Category Archives: Allotments

Not Everything is Black and White on Barningham Moor

Posted on November 27, 2014 by McFadzean

I DRIVE the rattly van to the top of Barningham Moor and it gets stuck in slithery grass while I’m trying to park. I stall the engine and can’t start it again because the starter motor jams. Mist rolls in … Continue reading →

Posted in Allotments, Archaeology, Bronze Age, Camping, Cup and ring carvings, Environment, Footpaths, Geology, Great North Road, Hiking, History, Industrial archaeology, Iron Age, Mountains, Shipping Forecast, Stone Circles, Teesdale, The Romans, Walking, Weather, York | Tagged , , , , | 47 Comments

Coniston Old Man – Backwards and Forwards

Posted on December 31, 2013 by McFadzean

WHEN I was a teenager I made a pledge to climb Coniston Old Man at least once every year because it was the first mountain I climbed and it was special. I also grew up within sight of its familiar … Continue reading →

Posted in Allotments, Caving, Childhood, Climbing, Environment, Hiking, History, Industrial archaeology, Life, Mountains, Newsquest, Northern Echo, Politics, Potholing, Redundancy, The Romans, Unemployment, Walking | Tagged , , , , , , , | 27 Comments

The Long Surrender: Brandy Bottle Incline

Posted on October 28, 2013 by McFadzean

THIS is an account of a short walk in the hills above Arkengarthdale – but it has a back story that begins in the early 1980s and involves a group of mine explorers and an elusive portal into the underworld … Continue reading →

Posted in Allotments, Archaeology, Caving, Environment, Geology, Hiking, History, horse gins, Industrial archaeology, Mountains, Potholing, Railway goods wagons, Recycling, Walking | Tagged , , , , | 28 Comments

A Pennine Trek, Part 1 – Moorland and Mustard Gas

Posted on September 12, 2013 by McFadzean

The first stage of a three-day walk from Bowes to Hexham . . . Continue reading →

Posted in Allotments, Camping, Charles Dickens, Climbing, Drove roads, Environment, Explosives, Footpaths, Hiking, History, Mountains, Northern Echo, Pennine Way, Running, Second World War, Walking, Writing | Tagged , , | 27 Comments

Sutton Bank, Witches and Featherless Geese

Posted on May 7, 2013 by McFadzean

A walk along the Cleveland Way from Sutton Bank . . . Continue reading →

Posted in Allotments, Bronze Age, Cleveland Way, Environment, Footpaths, Geology, Hiking, History, Iron Age, Legends, Walking | Tagged , , | 23 Comments

Madeira: The Royal Road to Ruin (Pico Grande . . . nearly)

Posted on November 16, 2011 by McFadzean

THIS is a tale of bewilderment and defeat in a strange and hostile environment. It started out like any other day in the mountains – one man with a cheery whistle and a bag of food. Then things deteriorated . … Continue reading →

Posted in Allotments, Climbing, Environment, Hiking, History, Mountains, Walking | Tagged | 12 Comments

Mount Keen, The Mounth, and a Pan of Polish Borscht

Posted on August 4, 2011 by McFadzean

Mountain climbed, you need good food to finish the day . . . Continue reading →

Posted in Allotments, Beetroot, Borscht, Climbing, Cookery, Cycling, Food, Hiking, History, Mountains, Walking | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments