Exploring and learning while out on outdoor adventures.
Exploring Belfast on foot After a summer holiday spent driving around Ulster with the kids, this time I was heading back to explore some of Belfast itself. The trip began with the train into Liverpool Lime Street. Before our ferry to Belfast, we had time for a quick meal at Liverpool ONE. The city was …
Continue reading “Ferry to Belfast: Walking Tours, Titanic Quarter and West Belfast Murals”
November always feels like an uncertain month for birdwatching. With the leaves thinning out you’d expect it to be easier to spot the birds that spent the summer hidden away in the foliage, although what actually turns up depends on whether the winter visitors have settled in and what is still passing through. On this …
Continue reading “Crossbill at Linacre Woods: A November Birdwatching Report from the Reservoirs”
Dresden The journey began in the familiar grey of a British winter, rolling steadily south by train towards Heathrow. We spent the night at the Holiday Inn Express at Terminal 4, a surprisingly calm pocket of comfort on the edge of one of the world’s busiest transport hubs. By morning, we were travellers again, setting …
Continue reading “Walking Through Dresden, Saxon Switzerland and Berlin”
Our London trip began with the typical dash to the train station, followed by a welcome bit of calm on the journey before the city buzz. After hopping off the train at St Pancras, we wandered just a few minutes to Camley Street Wildlife Reserve, a tiny green hideaway tucked between the railway lines and …
Late in October 2025, I found myself once again standing at the entrance to RSPB Fairburn Ings, camera and binoculars in hand. A year earlier, I had written about this place’s astonishing transformation from industrial wasteland to thriving wetland. Returning felt a little like visiting an old friend, familiar yet full of surprises. The morning …
It all started back in June with a message from my friend Dan: A quick check revealed the event was being held in Manchester, an easy trip from Sheffield, so the answer was clear. Even if I couldn’t make the whole event, I could still get over to lead a run! So yes, I was …
Continue reading “Manchester Sunrise Run: #DataFitClub on Tour at Data Decoded”
It started in the most ordinary of ways: the office slowly emptying, colleagues slipping away, the hum of computers powering down. I waited until the space had stilled, then quietly shouldered my rucksack and stepped out into the city night. Within the hour, I was on a train heading out of Sheffield and into the …
Continue reading “A Microadventure in the Peak District: From Office Desk to Dawn Light”
As usual, we roll in early, creeping down the last stretch of lane that falls away towards the Humber. The small car park by the disabled bays has only a handful of spaces and was already quite busy. As we headed off from the car, the reedbeds quickly came into view and beyond them, two …
There’s something special about London at dawn. The city is barely awake, the streets are quiet. While most of the 15,000 people heading to Big Data LDN are still stirring in their hotel rooms, a small group of us from the DataFitClub lace up our shoes and head into Hyde Park for what has become …
Continue reading “Sunrise Runs at Big Data LDN: A Tradition of Movement and Community”
Some of the finest scrambles in the Peak District are hidden in plain sight. Nether Red Brook is one of them. It’s marked clearly on the 1:25k OS Explorer, yet oddly absent from the BMC’s mountain map. A small oversight, considering this delightful gully is among the best hands-on routes in the Dark Peak. It …