Category Archives: Hiking

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

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

Symi: a gorgeous walk

Posted on October 12, 2013 by BarryH

Normally I’m obsessive about tidying up behind me. Food shopping gets put in the cupboard or fridge as soon as I walk in through the door. Clothes get folded or hung as I take them off. But I hate unpacking … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, Landscape, Mountains | Tagged Agia Paraskevi, Agios Vasilios, dehydration, gorges, Greece, hiking, kalderimi, rock climbing, Symi, trekking, unpacking, Vasilios Gorge, walking guides, walks | 4 Comments

Symi: below the surface

Posted on October 6, 2013 by BarryH

It has always struck me as odd that Symi, an island made up almost entirely of limestone, has no cave systems, or at least none that I could find out about. The ‘Round-the-Island’ boat trips advertised from the harbour offers … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, Landscape, Mountains, Nature | Tagged aquifers, calcite, cave systems, caves, freshwater springs, Greece, limestone, Otter Hole, Peak Disitrict, speliology, Swildon's Hole, Symi, Zoodohou Pighis | 5 Comments

Symi: going off-piste

Posted on October 2, 2013 by BarryH

The top of Vigla, the highest mountain on Symi, is always a little disappointing. There is a whole array of telecommunication masts on the adjoining peak, with a road for their construction and maintenance bulldozed on the south side. A … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, Landscape, Mountains | Tagged abandoned village, Aegean Sea, crags, goat paths, Greece, hiking, limestone crags, off-piste, Pedi Bay, rocks, rocky gullies, swimming, Symi, Symi harbour, treks, Vigla | Leave a comment