Doing it Yourself
Item posted: Friday 23rd January , 2009 A couple of weeks ago, in pursuit of Winter walking activity, I went out onto the Black Mountains as I often do and managed, even after all these years, to find a section of path that I had missed up until now. This revealed a hitherto unsuspected and very pretty little valley tucked behind Twmpa (Lord Hereford's Knob)which made for a very rewarding walk.
Fresh from this experience and whilst idly looking over our local OS map sheet (LR161)I spotted a feature just above Knighton (Tref y Clawdd) named as Hollywell Rocks. This looked quite interesting and I was able to construct (and in fact undertake this week)a walk of some 7.5 miles starting and finishing at the Offa's Dyke Centre almost entirely on Footpaths and Bridleways.
My point is that 'Doing it Yourself' in this way is surely a lot better and more rewarding than relying on published walks in magazines few if any of which are ever conveniently situated in your locality when you need them.
Some thoughts regarding gizmos
Item posted: Saturday 17th January , 2009 I guess that in a mild kind of way I am one of those geeky gadget lovers. I mean when walking on the hills (or in the valleys come to that) I always carry my small Digital Camera, my Mobile Phone and horror of horrors, my GPS. I also carry the relevant Ordnance Survey Map and a Compass which must always remain the real tools for the job. I can't, however, agree that the others should be left at home. Each has its value; the fact that you are carrying a phone doesn't in anyway infer that you are relying on it. After all if it doesn't work you are only in the same position as you would be in if you didn't have it and if it does work it could just save your or someone else's life. Further I have read recently (Bear Grylls in Feb 2009 Country Walking)that having a GPS makes '...our senses less aware' but I must say that such has not been my experience. I use a fairly basic Model ie. one without mapping capability and have found that the business of entering waypoints and then using the unit in conjunction with the proper map has actually heightened my awareness of the landscape and its features. A map, whilst being an essential tool, is of no value if you don't know your precise location on it when the fog descends and I would argue that anything that helps keep you in touch with it (the map)can only be a good thing.
Item posted: Wednesday 14th January , 2009
The Chartists
Item posted: Wednesday 14th January , 2009 Looking back through my own old news items I find that the first time I visited the Chartist Caves, high on the Mynydd Llangynidr plateau (SO126152), was back in October 2002. Since that day I have been there probably 8 or 10 times in the company of many different guests and on each occassion have been struck by the dedication and fortitude of the men who gathered there to prepare for action in support of their claims for sufferage. I have known all along that after their 'rebellion' in Newport they were accused of Treason with the result that some were transported to Tasmania in punishment for their Crime. During last Autumn Janet and I were fortunate to be holidaying in the antipodes and during a week in Tasmania paid a visit to Port Arthur where I was surprised and intrigued to pick up on the story from the other side of the world. There in one of the prison buildings was a display particulary featuring the members of the Chartist Movement who had arrived there to serve their sentence. No doubt in those days Port Arthur was a forbidding place but today it has a rather more gentle appeal than the bleakly beautiful mountains above the South Wales Valleys.
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