- BECAUSE THEY'RE THERE is about climbing mountains – nothing else. Well, actually, there are one or two other things. But it's mostly about climbing mountains. And fish and chips. And politics. And doing a bit of fell running. And wondering where the hell your life's gone – and where it might be going next. And cooking kippers in a wet tent. And people you bump into who do similar things. Actually, that last one doesn't happen very often . . .
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- Days like this, No 27: The Old Man of Hoy
- An Uneasy Night on Cerro de la Salchicha
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- Days Like This, No 26: Following Footsteps in France
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- In the Valley of the Toril
- The High and Mighty Mines of Lújar
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© Alen McFadzean and Because They’re There, 2009-2017. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Alen McFadzean and Because They’re There with appropriate and specific direction to the original content
Category Archives: History
Days like this, No 27: The Old Man of Hoy
ROBERT Louis Stevenson; John Buchan; Enid Blyton; Daniel Defoe; Jules Verne; William Golding; Arthur Ransome; CS Lewis: Jonathan Swift; RM Ballantyne. They had many things in common. But the link that draws this diverse scattering of authors into one archipelago … Continue reading
Posted in Archaeology, Camping, Childhood, Climbing, Environment, Hiking, History, Ruins, Second World War, Shipping Forecast, Vikings, Walking, Weather
Tagged outdoors, Scotland, transportation, Travel, WPLongform
23 Comments
Rivers and Rocks, Tracks and Tunnels
DAWN in a river valley. Ink-blue shadows beneath tall mountains. A chill in air that is perfectly still. Smell of piny trees and the sound of rushing water. Pin-pricks of red lights as a truck crosses the Seven-Eye Bridge. Day … Continue reading
Posted in Caving, Climbing, Environment, Footpaths, Geology, Hiking, History, Mountains, Rivers, Spanish Civil War, Walking
Tagged Alpujarra, Alpujarras, general francisco franco, Mining History, outdoors, Sierra Nevada, Spain, Travel, WPLongform
30 Comments
Of Mice, Men, Mountains and Motors
AS the celebrated Scottish poet Rabbie Burns scribbled in the year 1785: “The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft agley/an’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain for promis’d joy.” How true. In early July, amid the heat … Continue reading
Posted in Camping, Climbing, Hiking, History, Mountains, Poetry, Walking
Tagged Alpujarra, Alpujarras, outdoors, Scotland, Sierra Nevada, Spain, transportation
18 Comments
In the Valley of the Toril
PATHS. They begin at our door and run through our lives. They rise and buckle and lead us to unknown places. They appear in all guises: woodland paths; coastal paths; moorland paths; paths of righteousness; paths of destiny. Sometimes they … Continue reading
Posted in Climbing, Environment, Footpaths, Gerald Brenan, Hiking, History, Industrial archaeology, Mountains, Rivers, Ruins, Spanish Civil War, Threshing floors, Walking, Weather
Tagged Alpujarra, Alpujarras, general francisco franco, Munros, outdoors, Scotland, Sierra Nevada, Spain, The Munros, WPLongform
31 Comments
Forgive Them Their Trespasses?
IT’S a perfect spring morning in 1982. Arkengarthdale slumbers green and shadowy beneath a blue sky as we sit in damp grass and drink tea from tartan Thermos flasks. Nothing moves except the wind in the heather and the birds … Continue reading
Posted in Archaeology, Caving, Climbing, Country Land and Business Association, Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, Environment, Footpaths, Highland Clearances, Hiking, History, Hunting, Industrial archaeology, Mountains, Politics, Potholing, Ranting, Rivers, Walking
Tagged Cumbria, Lake District, Mining History, outdoors, Pennines, Scotland, Snowdonia, The Lakes, Wales, WPLongform
34 Comments
Days like This, No 22: An August Bank Holiday Secret
I HAVE resolved to leave my hiking boots in the back of the Mini Estate this August Bank Holiday and avoid the Lake District fells. The reason is simple. The roads will be crammed with Vauxhall Vivas, Morris 1300s, and … Continue reading
Posted in Butterflies, Childhood, Climbing, English language, Footpaths, Hiking, History, Life, Mountains, Traditions, Walking, Weather, Wildlife
Tagged Cumbria, Lake District, outdoors, Scotland, The Lakes
19 Comments
On a Whim to William Gill
WILLIAM GILL is an offshoot of Arkengarthdale in the northern Pennines and is the shallow valley leading to the source of Arkle Beck. It’s a place only the lonely visit because it’s right in the middle of one of those … Continue reading
Posted in Archaeology, Coal mining, English language, Environment, Footpaths, Geology, Hiking, History, horse gins, Industrial archaeology, Mountains, Pennine Way, Rivers, Ruins, Tan Hill Inn, Walking
Tagged Mining History, outdoors, Pennines, WPLongform
34 Comments
Gibbet Hill and Carlin Gill – That’s Entertainment
GIBBET Hill has history. Little more than a slope in the Tebay Gorge – which separates the Howgill Fells from the Lake District – it was the site where, in 1684, local villain William Smurthwaite’s body was left to rot … Continue reading
Posted in Archaeology, Climbing, Death, Environment, Footpaths, Hiking, History, Legends, Mountains, Rivers, Running, The Romans, Walking
Tagged Cumbria, Howgill Fells, Lake District, outdoors, The Lakes, transportation
29 Comments
Days Like This, No 15: Walking From Penrith to Ravenglass
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 Cumbria, Lake District, Mining History, outdoors, The Lakes, WPLongform
61 Comments
Arkengarthdale Moor and the Death of Sods Law
SOMETIMES when you walk through wild and lonely countryside you experience a creeping realisation that things haven’t always been the way they seem. The heathery moors to the west of Reeth, in the northern Pennines, are empty places except for … Continue reading
Posted in Coal mining, Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, Environment, Footpaths, Hiking, History, horse gins, Hunting, Industrial archaeology, Mountains, Pennine Way, Railways, Ranting, Ruins, Tan Hill Inn, Traditions, Walking, Weather
Tagged Cumbria, Mining History, outdoors, Pennines, WPLongform
45 Comments