Our first date, over 30 years ago, was a walk up the hills above Osmotherley in North Yorkshire. The hedges were full of sloes and elderberries, so we ended up foraging. Our second date was pricking the sloes for sloe gin and stripping the elderberries for wine making. That was the start of our outdoor adventures together.
This blog has come about because we are both interested in nature and want to share our experiences of beautiful routes, stunning places and knowledge of wildlife.
Whether we are walking, trail running or wild swimming we do it at a steady pace, appreciating the wildlife around us. We do not go in for long distance challenges, just activities that anyone with reasonable fitness should be able to do.
Our articles include some of the wildlife we have seen on the route, so that you know what to look out for and when. The "what to look out for boards" will be updated as we repeat routes. We would love it if people who follow our routes share their sightings with us via our instagram feed.
Enjoy reading.
Walk from Patterdale
It seems an age since we last visited the Lake District – I think 5 years, but now that we live just 2 hours from Ullswater we jumped at the chance to meet up with friends for a brief couple of days away. The Patterdale and Glenridding area is an excellent base for walking, so…
Nature Walks 2023
Nature Walks for 2023 Edit March 13, 2023 Sam is absolutely delighted to have been invited to lead more nature walks on behalf of Berwickshire Marine Reserve in 2023. Confirmed dates so far are: Wednesday April 5th at 10:00 Wednesday April 19th at 18:00 We will be meeting outside St Abbs Old School Cafe, TD14 5PH, before walking…
Christmas: A Time for Running
As any keen parkrunner knows, Christmas is a time for running, with a chance to clock-up four parkruns over Christmas and new year. There are also a good variety of club runners over the festive season, which is why over Christmas 2022 I managed 4 organised trail runs in 10 days. Christmas Pudding Race The…
St Abbs to Eyemouth- Guided Walk
St Abbs to Eyemouth is a three mile section of the Berwickshire Coastal Path that makes a perfect half-day stroll. A good bus service between the two towns makes this an even better option. On 7th September a led a guided walk along this stretch for Friends of the Berwickshire Marine Reserve. Most of us…
The Poacher Run – Race review
The Poacher Run at Kelso saw us donning our running kit again just two weeks after the Abbotsford Trail Run. This is part of the Border Reiver Trail Series raising money for Borders Search and Rescue. It was nice to catch up with Kim, who is a volunteer with BSAR and whom I know from…
Abbotsford Trail Race – Race review
We have had a bit of a break from races as the Earlston Black Hill race in July nearly finished us off and the recent hot weather hasn’t been conducive to running. However, a perusal of the weather forecast a couple of weeks back gave me a certain amount of confidence that the temperatures were…
Great Hetha Hill Run from College Valley
The College Valley is a beautiful valley in the Northumberland section of the Cheviot Hills. We were expecting a very quiet day in the hills: Hethpool at the bottom of the valley is quite difficult to get to and the rest of the valley has limited vehicle access, with permits required to go past the…
Waterloo Monument Nisbet circular route
The Waterloo Monument, Nisbet is a very prominent feature of the countryside between Jedburgh and Kelso. This circular walk is a little gem and another one that features in the Scottish Borders 40 Favourite Walks book. We did a slight change by starting from Woodside Garden Centre, following a bacon butty from their coffee shop….
Floors Castle Garden
Wandering round a garden on a sunny afternoon might not quite meet the criteria of “outdoor adventure”, but Floors Castle Garden has such a wow factor that I really had to write about it. Family Trip The walled garden at Floors Castle was a regular favourite during the 1990s when my sister ran the garden…
