Category Archives: Mountains

Trek tech: technology and mountain walking

Posted on December 18, 2013 by BarryH

I’m no techno-geek but nor am I a Luddite. Decades ago in the office where I worked, I was one of the first to embrace word processing, the first below director level to have a corporate e-mail address and correspond … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Grey Britain, Grumpy Old Men, Health and humour, Hiking, Mountains, new technology | Tagged frustration, GPS, Greek Island Walks, hiking, mobile phones, phone numbers, recycling, rock climbing, smart phones, Symi, trekking, walking guides | Leave a comment

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

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

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