knobbly stick

The snow is going and a bit of a moan...

2009-02-25T07:27:00.000-08:00

An interesting few days to start off February. We finally had some of the snow that the rest of the country had experienced, John had a trip "dahn south," we finally got on the fells with our first walker of the year, and we showed an Irish journalist around Loughrigg Terrace and Grasmere.

Yes, it finally snowed here, but little sign of panic, although schools closed briefly, and pavements got a bit slippery early in the morning. A few accidents on the fells - you really have to well equipped in icy weather, and have some experience before venturing out in snow. Sure it looks great, but snow comes in several forms from the harmlessly picturesque to the icy and downright lethal, especially when it has been lying for a while. Anyway, now it has almost disappeared completely, and the temperature seems to be going up.

John had a trip down the "smoke" - and survived. He is perplexed as to why London seems to have pubs with no beer, often called "cocktail bars" and shunned these rigorously, although there does, on the other hand, seem to be plenty of places where a decent pint can be bought, albeit at sometimes eye-watering prices. His trip ended up with a 3.5 mile road walk across the Bedfordshire countryside carrying a curry as we couldn't get a taxi home. Good training though, and it worked up an appetite for cold curry!

He also had a trip through the Dales on the drive back to Kendal, and it was good to chat to the charming people who will be putting up our Dales Way self-guided walkers this year, not to mention an excellent sausage sandwich from the stall in the car park at Burnsall.

Meanwhile, Pete had been out on the Lakeland fells with our first guided walker of the year. We had 3 good days walking not too far from Ambleside where she was staying. Pete took her up Wetherlam, we had a day on Helm Crag, Calf Crag and Steel Fell (see below) and John took her up Fairfield, where we had a lovely morning in spectacular broken cloud.

Moan...whilst we were out on the Calf Crag, which is quite a confusing area, we came across 2 charming ladies with a map and route notes that they had acquired somewhere which were totally inadequate. They really didn't have a clue where they were. Now, obviously, we are biased here, as our living depends on offering a service to walkers so they don't get lost - either by guiding them ourselves, or by providing packs with maps, route notes etc. so that people can approach a day put in the fells with some confidence. As it happened, the weather was clear, and the ladies found sympathetic people on the way who could point them in the right direction...we dread to think what would have happened in poor weather, as they simply wouldn't have been able to find anyone at all, unless they were very lucky. Please, if you come walking in the hills, either learn how to use a map and compass (or GPS), acquire a decent set of maps, or, alternatively, get in touch with us (or someone else who knows what they are doing) and we'll sort you out with what you need in terms of recommended routes, maps, route notes etc.

Enough moaning. It's always great to be able to show people our part of the world, and to give them some idea of what it has to offer. We spent yesterday morning with Collette Devlin from the Irish Independent, so if you have access to it, look out for us somewhere in the Travel section - we may get a mention - you never know. Sadly, we didn't have too long with Collette, but the Lakes put on one of its misty, moody mornings, which are just as attractive as bright sunshine. Maybe she'll come back again and we'll be able to take her on a longer and higher walk.

We wonder whether winter may be over now. The fells are quite dry for this time of year, but you never know what will happen in March. Don't forget to get in touch if you need a brochure, or if you fancy one of our self-guided or RTL (Routes less Travelled) guided holidays.

Nearly the end of January!

2009-01-30T09:06:00.000-08:00

Nearly the end of the week, and what a busy one it has been. Booking up self guided holidays, a bit of reccying, a new website up and running and writing a new newsletter - yet to appear, but coming soon.

Highlight was going out on Wednesday, doing a bit of the Dales Way - see photo above. A beautiful winter's day, with a bit of mist to start with, but turning out quite warm in the end. the ground is sodden (no, not soddin' anything...) and one of us took a dip from some stepping stones, but no harm done.

Look out for the newsletter, and there will also be some new pictures on the gallery on the website soon.

If you're walking this weekend, have a good one. In fact, have a good weekend whatever you're doing. For us, it could just be the Burns Night we neglected to celebrate last week in favour of the Chinese New Year. Och aye and all that - apologies to our friends north of the border....

Happy Chinese New Year

2009-01-26T09:52:00.000-08:00

Happy Year of the Ox! Statistically, a large number of people reading this should be Chinese, so it's just as well that we at Knobbly Stick are really multi-cultural. What's more we did celebrate the start of the Year of the Ox in fine style. By the way, did you know that anyone born in the Year of the Ox should wear some kind of red garment to ward off bad luck - red underwear is particularly effective, and, as year of the Ox - ers, we both look particularly fetching in ours, although the writer can only speak for himself of course!

The last blog attracted the usual avalanche of comments, but we'll resist an attempt to be controversial in order to attract more. As usual, we've been busy - redecorating and doing some gardening, and even tidying up the Knobbly Stick nerve centres, as well as the more serious business of getting the website up and running - it should appear around midnight on 26th/27th January - and of writing a new newsletter. It's not online yet, so don't go rushing off, but it contains valuable information and advice about all sorts of walking related matters. At the time of writing, it's at the proof reading stage, but we'll let you know by email when it appears. Can't wait??? Sorry, you'll just have to - you'll enjoy it all the more. The other thing has been booking people on to the Dales Way and the Cumbria Way, ready for their summer expeditions. More about that on the newsletter, so we won't repeat it here.

Current Lake District conditions - a bit of snow still on the fells, but it can be avoided except on the highest fells. Not really too inviting at the moment, and you need an early start at this time of year to get anywhere, but the upside is that a bright day in winter really is spectacular, and well worth waiting for. Here's hoping!

Keeping up our New Year's resolution

2009-01-04T09:12:00.000-08:00

It's been 2 days since our last addition. Since then we have had zero comments on our previous effort, and we've also sent out a notification that the brochure is now on the website.

This second initiative has been more productive, in that we've had a number of requests for a brochure as people have failed to open it on their systems; we don't think it's a problem with the brochure, but if you think it is, please let us know. It might also be handy if people let us know that they've been able to open the brochure without any problem...We're really quite proud of our efforts this year, so we'd really like pople to be able to have a look at it.

Arising from this, what with the weak pound and credit crunch etc., our local paper is predicting a record number of people visiting the Lake District this year, so, if you are thinking of doing one of our holidays, particularly one in northern England, either self-guided or Routes Less Travelled, it might be as well to get it booked sooner rather than later before all the accommodation disappears.

We'll be sitting down tomorrow to discuss our next moves in 09. We'll probably be out in the cold this week battling sub zero temperatures polishing up the self guided notes, so think of us while you're in front of your warm fire with a cup of cocoa, or something stronger. We'll be all right, though, don't worry too much about us!

Finally, if you haven't heard from us for a while, if could be that you have changed your email address and have forgotten to tell us. Every time we send out a round robin email saying that a new brochure or newsletter is appearing, we always have a number that bounce back. Often, it's simply that people no longer want to hear from us (strange that, though, isn't it?) but if it's because of an oversight, for example we had a work email address, and you've changed jobs, do let us know!

Happy 2009

2009-01-02T08:13:00.000-08:00

It's been over 6 months since our last blog, but there again, no one has asked us where it has been, so we can assume that not too many people have missed us...which is a shame.

For those of you who don't know yet, Knobbly Stick is undergoing quite a radical shake up in 2009. Firstly, we are not offering the kind of whole year calendar of guided walking holidays which have been our standard "product" since 2002; instead we are offering mainly a self guided service on various routes in the English Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales, including "tailor made" holidays if anyone would like one. Those of you who have seen them know that we take a good deal of care on the preparation of our self guided walk notes, and we hope to see plenty of people striding out with their Knobbly Stick notes, confident in the knowledge that they have been written by walkers (i.e. us) for walkers (i.e. them.)

This doesn't mean that we have entirely retreated into our shells, however. We will offer a guided service to anyone who wants us to show a pre-formed group around our "patch" - assuming we are available, of course, and we already have a couple of groups lining up for this in the summer, which is very gratifying.

The other innovation is the formation of a sort of twin operation to Knobbly Stick, called Routes Less Travelled. These are holidays in the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales, northern France/ Belgium, the Loire Valley and County Mayo in western Ireland. They will be combined walking and sight seeing tours, with an emphasis on looking out for the historical, cultural and seldom seen, with some fairly light walking - usually half days. We hope that these will appeal to those who want to gain an insight into where they are going - local products, traditions, anecdotes and generally going a bit below the surface as experienced by the tourist either, at one extreme, in a large party, or at the other, just in a small family group or couple (or even by him/ herself.) Once again, we won't be expecting large parties, and the aim will be to have groups who enjoy each others' company, want to find out a bit about where they are visiting and who want a modicum of healthy exercise.

If you want to find out more about any of these holidays, the new brochure has just appeared in its printed form, and will shortly be posted on our website - we'll let you know when it's up, which should be imminent. For various reasons, we aren't sending out tons of them; for example they won't go to everybody who has ever contacted us, so if you haven't got one yet, and you would like a printed version, let us know and we'll organise the Knobbly Stick elves (just back from the North Pole after a stint doing their holiday job) to get one in then post to you.

We'll also be preparing a new newsletter soon, including some more of our highly acclaimed wild life notes, so look out for that.

All good wishes for 2009 from Pete and John at Knobbly Stick.

June is busting out all over

2008-06-21T06:27:00.000-07:00

No new blog since May...have you been worrying about us? No..ah, well...

As usual in Knobbly Stick Land, it's been all go - guided walks, self guided walks and staring vacantly into space occasionally - not to mention Euro 2008, although we haven't had a lot of time for the last two.

We hope that you all have had a look at the latest newsletter. It's mammoth 6 pager, with a fine photo of bridge leaning and news of how our 2 new holidays went - the Dales Way, which we'd really like to repeat again in the autumn, assuming we have some people who would like to form a reasonable size group, and our new Ambleside holiday, which was one of our best ever - great weather, and some keen walkers! We also liked the idea of one of the party who said that the Bad Step on Crinkle Crags was where naughty walkers were sent "just to think about what they had done!" Do get in touch if you fancy the Dales Way (guided or self guided) and we are repeating the Ambleside holiday in September (7th to 12th) anyway, but do book before rooms run out!

We had our first B&B break in Keswick last week. A stunning day on Skiddaw for the first day, using one of the Knobbly Stick variation routes,and some more pleasant walking on the other 3 days, including on one day - finally - some rain! The first we've had up here for ages!

Another thing that has been occupying our tiny minds is making up "made to measure" self guided walks - making sure that we are giving people the walks they want, making sure that our route notes are clear, and also that they contain some helpful and maybe even occasionally some artistic photos.

The big news is that we have definitely decided to go ahead with our Opal Coast holiday this year. If you are a bit nervous about exploring "la belle France" on your own, don't forget that John is a fluent French speaker, and Pete is pretty damn good too. You can some great walking (not too strenuous, it has to be said) some great visits and all you have to do is enjoy this underrated part of Europe. The holiday is running from 11th to 18th October, priced £760 (£720 for previous Knobbly Stickers) for 7 nights dinner, bed and breakfast, transport whilst we're there, guiding on walks and visits. Don't think "Oh, I'll go next year" - it may not happen next year - who knows? Carpe diem, as we used to say in the quad at the old school, don't you know?

Oh, and by the way, it would be great to have some comments back - even better if they were from people who had done some of our holidays recently. Don't be shy - tell the world about your exploits!

2008-05-19T13:57:00.000-07:00

As promised, latest updates on what's happening this summer. You may alrady have had an email outlining all this, but please note the addition of the Ullswater holiday in June.

Summer news:

Latest updates on what’s hot in Knobbly Stick’s summer:

1) Self guided holidays – we’re starting to get a rush on the Dales Way and the Cumbria Way, so, if you’re interested, get in touch, and we’ll sort you out with either of these 2 wonderful linear routes. If you want a customised route around the Lakes or the Dales, we can do that too, so give us a bell or an email to discuss your requirements.

2) In no particular order, why not join us on the following guided holidays?

a) The Keswick B&B break, 15th to 20th June. Most of our guided holidays are on a dinner, bed and breakfast basis staying at hotels, but with this one, you are booked in on a B&B basis only in the number one walking centre of Keswick. Walking for all tastes – gentle valley strolls or coming to grips with some bigger hills. Get in touch before all the B&Bs get full up!

b) Three other Keswick holidays, all based at the excellent Highfield Hotel. They run from 8th to 13th June (hurry for this one!) 6th to 11th July and 17th to 2nd August. The Highfield isn’t the largest hotel in the Lake District, so get in touch if you’re interested in any of these. Sitting on the lawn in front of the Highfield with a cup of tea or a beer after a day out in the fells, as you look down Borrowdale is one of the great experiences of life!

c) The Railway Walk (August 10th to 15th) from Settle to Kirkby Stephen along (or rather very close to) the line of the world famous Settle to Carlisle Railway. A truly magnificent walk, and, as an extra bonus, there is a steam train scheduled on the 13th. Don’t forget your camera! We stay at the Falcon Manor Hotel in Settle returning there every day (by train, of course) at the end of each walking day.

d) Ullswater 22nd to 26th June: England’s most beautiful lake, according to many judges better than ourselves, set in some of the area’s fines hills. Helvellyn, Fairfield, St Sunday Crag, or, of course, some gentle strolls exploring valleys such as Grisedale and Dovedale. Plus a ride of on the Ullswater “steamer” – what a way to start the day!

e) And finally, but by no means least, County Mayo, on the west coast of Ireland, 30th August to 6th September. A good idea to book early to be able to get a cheap flight from the U.K to Knock Airport, where we’ll pick you up. County Mayo is the place to get away from it all, and to enjoy some truly unique and wonderful scenery.

We hope to see you soon. If you need more information, send us an email or phone us on 01539 737576.

Grange and the Dales Way

2008-04-22T08:29:00.000-07:00

No new blogging for over a fortnight! Let's hope you haven't all lost interest.

The reason for this is, of course, that the Knobbly Stick walking season has finally got under way, and so we've been a bit busy putting one foot in front of the other, and also we've had quite a bit of interest in some of our self-guided offerings - and quite right too!

So, how as "Hill Walking the Easy Way" at the Netherwood in Grange over Sands? We can only go from what was said by the party, who thought that it was great. The Netherwood, as always, looked after everyone really well, with the food being considered a highlight. We can support that view, as we had dinner with the party on the last night, and thoroughly enjoyed our meals. As for the walking, we were really lucky with the weather, and had some spectacular views over Morecambe Bay and the southern Lake District fells on the first 2 days. On the third day's walking, we took a trip to Coniston, and one of our party, who was keen to do something a little more ambitious, and John, had a trip up Brim Fell and Coniston Old Man - great in spite of a biting cold wind!

Quote from one party member for the holiday: " Little could be done better. Accommodation first class, walks stimulating, company very pleasant." An even more flattering one, though, was perhaps "This holiday was the best birthday present that I could have bought myself!"

And so, last week, to the Dales Way. This was the first time that we had done it as a guided holiday, although we have had quite a few people do it as a self-guided. For the uninitiated, the Dales Way lasts some 80 miles and passes through some lovely countryside along the river Wharfe, then climbs over high moorland to drop into Dentdale, the valley leading to Sedbergh, and finishes by crossing some more attractive countryside to Lake Windermere. The expedition was a great success, with no fallers along the wayside. The weather was ideal for walking after a couple of showers on the first 2 days, and the spring is, of course, characterised by plenty of very small lambs,- some still on wobbly legs - daffodils ands primroses and the first swallows, which appeared on Friday. After 6 days walking, we felt that we deserved the celebratory glass of fizz that ended the walk.

"Thank you for a really enjoyable and memorable week." was one comment. It was a real pleasure!

We'll be updating the website with news of what's available soon, so have a look if you can get away in May or June. If you've never visited the Lake District or the Yorkshire Dales, now is the time to rectify that!

Hello...anybody out there?

2008-03-21T05:25:00.000-07:00

Feel a bit like Major Tom this morning. Can anyone hear us, or are we just spinning in space out of contact with everybody? Or the bit in "The Wall" just before the air guitar classic "Comfortably Numb" where someone says "Is there anybody out there?" The blog has been going a month now, and we've had one posting from the outside world...do tell us what you're doing. Have you booked your tickets for Leonard Cohen's World Tour yet? Although we don't know why we should publicise him (twice, now) as we never get mention in any of his songs - the nearest we get is "I saw a beggar leaning on his wooden crutch" in "Bird on a Wire" but he doesn't say if it's knobbly or not. In fact, are there any references to a Knobbly Stick in any song anyone knows? Now there's a challenge! There could just be one in the second line of the National Anthem, but we're not too sure, and we don't want to get hauled off to the Tower for treason.

Enough random wittering on. John has been on a first aid refresher course this week - refreshing his knowledge of what to do if anyone damages him or herself, although we do take care to ensure that this doesn't happen, but, as they say, "You can never be too careful." Pete (doesn't need refreshing yet) has been doing some more reccying - in fact we were both out on the Dales Way on Monday checking our self guided directions, so that anyone who books on that will have brand new up to the minute notes. In fact, they do change quite a bit on routes like the Dales Way - new waymarking, new stiles and gates, and even the occasional re-route. Pete has also done some more wandering around the Coniston area ready for the new Ambleside-based week in May. It really is a great area, and, of course, especially attractive in spring and autumn, we think.

So, don't eat too may Easter eggs, send us a blog (done any decent walks yourself recently?) and we'll see you soon, we hope!

Good news!

2008-03-15T03:19:00.000-07:00

It's nice to wake up on a Saturday morning and be able to feel positive about life in general. Sports Relief raised shedloads of money, so every reason to feel good about the world... Oh, and Leonard Cohen is starting a world tour!

On the domestic front, we've managed to get out reccying after the wind and rain, although it wasn't as bad up here as in some parts, by the look of it. We were out yesterday in the Coniston area, looking at some low level routes for our holiday in May, to go along with no doubt epic ascents of Crinkle Crags, Bow Fell etc. It was good to get our boots on again, after a miserable couple of days midweek, and we envisage spending much of the next fortnight or so wandering around muttering into our dictaphones (people always give you such funny looks) getting ready for the April and May holidays. We had a good half day out yesterday, finding some really picturesque little corners, and looking up at some snowy peaks, which will no doubt be all clear by the time we start on them in May. We've also had a single walker earlier in the week, who came up to the Lakes from down south for the first time, and, as usual for first timers, was bowled over by what he saw around Ambleside and Grasmere. And what's more, thanks to Knobbly Stick's outstanding meteorological management, we didn't even get wet!

Don't forget, we're looking for any contributions to our blog, so don't be shy!

Happy walking!

Pete and John.

First addition from a Knobbly walker!

2008-03-08T02:28:00.000-08:00

I will endeavour to be the first to congratulate the Knobblies on their new Blog. However, I am not up to speed with all this new technology, being a blog virgin - can I say that? well I already have. I was very envious to hear of their day at Morecambe Bay, mostly spent on Humphrey Head by the sound of it. Anyway, am looking forward to some good walking and good company (with or without the jokes) in 2008"

A serious bit to provoke a debate, maybe

2008-03-03T08:20:00.000-08:00

Access to the mountains is a real issue. Just how much access should we (the walker, skier etc) have? What facilities should we expect?

John went skiing in Austria the other week, and whilst he enjoyed his week, and escaped relatively unscathed, what had happened to what was basically a wilderness environment worried him somewhat. Whilst it's great to have a beer or cup of coffee in the mountains, in the sunshine, there does seem to be something not quite right about transporting the 21st century to what should be an unspoiled environment.

And yet, where Knobbly Stick travels, we undoubtedly have an impact on the environment, which we try to diminish by clearing up after ourselves, and contributing to the Tourism and Conservation Partnership. Should we, though, encourage more people to take part in the Great Outdoors by giving better access - more signposts, toilets, even cafés? What about disabled access - should we provide cable cars in the hills to facilitate that? Or, conversely, should we limit access to vehicles and to people in order to preserve our wonderful landscape?

Ideas? Opinions?

Welcome to the Knobbly Stick Blog!!!

2008-03-03T07:43:00.001-08:00

Hello World.

You'll see we had a little go at launching this blog a couple of weeks ago. John, being an old romantic at heart, decided to put pen to paper (or keyboard to screen, or whatever it is) on Valentine's Day, and wrote that piece when he was still intoxicated from having walked in warm sunshine in the Morecambe Bay area.

The weather since then has varied a bit, but has been pretty good on the whole. Bright sunshine is streaming through the windows of the Knobbly Stick ivory tower, but we did have a mini-blizzard this morning, that covered the fells - and even the streets of Kendal - with magic dust.

It's just about all gone now, and so our minds are once again turning to thoughts of getting out and revisiting some of the places we'll be walking with our groups in April and May - the Langdales, Coniston, Glenridding and the Dales Way.

The idea of this blog is really two-fold. First, so that we can tell you about anything interesting happening in Knobbly Stick land - yes, we know the weather is pretty exciting, but we'll try to calm it down a bit in future. And, second, and, we hope, more important, it's for you to be able to add your own comments. We keep saying (in newsletters and such) that we'd like you to tell us what you think, so this seems to be an ideal opportunity. We're not blog experts, but we think you can do it anonymously - you do need to register (with Google, we think...not with us!), but you can do it under a "pen-name".

Anyway, we're going to finish this message now, have a chat about what we'll put on next, and do some more.

Do keep in touch

Best wishes and happy walking

John and Pete

Inspirational Blog about...the weather!

2008-02-15T03:23:00.000-08:00

14th February 2008.

Some people might have thought that a blog starting on 14th February would contain some reference to Valentine’s Day, but Knobbly Stick is nothing if not a very English organisation, so we’ll start with…the weather.

As we all know, the weather is an important consideration for walkers. For the casual walker, deciding whether he/ she will go out today, or redecorate the bathroom, it will influence our decision as to whether to go at all. Those who come on Knobbly Stick holidays seem to want to go out whatever the weather, taking the attitude that since they’ve come on a walking holiday, they’re b!*%”* well going to do some walking!

What really matters, though, is making the most of the day – as the folk song says, “For there's many a dark and a cloudy morning/ turns out to be a sun shining day.” (“Banks of Primroses,” if you’re really interested.) On the other hand, there’s many a sun shining morning that turns out to be a dark and cloudy day (and worse!) And finally, on some days it starts bright and stays bright, and sometimes starts dull and stays dull. Of course, we’re lucky that weather forecasts are getting more and more reliable, although they are not infallible, and we at Knobbly Stick think that they generally veer on the side of the pessimistic – in other words, the weather is often better than forecast. We do always have to remember the old adage, though, “The weather can change quickly in the hills.” We remember it by repeating it interminably…

The point of this rambling is threefold. One to celebrate the fantastic February we’ve had so far. Bright, clear days, and even quite warm at times. We were out yesterday, and did some high quality lounging on Humphrey Head, looking out over Morecambe Bay. Real T-shirt weather it was, although we were mistakenly wearing thermals, because it was February.

Secondly, it’s to point out that there’s no real substitute for local knowledge if you want to make the best of whatever the weather throws at you – it’s not only about safety, but also about enjoying yourself. Thirdly, people ask us if we ever get fed up with doing the same routes. Well, the answer is no, not really, and anyway, we rarely do the same routes over and over again. Most importantly, though the views are always different, because the weather is always (or nearly always) different.

Finally, let’s hope 2008’ s weather continues like this, and we see lots of you soaking up the sun and enjoying the views.