GREAT BRITAIN – Slow-Cycle

Why There’s Nuffin like a Puffin

Puffins flap like crazy. They’re amazing little fluffkins with a torpedo-shaped body and orange legs. Seeing them last weekend at the RSPB Bempton brought a tear to my eye. Mostly because my dearly loved aunt Stella who passed away in April had wanted to see them before she died. Sadly whilst she never got the…

Huggate to Bridlington and Flamborough Head (Way of the Roses Cycle Route)

Sometimes you might only have one night, perhaps a Saturday to spare for a bike-packing micro-adventure. This is a lovely little trip through the gently rolling Wolds to the seaside and back. I tend to do this ride in the Spring or Summer to get fit when the fields are bright yellow with rapeseed and…

A History of Endeavour – (as told by Patrick Callingham – Head of Centre)

Patrick believes in the power of the outdoors, not necessarily climbing mountains, but being out of your home environment… Out of your comfort zone and immersed in nature.

Airy and Amazing Arnside – Beside the Seaside, The Lakes and Morecambe Bay

This one is for my fabulous Aunt Stella: a woman who has adventured through Africa, India, Malaysia and many other places. I can see that you have been reading my blog! Thank you. I decided to write about Arnside, where Stella now lives, as the light there is so clear and bright it makes me…

Curious About Calke – A Day Out at Calke Abbey near Derby

Calke is not a place for the faint-hearted surrounded as it is by death, beady eyes, horns and feathers. There are also a few sad echoes of the last throes of human life in this somewhat dark and cavernous place. Impossibly large to make a home, the most recent inhabitants retreated to small apartments within the whole.

Slow stroll around the Pleasure Gardens at Stowe with The National Trust

The concept of the Pleasure Garden at Stowe is landscape gardening on a grand scale. Team members from Clumber Park, led by Pleasure Grounds Gardener Jack Pitt, headed down to Buckinghamshire on a glorious autumnal day to learn and gather inspiration.

The Glass House and Walled Kitchen Gardens at Clumber Park this Autumn

As temperatures start to drop outside one of the most pleasant spots for visitors to explore at Clumber Park is the glasshouse in the Walled Kitchen Garden. At the moment it is just gourd-geus with superb displays in every shade of orange, white and green imaginable. They differ in shape and size too with…

Circular stroll around the Pleasure Gardens at Clumber Park

We started with a picnic on the Pleasure Grounds outside the Parsonage and headed past the Chapel of St Mary the Virgin, “A Cathedral in Miniature” on the north side of the lake. The path then meanders through the mature trees (we couldn’t help hugging them) before you reach an elevated section at the end…

Glamping in the New Forest National Park

This was my first experience of glamping (albeit on the cheap with our own gear). I managed to pick up a four bed Coleman for £35 at a car boot sale and I could have got it for much less if my companion had managed to curb his enthusiasm! We stayed at Ashurst (site owned…

Beautiful Books at The National Trust, Clumber Park

Every Friday I escape to a cupboard full of weird and wonderful books at Clumber Park near Worksop. The park is especially beautiful at this time of the year with the impressive Lime Tree Avenue turning golden brown. The trees all look like they have been there for hundreds of years but a volunteer told…

Lyme Park – Fresh Air and Freedom

As Lyme Park is located on the edge of both the Peak District and the Cheshire Plain it has commanding 360 degree views

Slow Sunday at Chatsworth

Parking at Edensor (pronounced En-saw for some reason) is something of a tradition for us when visiting the Chatsworth estate (not the Shameless one). A short walk over the hillside delivers the best view of the big house over the bridge. The cleaned and gilded facades probably look better now than they have at any…