Have fun at the Bushcraft Show 2012

Posted on January 13, 2012 by John Traynor

Look beyond January and the ‘back to work’ blues to a year of outdoor adventures, camping, hiking and exploring new places and activities; we’ve got the gear to help you turn dreams into reality. For instance, the Bushcraft Show 2012 (2-4 June) will be held at Elvaston Castle and Country Park in Derbyshire, opened in 1970 as one of the first country parks in England. The park encompasses approximately 200 acres of open parkland, woodland, lakes and more formal historic gardens. A nice big showground that is dry and level provides the perfect setting for the social area, classrooms, demonstrations, trade stands and field camping. Woodland areas bordering the showground provide woodland camping and the stage for woodland-based activities.

The organisers considered a number of locations around the country to find one that is easily accessible and allows access to the space, resources and facilities needed. A spokesperson said, “As bushcrafters, we all hold dear the desire to have an open fire, there are fewer and fewer sites in the UK that welcome this, also as you will remember from last year the ability to bring dogs along is often an issue with venues too.”

The Country Park has a bridleway, footpaths, cycle routes and a Nature Reserve with 6 bird hides, a wetland area, reedbed, heronry, butterfly area, dragonfly area, reptile basking area, newt pond and much more. The lake, not normally available for public access, will be at showgoers’ disposal for the weekend, fires will be permitted and this year, dogs will be welcome at the show. The park includes a children’s play area and, for those visitors who are members, a Caravan Club site, providing electric hook up facilities. Feedback from last year’s event showed that visitors wanted to arrive earlier and get settled before the show, so visitors can now arrive from 10am on the Friday in preparation for the show starting on Saturday 2nd June. There are some great activities and demonstrations planned with new features being added all the time. For instance, John ‘Lofty’ Wiseman, author of the SAS Survival Handbook, which started the survival movement in the UK, will be speaking on the main stage.
To book tickets, call 0333 4567 123 (option 0).
Website: www.thebushcraftshow.co.uk (being updated with new details).

Walk your way to better winter health

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Fiona

Walking just got even better. Most walkers will already vouch for a host of mental and physical benefits. Now new research has revealed just why walkers feel so darned good during the winter as well.

You see, there is a fine balance when it comes to being fit and warding off illness, especially common winter bugs, and enjoying a brisk daily walk is about the best balance you can achieve if you want to stay fit and healthy.

The study at Loughborough University found a link between too little exercise, moderate exercise, too much exercise and the body’s ability to see off common winter illnesses.

Exercise can have a positive and negative impact on health

Professor Mike Gleeson, who was in charge of the research, looked at exercise and upper-respiratory tract infections that affect the nose, throat and sinuses, and include the common cold, tonsillitis, sinusitis and flu.

The university study revealed that couch potatoes who do very little exercise are more likely to suffer an increase in cold-like symptoms and infections.

Meanwhile, people who participate in moderate exercise, such as a daily walk or jog, will benefit from enhancing the action of the body’s natural killer cells, which in turn can help to fight off viruses. Indeed, the cumulative effect of regular exercise will lead to a long-term improvement in immunity.

But for people who participate in very high energy and endurance activities the opposite can occur. It was found that exercising hard or for a long time in one session, such as training for and running a marathon, can actually leave you more vulnerable to illness.

Prof Gleeson was reported at the Association for Science Education conference as saying: “NK cells recognise viral-infected cells as foreign invaders and force them to commit suicide. During moderate exercise the activity of NK cells is enhanced…These changes are tightly regulated by stress hormones and other immune cells.”

He added that “exercise can have both a positive and negative effect on immune function, combined with genetics and other external factors like stress, poor nutrition and lack of sleep. Collectively these factors determine an individual’s susceptibility to infection”.

Professor Gleeson said: “Conversely, in periods following prolonged strenuous exercise, the likelihood of an individual becoming ill actually increases. In the weeks following a marathon, studies have reported a two to six-fold increase in the risk of developing an upper respiratory infection.”

So there are even more reasons to pull on your walking boots and outdoor clothing and head out every day for a brisk walk. Add a longer walk at the weekends just to keep your body and mind in tip-top condition. As the Prof concluded: “Moderate exercise has a positive effect on the immune system.”

A celebration of mountain culture in the Outdoor Capital of the UK

Posted on December 28, 2011 by John Traynor

The programme for the 2012 Fort William Mountain Festival will take place throughout Fort William and Lochaber from Wednesday 15 to Sunday 19 February 2012 – the adventure of the great outdoors, extreme expeditions, remote cultures, and the world’s last great wild places. The enthusiastic audience coming to Fort William for the 2012 festival will be inspired, energised and entertained by the diverse programme that promotes the mountains as an attractive, accessible and above all enjoyable place to be. It includes a superb line up of lectures from top climbers and mountaineers, mountain bikers and mountain filmmakers plus film screenings from cutting edge outdoor athletes and adventurers. The full details of the eleventh festival programme will not be announced until later in January. However, organisers have promised a five-day feast of lectures, film screenings and workshops for visitors who want to learn about and celebrate mountain culture and the true spirit of adventure during the best winter walking and climbing conditions of the year.

Programme highlights include:

Opening Night – a dinner at Nevis Range’s new Pinemarten Restaurant with a special musical performance from Mary Ann Kennedy who will perform a unique, contemporary piece called ‘Black Snows’.

Bike Night – an evening in the company of mountain bike legend Steve Peat and The Dudes of Hazzard; film screenings and Q & A sessions.

Mountaineering Night – a lecture from Bob Shepton, a highly experienced Arctic explorer. It follows his breathtaking sailing and big wall climbing expedition in Greenland. A screening of ‘The Long Hope’, a film by Paul Diffley featuring Dave MacLeod and his 1000ft ascent of St John’s Head on the Island of Hoy – in a day!

Climbing Night – lecture with the master of climbing Johnny Dawes. This is an unusual show involving unseen video, award winning film, writings, drawings and his notorious approach to communicating using metaphor and humour. What lies at the centre of genius and how to find it? Where does the limit lie? How will climbing involve art, rehabilitation, and invention? These are the subjects that a lifetime of pushing and pulling have left behind.

The Best of Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour Film Night – the most inspiring mountain films from around the world will once again be the festival hot ticket

There will also be plenty of opportunity for both novices and experts to hone their skills through inspirational workshops in mountain skills, avalanche awareness, winter walking and winter climbing in the Outdoor Capital; as well as both indoor climbing and ice climbing at Kinlochleven’s Ice Factor Indoor Climbing Centre.

The Fort William Mountain Festival Film Competition is open for entries. Budding outdoor and adventure filmmakers are invited to enter their mountain culture related work into the competition that champions outdoor adventure, breathtaking mountain landscape and the culture that surrounds it. Entries are open until 16 January 2012 and the winners will be announced during the festival in February. For full details of the film competition and entry details go to http://www.mountainfestival.co.uk/film-competition-2012/

To be kept up to date with the Fort William Mountain Festival programme go to – http://www.mountainfestival.co.uk/

Zip up (and down!) at the Outdoors Show!

Posted on December 19, 2011 by John Traynor

Go Ape, the Forest Adventure company (www.goape.co.uk), is bringing zip500, the longest indoor zip-wire to The Outdoors Show at London’s ExCel centre; at 500 feet long, the zip-wire runs the length of the show. If the monster zip is not enough, why not visit the Go Ape zone to experience the full range of activities that Go Ape provides for the outdoor adventurist across the UK? Go Ape! Forest Segways are a new adventure for 2011 and due to popular demand will be expanding to eight sites across the country in 2012. Try out the self-balancing, electric all-terrain Segways on the assembled course in Go Ape’s zone at The Outdoors Show and get a feel for how these fun and rugged machines would operate in their natural forest environment.

Find out more about

the new Go Ape! Tree Top Adventure at Trent Park, Enfield (Go Ape’s first London site)
the five new Go Ape! Forest Segway adventures launching in 2012
the recent launch in October 2011 of Go Ape’s first course for under-10 year olds, Go Ape! Tree Top Junior
Go Ape! Forest Biking
upgrades and extensions to some of the original Go Ape! Tree Top Adventure courses

Go Ape’s operations manager Richard Cooke will also be speaking each day on the ‘careers stage’, providing advice on anything to do with careers in the outdoors industry and at Go Ape. He will be taking to the ‘careers stage’ at the following times:

Thursday 12 January: 13.00- 13.20

Friday 13 January: 13.00 -13.20

Saturday 14 January: 12.20 – 12.40

Sunday 15 January: 12.40-13.00

Lake District million pound paths

Posted on November 18, 2011 by John Traynor

Two years after record-breaking floods caused havoc in Cumbria, the Lake District National Park has just spent its one millionth pound on repairing damage and restoring the rights of way network. After the floods, a survey indicated that some 253 bridges needed repairing or replacing to increase the resilience of the rights of way network in case of future flooding disasters. So far, 180 bridges have been repaired by local contractors under the supervision of national park teams.

“The unprecedented rainfall in November 2009 left a trail of destruction in dozens and dozens of locations all over the national park. There are still further repairs and improvements to be complete before the end of the project in March 2013,” said Paths for the Public Project Co-ordinator Dylan Jackman. More info about the National Park Authority’s work can be found at www.lakedistrict.gov.uk.

Meanwhile, volunteers who help maintain vital paths and access routes throughout the Lake District National Park are celebrating reaching an annual workload target for 2011 with two months to spare. The Fix-the-Fells ‘lengthsmen’ – who repair and maintain more than 100 identified Lake District paths – gave a promise at the start of the year to volunteer for 1,000 days of work during 2011. The National Trust ranger teams organise and lead work groups as well as residential weekends working on path repairs, pitching and training up on other skills; whilst volunteers organise their own drain runs. Sometimes, an entire valley of routes can be completed in one weekend. For further details, see www.fixthefells.co.uk.

Photos: Gale Bay bridge before and after.

Working for walkers and mountain bikers

Posted on November 11, 2011 by John Traynor

Walkers and cyclists heading for the summit of Ingleborough in the Yorkshire Dales National Park will find the going much easier – thanks to a massive donation from a local business which provided 140 tonnes of gritstone to reinforce a busy bridleway leading to the summit. Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority Area Ranger Steve Hastie then arranged to shift it in loads of almost one tonne in a hopper underneath a helicopter.

Steve said, “This is a busy path and needed a bit of TLC to keep it in good condition. The donation has enabled us to top-dress the path surface to complete restoration work that began last summer and the fact that the stone has been moved such a short distance is a real bonus.”

In 1986, the Institute for Terrestrial Ecology carried out a study of the condition of the path network in the Three Peaks area and concluded that the region had the sad distinction of possessing the most severely eroded network in the UK. The following year, the first Three Peaks Project was established by the YDNPA with a staff of 13. Its remit included trialling new path-engineering and re-vegetating techniques to provide sustainable routes and to allow damaged surrounding land to recover. The mid-90s and early 2000s saw a number of externally-funded projects completed, each with one or two extra staff appointed. However, since 2004, the management and maintenance of the Three Peaks network has reverted back to the YDNPA’s Rangers – a team of just two officers covering the whole of the wider Ribblesdale area.

The latest project aims to create a sustainable source of both practical and financial support that will help protect and enhance the area and the rights of way network into the future. Since its launch, many of the charities that regularly use the Three Peaks for sponsored events have volunteered to donate money towards the upkeep of the area.

The YDNPA has produced merchandise to celebrate walking one, two or all of the peaks and has launched the Friends of the Three Peaks, a group being set up to help support the Authority’s work in the area. Anyone can join by making a suggested minimum annual donation of £10. The Authority aims this year to have an events programme members can take part in, with activities like Area Ranger-guided walks and chances to do practical things like path maintenance. They will also be kept up to date with developments in the project through a newsletter. Anyone wanting to become a Friend can log on to the YDNPA website at www.yorkshiredales.org.uk/threepeaks and follow the pages to join online.

Photo credit: Hanson Aggregates

Inspiration for cyclists and walkers

Posted on November 4, 2011 by John Traynor

Planning a visit to cycle in the National Parks and AONBs of south west England has become a whole lot easier thanks to investment by the Rural Development Programme for England. The Adventure Cycle Map was launched by world class cyclist Andrei Burton at Princetown, Dartmoor. This new interactive map contains cycle legal off-road routes all over the south west of England, including both Dartmoor and Exmoor National Parks and the Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Whether you fancy a day out cycling with the family or a challenging cycling experience, this map has something for you.

Dave Dixon of South West Protected Landscapes has brought the project to fruition, working with the 1 South West Cycling Project. Dave said, “Cycling is a great way for people to get out and enjoy the south west’s breathing spaces and has a broad appeal. This online mapping allows us to provide lots of information such as photos and video, enabling people to choose trails that will suit their cycling ability. We want to help people have a great day out and keep coming back by providing information that helps them plan their trip with confidence.”
Bicycle shops, hire outlets and clubs can all be found on the map and cycle-friendly accommodation will be shown on the map soon. The information shown is of use to people planning horse-riding or walking trips as well as those planning to cycle. To encourage responsible use of trails, National Park and AONB staff can attach information to each individual trail such as indicating if a trail is prone to erosion in wet ground conditions or trails that will be busy and best avoided at peak visitor times. Visit www.1sw.org.uk and click on a link to the interactive map.
South West Protected Landscapes is the umbrella body for the 2 National Parks and 12 Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty across the south west. These protected areas cover 37% of the south west. South West Protected Landscapes provides a bridge between the separately-run protected landscape areas to assist and encourage them with sharing of knowledge and experience, promotion of learning, development of skills, co-ordination, joint working, strategic planning and promotion. Visit www.southwestprotectedlandscapes.org.uk (external link, opens new window).

Photo credit: Tolomea

Climb the height of Snowdon and Ben Nevis – in Surrey!

Posted on October 27, 2011 by John Traynor

Walkers can now climb the height of Snowdon and Ben Nevis combined without ever leaving Surrey, following the overhaul of a 100+mile trail*. The Greensand Way, nestled between the famous North and South Downs, fell into neglect over the past decade, making it difficult to follow in some areas. Dubbed one of Britain’s “best kept secrets”, it has now been given a new lease of life thanks to Surrey County Council and volunteers from the Ramblers who gave sections of the route an overhaul over the past 18 months. The trail, which stretches from Haslemere in Surrey to Hamstreet in Kent was cleared where it became overgrown and was re-routed along some sections. New signposts feature the eye-catching Leith Hill tower logo were added and old ones repaired which means ambitious hikers will now find it much easier to walk the entire length across the whole of Surrey and into Kent. The Greensand Way takes in some of Britain’s most breathtaking sites including the Devil’s Punchbowl in Hindhead and the Surrey Hills. It also passes through numerous sites of special scientific interest such as Leith Hill where a number of rare birds breed, including all three species of British woodpecker.

Tom Franklin, Chief Executive of the Ramblers (www.ramblers.org.uk), said, “I’m proud of our volunteers across the country who give up their free time to keep footpaths like this open for us all to enjoy. The Greensand Way is a wonderful walk through the Surrey and Kent countryside and I thank Surrey Ramblers and the council for their work in bringing this route back to its rightful splendour.”

The path travels over the Surrey hills of Hascombe, Pitch, Holmbury and Leith, before descending north into Dorking then Reigate and then entering Kent just beyond Limpsfield. For walkers who don’t fancy taking on the entire route, the path in Surrey, which stretches 55 miles, has been split into 10 sections ranging between three and seven miles each. A guide and maps are available for download at www.surreycc.gov.uk/greensandway

*The total elevation of the hills along the 55-mile Surrey section of the Greensand Way is 8,166ft.

Ironbridge Walking Festival has walks for all

Posted on October 21, 2011 by John Traynor

As Autumn turns to Winter, now’s a good time to look ahead to milder weather and plan for Spring 2012. Larger than ever before, the 2012 Ironbridge Gorge Walking Festival, which runs from Saturday 5th to Sunday 13^th May, features around 30 free guided walks covering a wide range of interests and abilities. These include some challenging full day outings in and around the glorious Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site as well as family adventures, historic trails and wildlife walks. The walks are graded into four levels of difficulty ranging from a gentle two-hour family treasure hunt up to a strenuous, 15 mile circular hike over the Wrekin, ideal for more experienced walkers happy with steep climbs and rough terrain.

New for the 2012 Olympic year is a 12 mile walk from the Toll House at Ironbridge into the historic town of Much Wenlock with a chance to visit the local museum and follow the Olympian Trail. The Much Wenlock Olympian Games, created by local surgeon Dr Penny Brookes in 1850, are said to be the inspiration behind today’s modern Olympic Games. Other new outings include two walks around the churches and chapels of the Severn Gorge; a circular trail taking in some of the heritage sites of the Gorge and an industrial look at the landscape above Coalbrookdale.

For the more adventurous there are also longer walks along the South Telford Heritage Trail and a circular tour of the Gorge to discover the history of the river bridges, making the festival both more challenging for the experienced walker, and interesting for those wanting to find out more about this beautiful area.

Other highlights include a ‘splendidly spooky’ stroll around a candlelit woodland trail for families, a guided bird walk around Devil’s Dingle with local ornithologist Glenn Bishton and a wildlife and environmental photography walk with technique and species advice. There are also all-ability outings suitable for wheelchair users and pushchairs with a commentary on the natural and cultural heritage.

All walks are free but with places limited to between 15-20 people, pre-booking is essential. To reserve a place or request a copy of the programme, contact the Ironbridge Visitor Information Centre by email at tic@ironbridge.org.uk or call 01952 433424; further info is available on www.visitironbridge.co.uk. Well-behaved dogs on a lead are welcome on most walks but check before booking.

Mountain Info app project now live

Posted on October 17, 2011 by John Traynor

Mountain Info App, a new initiative aimed at helping mountaineers and hill walkers improve their planning and to help them be better prepared for their mountain activities, has been launched. The project will see modern technology combined with good old fashioned on-the ground advice to improve the resources available to hill walkers and mountaineers. The aim is to reduce unnecessary and avoidable Mountain Rescue Call-Outs, while getting the right emergency assistance to those in real need as quickly as possible.

A large percentage of calls to Mountain Rescue involve people who are not injured but are simply lost, disorientated or have simply got out of their depth. This is especially true of the more popular mountain areas, such as Snowdon, and the central Lake District. Studies in Snowdonia National Park suggest that many of these calls come from young adult males from urban areas who have very limited mountaineering or hill skills and that with some basic information, simple planning and preparation, many such calls could be avoided. The same study also concluded that many of the calls to people injured in the more popular mountain areas come from people who have made simple navigational errors which have led to the accident.

This project is primarily aimed at providing access to simple and clear advice to this audience before they venture out on to the hills. Evidence suggests that this audience does a lot of their preparation from websites and other on-line sources (especially YouTube!), and that they lack really basic information such as accurate weather forecasts, understanding the topography of a mountain, and certainly do not have basic navigation skills. Occasionally things do go wrong and many people (including some experienced climbers and mountaineers) make the wrong decisions. Sometimes people get confused about which emergency service to contact.

The project is a three-pronged approach to providing better and clearer information to mountain and hill-goers, based on using modern technology and targeted information. Initially based on issues in Wales, the project is funded by the Welsh Government, through Sports Wales, and put together by a partnership of the BMC, Mountain Leader Training Wales, Plas y Brenin, the Met Office and Snowdonia National Park.

How does it work?

Specialised weather forecasts are provided by the Met Office for all the main mountain areas of the UK. However, how many people use these forecasts and how many actually understand what they mean, especially on the most popular mountain areas? So, to help people the following are available -

A series of five short video clips (two and a half minutes each) have been produced based on the BMC and Mountain Leader Training’s Hill Walking and Winter Essentials videos, and are available to view free on the Met Office website and also on the downloadable “app” that is a key part of this project. The video clips demonstrate how to prepare and plan for a day in the hills; simple navigation tips; emergency procedures; dealing with winter conditions and dealing with bad weather.
When winter conditions prevail, a new facility on the Met Office Snowdonia Mountain weather forecast will allow Snowdonia National Park Wardens to provide a daily ground conditions report, based on the snow conditions (including snow level, suggested equipment, freezing levels, etc.).
A free downloadable ‘app’ (at this time only available to iPhones) which has all the videos, a facility to take and send OS grid references, working from Google maps, an altimeter, a planning checklist, and an emergency procedures section. This app in particular is intended to reach the target audience of young urban males, who are IT savvy, to help them prepare for the their trips to the hills. However, it is not intended to be a substitute for basic skills or essential navigation equipment, but rather a timely reminder that those basic skills and equipment are essential.

Later in the year, as part of the project, it’s hoped that Snowdonia National Park will be able to provide fee Wi-Fi at key access points in Snowdonia, including Pen y Pass, where the app can be downloaded by mountain users.

More info on the app is available here; The videos can be viewed on the Met Office website and on Facebook

Remember, if you are unlucky enough to require emergency assistance in the hills or on inland crags, call 999 and ask for Police – Mountain Rescue, even if you are at a roadside crag as ambulance staff are not trained or equipped to go off road or scrambling up cliffs.

Photo: The view from Snowdon Summit; Credit: http://www.snowdonrailway.co.uk

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