A crazy busy day in North Wales and seems like ages since I was last at The Cottage. I got a lot of outside jobs done first-thing as the skies were indicating a possible change in the weather. Then raced out to meet up with visiting friends, Barney and Sinead in the Slate quarries on… Read more

So having left Clare at the Isle of Wight ferry, I boarded a train and soon found myself pulling in towards the now familiar skyline of London. A few tube stops later and a warm welcome awaited me…   Had a good time with the guys, mostly playing at the park and checking out the… Read more

By Tuesday morning, we were re-packed and ready for a road trip! We set off first thing in the direction of the Peak District and after several set backs, eventually found both good rock and good routes in Cheedale. At Ravensdale, we discovered a voluntary bird ban, so re-located to Aldly Cliff, where we found… Read more

The high temperatures remained for the bank holiday weekend, but some low clouds were obscuring most of the sunshine on the mountains. Given the conditions, we decided to make the most of the luxury of The Cottage and enjoyed a very leisurely day mostly spent in the sunshine of the garden, eating pancakes, drinking coffee,… Read more

I arrived back from the Sierra Nevada to find the same temperatures back home! A Snowdonia heatwave was in full effect! Even during the nights, the temperatures stayed above 22°C! Clearly, there was no time for resting – it was time to go climbing!  Given the crazy temperatures and the bank holiday weekend busyness, we… Read more

I’ll be honest – my legs were a little stiff this morning!    We spent the morning in the village of Capileira, sending postcards, buying souvenirs and packing up. There was a lot of very dusty and very smelly kit to deal with before we could check in at Malaga Airport. We had a hour… Read more