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Category Archives: walks
the Greylag and Arcadia
The landscape in lines, left to right as you walk under the railway bridge at the edge of the town: 1, railway line on a brambled embankment ; 2, damp pasture with reeds and sedge and a shallow lake in … Continue reading
Posted in diary, Eden etc, mountains, flowers, landscapes, walks
Tagged birds, ely, utopia
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Underfoot
In the middle of wild swampland where the trees are intertwined in an inextricable thicket, there is a plain with very green vegetation which attracts the eye by reason of its fertility; no obstacle impedes the walker. Not a particle … Continue reading
in Greece, 2024
I measure my decline against the mountain’s incline. This year I was still able, slowly, to walk up from Anavriti to Livadi, from 700 metres above sea level to 1400 metres and then back down by a more circuitous route … Continue reading
Posted in mountains, flowers, landscapes, my life, walks
Tagged Anavriti, greece, rewilding
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A dream come true (and an easy walk)
Yesterday, a sunday, I took the train in the gloom to Lakenheath, one stop on the line to Norwich, not counting Shippea Hill, which according to the map is about five metres above sea level. Lakenheath station is a couple … Continue reading
Easy Walks No 6, at home and abroad
Last year I kept wondering if I’d ever be able to walk all the way up Mount Olympus in Greece. I’ve been half way up, to the first refuge, and come down again that same day. Could I stay at … Continue reading
Posted in diary, mountains, flowers, landscapes, my life, walks
Tagged ely, lotschepass, Switzerland
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Easy Walks No 5, in the Vallon de Nant
Since I looked up the new exchange rate for the Swiss franc I hesitate to recommend a walk in Switzerland, but still, this is a fabulous walk and there’s a good story to it. You can get the Eurostar to … Continue reading
Posted in diary, language, mountains, flowers, landscapes, walks
Tagged Switzerland, Vallon de Nant
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(very) easy walks, No 4, Burwell and the future
On the edge of the low chalk hills around Newmarket, just a few feet above sea level, just a few feet above the fens, just about safe from floods, lies a string of villages. Burwell is one. It used to … Continue reading
Posted in community politics, walks
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Easy Walks No 3, down to the river
East along Ely high street, past one of England’s finest concentrations of charity shops, and, appropriately, the medieval almonry where charity was distributed to the poor and needy, stopping off at Londis. I fancied drinking a can by the river. … Continue reading
Easy Pieces on Easy Mountains in Order of Easiness no 2, Falakro
I know this isn’t a very helpful map. It shows the mountains which are visible from Pangaeo (see Easy Pieces on Easy Mountain Walks in order of easiness, No1, Pangaeo). I’ve written in Drama, a nice place to stay, between Falakro … Continue reading
Posted in diary, in Greece, mountains, flowers, landscapes, walks
Tagged Falakro, haberlea
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moments in time
Here’s a photograph I took in 2019 on Mount Olympus, at about 1900 metres, at the end of May. (It’s disappointingly fuzzy here, an imperfectly recovered memory.) Snow still lay in a few hollows and gullies, but spring had arrived, and … Continue reading
Posted in mountains, flowers, landscapes, Uncategorized, walks
Tagged greece, moments in time, Olympus, Torridon
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like a little black book 