andywasley - Network

If you're looking for a big hiking challenge this year, you couldn't do much better than the Cape Wrath Trail. I have a trail guide...

If you're looking for a big hiking challenge this year, you couldn't do much better than the Cape Wrath Trail. I have a trail guide out in the latest issue of The Great Outdoors – out now.

Very happy to share these pages with trail photography from @jamesroddie and @alex_roddie, so you can get a taste of this awesome adventure. Read it. Do it!
https://www.thegreatoutdoorsmag.com/latest-issue/get-inspired-for-big-walks-in-2023-with-our-march-issue/ #hiking #hikingadventures #capewrathtrail

This is absolutely not a sympathy fishing effort, btw. I learned a long time ago that saying things out loud helps me to escape from...

This is absolutely not a sympathy fishing effort, btw. I learned a long time ago that saying things out loud helps me to escape from ruminating and worrying. No-one has to talk about what goes on in their inner lives, but for those of us that like to get things into the open – where we can see them and deal with them – it’s a handy option.

I’m thinking a lot more about my childhood at the moment than I have for years. In the near future, I will talk and write a lot more about it too.

I have been struggling with low mood for a while; nothing new, sadly. It crushes my creativity, stops me reading and shuts down my...

I have been struggling with low mood for a while; nothing new, sadly. It crushes my creativity, stops me reading and shuts down my engagement with the world. Hence recent silence.

My mental health struggles stem from a childhood dominated by an abusive and angry mother. However far I move beyond that, it’s always lurking somewhere in my mind’s deeper recesses.

Bouncing back now, anyway. Will try to re-engage here. A few good things happening over the next month or so... #optimism #mentalhealth

Happy to see my latest feature for the brilliant Great Outdoors magazine, a joint writing and photography effort with @alex_roddie after a...

Happy to see my latest feature for the brilliant Great Outdoors magazine, a joint writing and photography effort with @alex_roddie after a trip to Wasdale. Here is Lakeland history, a remote hostel and the spirit of George Mallory stalking the fells.

#hiking #hikingadventures #magazine #greatoutdoors #freelance

Courtesy of Private Eye.Absolute solidarity with nurses striking today. #strikes #nurses #nhs #solidarity

Courtesy of Private Eye.
Absolute solidarity with nurses striking today. #strikes #nurses #nhs #solidarity

I would love to see your reading pile – however big, small, tidy or chaotic. Tell me about it; what should be added to my own...

I would love to see your reading pile – however big, small, tidy or chaotic. Tell me about it; what should be added to my own mountain?

Here's mine. Lagging a bit with a few books because I have too many on the go at once, but I'll finish Melissa Febos's amazing essays on writing today. Christmas will see me through Jamie, James and Hughes. I really need to open Deakin again.

#readingpile #bookpile #reading #books

A wintering blackcap in my garden willow this morning. A restless little wisp of summer amid the snow.#birds #birdphotography #birding...

A wintering blackcap in my garden willow this morning. A restless little wisp of summer amid the snow.

#birds #birdphotography #birding #blackcap #photography #wildlife

And I immediately note that 'Glencoul' should read 'Glendhu'. Please accept that this is wip!

And I immediately note that 'Glencoul' should read 'Glendhu'. Please accept that this is wip!

Newish poem, perhaps not 100 percent finished... Outside a bothy – trying to capture the sense of deep time around Glendhu bothy.The...

Newish poem, perhaps not 100 percent finished... Outside a bothy – trying to capture the sense of deep time around Glendhu bothy.

The Glencoul Thrust was a geological highlight on the Cape Wrath Trail, a route laden with a sense of the earth's age. Still trying to work out how I felt about it all. Poems help me dig into my feelings and uncover ideas and insights.

#capewrathtrail #poetry #poem #writing #deeptime #geology

Twitter angerFinally pulled the plug on Twitter. Musk is preaching hate towards Anthony Fauci today, and the usual serving of cryptofascist...

Twitter anger

Finally pulled the plug on Twitter. Musk is preaching hate towards Anthony Fauci today, and the usual serving of cryptofascist weird stuff. Can't be dealing with that any more.

Beautiful snowy day here in Stroud, Gloucestershire – perfect for walking a very energetic little doggo.#mastodog #dogs #cockerspaniel...

Beautiful snowy day here in Stroud, Gloucestershire – perfect for walking a very energetic little doggo.

#mastodog #dogs #cockerspaniel #uksnow #snow

It’s lovely of winter to pay a visit. I hope it stays a while longer – long enough, at least, for December frosts to feel routine again....

It’s lovely of winter to pay a visit. I hope it stays a while longer – long enough, at least, for December frosts to feel routine again. I miss them. #frostodon #winter #coldsnap #climatechange

I wrote a poem about the Cape Wrath Trail, which I hiked in September – carefully avoiding news and social media for the whole...

I wrote a poem about the Cape Wrath Trail, which I hiked in September – carefully avoiding news and social media for the whole month.

#capewrathtrail #poem #poetry #hiking #hikingadventures

Sweary because of homophobiaA very lovely weekend in the Lakes, almost entirely ruined by two men in the walking group that had invited me,...

Sweary because of homophobia

A very lovely weekend in the Lakes, almost entirely ruined by two men in the walking group that had invited me, who spent the entire weekend 'bantering' each other with gay 'jokes'.

Ha ha fucking ha. It's 2022. Grow a brain, or just get the fuck off the hill, please.

Anyway. It snowed on Helvellyn, I touched a dog's nose, and Striding Edge was everything I needed it to be. Weekend almost ruined, but not entirely.

#hiking #mountains #homophobia #lgbt #lgbtq

Obsessively re-reading copy the day after filing ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS reveals the repeated word, the ugly phrase, the quote you wish you...

Obsessively re-reading copy the day after filing ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS reveals the repeated word, the ugly phrase, the quote you wish you hadn't cut. #writing #WritingCommunity

Early morning books for this week: annotating an advance copy of Gail Simmons’ book Between The Chalk And The Sea, which looks at a...

Early morning books for this week: annotating an advance copy of Gail Simmons’ book Between The Chalk And The Sea, which looks at a long-forgotten pilgrims’ route in England, for a magazine review; and The Greywacke, Nick Davidson’s history of Scottish geology, for my own research. Happy reading!
#books #reading #hiking #geology #morningread

Mightily chuffed that the Scottish Geology Trust is using my picture of the northern lights at the Calanais Stones, Lewis, in its new...

Mightily chuffed that the Scottish Geology Trust is using my picture of the northern lights at the Calanais Stones, Lewis, in its new ‘Geology Does’ campaign to raise awareness of the role and importance of geology. Find out more: http://scottishgeologytrust.org/geology-does

#geology #callanish #calanais #isleoflewis #outerhebrides #astrophoto #northernlights #photography #deeptime #milkyway #nightphoto #science

Transcribing interviews from the Cape Wrath Trail for a couple of magazine pieces, and (at long last) editing some imagery. Between the...

Transcribing interviews from the Cape Wrath Trail for a couple of magazine pieces, and (at long last) editing some imagery. Between the stories, the views and the sense of achievement, I wonder if any hike will ever come close to the CWT for the impression it left on me.

#hiking #hikingscotland #capewrathtrail #adventure #travelwriting #photography #mountains #assynt

Like whisky? If you can find this, it is INSANELY good: lightly peated, with juniper added to the peat: sweet, smoky, luscious. One for a...

Like whisky? If you can find this, it is INSANELY good: lightly peated, with juniper added to the peat: sweet, smoky, luscious. One for a fireside (or maybe a sauna?) on a cold night – especially if you’re planning to hike the Kungsleden in the next year or so... 🇸🇪 🥃 #whisky #sweden #hiking #kungsleden

I am delighted to announce that I am watching Withnail And I.

I am delighted to announce that I am watching Withnail And I.