As we have access to some beautiful countryside where we live - the Lake District, the West Pennine Moors, the Forest of Bowland and the Yorkshire Dales - all within easy travelling time, we try and find somewhere new to go to each time.
We might not make it every weekend, but it's always worth it when we do get out.
Scotland Summer 2014
I think I'll probably do these walks in stages as we did a few wonderful walks in the Highlands this year.
Lochinver - 10 miles
Our first walk started from the walkers car park just before you reach Glencanisp Lodge, about a mile from Lochinver. The weather was fantastic - blue skies and lovely sunshine - a bit too warm for walking but there was a bit of breeze which made it just right. There's no public footpaths up here - just track for you to follow and an occasional sign. So, once we'd walked past Glencanisp Lodge we started on the track just to see how far we could go, with Suilven in the distance all the time …..
We started this walk last year, but we'd parked up in Lochinver and walked the mile up the single track road before we even reached the path, and the weather was far too hot for us to carry on. So this year it was much better parking up a bit nearer the path! And it was, quite simply, a matter of just walking on the path, and walking, and walking …….
….in this amazing landscape …..
….. with views every now and again going back towards Lochinver and the sea…….
We eventually chose to stop for lunch after walking for about 2 1/2 hours overlooking a loch, letting Oscar have a bit of nap while we tucked in to pies from Lochinver Larder - just what we needed at that point.
And then it was quite simply a case of retracing our steps back to the van, back through this fabulous part of the Higlands, which I am sure we will get back to one day.
Garsdale to Lunds 1 June 2014 - about 4 miles
I'm not sure if this walk was about 4 miles or maybe longer. The sign we started from said Lunds 1 3/4 miles, but I think we went a bit further.
The walk started from the A684 outside Sedbergh and we headed uphill along a vague path. I think we managed to lose the path a few times as it wasn't a major public footpath at all.
It was, however, a lovely walk in peaceful surroundings, with lovely (if a little hazy) views of the Howgills. I think we saw less than half a dozen people while we out!
The grassy path eventually leads to a track near some houses, and then a single track road down to the main road heading to Dent. After reaching the road we took the footpath by the side of the River Dee and stopped for lunch by the river. A beautiful spot.
I think we were both relieved to see the end of the walk today and to get back to the van for a nice cup of tea and chocolate muffin!
Such a lovely spot today which we didn't even know existed until this weekend!
Scandale Pass 20 April 2014 - about 7 1/2 miles
By the time we got to Ambleside the car park that we normally use was already full, with lots of people wandering round the town. We found another spot, parked up, and headed on up the hill, heading for High Sweden Bridge and Scandale Pass. We've done Scandale Fell before, but didn't carry on up Scandale Pass last time.
It started out to be quite a lovely day and quite warm at the start of the walk.
And, as always, very good views back down to Windermere.
At this point we both had to stop to remove a layer of clothing as it was getting too hot, even despite the breeze. And onwards we climbed… until we saw this view, and the path on the other side of the water which we were going to be going on ….
And then it was just a straight path more or less, very clear, not too steep, but not too flat. And on and on it went until we stopped for lunch before the climb up Scandale Pass.
So, with sandwiches and chilli hot chocolate inside us, we headed on up the pass and in to the wind.
It wasn't just a breeze at this point, it was about 30-40 mile an hour gusts, sometimes threatening to blow you over! However, we persevered and eventually managed to make it to the top!! Quite an achievement for us as we hadn't set out to get this far at all today.
Sadly, I can't say that the views were all that spectacular. It wasn't very clear, was quite hazy, and was really too windy to take many photo's at all. But we'd done it (despite the drizzle that started as we'd finished lunch meaning we'd put our waterproofs on!).
And then the sky turned blue as we'd headed back down, but the wind was still there, pushing us downhill now.
Heading back towards Ambleside we had some more views looking towards Windermere, and it started to warm up a little bit.
A quick stop for milk in the shop on our way back to the van, then a well deserved piece of cake and cup of tea, finally.
A fantastic walk despite the wind, and one that we will definitely do again and hopefully carry on over the tops next time (as long as it's not gale force winds again!).
Anglezarke 13 April 2014 - about 4 1/2 miles
A very, very windy walk!
We didn't have a lot of time today, so it was a case of finding somewhere quite local to go to. Having done a few walks round Anglezarke and Rivington, we decided to head off there and find a different path.
The wind wasn't too bad when we set off - breezy but not gale force. Knowing that it had been raining recently we went fully expecting mud and puddles, and there were plenty of them!
Thankfully after a little while the path became a bit easier to walk on, although the dogs still managed to find all the muddy bits.
It was lovely to be able to see Darwen Tower, Holcombe Tower, Rivington Pike and even Blackpool Tower at one point!
It's very bleak on the moors, but it was so nice to be out with not many people around (better for Oscar since he's so nervous), and the path eventually went from moor to concrete slabs, so at least we weren't squelching any more.
We tried to find a bit of shelter from the wind for lunch, but there didn't seem anywhere around with any sort of shelter at all - its so exposed up there. We still found a spot to sit and eat, but we didn't sit down for long.
And then it was time to head back the way we'd come. We hardly passed anyone on the way back.
We had to try and negotiate all the muddy spots again on the way back, ending up with Molly being black up to her belly! And we managed to find two geocaches on the way back too, so an added bonus to today.
Finally back at the van and out of the wind, which was now getting worse, and time for a nice cup of hot tea.
This is a walk that we will probably do again, but next time I think we'll try and go on a warmer and less windy day!
Darwen Moor/Longworth Moor 23 March 2014 - about 7 miles
A walk of much mud!
As today was supposed to stay relatively dry we would normally have gone to the Lake District to walk. But, after all the rain that we've had this last week, and wanting to spend longer walking, we opted to head out to Darwen.
Normally the route heading away from Roddlesworth and over towards Belmont is quite quiet, so we headed that way again. Except today appeared to be the day that a walking group was out, going in the opposite direction to us, which meant that we passed so many people in the first hour or so, probably more people than if we'd gone up the Lake District! And it was so muddy too!
Most of the walk we'd done before, and it's a nice, easy walk to do when you just want to get out and enjoy the fact that it's not raining at last! (although we did have a very short hail shower).
Once we got to the road at the end of Stones Bank Plantation we decided to carry on a bit further and headed into some trees around the edge of Delph Reservoir.
We had some lovely views, and despite the wind being chilly, it was a lovely walk. We had intended walking a bit further, but having reached a gate which was at the start of a field with cows in, we decided to stop at that point, have lunch, and then headed back along the same track, back to the mud, and then finally back at the van for cup of tea and piece of Christmas Cake.
We often overlook the routes round Darwen and Turton, but, despite not having the grand views that you get by walking up hills in the Lakes, the area is lovely and always provides a good walk.
The Black Loch 7 March 2014 - about 6.8 miles
Our last walk of the holiday, and one that wasn't really planned. We'd intended walking near Laurieston, which wasn't far from the cottage, but after attempting to find somewhere to park and realising the ground was just so wet and boggy, we headed up to New Galloway and then back down alongside Clatteringshaws Loch and took a turning for Black Loch. We've walked to Black Loch before, a couple of years ago, so it was nice to actually park up and start a walk from there.
The walk itself was pretty straight forward - just a case of following the good track. The weather stayed dry, thankfully, but it was still pretty chilly with the wind and I started off with 2 layers of gloves to keep warm!
I think if we'd carried on walking we would have eventually ended up round at Clatteringshaws Loch, which would have been great. But, it was so cold, and we didn't want to be out for too much longer, so we stopped for lunch. And blue sky!
Anyway, after we'd eaten we turned round and headed back to the Black Loch along the same route. Oscar was very well behaved and as we got nearer to the loch we decided to let him off his lead for a while to see how he got on (as there was nobody else around to distract him) and he was really good, staying really close to us and not wandering much at all.
We walked further than we thought today, so it was quite a relief to get back to the van for a nice cup of tea out of the cold.
Cairnsmore of Fleet 4 March 2014 - approx 6 1/2 miles ( and a height of 711m/2331ft)
Our second walk of the holiday, and feeling good about yesterdays walk, and leaving DD in the cottage with Molly, we set out with Oscar for what was described in the book as a walk 'with no difficult or strenuous stretches'.
We can do this, we thought, and off we went. Sunshine and blue skies with a bit of a breeze. Perfect.
The walk starts on a road and then takes you off on a small track and across a field (thankfully no cows), and then you head on up the hill through the trees. Simple. You can't really lose the path at this point so no real fear of getting lost. What the book doesn't tell you is how steep the path is almost from the start. So, despite being regular walkers, after half an hour I would have turned back if DH had said he'd had enough too. However, being the determined pair that we are, we plodded on, having regular rests, and eventually emerged out of the trees. And what a sight! What a fantastic view!
There was a stone shelter at the top which was very welcome. At this point it was so cold we were very glad we had chilli hot chocolate with us! There were even small patches of snow in the shelter. Needless to say, we didn't hang around long at the top.
The walk back down was exactly the same route we'd taken to get up to the summit, but having the views to look at on the way was wonderful.
So eventually, after a good few hours, we arrived back at the van, just as the first spots of rain started, and then the downpour started - we couldn't have planned it any better.
A fantastic walk if you get chance to do it - preferably on a nice day, with no wind, when you can appreciate the amazing views from the top.
Round Loch Trool 3 March 2014 - approx 5 1/2 miles
Our first walk of our holiday in south-west Scotland, and the first day of the holiday that it wasn't raining! It wasn't exactly blue sky all the way round, but it was a lovely day for a good walk. DD came with us, so with DH and both dogs, off we went.
The walk was fairly easy to start with and quite level with just an occasional easy short climb. And, as geocachers, we were finding caches along the way - 16 in total by the time we finished the whole walk!! Even DD joined in and found some too. We didn't meet a lot of people as we were walking round so it was lovely and peaceful. The only hard bit of the walk for me was just one small section where we were climbing just a bit, and there appeared to be quite a steep drop to our left-hand side, and a steep step climb upwards. Ridiculous as it sounds, I had to hold on to DD to help me up the steps until the path appeared to level off.
About half-way round we stopped for lunch - sandwiches and hot chocolate. The rest of the walk was quite easy, apart from the steady climb up to Bruce's Stone, where you get a fantastic view of the loch.
All in all it was a fabulous walk. We came to do this walk about 2 years ago, but at that time the path was shut for improvements. If you're ever in this area, go for it and do the whole circular walk - well worth the views if you get a good day.
Round Tockholes Plantation 22 February 2014 - approx 4 miles
I didn't think we were going to get out at all today as the weather forecast had given rain all day. However, with the sun shining this morning we decided to take a chance. After dropping DD at work, and a quick dash in the supermarket to buy a few basics to make some sandwiches, we headed off to a local spot. Normally we make some sandwiches the night before, but we hadn't been prepared at all today with fully expecting it to be raining all day.
We parked up, made the sandwiches and set off.
It was lovely seeing blue sky again after so many days of rain. The only time I've seen the sun this week has been while I've been sat in the office, so it was really good to be outside today. It wasn't as wet and muddy as we thought it was going to be either and it was lovely just walking through the woods. We had to get round a few really muddy spots, but it was quite fun and we managed to avoid falling over!
Once we were back on the main path we found a log to sit on while we had lunch in the sunshine - lovely chicken sandwiches and chilli hot chocolate - just the thing to keep us going until we got back the van.
It's a shame we didn't bring the dogs, but it would have meant bathing them both when we got home as there's no way they would have stayed clean, and there were a few loose dogs around which would have scared Oscar and made him really unsettled.
As we got nearer to the van it started getting a bit chillier with the wind getting stronger, so time for a nice cup of tea and piece of christmas cake before heading home.
Winter Hill 2 February 2014 - approx 4 1/2 miles
What a walk! Last time we came up here you couldn't even see the tops of the moors because of the mist. Today, however, the sun was shining so it looked amazing. Downside to today? The wind. But not at first though.
We parked up and headed up the path, thinking it didn't look too bad - a bit muddy,yes, but that was expected after all the rain we've had over the last week. But boy did it get bad! We were meandering between what looked like a low stone wall and any bit of grass that didn't look like a bog and end up with you sinking 6 inches in mud! Oscar seemed to enjoy himself and kept wandering all over, but poor Molly seemed to struggle in places with the mud and stones (she doesn't like stones at all, and the mud was too deep in places for her to walk through). I ended up on my back at one point as I slipped on a stone. Luckily by falling backwards I ended up on my rucksack which cushioned my fall, but it wasn't nice at all. But despite the mud, slippy stones, cold and wind, the views were amazing.
I didn't want to go back to the van the same way we'd come up - I just didn't think I could cope with the steep bit again - so we opted to try a different path down which would mean we'd end up in Belmont village and walking back up the road. This was a lovely route back down and wasn't particularly muddy either - one to remember next time that maybe this would be a better way up!
Finally we were back at the van and time for a nice cup of tea. It only took us about 3 1/2 hours to do this walk, including lots of stops for photos and lunch. And it's given us a few ideas of where else we can walk in this area.
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