Category Archives: Explosives

Almost Picture Perfect in the Coniston Fells

Posted on December 9, 2014 by McFadzean

THIS is such a promising start. The early-morning sky is dark and clear; frost cakes windscreens and grass verges; the Lakeland peaks stand pale and ghostly at the head of the Duddon estuary. It is the perfect day for climbing … Continue reading →

Posted in Climbing, Environment, Explosives, Footpaths, Hiking, Industrial archaeology, Mountains, Quarrying, Slate quarries, Walking, Weather | Tagged , , , , , | 29 Comments

Faggergill: Out of the Fryingpan into the Mire

Posted on November 7, 2014 by McFadzean

BETWEEN Reeth and Tan Hill lies a land of strange names. It’s a country where wild open moors and grassy dales are neatly partitioned by walls built seemingly randomly, and generations of people have drifted through in search of shelter … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Belfast sinks, Bronze Age, Climbing, Cup and ring carvings, Environment, Explosives, Footpaths, Geology, Hiking, History, Industrial archaeology, Mountains, Railway goods wagons, Stone Circles, Tan Hill Inn, The Romans, Unemployment, Vikings, Walking | Tagged , , , , , | 31 Comments

Humber. Southeasterly Four. Moderate or Good. Rain later.

Posted on September 2, 2014 by McFadzean

SPURN Head is one of those places everyone has heard of but few can pinpoint on a map. When you’ve got your bearings it’s easy to find – but that could also be said of Kafia Kingi and Amelia Earhart. … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Camping, Environment, Explosives, Footpaths, Geology, Hiking, History, Industrial archaeology, Politics, Railways, Rivers, Ruins, Second World War, Shipping Forecast, South Gare, Teesside, Walking, Weather | Tagged , , | 47 Comments

Green Hurth: Where the Big Wheel Turns

Posted on August 5, 2014 by McFadzean

TODAY I have a mission. This is no ordinary walk into the Pennine hills. This is a voyage of discovery to a lonely place where ingenious and industrious men built wondrous machines. And ingenious men they certainly were. The Brunels, … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Environment, Explosives, Geology, Hiking, History, Industrial archaeology, Mountains, Ruins, Teesdale, Teesside, Walking, Waterwheels | Tagged , , , , , | 41 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

A Blackpowder Blast From the Past

Posted on February 26, 2013 by McFadzean

IUSED to blow up huge chunks of Cumbrian hillside for a living. I stopped doing it not through any regard for conservation or the environment, but because I’d noticed that none of my more senior colleagues ever reached retirement age … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Explosives, Geology, Hiking, History, Industrial archaeology, Mountains, Quarrying, Railway goods wagons, Ranting, Slate quarries, Walking | Tagged , , , | 27 Comments