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Backpacks and blisters - the walking thread

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    #26
    Mull of Kintyre.

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      #27
      The Mull of Kintyre was traditionally used to determine the lewdness/graphicness of male nudity/sex scenes- if the penis protruded from the body further than the Mull of k protrudes from mainland Scotland...

      as for 'mist rolling in from the sea...'

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        #28
        Paul S' OP mentions the Ardrossan to Campbeltown ferry. I've caught it 3 times as both parents' ashes are now interred there, alongside my Maw's parents' in their family plot in the impressive Campbeltown cemetery.

        Didn't realise it was rare, other than in the Glaswegan sense of 'rerr'

        Because all CalMac (Caledonian-MacBrayne) ferries are great

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          #29
          Originally posted by Felicity, I guess so View Post
          Paul S' OP mentions the Ardrossan to Campbeltown ferry. I've caught it 3 times as both parents' ashes are now interred there, alongside my Maw's parents' in their family plot in the impressive Campbeltown cemetery.

          Didn't realise it was rare, other than in the Glaswegan sense of 'rerr'

          Because all CalMac (Caledonian-MacBrayne) ferries are great
          The route was only introduced in 2011, runs summer only three times a week and connects the Scottish mainland with the err Scottish mainland if you see what I mean. Besides it's a new ferry route to tick off and as you rightly point out, all CalMac routes are great!

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            #30
            Love CalMac, i discovered the late Ian Banks shared a taste for their chicken curry and chips with me...

            Hopefully, I'll be on one soon ..

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              #31
              Went and met my friends who live in Hebden Bridge today (the ones who own the boat I posted about on the mundane thread in the week) and we had a very pleasant walk on the moors in the sunshine of some 10.8 miles. Very clear day and we got to see a wide variety of locations - Emley Moor telly mast, Studley Pike, Pendle Hill, Ingleborough and Pen-y-Ghent. Was notable how much greener and verdant everything is in that part of Yorkshire though, down here all the grass everywhere is burnt yellow, much less of that in Calderdale and the surrounding parts. Passed Gorple and Widdop reservoirs and they were well down on capacity mind.

              Passed some relatively well kept grouse butts and as the season starts tomorrow I made a point of pissing on the seated area.

              Eventually crossed into Lancashire and finished up in a place called Mereclough which is a couple of miles above Burnley. Clear view of Turf Moor and waved at Snakey whilst there. Nice Guide pub there too while we waited for the bus back - the Kettledrum, pleasantly cheap at only three quid a pint in essentially a dining pub.

              (Ooh, 6000 posts)

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                #32
                Did you walk via Gibson Mill, Longeared?

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                  #33
                  Also went for a hike from Malham today, up Gordale Scar, fun little scramble that, past Malham Tarn and down Malham Cove after a detour, 11 very pleasant miles in excellent weather....

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                    #34
                    Originally posted by Me Old Flower View Post
                    Did you walk via Gibson Mill, Longeared?
                    No, went out of Hebden up a steep cobbled climb then the road to Heptonstall, through the churchyard containing Sylvia Plath's grave, then kept south and west of Gibson Mill / Hardcastle Crags.

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                      #35
                      Originally posted by Moonlight shadow View Post
                      Also went for a hike from Malham today, up Gordale Scar, fun little scramble that, past Malham Tarn and down Malham Cove after a detour, 11 very pleasant miles in excellent weather....
                      Did that walk or a very similar one there about 20 yrs ago when I lived in Yorkshire, the whole of Yorkshire is fantastic for walking, even the industrial bits.

                      Originally posted by longeared View Post
                      No, went out of Hebden up a steep cobbled climb then the road to Heptonstall, through the churchyard containing Sylvia Plath's grave, then kept south and west of Gibson Mill / Hardcastle Crags.
                      This is very good, broadcast last night on BBC2, I've just finished watching it on the iplayer: BBC Two. Sylvia Plath - Inside the Bell Jar

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                        #36
                        When coming down from the cliff above the Cove, on the Pennine Way, a pair of americans were climbing up and one was very loudly discussing some computer stuff, at one point yelping, cackling one said 'It's not even the same programming language!'...could not help shouting back 'Who gives a fuck'...

                        Fair to say that bit of the walk was rather busy, the bit up the Gordale Scar was very quiet on the other hand...

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                          #37
                          Originally posted by Moonlight shadow View Post
                          When coming down from the cliff above the Cove, on the Pennine Way, a pair of americans were climbing up and one was very loudly discussing some computer stuff, at one point yelping, cackling one said 'It's not even the same programming language!'...could not help shouting back 'Who gives a fuck'...

                          Fair to say that bit of the walk was rather busy, the bit up the Gordale Scar was very quiet on the other hand...
                          Yes, it can get very busy there as it's such a beautiful and famous spot (done it twice and have been told it can get to Peak District/Lake District levels of busyness in the summer, Mam Tor, Tarn Hows Coniston, Catbells etc.).

                          We once stayed at Beck Hall in Malham, one of my favourite B&Bs in the north of England (it's a hotel now but was a B&B the last time we stayed there, late 1990s, it was run by 2 brothers), fantastic location just by Malham Beck.

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                            #38
                            Well, we stopped for a drink at Beck Hall! It has gone upmarket nowadays, the extension looks like a city centre bar...

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                              #39
                              Originally posted by Moonlight shadow View Post
                              Well, we stopped for a drink at Beck Hall! It has gone upmarket nowadays, the extension looks like a city centre bar...
                              Oh shit, that doesn't sound too good... It was already quite upmarket in the late 1990s mind, but in an old-fashioned way (wood panelling, regal-style furniture, traditional 4-poster beds etc.), a double cost about £65 which was expensive for a B&B at the time. The relatively high prices were justified though, due to its impossibly romantic location by that beck and the lovely tables outside, right by the water, it's so much more interesting to have a drink or eat outside among the ducks, birds and the odd dog than inside with old farts staring at each other like "chiens de faïence" (I take it you have that same phrase in Swiss French). Not surprised that it’s been turned into a posh hotel from what you’re saying, the riverside setting and general location really are fabulous, would happily go back but we really don't like going back to the same restaurants/hotels etc., we much prefer discovering new places so we'll probably never go back.

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                                #40
                                Part of it still looks like it has not been renovated for 50 years. I ate there last year, outside by the stream, excellent burger as it happens, lots of local products in it. The clientele seemed mainly hikers so not strictly like a city centre bar....

                                One of my favourite pubs in the YD, although i have not been for a few years, is the Station Inn in Ribblehead. Proper hikers pub, food is good and abundant, no one gives a monkey if you look like you just got out of a bog and are covered in peat and the landlord is (was?) a raving Tory loon and cricket fan. On quiet winter evenings when most of the punters were farmers, it made for, ahem, interesting discussions but always felt welcome there.

                                Another excellent pub, very much one for locals, is the Helwith Bridge Inn. Again, good food in abundance, a cracking selection of ales, the landlord has a platform to observe trains (pub is right by Settle-Carlisle line) and they have a small cabin called Hotel Paradiso that can host 4 people, at 5 quid pp...Always had a good time there, my port of call after a wildcamp in Moughton (hilly bit next to it, off beaten track)

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                                  #41
                                  Good timing. The girl that got me into running - mainly by me sitting next to her for too long in a pub - has got me into some walking things as well; mainly doing a sponsored walk up Snowdon. Anyway, her next venture is Everesting. Basically, it is a cyclists' thing really where you choose a hill near you and ride repeats of it in a single activity until you climb 8,848m. We are going to do it walking up the hill to Bath Race Course which is 220m which means 40 ascents in a day. The key is that you can do it as a team so one of you sets off, when you reach the top, you phone your team mate at the bottom and they set off while you descend (the descents don't count). It's ridiculous, of course, because you are doing it as a team and none of you are really doing the equivalent of climbing of Everest but, you know, it's for charidee.

                                  I have done loads of walking before in the Lakes, Wales, Norfolk and, you know, to the shops. I would rather walk than pretty much anything in the world outside of taking a train. We are popping up to some friends in Skipton this summer who appear to have pretty much retired early on order to just walk and drink ale in pubs on the way. When we walked previously, we used to use a book called "5 mile walks to the pub and back" or somesuch. The funny thing about this was that, after two and a half miles, we would flop into the pub and have a massive lunch with beers as we had "earned" it and we knew we had a massive two and a half miles back that we had to stock up for. Then we would get to the pub in the evening and eat loads as we has done so much exercise with out 5 mile walk in the daytime.

                                  Of course, when I started running, I realised that, after a while, 5 miles is nothing walking. Having done half marathons, you pass 5 mile runs after a couple of weeks. Mind you, I prefer a 5 mile walk with a pub in the middle.

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                                    #42
                                    Originally posted by Felicity, I guess so View Post
                                    The Mull of Kintyre was traditionally used to determine the lewdness/graphicness of male nudity/sex scenes- if the penis protruded from the body further than the Mull of k protrudes from mainland Scotland...

                                    as for 'mist rolling in from the sea...'
                                    I read that in the Bill Parker book Map Addict. But this was for magazines only and then the internet came along and destroyed all the rules they previously had. For better or worse I suppose.

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                                      #43
                                      Originally posted by longeared View Post
                                      Was notable how much greener and verdant everything is in that part of Yorkshire though, down here all the grass everywhere is burnt yellow, much less of that in Calderdale and the surrounding parts. Passed Gorple and Widdop reservoirs and they were well down on capacity mind.
                                      Very tangential to the point of this thread, but reading longeared's post reminded me of some startling stuff in today's Western Mail: new pictures of the lost village of Tryweren, near Bala, drowned in 1967 by the formation of the Llyn Celyn reservoir to supply water to Liverpool. The water level is so low at the moment the ruins of the village have reappeared for the first time in decades and it's been possible to stroll along the old tarmac road etc.

                                      (Link is to the online version of the article at WalesOnline. Apologies for the revoltingly tabloidesque nature of the website, which unlike the print newspaper resembles the Sun and Mirror's sites ever more these days. Also, avoid the below-the-line comments, unless you actively enjoy Welsh people slinging insults about each other's perceived nationalism or lack thereof.)

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                                        #44
                                        I start the Kintyre Way tomorrow. Only the Caledonian sleeper and a coach to Tarbert stand in my way. What could possibly go wrong?

                                        My first camp will be a wild camp somewhere near to Loch Ciaran, or maybe the lochans just before it. I like to wild camp on my first night of a walk, it's me against Mother Nature. I've left the city behind, I have camp food, I don't take alcohol either, it's a sort of cleansing process. I just hope there's been enough rain up there and the warnings of blue-green algae in lochs are rescinded.

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                                          #45
                                          Staying with some friends who moved from London to Skipton mainly for the walking. Have just gone from the centre of town to Skipton Moor which was a 8 mile round trip up to 373 metres. Absolutely lovely walk that was reasonably strenuous and in gorgeous conditions; however the wind chilled it quite a lot on the last section. I coudl see some other walkers thinking "Daft a'p'orth walking up moor in Hawaiian shirt like it's Sunday stroll". Up the top had a 360 degree view up to 15 miles of Ilkley moor, Sharp Haw, Rough Haw, Crack Haw, Malham, Bolton Abbey, Barden Moor, Simon's Seat and Embsay Crag. Rescued a lost woman as well. I will be back. Great pubs, friendly place and a nice Parkrun which I am regretting a touch now.

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                                            #46
                                            Love walking, should do more of it. Back in the day I walked 600k from Bangassou in the Central African Republic to the Sudanese border; it took me 16 days. I did it because there was no other means of transport. I stayed at night in various places, such as empty schools, grain stores, mud huts, outside next to the dying embers of cooking fires. People were incredibly generous: I was given pineapples virtually every day, invited to eat (most of the time I cooked for myself using makeshift fires), made most welcome. Feet were well fucked by the end of the trek but it was well worth it. Good animal life too: monkeys, exotic birds, the odd snake and even a close encounter with a wild boar.

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                                              #47
                                              The train and coach were OK and the walk was fine. However, the water is not drinkable on the Kintyre peninsula so I took the ferry to Lochranza and have booked into a campsite there.

                                              I also found out the Campbeltown to Ardrossan ferry is suspended until at least Friday which means a rethink. Friday is a spare day so it may be a case of bus and ferry to Lochranza then bus to Brodick and camp somewhere near there.

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                                                #48
                                                Just like that Sporting...we waffle about hikes in the UK and you turn up with the kind of trek that has 'proper adventure' written all over it...away from any tourist areas, improvised a fair bit...everythink a proper trek should be!

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                                                  #49
                                                  Originally posted by Moonlight shadow View Post
                                                  Just like that Sporting...we waffle about hikes in the UK and you turn up with the kind of trek that has 'proper adventure' written all over it...away from any tourist areas, improvised a fair bit...everythink a proper trek should be!
                                                  Yes...it was definitely improvised, and not without its challenges (getting by in very basic French and even more basic Arabic; being warned about elephants and so on along the way; etc.) but I've certainly nowt against walking well-trodden paths...if they weren't well-trodden then probably they wouldn't be worth it

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                                                    #50
                                                    Correct, popular paths are so because they tend to be quite good...

                                                    How did you manage with water? Filter? Stopping at the village well?

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