For newcomers

At the bottom of each post there is the word "comments". If you click on it you will see comments made by followers, and if you follow the instructions you may also comment and I always welcome that. I have found many people overlook this part of the blog which is often more interesting than the original post!

My blog nick-name is SIR HUGH. I'm not from the aristocracy - my middle name is Hugh which relates to the list of 282 hills in Scotland compiled by Sir Hugh Munro in 1891. I climbed my last one (Sgurr Mor) on 28th June 2009

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Sunday 11 July 2010

Retrospective thoughts on Languedoc and Lowestoft walks

Contrast in photos taken was the striking feature  between The Languedoc and the Lowestoft to St Bees Head walks.
The French photos have a dreary khaki cast coupled with  boring uniformity. The English photos are rich in colour, with noticeable diversity of interest. This is partly because The Languedoc is a huge area similar in nature throughout, but in England one can walk through small contrasting areas quickly, and in particular I noticed  changes in what artists call “light” in different regions of England. Another fascination was the gradual change in regional accents.
The Languedoc covered mainly upland areas, and England was mainly a country walk.


I have tried below to illustrate the differences, but not really to my satisfaction. Perhaps it is something that is just in my head.


FRANCE



The route I devised in England could not avoid a fair amount of Tarmac, but this was largely on minor roads. Public footpaths are nearly all indicated by signposts where they depart from roads, and are usually well defined and easy to follow, although sometimes overgrown, especially sections of The Teesside Way.
For shear variation of scenery and quality of walking I think one would be hard pressed to find a better route in England.
Understandably farmers grumble when walkers wander off footpaths in fields and farmyards, but why don’t they put up a few marker signs? This would save much irritation for all.
Blogging on the move was not too onerous. I found enough opportunities to charge Mili. Mili is a battery that iPhone slots into and charges from. Two advantages with this unit are : you retain the iPhone to use whilst charging progresses, and you are not leaving the iPhone as a theft temptation, and a greater loss for you if it went missing.
I could not be bothered taking separate photos on iPhone and camera, and posting photos was time consuming and fraught with complication. It is a marvel that we can blog on the move at all, but even with iPhone it is fiddly. The finger unintentionally touches the screen and things vanish and there is rarely a “back” facility. Typing is wonderfully easy, but correcting is not so. Getting the insertion point where you want it can be frustrating. Using BlogPress led to annoying losses, and I learnt to type posts in email, then copy and paste into BlogPress.
Vodafone coverage is generally poor. I think you can only use Internet with a 3G signal; when strong it is indicated in the bars area on the screen. I think you can be receiving some 3G signal without it being indicated. I posted for every day (but not necessarily on that day) which implies operation is viable, but I had to work hard to achieve this. There are many and large areas where there is no signal, and considering the cost of Vodafone’s package I reckon Vodafone are getting money under false pretenses.
Thanks to everyone who commented and showed interest in my exploits, this makes a huge difference when you are out there. I appreciate also no criticism (so far) about making oneself vulnerable by injury through walking alone!
Thanks also to the many interesting and kind, and some times not so kind, people I met along the way - these encounters are a large part of what makes these journeys worthwhile.
   
We are blessed with a rich and varied country, and of course I mean the whole of the UK, but you have to go out there and find it, preferably over sustained periods - most people have the ability to do this one way or another and I thoroughly recommend it.

3 comments:

  1. we hope that the lack of mention of your leg in this retrospective means it is not so bad (as it might be, perhaps!)
    as you know, i'm not a bloggodict, but found your account most interesting and, almost, addictive - particularly in that it made me realise that I should be doing something like that rather than getting up at 0500 hours to rush off down the M40 merely to scrabble about behind other peoples' loo pans . . .
    it made the spring and early summer come alive - it was most welcome, each day, to read of your 'goings' and lucid reflections on the passing day and scenes - thanks indeed

    we look forward to seeing the whole set of pics and reading the next installment -

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  2. Gimmer - Thanks for your comment. There are a number of different pleasures gained from these exploits, some of which may have been apparent from my posts.

    If my posts have given some pleasure to, and brightened the day for any of my readers that is another one to add to the list.

    I am thinking about some sort of combined text and pictures production, but I want to set up a system of doing this so that it is relatively easy and systematic. I think "preparation" is the key word.

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  3. I look forward to your next 'production' for like 'gimmer' I too enjoyed reading your posts.

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