Exploring and learning while out on outdoor adventures.
There is always a temptation with a nature challenge to think that every day needs to produce something extraordinary. A rare bird. A dramatic landscape. A long walk across the hills. Perhaps an encounter worthy of a wildlife documentary. But that was not really why I decided to take part in 30 Days Wild. For …
Continue reading “Everyday Nature Wildlife Trust 30 Days Wild”
There is a particular moment in a mountain navigation event when you turn away from the line everyone else seems to be following and head off on your own. For a few seconds, doubt creeps in. Have they spotted something you missed? Would it be easier simply to follow? Then you return to the map, …
Continue reading “Two days navigating the Saunders Lakeland Mountain Marathon with my teenage son”
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”