Badminton Horse Trials – Cross-Country Day

Alastair BegleyEquestrian Short Link

This weekend was the weekend of the annual Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials three day event which is one of the best three day events in the world, it also happens to take place 3 miles from where I live which means that I have been every year it has taken place bar one since I was tiny. So this year I headed over on the cross-country day as usual. This year the weather was stunning and the best conditions I have ever been to Badminton in that I can recall, it was a beautiful sunny day with a light breeze to keep the temperature down to a pleasant level and despite there not having been any proper rain here for over a month the course was still not too hard for the horses due to the careful maintenance by the course builders. We started the day as we always do by walking the course before the riders are riding it and while it is less crowded so a better view of the jumps can be gained and so when we head back later and there are crowds everywhere we. Read the full article…

Motorbiking on Dartmoor

Alastair BegleySports Short Link

Since my last blog post where I went out on the back of one of my friends motorbike around Somerset and Cheddar gorge, I have headed back to Exeter where I finally got a chance to go on the back of another friends bike down here so got to go on the wonderful roads around Devon and on Dartmoor. I knew the roads across Dartmoor were good driving roads in a car and good fun too as when I got my new car last year I drove across it many times for fun and to learn how my car handled.  On the back of the bike they were even better, crusing along the twisting roads on the top of Dartmoor on a beautiful spring day was amazing. Unfortunately we could only spend a few hours out as we had to get back to Exeter to meet up with some friends and head out for a walk along the river to the pub, it’s a hard life! But it has left me greatly looking forward to the weather getting good again and providing another chance to head out on the bike again. Read the full article…

Motorbiking in Somerset

Alastair BegleySports Short Link

Today on my rest day after getting back from my holiday last week winter mountaineering in Scotland I met up with one of my friends in Bath and we headed to the Mendip Hills in Somerset to have some fun on his motorbike in the sun, a Honda CBR 600. As usual since being on a bike my car now feels incredibly slow and boring, so am already planning a trip out on another friends bike next week, so there will probably be some more photos appearing shortly! While we were in the Mendips we met up with some friends so got the chance to take some photos looking out of the boot with my friend following the car which was much harder than I thought it would be due to the seemingly small bumps in the road making it extremely hard to keep the camera steady! We also headed to Cheddar Gorge which I always thought was fun in a car but on the back of a bike it was amazing and I can’t wait to go back there again sometime soon.

Mountaineering in Scotland

Alastair BegleyScotland, Scrambling, Walking Short Link

In my previous blog post I described the first half of the week I spent in Scotland (click here) and this is how the rest of the week went now I am back at home after a long drive back from Fort William. Wednesday was a wash out due to heavy rain all day causing severe weather warnings to be issued for the western highlands so we stayed at the house for most of the day apart from half an hour when we headed out to the loch near the house we were staying in and in the process of doing that got soaked! The weather did however improve on Thursday so we headed out for another attempt at Aonach Mor but this time via a gully on the western side of the ridge but due to a lack of snow in the gullies from the warm conditions we ended up just doing an improvised scramble up to the top which was great fun and challenging in a few places but not before we practised some glissading on a small patch of snow we found in the valley.  When we got to the top we were greeted by our first view of. Read the full article…

Winter Mountaineering in Scotland

Alastair BegleyScotland, Walking, Winter Climbing Short Link

This week I am up in Scotland with my university’s expedition society to do winter mountaineering. We have however been plagued with poor weather and lack of snow since we have been here but thankfully that has not stopped us! On the first day we went up to Stob Ban to teach winter techniques to the unexperienced people in the group showing them how to use ice axes and crampons and do important techniques such as ice axe arrests. Due to the ridge to the summit being on cloud for most of the day we did not head up to the summit and ended up just teaching in an area of snow we found near the coll. On the second day gale forces were forecast but we decided to give walking a try and headed up to Aonach Mor but it turned out the forecast was correct and when we got to the gondola station we were in the cloud with horizontal rain and winds that seriously impeded motion. Due to this we just headed back down the downhill track which looked like an amazing track to bike on which I plan. Read the full article…

Surfing in Bude

Alastair BegleySports Short Link

With the weather feeling more like summer than spring this weekend I decided to take a break from work and head to Bude to see a friend and while I was there attempted to do some surfing photography. Though while the air temperature may have felt more like summer than spring the temperature of the sea certainly did not! As usual I braved the surf with my camera and was standing up to my waist in it and having to jump over the waves to keep the camera dryish in order to get closer to the surfers.  The surf however did not want to play ball and wasn’t great which lead to not many surfers managing to get up on the waves and this is obviously problematic for getting pictures of them! But thankfully the surf kayakers were being more successful and enabled me to get these pictures.  Unfortunately while the weather was lovely it wasn’t great for pictures due to being very directional harsh light that I was almost shooting into which was also mixed with a very hazy day, so these are what I managed to make of the time I spent in the water.

Ogof Craig A Ffynnon

Alastair BegleyCaving Short Link

This weekend was time for another weekend away with my university caving club.  We headed to the South Wales Caving Club at Penwyllt near Swansea where on the Saturday we went down Ogof Ffynnon Ddu which is the deepest cave in the UK and the second longest cave in Wales which also happens to have the deepest through trip which is where you go in one entrance and exit at another, we went in at the bottom entrance and came out the top entrance. As this was a long trip that we were trying to do quickly so we could get out in time for the rugby I didn’t take my camera so there are unfortunately no photos. However on Sunday we headed to Ogof Craig A Ffynnon which is a cave in the Clydach Gorge near Abergavenny which is the prettiest cave I have been to though however also one of the muddiest! As this was a shorter trip and so well decorated I took my camera with me and managed to produce these photos. It was a one of the best caving weekends I have had for caving in quite a. Read the full article…

A trip to the zoo

Alastair BegleyWildlife Short Link

This weekend was one of the few weekends that I spend in Exeter and it happened to coincide with a friends birthday and to celebrate this we headed down to Paignton zoo for the day and I couldn’t resist the chance to take my camera to photograph the animals. It turned out to be a very enjoyable day with great company despite it being bitterly cold and overcast, though I nearly didn’t make it there twice as I missed the train as you can no longer buy tickets on the train from Exeter Central and there was a long queue for tickets and then when I was driving down I nearly ran out of fuel on the duel carriageway! Getting photos was harder than I expected due to having fences and people in the way or animals just not playing ball (though that is expected!). Although it was a good day I couldn’t help but feel sad for some of the animals, especially the larger animals such as the elephants and rhinos as well as some of the birds such as owls that were confined to what seemed like fairly. Read the full article…