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Photo-blogging: skyline portrait
Apr. 14th, 2017 07:00 amMy dad standing on top of a rocky outcrop on Dartmoor, silhouetted against the sky.
Hay Tor and Saddle Tor
Apr. 3rd, 2017 09:42 pmHaving finally managed to get our schedules to synchronise, my parents came down to Devon for an early Easter staycation. They arrived at around midday and we left Exeter to have lunch at the Claycutter's Arms before heading on to Hay Tor for an afternoon of walking.
Having come prepared for the brutally cold wind, we booted up and put on our cold weather gear and made our way up the hill to the tor itself. My mum brought her trekking pole with her and proceeded to wield it like a staff of doom; on several occasions she made a spirited attempt to impale my whilst shaking her wrist to try and activate the screen on her fitbit...
When we reached the top of the hill, we discovered a group abseiling down the side of the stones themselves. Then, when we went round the corner, we encountered a group of students in hi-viz vests and hard hats, apparently engaged in sketching the rock face. I was rather amused by their decision to wear construction-style hard hats rather than the climbing helmets that are more common up on the moor.
Bundled up in a down jacket, I braved the weather on the top of the tor to take a few photos. Another group climbed up after me and took a few selfies before heading down in a near-frozen state.
We then went on a circuitous walk that took us through Saddle Tor. Here we encountered a group of friendly Dartmoor ponies who, just as with the goats on Kalymnos, seem to have decided that the food provided by visiting humans was infinitely preferable to chomping their way through grass and gorse.
My dad, who has a tendency to stride out and break trail in front of the rest of us, often feels the need to telegraph directions to those of us dawdling behind. Here, his inner Prospero seems to be showing:
Rather than push on to Rippon Tor — further away than it seems, thanks to the hills — we looped back and started making our way down to the car park where we inevitably found ourselves walking into the boggy source of the River Sig. Rather than risk fording it, my mum & retreated back up the hill, while my dad valiantly strode on, ignoring the inconvenience of having to walk through a stream in order to get to the top of the ridge without having to retrace his steps.
After returning to Exeter, my parents settled into their B&B — they stayed at Raffles on Blackall Road, which they heartily recommend — before we met up again and went to the consistently excellent Curry Leaf for supper.
Having come prepared for the brutally cold wind, we booted up and put on our cold weather gear and made our way up the hill to the tor itself. My mum brought her trekking pole with her and proceeded to wield it like a staff of doom; on several occasions she made a spirited attempt to impale my whilst shaking her wrist to try and activate the screen on her fitbit...
When we reached the top of the hill, we discovered a group abseiling down the side of the stones themselves. Then, when we went round the corner, we encountered a group of students in hi-viz vests and hard hats, apparently engaged in sketching the rock face. I was rather amused by their decision to wear construction-style hard hats rather than the climbing helmets that are more common up on the moor.
Bundled up in a down jacket, I braved the weather on the top of the tor to take a few photos. Another group climbed up after me and took a few selfies before heading down in a near-frozen state.
We then went on a circuitous walk that took us through Saddle Tor. Here we encountered a group of friendly Dartmoor ponies who, just as with the goats on Kalymnos, seem to have decided that the food provided by visiting humans was infinitely preferable to chomping their way through grass and gorse.
My dad, who has a tendency to stride out and break trail in front of the rest of us, often feels the need to telegraph directions to those of us dawdling behind. Here, his inner Prospero seems to be showing:
Rather than push on to Rippon Tor — further away than it seems, thanks to the hills — we looped back and started making our way down to the car park where we inevitably found ourselves walking into the boggy source of the River Sig. Rather than risk fording it, my mum & retreated back up the hill, while my dad valiantly strode on, ignoring the inconvenience of having to walk through a stream in order to get to the top of the ridge without having to retrace his steps.
After returning to Exeter, my parents settled into their B&B — they stayed at Raffles on Blackall Road, which they heartily recommend — before we met up again and went to the consistently excellent Curry Leaf for supper.
A warm Sunday out west
Jun. 5th, 2016 10:03 pmAfter a busy morning, we decided to go to the Barn. The idea had been to go there for IB's birthday, but she decided that the weather was better suited to paddleboarding and went off to do that instead. The journey wasn't too bad on the A30, although the jack-knifed caravan with its car face on to traffic in the fast lane provided a sober warning about the dangers of end-of-holiday driving.
The weather was warn but not unbearable when we arrived and we had an enjoyable time, despite a noticeable lack of friction. The Barn team were busy stripping the boulder ready for the start of the summer league, but they were working on Si's Wave and the Shield, so there was still plenty left to finish from their last reset. I finally finished the blue sloper problem I'd been trying to nail at the tail-end of our last session there, and we all tried and failed to send a particularly difficult 6a/+ on the Vert Wall — definitely a hard one for its grade.
With a few hours of daylight left to us and a no pressing reason to return to town, we stopped off at Brentor and went for a walk around the tor. On the way up we saw a number of wheatears — I initially thought they might be stonechats until I realised they had grey heads — flitting around, singing and showing off to each other.
As we came round the hill, we heard the small congregation of St Michael's Church singing hymns outdoors. What they may have lacked in fidelity to the tune, they more than made up for in carrying power and they were clearly audible from the base of the hill. We stopped for supper in our local — where I noticed our former CE sitting with a group of friends — and talked things over before it was time to make our way back to Exeter.
The weather was warn but not unbearable when we arrived and we had an enjoyable time, despite a noticeable lack of friction. The Barn team were busy stripping the boulder ready for the start of the summer league, but they were working on Si's Wave and the Shield, so there was still plenty left to finish from their last reset. I finally finished the blue sloper problem I'd been trying to nail at the tail-end of our last session there, and we all tried and failed to send a particularly difficult 6a/+ on the Vert Wall — definitely a hard one for its grade.
With a few hours of daylight left to us and a no pressing reason to return to town, we stopped off at Brentor and went for a walk around the tor. On the way up we saw a number of wheatears — I initially thought they might be stonechats until I realised they had grey heads — flitting around, singing and showing off to each other.
As we came round the hill, we heard the small congregation of St Michael's Church singing hymns outdoors. What they may have lacked in fidelity to the tune, they more than made up for in carrying power and they were clearly audible from the base of the hill. We stopped for supper in our local — where I noticed our former CE sitting with a group of friends — and talked things over before it was time to make our way back to Exeter.
Morning of catching up with stuff followed by an afternoon of climbing and complaining about our respectives jobs. On the way home we stopped off on Brent Tor:
The weather was so beautiful it was a real privilege to be up there.
And the views looking out over the moor were truly spectacular — it's hard to imagine a more spectacular final resting place:
We weren't alone up there: the car pack was busy with people attending the Michaelmas service up at St Michael's on the top of the tor; and on the way back we saw a couple of people setting up tripod mounts, presumably in preparation for tonight's supermoon.
We stopped for supper at the Castle Inn in Lydford before contining on home accompanied by the strangest selection of songs from E's iPod Shuffle: only the God of Random Bits knows quite why it chose to juxtapose White Christmas with Dragonforce's The Last Journey Home — music that only works when it's late at night, you're driving back home, you've got the volume cranked to 11, and only power metal will get you through...
ETA: worth noting that, once again, all photos come courtesy of my trusty Nokia C5. I'm beginning to think I really ought to get a point-and-click camera — or, more sensibly, a decent smartphone — to do proper justice to the situations I find myself in...
The weather was so beautiful it was a real privilege to be up there.
And the views looking out over the moor were truly spectacular — it's hard to imagine a more spectacular final resting place:
We weren't alone up there: the car pack was busy with people attending the Michaelmas service up at St Michael's on the top of the tor; and on the way back we saw a couple of people setting up tripod mounts, presumably in preparation for tonight's supermoon.
We stopped for supper at the Castle Inn in Lydford before contining on home accompanied by the strangest selection of songs from E's iPod Shuffle: only the God of Random Bits knows quite why it chose to juxtapose White Christmas with Dragonforce's The Last Journey Home — music that only works when it's late at night, you're driving back home, you've got the volume cranked to 11, and only power metal will get you through...
ETA: worth noting that, once again, all photos come courtesy of my trusty Nokia C5. I'm beginning to think I really ought to get a point-and-click camera — or, more sensibly, a decent smartphone — to do proper justice to the situations I find myself in...
A really nice day doing exciting outdoor things with E. We spent the first part of the afternoon bouldering and I was pleased to find my injured finger holding up well under the strain. Despite all the recent downtime my form was good and I felt strong, flashing a burly overhung problem that E decided she wasn't even going to attempt.
Having made the effort to get out of town, we decide to take advantage of the beautiful weather and late sunset, heading to Burrator Reservoir for a walk up and over Sheepstor.
Looking south from the top of Sheepstor towards the village.
The views from the tor were truly spectacular — I hadn't brought my camera, so I had to make do with my less-than-wonderful phone camera, which seems to have really struggled with the contrast in some of these shots — with dramatic brooding clouds and crepuscular rays.
Looking southwest from the top of Sheepstor out over Burrator Reservoir towards Dousland and Yelverton.
Coming down from the tor we passed a boulder with amazing looking roof — fortunately we'd left our kit in the car, otherwise I think we'd've shoed up and given it a try! — and passed through a particularly charming little Devonian lane with amazing trees and beautiful foxgloves:
A lane with foxgloves.
Walking along back by the edge of the water, passed amazing quantities of elderflowers, we completed our loop, hopped into the car and drove to Meavy where we arrived just in time to have supper at The Royal Oak. I had a delicious risotto — pea, mint, and red onion — while E had a huge steak and Jail Ale pie.
Rather than drive back around the edge of the moor, we took the scenic route over the top, through Princetown and Moretonhampstead. The timing was perfect: we caught the tail of the sunset; then, midway across, we saw the valleys start to fill with fog, slowing down for patches of dense mist. Having been initially sceptical about the signs warning of sheep lying in the road, we had to slow down to a crawl on a number occasions to allow E to dodge round animals that had got it into their wooly minds that the road was a sensible place to settle down for the night — presumably the dark tarmac re-radiates a lot of the day's heat, making it an attractive place for a snooze.
After an uneventful journey and a much needed and truly wonderful day out, we finally made it back to Exeter just short of the witching hour...
Having made the effort to get out of town, we decide to take advantage of the beautiful weather and late sunset, heading to Burrator Reservoir for a walk up and over Sheepstor.
Looking south from the top of Sheepstor towards the village.
The views from the tor were truly spectacular — I hadn't brought my camera, so I had to make do with my less-than-wonderful phone camera, which seems to have really struggled with the contrast in some of these shots — with dramatic brooding clouds and crepuscular rays.
Looking southwest from the top of Sheepstor out over Burrator Reservoir towards Dousland and Yelverton.
Coming down from the tor we passed a boulder with amazing looking roof — fortunately we'd left our kit in the car, otherwise I think we'd've shoed up and given it a try! — and passed through a particularly charming little Devonian lane with amazing trees and beautiful foxgloves:
A lane with foxgloves.
Walking along back by the edge of the water, passed amazing quantities of elderflowers, we completed our loop, hopped into the car and drove to Meavy where we arrived just in time to have supper at The Royal Oak. I had a delicious risotto — pea, mint, and red onion — while E had a huge steak and Jail Ale pie.
Rather than drive back around the edge of the moor, we took the scenic route over the top, through Princetown and Moretonhampstead. The timing was perfect: we caught the tail of the sunset; then, midway across, we saw the valleys start to fill with fog, slowing down for patches of dense mist. Having been initially sceptical about the signs warning of sheep lying in the road, we had to slow down to a crawl on a number occasions to allow E to dodge round animals that had got it into their wooly minds that the road was a sensible place to settle down for the night — presumably the dark tarmac re-radiates a lot of the day's heat, making it an attractive place for a snooze.
After an uneventful journey and a much needed and truly wonderful day out, we finally made it back to Exeter just short of the witching hour...
Up on Bonehill
Apr. 19th, 2015 09:34 pmRather than spend the afternoon indoors, we took advantage of the glorious weather and dragged ourselves up to Bonehill for an afternoon of bouldering.
We started with Baby Slab, warming up with the easy 5 up the middle and then doing the simple 4 up the arete.
E making light work of the 5. It's a really nice way into things: solid feet and lots of positive holds the whole way up.
With that settled, we moved over to the Cube and worked some of the 6s on the northwestern size.
Unable to reach the obvious hold up to the left, E tried out a completely different beta...
B and I tried a different method involving a heel hook and a reach for the next hold. I managed to get my hand on statically the first time I tried it and then fell off on my every subsequent attempt, largely because I was unwilling to risk a sliced up hand in order to stick the move.
Partway through the afternoon we bumped into H, whom we both know by sight from Exeter, who was out for her first ever boulder on the moor. Here she's going from a standing start into the first move...
...and on into part of E's beta.
Admitting defeat on the 6c, we all tried out a couple of easier routes including something graded 6a which felt far easier — which suggests that we'd misread it and done another problem instead.
I think this was graded a four. It certainly felt like it after the stuff in the high six range.
This is why they say that Dartmoor is sharper than a werewolf's teeth and why people recommend you go often and keep the sessions short...
We started with Baby Slab, warming up with the easy 5 up the middle and then doing the simple 4 up the arete.
E making light work of the 5. It's a really nice way into things: solid feet and lots of positive holds the whole way up.
With that settled, we moved over to the Cube and worked some of the 6s on the northwestern size.
Unable to reach the obvious hold up to the left, E tried out a completely different beta...
B and I tried a different method involving a heel hook and a reach for the next hold. I managed to get my hand on statically the first time I tried it and then fell off on my every subsequent attempt, largely because I was unwilling to risk a sliced up hand in order to stick the move.
Partway through the afternoon we bumped into H, whom we both know by sight from Exeter, who was out for her first ever boulder on the moor. Here she's going from a standing start into the first move...
...and on into part of E's beta.
Admitting defeat on the 6c, we all tried out a couple of easier routes including something graded 6a which felt far easier — which suggests that we'd misread it and done another problem instead.
I think this was graded a four. It certainly felt like it after the stuff in the high six range.
This is why they say that Dartmoor is sharper than a werewolf's teeth and why people recommend you go often and keep the sessions short...
Foggy day on Dartmoor
Nov. 29th, 2014 02:58 pmWith sunny weather and clear skies in Exeter, we optimistically headed for Dartmoor. The roads were clear and we got to Ilsington with only one minor map reading confusion on my part, only to hit a bank of thick fog as we climbed up towards the top of the moor. We successfully navigated ourselves to Hound Tor car park, where the visibility was down to 15 metres, and, despite mater's misgivings and complaints, successfully navigated ourselves up to the tor itself where I was impressed to find a couple of people climbing trad despite the filthy weather.
We toured round the rest of the tors — in some places it was possible to see for 30-40 metres — ending up at Haytor, where it was so foggy that despite the short distance from the car park to the tor, we got so lost that we eneded up at the quarry instead. Giving up at this point, we stopped off in Chudleigh Knighton for lunch, and came back to town to allow the parents to drop me off before starting on their journey back to Coventry.
We toured round the rest of the tors — in some places it was possible to see for 30-40 metres — ending up at Haytor, where it was so foggy that despite the short distance from the car park to the tor, we got so lost that we eneded up at the quarry instead. Giving up at this point, we stopped off in Chudleigh Knighton for lunch, and came back to town to allow the parents to drop me off before starting on their journey back to Coventry.
One final bouldering photo
Aug. 11th, 2014 12:55 pmOn Saturday, H suggested that I trim one of the photos he took last weekend to turn a good composition into an excellent one. And I think, on balance, that he's right — although the fact that I'm the subject rather ruins it for me!
This is absolutely, postively, definitely the very last of the pictures from last weekend, I promise...
This is absolutely, postively, definitely the very last of the pictures from last weekend, I promise...
Final few photos from the weekend?
Aug. 4th, 2014 10:23 pmThanks to the combined efforts of H, N & T, a few more photos from the weekend starting with our group selfie on the very windy top of Hound Tor, complete with lowering clouds in the background:
( Yet more photos behind the cut... )
( Yet more photos behind the cut... )
Sunday on Hound Tor
Aug. 3rd, 2014 07:24 pmTo Hound Tor for today's bouldering where the weather was sunny but cold in the wind and where, despite overhearing a mother in the car park confidently telling her child that it was going to rain in half an hour, we managed to escape a drenching.
Having reset the exposure settings on my camera — they'd been cranked way up sometime yesterday — and tweaked some of the autofocus settings, I found I'd been lucky enough to bag a handful of decent photos, managing to capture both the moor and today's constant parade of cumulonimbi in all their glory.
Arriving at the top, we dropped the mats, shoes and other baggage, and stood around taking in the fantastic view of the moor looking east towards Haytor:
( Pre-lunch montage... )
Just before lunch we shifted round the corner to Little Prow where T and I worked up one of the problems while H&N went down to the Hound of the Basketmeals for burgers. After some solid attempts on the problem, during which I knocked off some of my scabs and we paused to watch a group of people scattering ashes just below us, we headed up to Summit Block to wait for the food — delayed by the need to defrost my veggie burger!
( Post-lunch... )
After seeing the crowds around Haytor, we ditched out plans to walk up and hightailed it for Exeter and Go Outdoors where the others were keen to look at tents. No-one bought anything in the end and they dropped me back at my place in time for me to light out for the supermarket while they headed back toward the motorway and the lights of London.
Despite my rather hesitant start and the hand-shredding delights of Dartmoor granite — "sharper than werewolves' teeth" — I had a fantastic weekend.
It was great to see T&N again and nice to meet P's mum for supper yesterday evening — I don't think I'd seen her since I bumped into them in Reading 13-14 years ago! It was also good to get a chance to play with the camera — I think I now know which settings I need to fiddle with to get the light balance right! — and I took enough photos that I managed to get a few I'm genuinely happy with.
Having reset the exposure settings on my camera — they'd been cranked way up sometime yesterday — and tweaked some of the autofocus settings, I found I'd been lucky enough to bag a handful of decent photos, managing to capture both the moor and today's constant parade of cumulonimbi in all their glory.
Arriving at the top, we dropped the mats, shoes and other baggage, and stood around taking in the fantastic view of the moor looking east towards Haytor:
( Pre-lunch montage... )
Just before lunch we shifted round the corner to Little Prow where T and I worked up one of the problems while H&N went down to the Hound of the Basketmeals for burgers. After some solid attempts on the problem, during which I knocked off some of my scabs and we paused to watch a group of people scattering ashes just below us, we headed up to Summit Block to wait for the food — delayed by the need to defrost my veggie burger!
( Post-lunch... )
After seeing the crowds around Haytor, we ditched out plans to walk up and hightailed it for Exeter and Go Outdoors where the others were keen to look at tents. No-one bought anything in the end and they dropped me back at my place in time for me to light out for the supermarket while they headed back toward the motorway and the lights of London.
Despite my rather hesitant start and the hand-shredding delights of Dartmoor granite — "sharper than werewolves' teeth" — I had a fantastic weekend.
It was great to see T&N again and nice to meet P's mum for supper yesterday evening — I don't think I'd seen her since I bumped into them in Reading 13-14 years ago! It was also good to get a chance to play with the camera — I think I now know which settings I need to fiddle with to get the light balance right! — and I took enough photos that I managed to get a few I'm genuinely happy with.
Saturday on Bonehill Rocks
Aug. 2nd, 2014 10:47 pmWith the others delayed by traffic around Stonehenge, it wasn't until midday that I caught the bus out to the Park & Ride for the first part of the trip to Dartmoor. The signs weren't encouraging: within seconds of stepping out of my front door, it had started raining; by the time I was on the bus, it was torrential; and when I got off, the roads were like rivers. Fortunately for me, the strong winds had driven the rain east by the time the car arrived and I managed to avoid a complete drenching.
With the others showing signs of hanger — hunger-induced-anger — we stopped at a petrol station en route to pick up some food. Sadly the place had been picked clean and all that remained were Dairylea Lunchables and Cathedral City cheese & pickle snack packs, but that didn't stop our valiant climbers from refuelling on the finest processed cheese known to humanity. Which was just as well because we took a long detour on the way to Bonehill, ending up in Manaton after falling back on dead reckoning. After passing Becky Falls a couple of times, we finally got back on track and arrived at our destination about twenty minutes later than expected, to find the moor it's usual brooding and spectacular self:
After getting our bearings we moved round to the warm-up wall and started with a couple of easy problems.
( Warming up... )
Not being greatly sold on the warm-up landing, we moved round the corner and spent a good chunk of the afternoon working the Cube.
( The cube... )
We then moved round the corner and spent the last part of the afternoon working on the problems around Greg's Dyno:
( Greg's Dyno... )
With time running out on us, we packed up, headed back to town via Ashburton, and stopped off at the hotel to allow the others to drop off their kit. Washed and tidied — well, N was, as least — we drove out to Honiton to pick up H's mother in law for supper at the Hare and Hounds out towards Sidbury. The Australian contingent went for the carvery, I went for a charming butternut squash pie, and V had a veggie korma from the children's / small appetite menu. We had a nice evening, talking about everything under the sun from the 2011 Brisbane flood to the mechanics of eBay to whether pubs and cafes might be a suitable environment for doing some pen-and-ink drawings.
Tired and happy we headed home, dropping V off in Honiton just as the van carrying the pigeons off to their next race was about to leave, before returning to Exeter; me to my place and the others to their hotel in St Thomas.
With the others showing signs of hanger — hunger-induced-anger — we stopped at a petrol station en route to pick up some food. Sadly the place had been picked clean and all that remained were Dairylea Lunchables and Cathedral City cheese & pickle snack packs, but that didn't stop our valiant climbers from refuelling on the finest processed cheese known to humanity. Which was just as well because we took a long detour on the way to Bonehill, ending up in Manaton after falling back on dead reckoning. After passing Becky Falls a couple of times, we finally got back on track and arrived at our destination about twenty minutes later than expected, to find the moor it's usual brooding and spectacular self:
After getting our bearings we moved round to the warm-up wall and started with a couple of easy problems.
( Warming up... )
Not being greatly sold on the warm-up landing, we moved round the corner and spent a good chunk of the afternoon working the Cube.
( The cube... )
We then moved round the corner and spent the last part of the afternoon working on the problems around Greg's Dyno:
( Greg's Dyno... )
With time running out on us, we packed up, headed back to town via Ashburton, and stopped off at the hotel to allow the others to drop off their kit. Washed and tidied — well, N was, as least — we drove out to Honiton to pick up H's mother in law for supper at the Hare and Hounds out towards Sidbury. The Australian contingent went for the carvery, I went for a charming butternut squash pie, and V had a veggie korma from the children's / small appetite menu. We had a nice evening, talking about everything under the sun from the 2011 Brisbane flood to the mechanics of eBay to whether pubs and cafes might be a suitable environment for doing some pen-and-ink drawings.
Tired and happy we headed home, dropping V off in Honiton just as the van carrying the pigeons off to their next race was about to leave, before returning to Exeter; me to my place and the others to their hotel in St Thomas.
