A Day Out

A well preserved ancient stone circle forms part of the boundary of the cricket pitch.

Where are we?

Here's an extract from 'The Dolgellau Town Trail' page on one of Dolgellau's many on-line information sources:

"The Marian, Dolgellau's main green space and one of its greatest assets, was given in trust to the town in 1811. It has been the focus of the town's leisure activities for generations. By the 16th century there was a bowling green surrounded by ditches to keep out grazing animals. It lay under the car park. A hollow in the grass in the cricket outfield marks the site of a cockpit. The stone circle was set up in 1948 to proclaim the National Eisteddfod of Wales the following year. Using stone-age technology for advertising in this way is a peculiarly Welsh phenomenon."

So it's not ancient at all!

Canalside

The Bridgewater Canal is now in its summer plumage.

The bramble is in flower and the blackberry fruits are already forming.

The bees are busy.

The elder is flowering.

This shrub has a lovely flower.  Can anyone identify it for me?

Swine Flu - The Antidote

June 1 to 6, 2009 - A Walk based on The Dales Way

I'm not doing a detailed index for this trip.  To view all the postings, scroll down the page from here, clicking on 'Older Posts' at the bottom right of each page, until you get to 'Windermere to Manchester - A Plan' - an entry posted on 30 May.  Work upwards from there, clicking on 'Newer Posts' at the bottom left of the page when you reach the top of the page (if you see what I mean).

I've uploaded some images from the trip here.  Click on the slideshow button to view the show, the parameters for which are easy adjusted by placing the cursor near the bottom of the screen.
I hope you enjoy them.

Here are the statistics for the trip:
Day 1 - Windermere to Potter Tarn - 19 km, 650 metres ascent - 6.2 hours including 0.8 hours breaks
Day 2 - Potter Tarn to Dent - 44 km, 1240 metres ascent - 12.6 hours including 2.3 hours breaks
Day 3 - Dent to Kettlewell - 46 km, 1300 metres ascent - 11.9 hours including 2.3 hours breaks
Day 4 - Kettlewell to White Wells - 40 km, 950 metres ascent - 11.9 hours including 2.4 hours breaks
Day 5 - White Wells to Jerusalem Farm - 36 km, 940 metres ascent - 11.5 hours including 2.0 hours breaks
Day 6 - Jerusalem Farm to Ripponden  - 10 km, 350 metres ascent - 2.6 hours including no breaks
TOTAL: 195 km (122 miles) with 5430 metres ascent

My detailed route plan, which I stuck to up to Ripponden with only very minor deviations, is here.

Gayle's excellent report on the Denholme to Ripponden section is here.

My kit list is similar to that for the TGO Challenge (here), plus the Phreerunner tent and a few other items - I was probably carrying an acceptable average of about 15 kilos.  I may comment on specific items in a separate posting.