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My Love of the Mountains
I first
became attracted to the world of mountains in the early sixties,
I was born in 1942 and when aged 18 went up to the Lake District
with my cousin Paul, we camped near Ambleside for the weekend and
the highlight of our trip was the ascent of Wansfell.
We then spent most free
weekends for several years exploring the fells in the Lake
District together with occasional visits to the Yorkshire Dales,
after this pressures of work meant that my walks dwindled and it
was not until my early forties that I rediscoverd my love of the
mountains
On my fortieth Birthday I
left home early one Saturday and drove to Snowdonia and climbed
Snowdon, a glorious day, sunshine and clear skies, this was the
start of of my renewed interest in Mountains and wild places- Since then I have
walked in many places in Britain and a few places in Europe. Its all a magical
world, the wind, the rain, the sun and the clouds. The flowers the birds and the
trees all have a beauty that we can all share.
2002
I live in Macclesfield with my
partner Christine who sometimes accompanies me on some of my walks, 60 years old
in October 2002.
In the run up to my birthday
I set myself some targets, I have achieved most of them including
Walking the West Highland Way
- April 2002
Climbed a 5000ft Peak in the Italian
Dolomites - June
Backpacking and spending the night
alone on the summit of a 2000ft mountain - Great Calva - July 2002
Completing all the Wainwrights
- October 2002
What haven't I done - Well I fancied a nice sea
voyage to the Scottish Islands- next year maybe
2003
I have already started climbing all the
2000ft peaks as listed in the book The Mountains of England and Wales
written by John and Anne Nuttall Volume 1 Wales
188 Mountain
Summits- All described in 49 separate walks - that should keep me busy for a
while, then there is Volume 2- the 2000ft summits of England
I was suprised to
find that there are some peaks that I had walked right past when doing the
Wainwrights, well I will just have to return to the Lakes and do those as
well, I don't need any encouragement.
Then there is the Tour de Mont Blanc,
part done in July 2003- see the TMB report.
2004
Completed the Tour Du Mont Blanc in July
2004 - what a trip and by the 12/09/04 I had completed 70 of the 2000ft peaks in
Wales, I climbed 3 Munros and a Corbett in Scotland and had various other walks
in Britain
2005
A few weekend backpacking trips in the
Lake, Numerous summits in Wales from the Nuttals Guidebook, A superb long
weekend on the Isle of Aran with the 40sWalkersNorth - Did not go to the Alps
this year but I intend to make up for that next year.
2006
A pretty good year
with many walks in the Lake District, Wales and the Peak District. The highlight
of the year was undoubtedly my trip to the Alps when I completed half of the
Walkers Haute Route from Chamonix to La Sage. Seven days of walking heaven. Hope
to complete the rest of the walk next year
2007
The completion of the Walkers Haute Route
from Chamonix to Zermatt was undoubtably the highlight of the year but there
were two other important events that I can look back on with pleasure. The first
was the completion of all the 2000ft summits in Wales as detailed in the Book
"The Mountains of England and Wales Volume One Wales"
The other important event was backpacking
from Corrour to Fort William with an overnight camp in a lonely glen, an
absolutely tremendous trip in glorious weather
2008
Still in the planning stage and now I
have reached 65 years and still working I want to make sure that I get plenty of
walking trips this year, I hope that one of the highlights will be a
backpacking trip across the Knoydart peninsula
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