields thanks to strategically places stones as others this winter had struggled to cope with the rain. Highlights had to be the pub 1/3 of the way round for a swift bitter shandy, eating my lunch in the one moment of clear sky the whole day, and watching a crow fighting off a harrier. Share

Oxfordshire Training Walk

Tuesday 10th Mar Whilst it was a quagmire on a few descents that was us scrabbling around in trees to avoid getting stuck in mud, quite possibly every single red Kyte in Oxfordshire flying overhead, and ethereal fog that followed us round the entire loop, the highlight of the walk had to be the Rollright stones. A standing stone marking the edge of a long barrow, a (collapsed) long barrow entrance, and my eye poking through one of the many stones that made up a stone circle; certainly enough neolithic monuments for anyone. Interestingly the stone circle was most similar to those found in Cumbria which felt very fitting for a walk that will help me get to the top of 24 Cumbrian peaks soon enough. Share