Author Archives: BarryH

A sunset stroll

Posted on December 1, 2013 by BarryH

The weather forecast for Saturday in Old South Wales was for wall-to-wall sunshine. A real bonus after days of grey skies. As I struggled out of bed and the sun slipped over the ridge on the other side of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Autumn, Hiking, History, Landscape, Mountains, Pontypool, Wales | Tagged Blaenavon, Blaenavon World Heritage Site, Bus Pass, Bus Pass Britain, butter, Cardiff, Coity Mountain, eggs, Industrial Revolution, Old South Wales, Roath Farmers' Market, South Wales Valleys, sunrise, sunset, Wales, Whistle Inn | 3 Comments

Autumn colour in Grey Britain

Posted on November 26, 2013 by BarryH

Spring and summer were late arriving in Grey Britain this year, the growing season in the garden estimated to be about 3 weeks behind the usual annual pattern. Similarly Autumn has been late to arrive with trees holding their end-of-summer … Continue reading →

Posted in Autumn | Tagged acers, autumn, autumn colours, gardens, Heaton Mersey Pond, maples, mountain ash, Pontypool Park, seasons, silver birch, Trans Pennine Trail | 2 Comments

A walk to the pub

Posted on November 17, 2013 by BarryH

“What time do you call this?” Predictable response, given that I had arranged with friends to meet up for a pub lunch at 12.00 and arrived at 13.45. The thing is, I had decided to walk. My ‘local’ is thirty … Continue reading →

Posted in Autumn, Grey Britain, Hiking, Landscape, Monmouthshire, Mountains, Nature, Pontypool, Wales | Tagged Abergavenny, arson, brecon beacons national park, Foxhunter car park, fungi, Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal, Mynydd Garn Wen, paragliding, peat soil, Pontypool, Pontypool Folly Tower, pub lunch, The Blorenge, The Skirrid, The Sugar Loaf, Wales | Leave a comment

Writers in Wales in the sunshine

Posted on November 11, 2013 by BarryH

I spent the weekend in North Wales at Ty Newydd, the National Writers’ Centre for Wales near Cricieth on the Llyn Peninsula. I was there for a re-union of those on a course last year on travel writing. We gelled … Continue reading →

Posted in Autumn, Grey Britain, Hiking, Landscape, Reflections, Wales, Wildlife | Tagged cormorants, Cricieth, Llyn Peninsula, National Writers’ Centre, North Wales, sunrise, travel writing, Ty Newydd, Wales, Welsh Coast Path, writing | 10 Comments

Independence, risk and narrow escapes.

Posted on November 7, 2013 by BarryH

I was brought up in an area of Salford near Manchester described in a book by Robert Roberts called ‘The Classic Slum’, an appellation coined for it in the mid 19th Century by Friedrich Engels who had interests in cotton … Continue reading →

Posted in Hiking, Mountains, Reflections, Winter | Tagged Banff, canadian rockies, Classic Slum, Derbyshire Peak District, Friedrich Engels, hiking, narrow escapes, Peak District, potential dangers, providence of God, risk, risk assessment, Robert Roberts, snow, Sundance Canyon, teenager, trekking, walking | Leave a comment

A Really Wild Walk.

Posted on November 3, 2013 by BarryH

Saturday and the weather forecast for the end of the afternoon was for winds in this corner of South Wales comparable with those of St Jude Storm last weekend, wind speeds of 25 mph with gusts double that and heavy … Continue reading →

Posted in Grey Britain, Hiking, Landscape, Mountains, Pontypool, Wales | Tagged brecon beacons national park, hiking, horizontal rain, Mynydd Garn Wen, Pontypool, Pontypool Folly Tower, trekking, wild wind | 1 Comment

Going to extremes

Posted on October 31, 2013 by BarryH

It has been good to look back on my time in Greece during the summer, trekking in the mountains, swimming in the Aegean, warm sunshine …….. but life can’t be lived in the past. It’s time to refocus. I like … Continue reading →

Posted in Autumn, Grey Britain, Hiking, Landscape, Mountains, Wales | Tagged autumn, autumn colours, brecon beacons national park, Great Storm of 1987, mushrooms, Mynydd Garn Wen, St Jude Storm, Wales, waterfall country, waterfalls, winds | 2 Comments

Remembering

Posted on October 28, 2013 by BarryH

Never forgotten. Always missed x

Posted in Reflections | 3 Comments

Symi: history and the backbone of the island

Posted on October 24, 2013 by BarryH

Warning: This is a long walk ………. and it’s a long blog. Long, somewhat strenuous but not technically difficult, is the rewarding trek up to the main ridge on Symi and then along the spine of the island to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Greece, Hiking, History, Landscape, Mountains | Tagged Byzantine Stone Wine Presses, frescoes, Greece, heritage, hiking, kaldarimi, Megalos Sotiris, Ottoman Empire, Panagia Panaidhi, polar bear, sponge diving, Stavros Polemou, Symi, trekking, viniculture, walking guides, walks | 1 Comment

Symi: the island experience

Posted on October 16, 2013 by BarryH

I sometimes wonder whether islands which are connected to the ‘mainland’ are truly still islands. It’s complicated. When we went to the Isle of Skye BTB (Before The Bridge) it had an intrinsic separateness even though there was only a … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, Landscape, Mountains | Tagged Agios Emilianos, Agios Ioannis Theologos, Anglesey, causeways, donkeys, forest fire, Greece, Greek Islands, islands, islands of Britain, Isle of Skye, Lindisfarne, philoxenia, St Michael's Mount, Symi, tidal islands | 1 Comment