Exploring and learning while out on outdoor adventures.
By the time our group gathered at RSPB Old Moor, the official weather warnings had passed, but the heat had not really got the message. It was, in theory, cooler than the day before. In practice, that seemed to mean only a few degrees lower, still close to 30°C, still heavy, still the kind of …
Continue reading “Reeds Above Coal: Finding New Life at Old Moor”
Sometimes the best adventures have to be squeezed into the gaps. The day had already been full of those practical and parenting things that can so easily take over life if you are not careful. Children dropped off and picked up from activities. Homework supported. Bags sorted. Bits of kit checked. All the small logistics …
Continue reading “Bikes, Byways and a Shortest Night Camp: A Father and Son Ride Through Derbyshire”
There is something deeply satisfying about an adventure that begins with public transport, a loaded rucksack and a late afternoon start. No long drive. No circular route designed only to return to the car. Just a line across the map, a campsite in the middle, and a train station waiting somewhere beyond the next day’s …
Sometimes the best adventures start with a very simple plan. Packing a bag, getting the bikes out and ride somewhere for ice cream. In our case my chosen ice cream destination was about 15km away, with a hill in the way, a tangle of Derbyshire lanes to negotiate and just enough unsurfaced track to make …
Continue reading “Derbyshire Gravel Ride: Stone Edge Chimney, Byways and Ice Cream at Rowsley”
Flash Lane, Darley Moor, Matlock22 and 25 May 2026 There are some wildlife encounters that stay with you long after the evening has faded, not just because of what you saw but because of the way the experience unfolded. This was one of those. What began as a slightly tired attempt to join a nightjar …
Continue reading “Nightjars at Flash Lane: A May Evening Wildlife Encounter to Remember”
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 …
There’s a rhythm to travel when you blend outdoor ritual with discovery: a morning run at sunrise, a pause for yoga, then the road unfurling towards castles, coastlines, and waterfalls. My few days in North Wales followed that rhythm, part adventure, part heritage trail, part mindful escape. Day One The trip began at Basecamp Wales. …
Continue reading “Legends, Castles, and Coastlines: A Road Trip Through North Wales”