Scrambling in the Lake District

Alastair BegleyLake District, Scrambling Short Link

Last weekend I ran a trip up to the Lake District with my university’s expedition society. The aim of this trip was always to do some great scrambling and thankfully we got the weather as the wind was not too strong, it didn’t rain in the daytime and we even had some nice views on both days! Last time I was in the lake district scrambling was 7 years ago where I remember climbing the grade 3*** route up Pinnacle Ridge with my parents and while we were at the top eating lunch we had a flypast by the red arrows. The routes we did this weekend were much easier but still very enjoyable and were the two grade 1*** routes in the Lake District. On Saturday we headed up Blencathra via Sharp Edge and down Hall’s Fell ridge which was a lovely route which actually took us a surprisingly small amount of time and we were finished in time for the rugby! The great thing about Sharp Edge is the view that you get of the ridge as you walk in and with people that had not done much scrambling before. Read the full article…

Winter Climbing in South Wales

Alastair BegleyNorth Wales, Winter Climbing Short Link

This cold spell that is currently all over the UK has advantages for those of us that are mad enough to go winter climbing and after some snow and a cold spell there is some great winter climbing up the north face of Pen y Fan in the Brecon Beacons. Thursday saw me take a day off university and head over to the brecons with my mum for a day out in perfect weather with sun all day and cold temperatures. Due to it not having risen above freezing all week the snow was still powdery but that didn’t matter due to it being so cold the turf had frozen up nicely which is the important thing on Pen y Fan. It was a bit of an odd way of starting a climb as to get to the base we had to walk up to the summit of Pen y Fan to descend down the other side just to climb back up the north face. Though this did mean we got fantastic views on the way up with the early morning sun. When we got to the base of the. Read the full article…

When Scottish Weather Fights Back!

Alastair BegleyWalking Short Link

Over the new year I headed up to Fort William in the Scottish Highlands for some winter mountaineering and climbing, the weather however thought otherwise! Over the 9 days we were up there we had to battle with gale force winds most days, rain/snow every day though due to a thaw there was no snow when we got there, but the fresh snow then lead onto having too much snow with a huge avalanche risk! We did however do stuff on all but one day which was the day the whole of the UK was hit with storm force winds! Over the course of the week there wasn’t a time when there was snow and a low avalanche risk so we couldn’t get in any winter climbing, though we did manage two great ridge walks in winter conditions and another aborted walk in winter conditions. On the days that we couldn’t walk due to the weather being too bad we went biking at low level, but on each day we went biking we kept finding closed paths due to storm damage, we ignored these signs on the first day and ended up having to. Read the full article…

Boxing Day Hunting & Racing

Alastair BegleyEquestrian Short Link

This morning to work off some of the Christmas food I headed over to my sister’s place of work, Venetia Williams Racing Yard, to photograph her and some of the other riders out on the gallops exercising the horses. Due to tiredness the night before I didn’t have proper directions so crossed the river wye multiple times while my satnav kept changing its mind on where it wanted me to go (turns out it thought I should be in the middle of the river!) but I did manage to get there in time, though due to it being winter did struggle with the light at 8am as the sun had not risen by this point! It was nice to do another type of equestrian photography, though it would be nice at some point to get to take photos of pointing at an event with jumps rather than just on the flat at training. After two rides out had been completed I departed to the regular boxing day hunt meet in Ledbury town centre where my parents were riding and it was wonderful to see so many people out on horseback and on foot. Read the full article…

Walking up Pen Y Fan

Alastair BegleyWalking Short Link

This weekend I headed up to the Brecon Beacons with the expedition society at my university for a weekend. It is always a really fun weekend as after the walk on the Saturday we have a Christmas dinner, this year we cooked for 40 people! The weather on the Saturday was a superb winter day with mostly clear skies, sun and a sprinkling of snow on the higher slopes of the mountain. Pen Y Fan is a mountain I climb all the time due to it being under hour from home in Bristol, but I normally climb it from the other side so it was nice to do it a different way as we walked in a loop which started and finished at the Youth Hostel we were staying at. This meant we went up from the Storey Arms and then back down another ridge on the same side of the mountain, which also had the advantage that we were sheltered from the very strong and cold wind that we were hit when we joined the ridge which went up to the summit! Due to the great weather conditions the views from. Read the full article…

Mountaineering in Snowdonia

Alastair BegleyLandscape, North Wales, Scrambling, Walking Short Link

This weekend I headed up to Snowdonia with the expedition society I am a member of. We went up with twenty people and braved the elements by camping in north wales at the end of November which was a tad chilly. Thankfully we were treated with good weather and it didn’t rain once all weekend which is a change to the last 3 weekends I have spent in Snowdonia! On the first morning we headed up the north ridge of Tryfan which is one of the classic scrambles of the region and is a great first scramble as many people in the group had never done it before! It took us quite a long time as 20 people move slowly but this ended up being good as early in the climb the summit became covered in hill fog but by the time we got to the summit it had started to clear and by the time we had finished lunch we were treated to a fantastic view! That evening we were treated to a cloudless sky which was stunning as we were camping in the middle of nowhere so there. Read the full article…

Burning Tar Barrels at Ottery St Mary

Alastair BegleyGeneral Short Link

This evening it was bonfire night again which meant it was time for my fourth trip to Ottery St Mary on the 5th November. At Ottery they celebrate the event by covering huge barrels with tar, setting fire to them and running down the streets which are crowded with locals and students. It is an event that I have no idea how it still happens with all the health and safety which controls everything else so tightly, but it is great fun and it will be odd possibly not going to it next year as I will have graduated. It is always a challenge to get photos at this event as there are so many people getting a view of the barrel without people in the way is only possible when it gets incredibly close to you so you have to get a photo before you get hit by a burning barrel and often there are then too many people to get out of the way! This year on the final barrel was busier than I have seen it in the past and moving out of the way was extremely difficult and I managed. Read the full article…

North Herefordshire Hunt Opening Meet 2011

Alastair BegleyEquestrian Short Link

This weekend I headed up to Herefordshire with David for the North Herefordshire Hunt’s Opening Meet. Hunting is something that I want to photograph more often but finding time is always very difficult and I live a long way away from Herefordshire which is where I used to hunt so know the countryside well and the people who hunt there so it’s ideal for going and taking photos as hunts are very suspicious of new people turning up with cameras. It is only the second time I have attempted to take photos of Hunting and last time was in an area of countryside I was not familiar with so spent most of the day driving around completely lost, but this time as I knew the countryside very well we spent the whole day on foot with a good idea of where the hunt was going to go next. This proved to be very tiring as we covered around 7 miles over hilly terrain while carrying heavy camera gear and quite a lot of the distance was done at a sprint to get ahead of the hunt for the jumps. Towards the start of the. Read the full article…