Peak Rambler’s Ramblings, from one historic year to another

OK, so the title doesn’t quite depict walking, but then I haven’t been able to do much walking this last year.

So why; “from one historic year to another”?

Well, the preceding four years each following the events of the Great War, otherwise known as World War I, a hundred years earlier, 2018 saw commemorations to remember the centenary of the ending of the Great War, while this year, 3rd September, remembers eighty years ago the start of World War II was declared, where the then Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, declared war on Germany.

Neville Chamberlain

From this YouTube link, you can hear Neville Chamberlain’s speech declaring war on Germany.

How ironic, in the eightieth year marking the outbreak of WWII, and as a nation we’re trying to negotiate a withdrawal agreement from the EU, which was initially set up shortly after WWII to help three small countries hard hit by the devastation of WWII, to trade freely.

I’m not going to get into any political debates, so as far as Britain leaving the EU is concerned, there will be nothing more said, apart from a very small bit of potted history.

The potted history starts with three countries; Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg, forming the BE-NE-LUX Countries, the birth of the European Union we know today. You can read more clicking HERE to read about the BENELUX Countries.


Obviously, they weren’t the only three countries impacted with the horrific devastation of WWII, as we know, being a World War, virtually no country or island escaped unscathed.

I think that’s enough history for now, the next five years plus will see many moments where various 80th anniversary commemorations of events during WWII will take place.

From my perspective, what of 2019?
It’s been an uninteresting year personally, no milestone events.

Apart from being a bit of a washout of a year, weatherwise, the year started off normally, well, nothing specific, I just plodded on, where and whenever possible, getting out and taking yet more photos of landscapes and wildlife.

Perhaps one of the most notable early photographic moments for me, was a trip to North Wales during February. There was a covering of snow in Snowdonia, so it was a must to take a drive to Llyn Mymbyr and photograph the Snowdon Massif in her winter coat.

I wasn’t alone, quite a few photographers had the same idea.

The Snowdon Massif from across Llyn Mymbyr
Not too far from there, was the Glyderau, so it just had to be done, to photograph them from low down. Glyder Fawr, Glyder Fach, Tryfan, Y Garn and Pen yr ole Wen (but I didn’t, nor would I have attempted to see the Devils Kitchen) all looking good in their winter coats, photographed from Ogwen Cottage area.

Using long exposure, I was able to get the silky water effect on Afon Idwal flowing below me.

For those wondering, long exposure is achieved by placing the camera, a Digital Single Lens Reflex camera,(DSLR) on a tripod to avoid camera shake, along with a remote shutter release, a device to active the camera either wirelessly or a long wire to avoid moving the camera while activating the shutter, and leaving the camera for a few seconds to achieve the silky effect.

This part was quite emotional for me, having ascended Pen yr ole Wen using ice axe and crampons, but not being able to do it again, nor make an attempt at the others mentioned.

Those photos were worth taking and can be viewed in my February 2019 Album.

Looking up Afon Idwal towards Y Garn,
using Long Exposure to get a silky flow effect

March was pretty much the same, more photo shoots of landscape and wildlife, and being the start of spring, many birds were starting to build or repair nests, which provided some great photo opportunities.

Not just the birds nest building, but the flowers were starting to appear, even though snowdrops and crocuses had already flowered as they always do during February.

One place I always like to grab a springtime photo is St Michael’s Church, Baddesely Clinton, where the daffodil display is second to none in my opinion.

The daffodils by St Michael's Church, Baddesley Clinton


Around this time, I was getting extremely frustrated at walking with crutches, so I tried to walk without. It was very painful, and a total failure in my book.

A planned process of walking with a stick rather than straight to nothing was pursued, and again, I felt failure was on the cards. Afterall, as I publish this, it is almost five years (February 2015) since the accident.

I was, I still am (and always will be), missing the hills and moors big time and while I have fabulous memories and I’ve walked, and camped, with lots of fabulous people, it wasn’t enough.

Greedy?

We all need goals to aspire to, that’s what keeps us going and moving forward.

I set myself a goal, to complete a very short walk in the Peak District; ASAP.

It had to be a short walk, so if things went wrong, help or safety wasn’t far away, but more importantly, I was able to complete the walk under my own steam, not with assistance.

I had a choice of places, Dovedale would probably be one of the best ones, plenty of people around if I need support, easy paths and access, and a dale I’ve not visited for decades.

My heart was set on an old favourite; Stanton Moor, a place where I’ve wandered since a child, know inside out, back to front and upside down. It has perfect access, close to a road and safety, good phone coverage, but for one thing, the ground is too uneven for me at this stage, I’ve only ever walked level paths with plenty of stopping places.

So a bit of head scratching ensured.

Where could I go to get the views, enjoy safely a short walk with an incline and uneven ground?

I could think of many places, but none meeting what really was a safe criteria, and I wasn’t going to become a rescue statistic when I know better.

So, for the ongoing and inbetween bits, I’ve continued to visit various nature reserves and pursue my photography, which I enjoyed while out on the hills and moors, not just for the exercise, but to maintain a purpose in my leisure time, and those photos are online for all to view.

While these reserves haven’t given me the solitude that the hills and moors gave, they do get me away from the urban sprawl.

I doubt I’ll ever get back to the hills and moors, ever sensibly and safely, like I used to enjoy. My foot will not fit into my walking boots, and if I went a size up, my leg will not fit comfortably into them, sensible trousers are another issue, again they’re not an option, my leg will not fit into comfortably suitable trousers all because it still swells due to the secondary lymphedema.

The distances to attain are not guaranteed, and as we all know, once you’ve walked out there, you’ve got to get back, safely!

And I certainly have NO intentions to become a Mountain Rescue statistic!

However, I did manage a short wander to Arbor Low Henge during April, my first wander in the Peak District since the accident back in February 2015.

Arbor Low Henge

I’ll not get into the climate change debate, but as someone who has spent as much time outdoors as possible, as man and boy, working on farms during my teenaged years, listening and learning from these people, who had no written qualifications, what they knew was passed from father to son, and to my mind, very valuable life experiences, I learned a lot of folklore around weather, what signs to look for and much more, which have been invaluable in my days outdoors.

Early this year, I said to quite a few work colleagues, this year would be wetter than normal, because that often happens after a dry hot year, and for those who can remember, 1977 was wet after the hot summer of 1976.

And what has ensued?

I’ve digressed back to the personal events 2019.

I had been looking at the possibility of upgrading my Canon 750D DSLR, particularly as there had been rumours of an upgrade to the Canon 7D MkII DSLR. However, subsequent rumours suggested the upgrade may not be all as initially thought, so I started to look more deeply at other options.

After reviewing my lenses, decision was made to push the boat out, afterall, I wasn’t buying any new outdoor kit, I’ve more than enough to keep me going, and a lot that will never be used (some new, some very much as new), so I purchased the Canon 5D MkIV, a professional camera which will work with the two lenses I use a lot, out of three lenses, a third which really is collecting dust.

Also, with the factory summer shutdown due, I decided these two weeks would be ideal to push myself, break the pain barrier as much as I can, and progress from crutches to an NHS walking stick.

Oh, and play with my new camera, which of course I did.

It was hard, but the transition was made and the long week in North Wales was the ideal time to pursue that progress.

While staying in North Wales for a long week of chilling out and seeing family, as always when I’m around there, I made a visit or two to the RSPB Reserve at Conwy, and usually, I’ll make a trip down the Conwy Valley to visit or view the Snowdon Massif and around the Glyders and Ogwen Valley.

However, because the Eisteddfod 2019 was to be held in Llanrwst, and with the roads being narrow through the village, it was deemed best to give it a miss this time.

Llanwrst, host of the 2019 Eisteddfod


I went a little OTT with taking photographs, but I needed to try out my new camera, and very satisfying it was.

The return to work saw me using the walking stick and not crutches, though they were at hand in the car should I need them

By now, we were well into August, the weather was questionable, as it often is, and my desire to get onto Stanton Moor was getting too strong, but the weather need to be right.

Pre-accident, (sensibly so)I’d have been out, but these days, rain, hail or snow, I have to consider my current situation, so the plans were aborted until such a time everything was right.

I erred on the side of caution, but after seeing some photos of folk out that weekend, my gut feeling I was right, which was frustrating, but nice to see the photos.

I did manage to get on to Stanton Moor during the August Bank Holiday, but it wasn’t without its repercussions.

The end of October 2019, saw twelve months without any relapses with embolisms, which have hampered my progress, not just physically, but mentally as well.

Embolisms are basically blood clots in the pulmonary arteries to the lungs, mine were caused as a result of the surgery I had, and were termed ‘provoked embolisms’, caused through surgery rather than health issues.

You can read more on embolisms from either Pulmonary Embolism (NHS) or Pulmonary Embolism (Wikipedia).

The problem being, I attempt to make progress, then sometime after, I end up in hospital with yet another embolism hampering my activities.

It had a big negative impact on my progress, I feared going anywhere and then ending up in hospital or otherwise….

Fingers crossed, that is behind me now. However, one thing that isn’t behind me, is the fact that I can’t plan too far in advance, very often I don’t know until the day, whether my leg is up to covering any distance or not. It’s worse than planning around the weather!

Also, the end of October, my wife and I went to visit family in North Wales, again, and apart from enjoying a relaxing time with family, visiting the RSPB Reserve at Conwy, and also another reserve I’d been informed of, The Spinnies at Aberogwen.

Well, beginners luck or not, it is a lovely little nature reserve, and after years of trying to get a photo of a kingfisher, I not only managed to achieve that, but also a kingfisher in flight (click HERE to view a photo)!

The kingfisher at The Spinnies

Once the rain had subsided the following morning, I fancied another trip to The Spinnies at Aberogwen, on the off-chance of seeing a kingfisher again, but as luck had it, no kingfisher was to be seen.

But, my trip was heavily rewarded, for a heron flew in just as I got into one of the hides, and was transfixed on something in the water. Its long beak quickly dived into the water, and out it came, complete with an eel!

Yes, I was surprised, and also caught on the hop, my camera wasn’t set up for that, though I did manage to get some half decent photos of the heron complete with eel!


A grey heron taking away its trophy, an eel for lunch

The full set of photos can be viewed in my November 2019 Album.

Wet Weather and Wet Weather Gear!
A recent observation, is wet weather, wet clothes, can often cause the grafted skin area of my leg to ulcerate, sometimes a lot, sometimes not much.

What actually causes it to ulcerate is a mystery, but most likely down to friction on the extensive skin grafts I had when the hospital reconstructed my leg.

To most normal people, when it rains, or there’s a threat of wet weather, you make sure you have waterproof trousers. That isn’t an option for me, because the leg width isn’t wide enough to accommodate my leg, especially when it swells up!

I have, and I still am, trying different brands as I come across them, but sadly, they don’t accommodate my leg

I those of you who read this blog do drive sensibly, but a far greater number don’t, cocooned in their little protective shell, air-conditioned, boundless safety features that protect them and their passengers. However, that is not the case for pedestrians, cyclists, or horse riders!

Too many drivers have no ability to think about other road users, just themselves and how well their little world moves effortlessly.

I’ve worked in the automotive business virtually all my working life, and I’ve seen lots of changes, many of the better, some, I’m not so sure about.

When I started working as a trainee mechanic, there were a lot of innovative safety ideas to make vehicles safer, not just for the driver and occupants, but other road users. Things like a bar at the front of a car that raises if a pedestrian is hit and stops the pedestrian falling back on the road, theoretically reducing the risk of further injury.

There were sloped bonnets to reduce the damage caused, removal of raised radiator badges, like the Jaguar Leaper (Mercedes could retain their three point star, only if it sufficiently retracted and didn’t cause any injury).

I’ve deliberately digressed, to provide a bit of potted history.

However, my mentor, a superb guy, a gentle giant, what he didn’t know about cars back then, wasn’t worth thinking about, made this statement:
“The best safety feature they could put in any vehicle, is a rusty six inch nail in the centre of the steering wheel!”

It might sound gruesome, but think about it, if you had such a thing pointing at your throat, it would make you think more about how you drive….

During this year, there has been a lot of talk about mental well being, something that has been swept under the carpet for too long in this country.

I’ve had my moments, and as this is published, I still do have my moments, though I try to progress forward, and hope not to burden anyone with these, though I do feel for my wife, who all too often is around when out of frustration I have tantrums, along with the alternative thoughts that regularly pass through my mind.

The summary for 2019:

For the inbetween bits, I’ve continued to visit various nature reserves and pursue my photography, which I enjoyed while out on the hills and moors, not just for the exercise, but to maintain a purpose in my leisure time, and those photos are online for all to view.

While these reserves haven’t given me the solitude that the hills and moors gave, they do get me away from the urban sprawl.

I doubt I’ll ever get back to the hills and moors, ever sensibly and safely, like I used to enjoy. My leg will not fit into comfortably suitable trousers, and the distances to attain are not guaranteed, and as we all know, once you’ve walked out there, you’ve got to get back, safely!

And I certainly have NO intentions to become a Mountain Rescue statistic!

Before I close, this year hasn’t been the success I’d have hoped. I had good intentions of maintaining this blog no matter what my abilities turned out to be.

However, I’m still struggling to accept my circumstances, both physically and mentally. I feel things are too negative, and as a result, I’m considering where the blog should be heading.

 I still yearn for the hills and moors I used to enjoy.

Finally, happy rambling and thank you for reading,
Peak Rambler
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