Bivvy a month 2018.

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Ray Young
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Re: Bivvy a month 2018.

Post by Ray Young »

7/7 with the Borders 220 done.
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BigdummySteve
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Re: Bivvy a month 2018.

Post by BigdummySteve »

7/7 on the run from the sun :-bd
August was to on the Isle of Man but a new job is making that unlikely, need to think of an interesting alternative.
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middleagedmadness
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Re: Bivvy a month 2018.

Post by middleagedmadness »

BigdummySteve wrote:7/7 on the run from the sun :-bd
August was to on the Isle of Man but a new job is making that unlikely, need to think of an interesting alternative.
Come up this way Steve ,meet you down little stretton if you want and a night on longmynd ,will see if Scott's playing too , did have a trip planned for August but think it's gonna be put back a bit until I've got a few more miles under my belt ,see if reg is playing too ,think he said the best train for him was to Telford
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BigdummySteve
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Re: Bivvy a month 2018.

Post by BigdummySteve »

Cheers may well do, enjoyed our last little trip there.
We’re all individuals, except me.

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middleagedmadness
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Re: Bivvy a month 2018.

Post by middleagedmadness »

Friday 17/8 mate if that's ok ,got a family thing on the Sunday so can't do sat/sun ,few pints in the ragleeth then on upto the top of the mynd
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Scattamah
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Re: Bivvy a month 2018.

Post by Scattamah »

Easy. That'll be August BaM cleared. :)

Greetz

S.
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RIP
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Re: Bivvy a month 2018.

Post by RIP »

Thanks for the invitation to your neck of the woods chaps - I did enjoy our foray up there in March. I'm going to have to apologise for being a complete party-pooper but my August pass was signed off a while ago for a C2C effort and is now irretrievably stored in Mrs Perrin's filing system :sad:. July is allocated to a top secret (Oh... Blast. Ho hum.) mission striking deep into the heart of BB Land with Pickers to attempt the possibly first-ever traverse of the infamous 'Pickers Gap'. Of course we may never return from that in which case our August pass is a bit academic anyway :wink:. So as said, 'apologies for absence'. Shame 'cos it's looking like a bit of a party what with maybe Ben n Steve & Co along. Ah well.

However don't forget the thing we nattered about later in the year which would be ace :smile:. At the risk of overplanning, past experience suggests getting the ball rolling on that one fairly soon :smile:.

'Reg'
Last edited by RIP on Sat Jul 14, 2018 11:50 am, edited 2 times in total.
"My God, Ponsonby, I'm two-thirds of the way to the grave and what have I done?" - RIP

The sign outside the asylum is the wrong way round.....

"At least you got some stories" - James Acaster
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Re: Bivvy a month 2018.

Post by RIP »

Ta for PM's mate. Looks like a Salop/Cotswolds/Chilterns 'fusion caper' seems to be congealing at end of Sept then :-bd. Although I'll be knackered after returning from a W Cumbria exploration. Look fwd to hearing more later (yer, I know this should be over in Playing Out now, confusion reigns :smile:). Hope summat can still be agreed eventually for that there Dec thingy as well :wink:.
"My God, Ponsonby, I'm two-thirds of the way to the grave and what have I done?" - RIP

The sign outside the asylum is the wrong way round.....

"At least you got some stories" - James Acaster
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Re: Bivvy a month 2018.

Post by middleagedmadness »

RIP wrote:Ta for PM's mate. Looks like a Salop/Cotswolds/Chilterns 'fusion caper' seems to be congealing at end of Sept then :-bd. Although I'll be knackered after returning from a W Cumbria exploration. Look fwd to hearing more later (yer, I know this should be over in Playing Out now, confusion reigns :smile:). Hope summat can still be agreed eventually for that there Dec thingy as well :wink:.
Don't forget black country/Irish/traveller/pikey reg :wink:
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Re: Bivvy a month 2018.

Post by RIP »

That's quite some mash-up there :roll:. Can't say we're not welcoming to all faiths, creeds, superstitions and drunkards :-bd.
"My God, Ponsonby, I'm two-thirds of the way to the grave and what have I done?" - RIP

The sign outside the asylum is the wrong way round.....

"At least you got some stories" - James Acaster
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Re: Bivvy a month 2018.

Post by TheBrownDog »

7/7 for 2018. I strained my back a couple of weeks ago so there was no chance of any sort of off roading and risk hurting it again, so I had dinner at home then gently rode about three miles along lanes to Hodgemoor Wood, got my hammock up around 10pm, slept like a dog, woke early and was home by 6. This was the only chance I had for a July bivvy, as we're off on hols this weekend.
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benconnolli
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Re: Bivvy a month 2018.

Post by benconnolli »

7/7 This one was a bit different in that wasn't about the cycling or the sleeping in the wilderness.

Yesterday afternoon eating my Falafel Mama I saw a flyer for an event in Gloucester that evening. Mix of beat box and theatre on the roof of a multi story car park. Last minute plans are my favourite kind so packing with an hours notice was ideal. I only have space for one bike in my room rented from a dippy hippy and commute along roads so, in another deviation from a standard BaM I would be on a road bike. I feel it is excusable as, being 33 years old, it was about as off road as they came in its day and I did bimble along one bridleway on my 27x1 1/4 tyres.
Yes that was all I took. The least yet
Yes that was all I took. The least yet
ridingthroughgensBB.jpg (481.71 KiB) Viewed 4229 times
Bike was custom built for my Grandad and has his initials on the seatstay and fork lugs. This bike has seen some serious commuting mileage and been on trips and tours to fill a book and yet will still carry me to my destination at speed with a smile pasted across my face. Notice the highly fashionable marketing invention sitting behind the saddle like a lost pannier.

Navigation was easy just along the Gloucester road (who'd have thought it!). Usually A roads would be a no no, but a Saturday evening in the Cotswolds is quiet enough to not be an issue and any cars are ridiculously patient with cyclists. It was a pleasant road, peaking in the middle with nice views, then a winding descent all of the way to my destination.

Festival was full of people much cooler than me with glitter on their faces rather than sweat and bugs but at least the open air took away the worst of my stench. The freedom of being able to sleep wherever and whenever I wanted was as liberating of ever. After enough lubrication for my limited sleeping system (down jacket, long johns and tiny klymit inertia mat) to be successful I departed. With these long days and my rushed packing I had forgotten to fit my bike lights. I rolled along the deserted midnight pavements until I found a petrol station open and got some sort of breakfast and a torch. Aptly the snickers had numpty written on it.

The torch took me to a footpath/field where I did my bit of sleeping. The mat has a slow puncture so only stays inflated for about an hour and a half, enough for a stop being as tired nap and acts as a natural alarm clock too. I woke up and it was still dark so, in proper wilderness fashion, I played pokemon on my phone til dawn. The sky glowed the same bright orange as my bike but any photographic attempts were lame. Rolled back into Stroud to find that the maccies only opened at 6am so a had a banana for breakfast before getting a proper sleep.
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Re: Bivvy a month 2018.

Post by RIP »

Another top effort in the best tramping traditions there Ben :-bd.
"My God, Ponsonby, I'm two-thirds of the way to the grave and what have I done?" - RIP

The sign outside the asylum is the wrong way round.....

"At least you got some stories" - James Acaster
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Bearlegged
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Re: Bivvy a month 2018.

Post by Bearlegged »

A number of tasks ticked off with this trip...

My employers held a sports and wellbeing day out in Edale. Rather than sign up for anything too organised and competitive, I sportingly cycled out from Sheffield, before throwing a credible 21m90cm in the Welly Wanging.

In addition to myself, I was also transporting a precious cargo to Edale...
https://www.instagram.com/p/BlPnXI-n5o2/

Beer safely handed over, I headed back up into the hills in search of some high ground, counting on the wind to keep the midges at bay. Not only did this tactic work well for avoiding the bitey little feckers, but it also kept me out of the spectacular inversions in the surrounding valleys. Not a bad view to start the day...
https://www.instagram.com/p/BlTdNLNHPvC/

6th bivvy of the year, 5/7 months in 2018.
frogatthefarriers
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Re: Bivvy a month 2018.

Post by frogatthefarriers »

BAM 7/7

For July's bivvy I rode the Mary Towneley Loop, starting in Waterfoot, going clockwise. It was hot.

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After a late start from home I didn't get going until after 5:30pm and got as far as small wood on the shore of Widdop reservoir where I hung up my hammock. Then to my dismay, I heard those braying voices that signify yoofs, coming from the top of the woods. There are a lot of dead trees in the upper part of the wood and they amused themselves for a while by breaking off dead branches and pushing dead trees over. Then they came down to the lake shore, each carrying a couple of bottles, where they played throwing stones into the lake. Judging by the laughter, they really enjoyed this. And smashing bottles.

On my part, I tucked myself low behind a tree and hope they wouldn't see me. Successfully. But while I'm sitting quietly I was delighted to see a stoat run into my camp, stop, look at me for 3 or 4 seconds before running off again. Never seen one before. My best wildlife encounter to date.

Time to cook but - OH SHOOT! - Somewhere along the way my gorilla cage holding a coke bottle with a litre of water has fallen off and I've not got enough water to cook my spaghetti - just 1/2 litre in my camelback. Never mind, there's a reservoir just down the bank, but I got down there to find goose footprints all along the shoreline. Where there are geese, there's goose poo. Not looking good. But going to bed hungry is not an option either so I filtered enough water for cooking pasta with the Trailshot. I figured all the solids would be filtered out, and any bugs would be killed by boiling. It must have worked - I'm not sick (yet).

Camp in the morning:-
View from bed
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Slept like a log, then an early start in the morning. Somewhere along the way, past Gorple reservoirs I found a deflated Mickey Mouse.
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I popped him and wrapped him up to bin later. Not before thinking of taking a few breaths of helium and talking like the Chipmunks. Grow up? - Never :grin:

At lower rough head I bought some jam. Don't laugh. All that extra weight....
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By Walsden I was ravenous. Took a half mile detour to Sunday dinner.
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There's no doubt that the wide-open moorland is striking but this is my idea of pretty scenery.
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Cobbles on Rooley Moor climb
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A fire on the moor
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I tried reporting this to the fire service but the responder couldn't understand why I couldn't give her a road name and hung up. :shock: I don't know how big this fire got, but it hasn't been in the news, so maybe it went out...

Saw a couple of these
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Now, I always acknowledge other riders/path users when I see them. I wonder why so many roadies don't - head down, eyes front, blank. Seems to me they could learn something from a sign like this.

The end
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When I first planned to do this route I'd intended to to make a detour to see the Singing Ringing Tree, up a hill near Burnley. In the event, due to problems getting the right route into my GPS I'd gone too far to go back by the time I realised. But I just had to go and see, so I loaded up the bike and went there.

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I'm so glad I made the effort. It's a hell of a thing - really does sing and ring.
Last edited by frogatthefarriers on Thu Jan 24, 2019 10:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Konia kują, żaba noge podstawia...
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RIP
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Re: Bivvy a month 2018.

Post by RIP »

Nice trip there Frog, enjoyed the write-up.

Just about to board the train to Borth, picking Mr Picton up on the way at Mach. Apparently Borth is the "best place in Wales to bring up a family", and the only Welsh place in the top 20 of a list of 2400 from the whole of the UK. Must've caught it on an off-day last time.... Sadly we won't have time to stick around to find out, since we're off to see if we can find a way through the infamous Pickers Gap. It'll be a long (and slightly disappointing) way back down if we can't, but hey-ho nothing ventured etc etc:

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(no axes, saws or dangling mugs will be utilised in the making of this voyage)
"My God, Ponsonby, I'm two-thirds of the way to the grave and what have I done?" - RIP

The sign outside the asylum is the wrong way round.....

"At least you got some stories" - James Acaster
ScotRoutes
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Re: Bivvy a month 2018.

Post by ScotRoutes »

A simple plan - drive over to Kinlochbervie, park up, ride into Sandwood Bay. Next day, ride back to van, drive to Durness and play about on the dunes, then drive home.

Image20180718_143616 by Colin Cadden, on Flickr
Looking out West.


Then, pulling into Ardgay Stores for a coffee, I lost power steering. Turns out the PS pump had blown. A call to AA and then recovery to Tain.

Image20180718_172754 by Colin Cadden, on Flickr

That was me stuck, with the garage planning to check out the problem and order a replacement pump the following day. So, given I had both bike and camping gear with me, I thought "what the hell" and hurredly re-planned.
Dinner was had in Tain, before I headed out on tarmac and then beach "path" towards Tarbat Ness.

Image20180718_201248 by Colin Cadden, on Flickr

I made it just in time to catch the sunset - at which point the lighthouse started to flash

Image20180718_222006 by Colin Cadden, on Flickr

Image20180718_222204 by Colin Cadden, on Flickr

A lovely spot though, right out on a wee headland. What little wind there was completely dropped overnight but the sea air kept any midge at bay anyway,

Up early (6am) to head back to Tain for the garage opening, I packed up quickly but was interrupted by a noise in the water just behind me.

Image20180719_061735 by Colin Cadden, on Flickr
Around 20 dolphins heading from the Dornoch Firth to the Moray Firth. I was transfixed while they swam almost right around my camp spot.

It was a lovely morning for a ride though.

Image20180719_065506 by Colin Cadden, on Flickr
Crops are coming on early due to the weather.

As the van was going to take all day, I left all teh camp kit and headed off to explore Tain and Dornoch for the day. Ended up doing 64km - completely unplanned. Nice area, especially for a fatbike
ImageP1050185 by Colin Cadden, on Flickr
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metalheart
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Re: Bivvy a month 2018.

Post by metalheart »

I can't really claim full membership but I've been out since April so here goes:


03: Glen Feshie.


Not been out for a while so wanted an easy re-introduction. My mate Saudi Dave (SD) wanted to head down Glen Feshie, a confab with scotroutes and we had a plan. Speyside way to Insh Watersports Restaurant then bivvy by the bridge. back to Aviemore via Drakes bothy and that lovely singletrack. Except SR called off sick...


ImageLoch Insh by metalheart-UK, on Flickr

ImageMorning view by metalheart-UK, on Flickr

04: Glen Feshie:

I was at a loose end, phoned SR: 'you fancy riding the bikes tomorrow' 'er, I'm heading out to do that Glen Feshie I missed last month...' 'ok, see you in a bit...'

ImageAll three set ups #2 by metalheart-UK, on Flickr

ImageTent in the morning by metalheart-UK, on Flickr

In my haste I forgot to take any tent pegs. Fortunately Ross had 6 spare (and SR had one), yay!

05: Glen Broon

With piemonster and SR. SR routemaster general as ever. He'd spotted a bivvy spot, we rode there and bivvyed. Way out was glorious it rained on the way back. They still let us in to the café in Nethy Bridge.

I don't seem to have photos loaded for that one...

06: Glen Tromie

SD was back, we wanted a nice easy trip in the nice weather. So speyside way to Kincraig, out Glen Feshie way and onto the Cairngorms loop route down Gaick/Glen Tromie, bivvying at Sronphadruig. Weather was scorchio, I miss planned my water (1 L!) no fill up until we hit the bivvy spot where I drank 2L out of the river.

Back to Aviemore in reverse (with breakfast at Loch Insh).

ImageGlen Tromie by metalheart-UK, on Flickr

ImageSronphadruig by metalheart-UK, on Flickr


ImageSronphadruig by metalheart-UK, on Flickr

07: Glens Garry/Rannach/Osian/Ericht

Did this with SR and piemonster last. This time with my mate Sandy & his missus. Again it was scorchio. Clegs were biting like bastards though, esp the Road to the Isles climb...

Camped at Corrour Old Lodge.

ImageBridge above Duinish by metalheart-UK, on Flickr

ImageWhat a helmet... by metalheart-UK, on Flickr

ImageOld Lodge, Corrour by metalheart-UK, on Flickr

ImageCorrour Station by metalheart-UK, on Flickr
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whitestone
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Re: Bivvy a month 2018.

Post by whitestone »

So we went for a rather long ride this weekend, basically the Leeds-Liverpool canal to Wigan, the Bridgewater canal to join up with the Trans Pennine Trail then NCN 67 to Leeds before rejoining the LL canal to get back home.

We bivvied in Longdendale on the old railway line that once used the Woodhead tunnels.

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We rose early, everything was bone dry - no condensation or ground damp. By the time we'd ridden the 6km to the tunnel entrances it was drizzling so good timing.

That's 7/7 for us.
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Piemonster
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Re: Bivvy a month 2018.

Post by Piemonster »

*Wonders if that GPS turned up*
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RIP
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Re: Bivvy a month 2018.

Post by RIP »

Well that was one of the most enjoyable and bonkers BaMs for ages – thanks to the top company of Pickers, and also some hare-brained situations and japes. Pickers joined my train at Machynlleth, explaining he’d just heard an announcement that people should “look out for anything odd or wierd and report it”, and of course we fitted that bill perfectly although for some reason nobody reported us. We alighted (good word that) at Borth straight out into some Bikepacking Standard Weather – first day of rain for goodness knows how long, with our usual excellent timing. There was now literally no going back because we only had one-way tickets to Borth! Shortly afterwards we spotted a buzzard very close to us on a post in a farmyard – amazing sight. We thought it would be fun to see it fly, so spent a couple of minutes gently clapping our hands, strangely to no avail. Eventually the farmer poked his head around a hedge and gave us a very strange look – two blokes clapping hands on a lane in the middle of nowhere. It eventually transpired that the buzzard was, er, a plastic decoy for the crows.

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The long climb up through Talybont and Cwm Ceulan brought us to the old Esgair-hir mine with its very dodgy looking open shafts several hundred feet deep. Pickers is used to my fixation with dangerous mines and caves by now.

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The main shaft had some extremely wierd noises far far below, rather like someone clambering around over rocks and stones. Shouting elicited no responses, so we assumed ghosts of miners past and legged it smartly away via Anglers Retreat and the rather nice woodland track through Hafodwnog towards Hyddgen.

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We opted for the quick way down to Mach, although seeing the sign at the bottom – with no matching one at the top presumably because they expected nobody in their right minds would approach from that direction - made us wonder whether we should plod 1300’ back up and go down the “proper way”.

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Arrived at one of my favourite pubs just in time for last food orders, and the bar lady reminded me about my Margerita debauchery from 3 months ago. Had to have another to remind myself...
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A discreet enquiry about bivi spots resulted in permission for the village green, upon which we endured a damp, midgy, night. Next morning it was porridge and an early start for our assault on the Pickers Gap. We had no idea about the terrain up there and 1500’ was a long climb to risk, with the weather closing in as we ascended. At the top, some trees had been felled and the whole area resembled the scene after a nuclear attack or destruction by aliens. We also gradually realised that the place was totally silent, totally silent. No vehicles, birds, branches, wind, nothing. I can't remember the last time I encountered that. A very eerie atmosphere.

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As it turned out, the traverse wasn’t too bad and we emerged above Bryn Eglwys quarry, plunging down the tracks into Abergynolwyn where the really excellent community cafe supplied us with soup and the first brews and cake of the day – I passed over the lemon drizzle for a very toothsome bakewell slice. Highly recommended.

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After lunch we headed up past Talyllyn Lake. By this time we were getting blasé about all the stunning scenery repeatedly appearing round corners – oh look another shimmering lake, there’s another load of mountains, two buzzards on that tree, more tinkling streams in sylvan glades – sensory overload.

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We tried a, for us, new track up towards Dolgellau. This would be a good alternative to F*ck It Hill in either direction and we resolved to build it into a WRT or something at some point. If that wasn’t enough excitement, we found an almost entirely off-road drop down into town which also avoids that desperately tedious road between Dol and Tabor. En route was a haunted house, so here’s a few pics that will appeal to 28dayslater fans, including a stupendous slate “garden wall” (had to pause and stroke the bloody thing, it were that sexy), and a handy outdoor netty for those taken-short-while-bivvying moments. 40-year-old pickled onion anyone? And yes I admit that the kitchen looks in a considerably better state than ours at home.

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Only way in was through this window with one pane of glass missing, so I might have been entering but I certainly wasn't breaking

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Last edited by RIP on Mon Jul 23, 2018 4:58 pm, edited 7 times in total.
"My God, Ponsonby, I'm two-thirds of the way to the grave and what have I done?" - RIP

The sign outside the asylum is the wrong way round.....

"At least you got some stories" - James Acaster
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Re: Bivvy a month 2018.

Post by RIP »

Dol seemed to be having some sort of Welsh music festival which entertained us for a while, then it was a relaxing half hour in the genteel surroundings of Roberts tea rooms, and more brews and cake (raspberry and almond for me as it happens) which set us up for the long drag up to Arthog woods and the “usual” view which I never get tired of and probably never will.

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A rare north-south, and rare daylight, traverse down to the Dysynni followed, past Birds Rock to Abergynolwyn, returning eight hours after we left it, and straight into the Railway Inn for a couple of beers and dinner. I’ve always wanted to stay in a Welsh castle, and that night we finally managed to achieve this ambition, and yes we took even more care than usual to LNT. Perhaps not everyone’s idea of a stay in a, er, luxury castle with all the trimmings, what with the odd wall or roof missing, but for us it was a little bit of heaven on earth.

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Waking early, for some inexplicable reason instead of continuing south as vaguely considered, it made total sense to go back over the knackering 1500’ hill to Barmouth, through all the same gates we’d closed 12 hours earlier, and across the ever-jawdropping Barmouth bridge and its estuary views; and a massive second breakfast in Davy Jones Locker probably had no bearing at all on that snap decision. Pickers tells me we covered 11000’ of climb (not too shabby for almost-60-year-old-farts I reckon) over the weekend which didn’t surprise me at this point I have to say. Thinking of the return over the bridge, we had a sudden attack of couldn’t-be-arsedness, and after a while I remembered there’s supposed to be a little ferry across the river. Lo and behold there was, and the guy seemed quite relaxed about bunging our bikes onto his wobbly boat for the crossing. We thought we’d achieved a bikepacking first, until he mentioned that a while ago he’d had a bloke with a penny-farthing!!

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The lunacy continued as we rode towards Fairbourne past the narrow-gauge steam railway station, where I thought it would be amusing to take the train if possible. Pickers wasn’t too sure about the 20 minute wait so we continued, then as the train went past us the other way I shouted at the driver to see if he’d take bikes, and after looking startled he nodded, and we chased him back to the station! The mini-guard’s van had a mobility chariot in it, so we had to dismantle our machines and squeeze them in – ridiculous!

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After a jolly trip at a most leisurely pace we continued down the coast road. I then remembered that a few years ago Llwyngwril village had some enthusiastic “yarn bombers” who adorned the village with knitted “things”, but had stopped after a few thefts (sigh). It seemed they had restarted the displays, and the first one we met was the Bear Bones Panda! I also found my next WRT iron horse further on, plus all sorts of curious oddities.

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We stopped at the village shop for some drinks. After a few juice cans I fancied a brew, and the lady pointed me to the machine (nasty poly cups, fake milk etc) which promptly failed to dispense the requisite hot water. I sweet-talked her into making me a proper one using her back-room kettle and some proper milk – result! Had a good old natter as well, and it turned out that her partner was a forester who that very week had felled the trees we saw at the start of Pickers Gap!! I do love this bit of Wales.

All good things come to an end and we spun the last few miles to Tonfanau, where I hoped to enact yet another ambition – to flag a train to a stop and board it. No, we didn’t have to wave our red petticoats as per Jenny A, but a simple hand wave would apparently suffice. Tonfanau has the added attraction of being one of the least-used stations in the country so it might be a surprise for the train crew as well. A peaceful half-hour by the beach ensued, followed by the train actually stopping as advertised and whisking us away back to the un-real world. An absolutely superb weekend of serendipitous tramping, and thank you to top man Pickers for humouring my various eccentric random diversions and stops – hopefully he’ll be along soon with a photo of me holding up a heavy train with the strength of just one hand :-).

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‘Reg’
Last edited by RIP on Mon Jul 23, 2018 10:03 pm, edited 4 times in total.
"My God, Ponsonby, I'm two-thirds of the way to the grave and what have I done?" - RIP

The sign outside the asylum is the wrong way round.....

"At least you got some stories" - James Acaster
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Bearbonesnorm
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Re: Bivvy a month 2018.

Post by Bearbonesnorm »

Cracking Reg. Sorry I couldn't attend but I had a date with a Hill Fort near St Davids.
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ScotRoutes
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Joined: Mon Mar 18, 2013 9:56 am

Re: Bivvy a month 2018.

Post by ScotRoutes »

Piemonster wrote:*Wonders if that GPS turned up*
No. Nor my nuts.
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RIP
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Location: Surfing The Shores Of Sanity Since 1959
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Re: Bivvy a month 2018.

Post by RIP »

No probs Stu - we knew you were there in spirit looking over our shoulders :-bd. Still haven't recovered from all the madness, it was just one experience-overload after another and immense fun.
"My God, Ponsonby, I'm two-thirds of the way to the grave and what have I done?" - RIP

The sign outside the asylum is the wrong way round.....

"At least you got some stories" - James Acaster
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