North East England – Wild Places

Burnhope Seat

Winter is definitely with us. No clear blue skies and frozen ground though, at least not today. Instead we had North Pennines winter conditions of soft snow, peat hags, low cloud and drizzle. We started at Burnhope Reservoir just up from Wearhead at the top end of Weardale. It was deserted, perhaps unsurprisingly on aContinue reading “Burnhope Seat”

The Cheviot and back to Teesdale

Two very different walks this week, but variety is good. On Thursday I went to Northumberland for the first time in many years for a long walk with my brother Jim. He was wearing trainers and a lightweight rucksack, prepared to walk as fast as he could. I was as usual in my heavy bootsContinue reading “The Cheviot and back to Teesdale”

Thoughts on climbing

Back to Scugdale tonight to try out some new climbing gear and a new way of climbing. Since last week I’d been mulling over the problem of how to reduce risk when climbing alone and I was keen to try out a possible solution. I’d spent the week watching You Tube videos and picking theContinue reading “Thoughts on climbing”

Evenings at Scugdale

Summer evenings at Scugdale always bring back memories of when I was a good climber and I could solo half the routes on the crag without trying. These days I’m lucky if I can muster the courage to climb one or two of the easiest routes, but it’s still a great place to spend aContinue reading “Evenings at Scugdale”