Stourport via Kidderminster

4 Jul

Jackie is presenting for Nottingham Uni at a HE Learning Conference in Brum. I came for the ride, catching a string of local buses (Sheffield … Bakewell .. Derby … Burton-on-T … Sutton Coldfield …)  to a city not known … Read More »

Pictures from a Lakeland Kayak

28 Jun

I used to look down on Windermere as not for the serious outdoorsman; rather, a playground for water sport fiends, party animals and wannabe Campbells. That changed years ago when, having driven up for a spot of camping in Borrowdale, … Read More »

Meditations from a Lakeland Kayak

26 Jun

Monday morning around seven-thirty the sun is already strong. Windermere’s more serene west bank, four metres from the shoreline on my right, is gin clear. A school of tiny perch – our handsomest freshwater fish, and thirsty for learning with … Read More »

Unfulfilled desires: kayak camping

15 Jun

I’ve just taken delivery of an inflatable kayak, the Sevylor Colorado – well reviewed by experts and owners alike, and just £274 on eBay. It weighs fourteen-point-five kilos but that’s without paddle, air-pump, buoyancy aid and (my prime motive) camping … Read More »

Day twenty

11 Jun

I’d never thought to be out for so long. As Day Twenty dawns I emerge early, for reason given at end of Day Nineteen’s post, from a path-obstructing tent. I don’t yet know it but this will be the last … Read More »

Day nineteen

9 Jun

Looks like rain. God knows, there’s been precious little of the stuff. After the rain. My bathroom today, fifty yards upstream of its date with the ocean, comes with fitted shower. Cold only; hot tap out of order. Not for … Read More »

Day eighteen

8 Jun

How I like to leave my home for the night. Nowt but flattened grass. This swanky box overlooked my night seventeen pitch. I didn’t like that but for an hour had seen nothing suitable: just a narrow path hemmed in … Read More »

Day seventeen

7 Jun

Wednesday begins with two ferry rides from Falmouth across the Fal estuary. The first is to St Mawes where, forty-four years ago, I was a hotel night porter. I was saving for a summer on the Greek islands. In the … Read More »

Days fifteen to sixteen

5 Jun

Didn’t do much on Monday, Day Fifteen. I’d meant to photograph Cath and Roger’s spread, its wonders not confined to dogs, cat or sheep. Didn’t get it together though, tired after Lands End to Mousehole followed by outdoor wine ‘n … Read More »