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Series: Historic Rambles in Langho and Billington

This is going to be a series of posts in which I explore the walking routes, landscapes, and histories of the area around my home in Langho. Local history is fascinating. When visiting National Trust or English Heritage properties, the history is there in full view, laid out for all to see. But the stories of our local landscapes are often hidden to the untrained eye, and therein lies the intrigue. There may be mere clues - a scar on the landscape formed by past industry or slight remains of an ancient structure. Or often, there is nothing visible, but as is often the case, local history reveals itself in the place names of our maps, just waiting to be (re)told.  I remember several years ago when I first became interested in scouring over old maps of my hometown of Spennymoor. Old maps make for a fascinating read. I was searching around the location of Whitworth Park mine, the first major mine to open in Spennymoor. One would hardly know now that a mine existed here. The area now f...
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2025 - A Year in Preview

I don't normally write a post about my plans for the year. But my highly unscientific theory is, if I write it, it must happen! Wishful thinking perhaps, but efficient hill-bagging requires planning. For the most part I will be discussing my plans for hikes, bike rides, camps and other outdoor exploits, because that is the bread and butter of this blog. But at the end, I will write down some of my other aims for the year.  Wainwright Bagging Last year, I bagged 24 Wainwrights, a paltry figure compared to the previous year, but an acceptable one, given that I was less narrowly focused on the Wainwrights last year. The previous year, I bagged 45. My current tally is 124, leaving 90 remaining. If I can put my head down and clock 45 a year, that will be the Wainwrights completed by the end of 2026. To be more efficient, I am currently plotting routes for the remaining Wainwrights. This isn't a straightforward business. In some cases, I have been able to devise routes covering a lar...
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2024 - A Year in Review

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Welcome to the annual review! It has been a mixed bag this year. My Wainwright tally has been lower than the previous two years. This is in large part because I did not dedicate as much of my time to the Lakes this year; instead increasing my tally in the Peak District, the Yorkshire Dales and Wales. The theme of 2024 was the three peaks. In May, I completed the Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge. Then in August, I climbed Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon), the highest mountain in Wales which, having already ascended Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis, completed my aim of climbing the three national peaks. I have also probably climbed more hills than ever before this year, the total being 52. Though in part I think this is because I have been more meticulous in recording hills from lesser known classifications, such as Hewitts and Birketts. There were disappointments along the way. Most notably my 'grand' cycle tour which did not end up happening. But overall, it has been a great year for being outdoor...
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An Anglesey Trip (August)

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Back in August, I went on holiday to Anglesey in Wales. Well, more specifically, a small island called Holy Island just off the coast of Anglesey. This was a family holiday, but I was able to do some exploring and walking. Most notably, I was finally able to tick off Yr Wydffa (Snowdon) and complete the national three peaks. Wales is an area I have barely explored. Until this holiday I had not walked a single hill in Wales, most regrettably, as it hosts some of Britain's most dramatic mountains and knife like ridges. The journey to Wales seemed to take ages. With my bike on top of the car, I moved at a steady, at times snail's, pace down the M6. Seeking to avoid the toll road, I came off the M6 near Warrington then travelled west over the border into Wales. In parts, the route was beautiful, particularly driving through the tunnels near Conwy cutting through the hills that overlook the coast of northern Wales. Crossing the Menai straits I entered Anglesey for the first time. My...
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Duke of Edinburgh Trip (May)

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I work in a college in east Lancashire. Like other colleges, they offer students the opportunity to complete the Duke of Edinburgh award. Many students start this in high school and complete the "gold" when they are at college (or sixth form). For the students at my college, the D of E course itself is run by the local authority, but paid for by the college and with college staff in attendance for safeguarding purposes. Usually, the college representatives who attend are from the Uniformed Services division, which makes sense. But on this occasion, no staff from this division were available and there was a real risk the trip would need to be cancelled if a replacement couldn't be found. This would have costed the college money and would have impacted the students as this was their last training expedition before the final assessment the following week.  My manager asked myself and one of my colleagues in my division if we would be willing to step in. Of course we said yes...
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Camping: Kentmere Horseshoe, Yorkshire Three Peaks and D of E (Part 1)

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 It was supposed to be the big cycling expedition. But alas, my schedule didn't allow me to get the proper training in beforehand. A few days before the trip was set to happen, I needed to face the hard fact that I just wasn't ready. Not only that, but in the two evenings prior to the trip, my schedule was packed. The cycling trip was meant to be on the friday. I was at work both wednesday and thursday, and my evenings were took up with a gym instructor course on the wednesday and donating platelets on thursday. I just wasn't going to get the chance to do the last minute work on my bike before going out.  The campsites had already been booked though, so rather than scrap the whole thing, I decided to go ahead with camping, but I'd hike instead of bike. But this meant some last minute route planning. In the end, this came fairly easy. I had been wanting to walk the Kentmere horseshoe for some time. I had set off to do it last year but the road leading up to Kentmere vill...
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Peak District Camping and the World Snooker Championship (Day 2)

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I had a decent sleep the previous night. I was starving when I got back from the pub and knocked myself up a couple of burgers. I made short work of my beers and watched some nostalgia films on my i Phone as the snooker finished early. I watched the 1976 remake of King Kong starring Jeff Bridges and Jessica Lange. It's by no means a classic but I used to love it when I was younger. Back in 1998, when I was five, my Mam taped BBC's Monster Night special. It was a strange old affair. The show was presented by the comedian Bill Bailey, who was joined by Chris Moyles, Phil Jupitus and Paul Ross. In between their bits they showed films including the aforementioned King Kong and the 1991 Japanese film Godzilla vs King Ghidora. There were some strange segments like 90s comedy duo Lee and Herring's Reasonably Scary Monsters, a Goggle-box-esk programme within a programme. Lee and Herring watch Carol Vorderman present a programme in which she counts down the world's 9 scariest m...
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