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...

  The view looking back from the climb out of Borrowdale. This is part 2 of a 4-part series. You can find part 1 here:   Part 1/4: Windermere -> Borrowdale . I awoke early in Borrowdale and prepared food for the day ahead with one eye on the weather. After the rainy ending to my hike the day before, I was determined to bide my time for my friend the Sun (and let my clothes use the drying room to their fullest advantage). A sidebar on good hiking food: you are probably already aware of the importance of lightweight, high-energy foods for long hikes ( this hiking guide has more comprehensive information, and even a nice recipe idea). Personally, I am a big fan of peanut butter and banana sandwiches. However, I often enjoy having something more substantial. I find that preparing an actual meal (or using leftovers of a previous repast) really brightens lunchtime. For me, this is almost always a tomato and tuna dish on a base of pasta, preferably with broccoli. Bring your own f...

  A little OS map overview of my Lake District journey. When April brought its famous showers this year, hiking seemed a dismal prospect. But while the rain outside was pouring, I was inside poring over a map of the Lake District. It is an area I visited often with my family as a child, particularly Derwentwater, whose independent (and formerly YHA) hostel sadly closed its doors permanently in March 2024. This grim memento mori aside, we are spoilt for choice with YHA hostels in the Lakes, and I had a hankering to see them again. Now in my twenties, I had long decided that the best way to see the beauty of the region was to follow in the footsteps of Wainwright and Wordsworth and take to the road, or rather to the path. I whittled down the list of hostels and mapped out a route that I hoped would do justice to the great men. And so, having packed up my waterproof trousers, my raincoat, my boots, my OS maps, and an astounding number of snacks, I was ready. Neither snow nor rain wo...

I have deliberated for a long time on when to write this blog, what to write in it, and indeed whether to write it at all. Someone call Fleet Street, I found a sixth Journalism W . But now that I have taken the plunge, one further question remains: how should I write it? Convention and chronology dictate that I begin at the beginning, with those hostels I first visited with family when I was knee high to a grasshopper. However, this approach leaves me with little to talk about beyond the fact that I recall having been there. Rather than present an incredibly dry list of hostels about which I remember very little, surely it would be more appropriate to start with some sort of showstopper: a journey that I not only remember, but recall fondly? And so I shall, because this is my blog and no-one is around to stop me. In the next post, I will start things off with a bang and talk about the sometimes harrowing, sometimes wholesome adventure I had in April 2024 walking from hostel to hostel i...