outdoors

A Welsh ‘Walk’

July 14, 2023 yorkshirewelliesLeave a comment

What would you do if your work colleagues said they were walking up Mount Snowdon in a week’s time, and asked if you wanted to come along?! All in the name of charity, of course, and it’s not something most of us do just for fun on a Saturday!

Readers, I did not do what you did and politely decline – I jumped in without thinking or checking whether I could touch the bottom!

I rarely make hasty decisions – the opposite, in fact! – and when I do, there’s a price to pay somewhere along the line.

However, as I’d paid £30 for my coach seat, t-shirt, and medal, and we Yorkshirewomen don’t like wasting money, I stuck to my guns and set my alarm for 4am last Saturday (oh, foolish girl!).

Four of us went in one colleague’s car from Huddersfield to Bradford, and then on a coach from outside the Gurdwara. The hike up Mount Snowdon was the 11th run by KhalsaAid, an international NGO aiming to provide humanitarian aid in disaster areas and conflict zones around the world. They are guided by the Sikh principle of “Recognise the whole human race as one”, and I’ve rarely felt so welcomed by strangers.

A few hours later, we all hopped off the coach in the beautiful village of Llanberis, at the foot of Mount Snowdon, were given our t-shirts, offered fruit and water to get us going, and off we set, everyone at their own pace. Simple, yes…?!

It’s a hill, a flipping big hill, approximately 30% gradient most of the way up, and you feel that almost instantly with the first pull of nearer to 40%!

I am terribly unfit and overweight, and within ten minutes I thought ‘what have I done?’, in between pausing for breath. (Bad that I couldn’t think AND breathe at the same time…) Given that I work in a GP practice, and that two of my colleagues on this hike are clinicians who look after themselves, this did not bode well…

The weather was good for walking, mild and cloudy, not hot and sunny like it had been last year according to my friends, although a bit misty for taking many photos (I fondly thought that I’d be taking shedloads of photos to document my epic journey…!).

There were a few points where the hill levelled off to a mere 20% gradient, and my friends did keep stopping to wait for me, as I was always at the cow’s tail. After the best part of two hours we stopped for a pit stop, bit of a sit down and picnic amongst other hikers, before hauling ourselves upwards and onwards.

The mist/cloud started to come down thicker, almost like rain, but everyone we met on the way up or down seemed cheerful, almost like it was a pilgrimage of sorts. Trail runners marched uphill or ran downhill past us, part of a 24 hour endurance race – imagine going up and down that mountain several times over a day!! – and sheep dotted the landscape almost everywhere you looked.

I struggled so much to keep up, I was stopping every 10 mins or so to let the aches in my legs subside a bit, and to catch my breath. When you’re going upwards only, there’s no relenting, seldom any levelling out to catch your breath, you just have to keep going as best you can.

There’s a little railway running up and down the mountain, you can buy tickets at the bottom (but they were sold out), and the trains passed us regularly, those not too exhausted waving at the passengers, very ‘Railway Children’! Around 2K or so from the top is a slight tunnel, more of a single arch really, that carries the railway above the ground for several metres, and beyond this arch the valley opens up.

Stunning views appearing through the mists

Even in the slowly-clearing dreich mist the views were out of this world. As shattered as I was it was amazing! Once through the arch, the mist really came down, as if it was raining heavily, and the gradient towards the summit steepened even more, the loose shale underfoot a little dicey in places.

My legs were seriously wobbly and aching by this point, cramps in my calf and the beginnings of shin splints, too (I’m not selling this as an ideal weekend activity, am I?!), but we trudged on, me still firmly behind everyone else. Half a kilometre up the hill, I asked someone coming down how much longer until the top.

“Oh about 1.5 kilometres, a good 45 minutes including the queue to the actual summit”, she ruefully said, after asking whether I wanted honesty from her.

I caught up to my friends, but each step was an effort I’ve never had to make before, and nearly fell several times because my legs were refusing to cooperate. I confessed defeat, said I would never make the summit (this time) because of the pain in my legs, and let them continue without me – hoping they’d take a picture when they got to the top.

I turned back to the tiny tunnel and huddled there, cold and shivering, until the mist vanished. The view was even better when the mist went, such stunning landscape, and I realised just how far we’d climbed (the equivalent of nearly 180 floors according to my Fitbit!). The top of the mountain stretched a above me, and the valleys plunged greenly below, awe-inspiring in the real sense of the words.

My friends came back down, photo duly taken and no mishaps for them, thankfully. After a short sit down for them to regroup we set off again, downhill this time, and a much easier hike.

The views going down were superb, well worth the hike and waiting for the mist to clear, and I got chance for some great shots to add to my memory banks. At some points we were almost marching, grateful to not be climbing any more. Our feet, legs, and joints were letting us know how abused they were by this point, blisters forming very nicely, empty stomachs and full bladders also protesting the long day.

The final tarmac stretch approaching Llanberis was excruciating: toes stubbing into the front of walking boots, pounding the hard road surface was almost too much to bear – I think we could all have crawled or rolled down this bit!

Never been so grateful to be on horizontal ground as when we walked into Llanberis village! After a much-needed loo stop, we received finishers’ medals, and delicious food, drinks, and ice creams provided by the fabulous KhalsaAid volunteers – what amazing human beings they are!

Eventually set off just after 7pm, our fellow coach passengers much quieter than the morning journey, and I think everyone kicked off their boots to relieve their poor, aching feet!

Two days I was still aching and limping, as I’m sure my friends were, but I’ve done something big I’ve never done before, a bucket list thing I wasn’t planning if you like – proving that being courageous is never in vain! Something that’s stuck with me is that all those we travelled with, and other hikers supporting the charity, gave everything they had, stopped to offer support to anyone who needed it, and shared so much of themselves through the day – it’s reignited my faith in other people.

Do let me know if you’ve climbed Snowdon, or done something equally hard and outside your comfort zone – post a comment here or find me on Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

If you’d like to know more about KhalsaAid, please find them here, and consider offering them any support that you can.

Art

Are you sitting comfortably…?

June 10, 2023June 10, 2023 yorkshirewelliesLeave a comment

..then I’ll tell you a tale of a chair that I know, that was no longer wanted, was old and with holes,

but gained a new life in a local art show, and thrilled all its viewers to the tips of their souls.

On a cold winter’s day, so grey and so cold, an idea was planted and grew in the mind

Of our artist, breathed life and grew bold, and off she did go, inspiration to find.

The artist loves words, loves the colours they feel, their shapes on her pen, how they roll on her lips.

There are words that can harm, and ones that can heal, our artist chose words that would sail like ships.

She thought and she dreamed, she practised and sewed, did drawing and painting, she kept or she threw.

She thought and she cursed, whilst working she glowed, her needles and thread through textiles they flew.

Then came the time when decisions were made, final thoughts thought and final words picked.

To all her research a goodbye was bade, needles were readied and threads they were licked.

She wrote and she drilled, filled her chair with more holes, said prayers that the woodworms had left her enough,

Then she wove with bright threads, gave the chair a new soul, the gentle threads’ softness contrasting the rough.

The battered old chair, once thought to be doomed, spent a weekend in Saltaire, amongst fragrant herbs.

Cameras were clicked, and focuses zoomed, embroidery seen that delights and disturbs.

Quiet, and yet proud, the chair gently stood, near its ‘Habitat’ friends it’s now grown to love,

These all made with care, and equally good, I’d like to think Titus approves, from above.

* For more on my end of year piece for my FdA in Textiles Practice, do check out my Instagram here, and let me know here or on Instagram what you think about art, textiles, and writing!

Anna xx

Hello!

Summer Breeze

August 4, 2020 yorkshirewellies2 Comments

Hello again, welcome to August and belated happy Yorkshire Day from my little corner of it! August weather is different from July; it feels fuller, somehow, like it’s breathing more deeply whilst there are still long days filled with light. The days can be warm and close, nights not much different unless there’s a breeze. These days instantly bring to mind Seals’ and Crofts’ song, ‘Summer Breeze‘; even if we don’t grow jasmine in Yorkshire you can close your eyes and almost smell it.

I’ve spent quite a lot of time outdoors this week with those summer breezes, which has been wonderful despite the raging hayfever that’s the payoff! A group of us from our WOW Wednesday accountability group met up at Yorkshire Sculpture Pa rk on the day it re-opened (Wednesday, very apt!), and it was so good to see them in real life, instead of via a computer screen. I even managed to get to my 10,000 daily steps in well before tea time! I’ve really let that daily target slip a lot during lockdown, and felt quite anxious about not meeting it for a while (all the “shoulds” trying to bubble up to the surface!). I let go of that sooner than expected, a sign to me that I’m realising that some of these things that we beat ourselves up about don’t matter that much in the grand scheme of things.

I spent a chunk of Saturday afternoon in the garden, pruning the apple tree back and other tidying jobs. I know, I know, winter’s the time for pruning fruit trees, but it had become a real liability to itself and that part of the garden, so the deed was done. We filled a large shopping bag with the apples that were worth saving (big enough and not eaten or bruised), so some good has come out of the ruthless cut. There are also some bigger twiggy branches saved for kindling next winter. I feel there’s a parallel here with the way you might choose to cut stuff out of your life that’s not serving you well, in order to make your life healthier for you; the pruning may hurt, and makes things look and feel worse for a time, but you come back stronger, bearing more fruit, and having deeper roots to weather storms, just like my apple tree. Have you noticed anything like this if you’ve made what a drastic change somewhere in your life? Let me know how it felt, and whether it led to permanent changes for you.

I’m currently reading ‘The Source’ by Dr Tara Swart as part of my ongoing revamp of my life; it’s an excellent read that sits half way between a scientific book on how the brain works and a coaching/self improvement book. As a psychologist, I find the neuroscience totally fascinating, and it’s well-blended with examples from her practice, and ways to put this knowledge into action in your own life. She talks about brain plasticity, how your brain is still capable of change at any age, it’s not just the province of babies and children. Dr Swart suggests ways to practise stretching your brain in order to effect positive change amongst its neurons which, in turn, can affect your life as a whole, thus enabling you to change any areas in which you feel you are lacking. I’m aware that I’ve previously mentioned books I’ve read and courses I’m following, and it might come across as all theory and no action. My friend, Juliet, of The Curious Creative Club, once told me it was time to do less reading and more ‘doing’ (think I’ve said that before, too, memory of a goldfish!), and I am ‘doing’ as much as I’m reading, it just takes time and I’m daring greatly in little ways for now. I’d love to hear about any books you’ve read that you found profound, meaningful, or plain helpful in any way; I’m always looking out for my next good read!

I’ve got a few hours a week delivering for a local florist (another way of being outdoors), which means I have to talk to complete strangers when I deliver their flowers, which is a big thing for me. Maybe showing up needn’t be the grand things you see your friends doing; maybe, for now, it’s getting comfortable talking to strangers, going to unfamiliar places, doing things just outside your comfort zone instead of miles outside of it, until you’re ready to up the ante. Michel le Cowan, a fellow WOW Wednesday-er and sales/growth expert, has introduced me to an up-and-coming graphic designer (another ‘stranger’ for me to talk to!) to work with on a logo for Yorkshire Wellies. This enterprise will be more than a blog before long, so I’d like a new identity for it all, and it’s exciting and scary in equal measures!

As part of improving/changing parts of my life, I had blood tests done yesterday for coeliac disease and iron deficiency – prompted by my suspicion of problems tolerating wheat-based foods and other issues. Coeliac disease runs in my family, so it’s worth doing. I’ve felt quite poorly over the last few weeks because of eating so much bread and pasta, it’s such a relief to cut it out again – roll on plenty of ‘real’ food! Summer’s a good time for me to get into the habit of eating well, when I fancy salad, fish, veg, and loads of water. I feel so much better when I eat this way – more alert, less lethargic, and generally better all round. Consequently, I feel more positive mentally, more creative, and much more open to change and new ventures. I’m also taking advice from another WOW member, Sue Salmon, a medical herbalist, on how to improve my gut health, which brings me neatly back to Tara Swart who speaks about gut instinct or that inner voice, as does Juliet in her recent blog post. I’m ready to listen to my inner whispers again, and get out my paints, find a book to write in, or finally get going with my sewing machine again – can’t wait!

What are you going to do with your August? Have you managed to book a little holiday somewhere, are you taking a break from working from home, or maybe you’re going to do a bit of life stocktaking and look ahead just into the autumn? Do let me know!!