UKH

We generally focus on the exploits of those getting out to the crags or into the hills, but what if you can't? Fell runner Norman Hadley spares a thought for people facing a long enforced separation.

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In reply to UKC/UKH Articles:

Covid lockdown exile was a shock. Think it took me into this year to recover my full comfort and enjoyment of being out in the hills.

I've seen enough morbidity and mortality at work to have understood that it's a transitory privilege getting out there....having it taken away by dictat was a shock I wasn't expecting.

In reply to UKC/UKH Articles:

I actually enjoyed some aspects of our enforced lockdown. I'm fortunate to be able to see real hills from the flat lands I live in. It was novel to walk around and not hear the constant thrum of traffic. Even the M6 was still. After work I could just go for a walk in the fields and enjoy the peace and watch birds and nature carrying on with things, indifferent to the worries of the human world. Then I got long covid and it was possibly the first time the reality of our true fragility was forced into the front of my consciousness. I've just recently passed the age of my father when he died nearly thirty years ago, I've had friends die younger than I am now. When you are young, fit and active the future stretches out before you into unending infinity. It's great, you are invincible. I don't rush around ticking lists of hills any longer but look for 'nice places' to be and that can be on a beach, in the woods, by a beck or even on a hill as well. I want to try and get to as many Scottish islands too and next year (Calmac's ageing fleet willing) I shall go to Arran for the first time. I find it helps to keep looking forward.

In reply to Lankyman:

It was an experience driving 80miles per day for work on deserted roads, but Scottish lockdown rules left us confined for leisure in a relatively small, urban council area. The limited green spaces were quite busy.

Not sure I've ever enjoyed a bit of peace and quiet as much as being out in Glen Isla in the summer of that year.

In reply to kinley2: "Think it took me into this year to recover my full comfort and enjoyment of being out in the hills."

That's really interesting, kinley2. I remember feeling intensely self-conscious during those first outings, making damn sure I didn't stumble and initiate an MRT call-out. It took a few trips to regain equanimity. 

In reply to Lankyman:

Good luck with the island-hopping adventures, Lankyman. Arran is a fantastic place. 

In reply to kinley2:

I don't think I've felt uncomfortable. But I have certainly got out of the habit, and become much more 'lockdown-centred thinking', in so many ways. I really must try harder to get out of the rut in the new year.

In reply to UKC/UKH Articles:

Thanks for that, a good thought provoking article. 

I've felt like a bit of an exile for the last three years. Having a small child and no family support has made it very hard to get out into the hills. Funnily enough before becoming a dad I was feeling a bit jaded about climbing, and although getting out now and again, my heart wasn't really in a it a lot of the time. But since not being able to just get out whenever I want, I've found myself longing to get out climbing.

My daughter did her first couple of proper little hills this summer, so opening up a whole new dimension of adventures in the mountains, and even at such a young age it's been amazing to see her already developing a wonder for the hills.

When I was younger I always thought, perhaps a bit naively, that it was a given that I'd be climbing for as long as my body allowed, hopefully well into old age. Hopefully in time I will gain back enough free time to be regularly getting out into the hills again, and with a renewed enthusiasm.  

I hope that you recover quickly and have many more hill days to come.

In reply to UKC/UKH Articles:

Lots of wisdom here, especially the thing about carpe-ing the hell out of the diem.

In reply to BusyLizzie:

Thanks. Hopefully, carpe diem should come naturally to an impatiens. 

In reply to MikeR: thanks Mike. Best of luck nurturing an appreciation of wild places in your daughter. It's a tricky balancing act, and I tried very hard not to be too pushy when ours were small. Hopefully editor Dan will forgive the plug (print media being complementary and all that) but I have an article coming out in TGO next year on just this topic.

In reply to kinley2:

Glen Isla is another place on the 'to do' list. I've walked around Clova and the Water of Lee on occasions but not there. I've just realised I have a little guidebook that details some stuff that way including 'Reekie Linn'. The name alone would warrant a look-see.

In reply to UKC/UKH Articles:

We moved to Northern Ireland from the Peak District just over a year ago and, though we live in a very rural area, the whole access situation is completely different - no public footpaths, no CRoW act.

For sure, from blogs and social media I see people out on the hills here and in the ROI but always with the proviso to check with the land owner first. I don't know whether people actually do (how would I know who owns what sections of the Sperrins and when I'm crossing from one landowner's property to another?) or whether they just add that to their trip reports to cover themselves. Either way, my walking dropped from 30-40 miles a week to short walks once or twice a month.

And on top of that I had a heart attack at the end of November so even that is out of the question for a while.

I do love where we live now and the people are so welcoming and friendly but it's been a big mental adjustment, as much if not more than the physical adjustment.

In reply to Norman Hadley:

Oh marvellous I hadn't thought of that!! Very good.

In reply to Lankyman:

Worth it, still haven't been into the upper reaches of Caenlochan or Caness Glens at the head, but have walked around the top of them on various trips.

https://kinleyhazel.wordpress.com/2020/07/13/back-in-boots-taking-it-easy-a...

In reply to kinley2:

That's a really nice trips blog. It reminded me of the backpack we did that way. We started at Glenmuick and camped by the Dubh Loch before trailing over all that lovely rolling upland from Cairn Bannoch to another high camp just short of Mayar. It's over 20 years ago but I remember the profusion of wildflowers as we skirted by the craggy rim of the Canness Glen and hearing snipe drumming as we lay in the tent. We didn't know what they were at the time and I thought they sounded like mopeds crossing the moor! After Mayar and Driesh it was down into Clova then straight back up by the Capel Mounth track back towards Glenmuick. Where does all the time go?

In reply to Lankyman:

It certainly flows by in an increasingly rapid manner, subjectively speaking. Think most of my most cherished memories are wildlife and camping.

Think we first heard Snipe drumming while standing outside the Aultguish one evening, love that sound.

In reply to kinley2:

First snipe-drumming is a sound that stays with you. For me, it was a dusk walk onto the moors above Achiltibuie, with the Summer Isles moored offshore in the gloaming. 

In reply to UKC/UKH Articles:

What a moving and perceptive piece. 

Thank you