Category Archives: Food

Days Like This, No 17: Sleeping Giants of Assynt

Posted on March 30, 2015 by McFadzean

CONIVAL and Ben More Assynt are mountains with majesty. I read an article a long time ago about these northern giants glimpsed in the rays of the setting sun, and the quartzite stones on their summits glowing golden in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Beer, Camping, Climbing, Environment, Fish and chips, Food, Hiking, Mountains, Walking, Weather | Tagged , , , , | 51 Comments

Days Like This, No 15: Walking From Penrith to Ravenglass

Posted on February 27, 2015 by McFadzean

Backpacking through the Lakes on Vesta Beef Curry in 1978 . . . Continue reading →

Posted in Beer, Camping, Climbing, English language, Environment, Food, Hiking, History, Life, Mountains, Politics, Ranting, The Romans, Traditions, Walking, Weather, William Wordsworth | Tagged , , , , , | 61 Comments

South Gare in the Eye of the Beholder

Posted on October 14, 2014 by McFadzean

SOMETIMES ugly landscapes can be inspiring. I was going to say beautiful, but I hesitated and typed inspiring instead. I might reconsider before the end of the post because South Gare is a landscape that should be protected. It’s one … Continue reading →

Posted in Childhood, Environment, Food, History, Industrial archaeology, Life, Politics, Ranting, Rivers, Ruins, Second World War, South Gare, Teesside, Traditions, Walking | Tagged , | 32 Comments

Blaenavon – How Serene is My Valley

Posted on October 10, 2013 by McFadzean

TODAY unfolds back to front. It begins with ancient history, progresses to sausages, peas and chips with gravy, and terminates in a breezy walk in the mist. That isn’t how it was planned. The original intention was an exhilarating ramble … Continue reading →

Posted in Belfast sinks, Environment, Food, Hiking, History, Industrial archaeology, Life, Mountains, Offa's Dyke, Politics, Railway goods wagons, Railways, Ranting, Recycling, Walking | Tagged , , , , , | 12 Comments

In the Footsteps of Offa

Posted on October 2, 2013 by McFadzean

CALL me a romantic, but occasionally I have been known to throw a load of camping gear in the back of the car and head off – on the spur of the moment – towards unknown mountains, with neither care … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Camping, Climbing, Cookery, Environment, Food, Footpaths, Hiking, History, Legends, Mountains, Music, Offa's Dyke, Religion, Walking | Tagged , , , | 22 Comments

Slieve Muck, Moal Chobha’s Fort, Veering, Visibility Good

Posted on July 5, 2013 by McFadzean

McEff is again let loose in the Mourne mountains . . . Continue reading →

Posted in Climbing, Cookery, Environment, Food, Hiking, Mountains, Mourne Wall, Shipping Forecast, Walking, Writing | Tagged , , , | 23 Comments

Above Bethesda – Ancient and Modern

Posted on June 10, 2013 by McFadzean

TO the south-west of Bethesda an open moor rises towards the clouded heights of Elider Fawr and Mynedd Perfedd. It’s a wild place dotted with occasional ruins and sheepfolds and crossed by indistinct trackways . . .

Posted in Archaeology, Climbing, Environment, Food, Geology, Hiking, History, Industrial archaeology, Mountains, Quarrying, Religion, Scotch pies, Slate quarries, Walking | Tagged , , , | 23 Comments

London 5: Butchers, Saints and Sinners

Posted on April 17, 2013 by McFadzean

BLOWN on a thin wind around a corner from the Barbican tube station past a private park surrounded by private railings to a place where knights once jousted on a meadow called the Smooth Field – which was situated just … Continue reading →

Posted in Beer, Cookery, Death, Environment, Food, History, Life, Pigeons, Politics, Religion, Walking, Writing | Tagged | 14 Comments

London 3: A Cold Wet Walk for Pie and Mash

Posted on April 3, 2013 by McFadzean

THE worst weather is wet snow. It saps the spirit and soaks through to the shoulders. When it whips off a river on an easterly wind it stings and sucks life from fingers and feet. Just as well we’re searching … Continue reading →

Posted in Beer, Environment, Food, History, Life, Ranting, Religion, Walking, Writing | Tagged | 10 Comments

In Praise of Scotch Pies and Carn á Chlamain

Posted on August 22, 2012 by McFadzean

A man needs sustenance in the mountains. There is nothing finer than a Scotch pie . . . Continue reading →

Posted in Climbing, Cookery, Cycling, Food, Highland Clearances, Hiking, Mountains, Scotch pies, Walking | Tagged , , , , | 31 Comments

London 2: Casting Bells, Fighting Fascism, Hanging Pirates

Posted on April 10, 2012 by McFadzean

A walk through the East End in search of the unusual – and a good pint . . . Continue reading →

Posted in Battle of Cable Street, Beer, Food, Hiking, History, Industrial archaeology, Politics, Prospect of Whitby, Ranting, Walking | Tagged , , | 19 Comments

Madeira: So Let Me Get Right to the Point . . .

Posted on November 1, 2011 by McFadzean

A clifftop path through some of the most spectacular coastal scenery in the world . . . Continue reading →

Posted in Cookery, Environment, Food, Geology, Hiking, Mountains, Walking | Tagged , | 16 Comments