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The accidental eco-vandal….
I was woken early the other morning. It was one of those now common off-kilter January days, eerily warm. The sound of a mistle thrush piping away, experimenting with his spring song after winter purdah, was enough to drag me from slumber and make me smile. It harked back to my time farming in Suffolk […]
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SHAFF Review
Another SHAFF, another crop of first class movies. When the quality is as high as this, the critic’s job is a real pleasure. The Trail to Kazbegi is proper ruffty, tuffty mountain biking in genuine bona-fide wilderness. Majestic landscapes are complemented by some superb endless trails that have never seen a mountain bike tyre before. If […]
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National Trust trial outdoor pursuits licensing scheme.
The Peak Adventure Sports Alliance (PASA) has alerted the National Trust (NT) to its reservations about the new licensing scheme the NT is proposing to trial at Longshaw and other sites. It is difficult to see anything of merit in this latest scheme. 1. One of the NT’s stated intentions is to “Ensure that provision is run at a […]
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SHAFF highlights – 3022 Feet
Let’s be honest, I don’t even like running and running doesn’t like me. In the dim distant past, I struggled through a couple of half-marathons and pretty much hated every minute largely thanks to my training consisting of a couple of half-hearted jogs and watching Steve Cram on the telly. I therefore approached 3022 Feet […]
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Peak District National Park – a democracy-free zone?
It’s obvious how much the British love their national parks as I slowly weave my way through crowds enjoying the Peak District in the late season sun. A welcome September warmth has flushed out walkers, cyclists, climbers, horse riders as well as tortoiseshell butterflies and flocks of meadow pipit. It is one of those days when the sense of […]
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Steve McClure – Beyond Limits – Vertebrate Publishing
Steve McClure has been one of the UK’s outstanding climbing talents for years and his pre-eminence in sport climbing is undeniable. Now the talented blighter’s gone and written a damn good book too. So, family man, talented climber, writer, annoying git. To read Beyond Limits is to immerse yourself in a welter of flash-pumps, flags, […]