Journey of the Hosteller

The view across Swanage, looking north Swanage is a small town on the Dorset side of the Jurassic Coast, a short jaunt away from Bournemouth on the number 50 bus. It’s a scenic coastline route that I thoroughly recommend. So-named due to the prevalence of fossils to be found there (and not as a prescient homage to Michael Crichton’s works, as I had hoped), the Jurassic Coast stretches 95 miles along England’s southern coastline. The easternmost point, Studland Bay (and Studland itself), is just a short drive, or a slightly longer walk, from Swanage itself, and the headland between each town is marked by a main attraction of the Jurassic Coast: Old Harry Rocks. This is not a statement of approbation for the Devil, rather a group of chalk formations produced by the various machinations of sea, wind and rain erosion, which have formed stacks and stumps that protrude from the headland as various clods are washed away by the sea ( and Europe is the less ). Sadly, I have very few photos that...

Reynard's Cave, a short walk from YHA Ilam Hall. Volunteering with the YHA is, at least in my experience, an undertaking as eclectic as the hostels themselves. You can join working parties to help clean and (re)decordate, work as a volunteer gardener, find a placement at a specific hostel… the list goes on! All such opportunities are advertised at Volunteering with YHA . Almost a decade ago, as a keen young teen, my starry-eyed optimism led me to both search via the YHA placements site and to email hostels directly, asking for the opportunity to come and volunteer with them. The first hostel I heard back from, and one that will always hold a special place in my heart, was YHA Ilam Hall. Sidebar: A small disclaimer “The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there." Good point, L.P. Hartley, thank you.  This is my first post which delves into the mysterious past, and memory can be a treacherous thing. By happy happenstance, on this occasion I still have my journa...

  An atmospheric view northwards from the climb out of Eskdale. This is part 4 of a 4-part series. You can find parts 1-3 here: Part 1/4: Windermere -> Borrowdale Part 2/4: Borrowdale -> Wasdale Hall Part 3/4: Wasdale Hall -> Eskdale It's the fifth day of my grand walking tour, and things are about to get rainy. I awoke early and set off from YHA Eskdale with a song in my heart and a hope in my head: the vain hope that if I made good enough time, the tyrant rain might not catch me. Alas, it wasn't to be, but at least the first climb was very pleasant. My route took me close to 'point of historical interest' Hardknott Roman Fort , but on this occasion I pressed on past the Hadrian-era fortification, determined to beat the rain. The views back over the valley were wonderfully moody, and by the time I reached Seathwaite Tarn, I was nearing cloud cover. The small road leading up to Seathwaite Tarn, where the clouds await. The Tarn itself is a reservoir, a little so...

The view from the south shore of Wastwater. This is part 3 of a 4-part series. You can find parts 1-2 here:  Part 1/4: Windermere -> Borrowdale Part 2/4: Borrowdale -> Wasdale Hall . The morning after my arrival in Wasdale, I bade the Hall a fond farewell and, reluctant to part from the shoreline, took a circuitous path by Wastwater to Nether Wasdale, there to resupply from the very welcome Sawmill Cafe & Farm Shop . One of the best things about a walking holiday, at least to my mind, is the license to splash out a little on a nice sausage roll or some cake. And so, rucksack thusly replenished, I headed onwards and upwards past Irton Fell, with a view at my back that went some way to justify my semi-frequent stops to catch my breath. Across the top, I picked my way through a waterlogged path that wound its way through the pines before descending through the dappled deciduous lower reaches of Mitterdale Forest. A section of muddy path in Mitterdale Forest. What glamour! At...