Category Archives: Reflections

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

Remembering

Posted on October 28, 2013 by BarryH

Never forgotten. Always missed x

Posted in Reflections | 3 Comments

Wild walks in Greece on hold

Posted on June 2, 2013 by BarryH

My diary for Sunday 2 June reads “16.35 Aegean Airways flight A3603, arrive Athens 22.10”. But I won’t be on it. This was to be the start of a 2 month trip around mountains, gorges and waterfalls in the Peloponnese. … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Grey Britain, Mountains, Reflections, Wales | Tagged Bible, Book of Proverbs, changed plans, Greece, Lake District, travelling by bus, Wales | 1 Comment

A Welsh Spring and clichés of violence

Posted on May 26, 2013 by BarryH

Back in Wales and spring has at last arrived. Before I left Arctic blasts whipped across the tops of the mountain ridges dumping snow and lowering temperatures so that buds stayed tight shut long past their usual seasonal opening time. … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Monmouthshire, Mountains, Pontypool, Reflections, Spring, Wales | Tagged apples, bees, black currants, bluebells, brecon beacons national park, bud burst, cliches, coat of paint, environmental triggers, explosion, fruit production, leaves, oak, oak trees, Pontypool Folly Tower, riot of colour, spring, temperatures, trees, violence, Wales, winds, wire fencing | Leave a comment

Kalymnos: last walk, last explosion

Posted on May 17, 2013 by BarryH

I was unusually apprehensive setting out for the mountains on Wednesday. Since I arrived in Greece towards the end of April the weather had been hot and sunny, more so than might be expected for early summer when it can … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Reflections | Tagged bombs, col, dodecanese, explosions, explosives, Greece, Italian Path, Kalymnos, mountains, Pothia, Profitis Ilias Kalymnos, sun lover, Vathys | Leave a comment

Easter in Greece: the joys of time travel

Posted on April 11, 2013 by BarryH

We had the last overnight frost Sunday-Monday but temperatures are still stuck in single figures. Wednesday evening we settled into a grey, wet weather pattern again. Dismal! Not surprising therefore that my thoughts are increasingly turning to the summer’s activities … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Grey Britain, Health and humour, Reflections | Tagged 1752, Easter, GPS, Gregorian Calendar, Julian Calendar, Kalymnos, leap seconds, Leap years, time travel | Leave a comment

Welsh Winter Walking: reflections on pioneering

Posted on April 5, 2013 by BarryH

Some years ago I was making tired but still rapid progress between High Spy and Catbells, the final leg of a non-stop 7-hour walk in the Lake District from Langdale to Keswick on the side of Derwent Water (for aficionados, … Continue reading →

Posted in Mountains, Pontypool, Reflections, Wales, Winter | Tagged brecon beacons national park, British Summer Time, Catbells, Coity Mountain, Exposure, first tracks, Garn Lakes, High Spy, Lake District, Maiden Moor, pioneering, snow, snow conditions, snow drifts, south wales coalfield | Leave a comment

Sport, politics, history: when the underdog gets revenge

Posted on March 19, 2013 by BarryH

I don’t watch sport of any kind either on TV or in the flesh. For a start I found that I was getting too-uptight but more importantly I decided a long time ago that I preferred to be doing something … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, Greece, Reflections, Wales | Tagged basketball, England, european cup soccer, history, ice hockey, politics, rugby, soccer, sport, underdogs, Wales, Welsh history, Welsh language, welsh rugby team, world basketball championship | 1 Comment

Deadlines and procrastination from uhtceare to lychnobios

Posted on February 24, 2013 by BarryH

Sometime ago I commented in my Ramblings on a book I was reading called ‘The Etymologicon’ by Mark Forsyth. For someone like me who is fascinated by the origins and obscure connexions of words it was a goldmine, and like … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Reflections | Tagged bus routes, deadlines, eleftheromania, freedom, lychnobios, Mark Forsyth, perendinate, procrastinate, The Horologicon, uhtceare, writing | 3 Comments

Vancouver on a sunny Sunday in February

Posted on February 12, 2013 by BarryH

A month skiing in the Rockies is at an end. My visit to Canada is nearly at an end. I had heard so many good things about Vancouver that I decided to spend a few days in the city before … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Canada, Reflections, Winter | Tagged Anglican church, Athens, Atthens, Burrard Street Bridge, church, False Creek, Granville Island, Granville Street Bridge, Inuckshuck, mountains, Pacific Ocean, scuplture, sea, Skytrain, sunrise, sunset, The Seawall, tower blocks, underground transit, Vancouver | Leave a comment