It's grey, wet but not particularly cold. The Froggatt Woods have now reached that splendid purple that they cloak themselves in during the winter months.
We've had a pleasant weekend and preceding week living in what we are finding more and more the perfect surroundings of Grindleford village.
During the week, there was a planned, but sadly postponed, first social drinks meeting of the Grindleford Train Clubb. A group of people with whom I share my hour journey into work with, whittering about all sorts from capital punishment to Pierce Brosnan's performance in Mamma Mia!
Instead of the planned night out, we spent a few hours round our neighbours hours drinking mulled wine in truly festive style while a collection of young children ran riot around the house. Discussing possible fell running plans, cycling and climbing with people who share the same passions.
This weekend has been spent making our Christmas presents for family and friends. So far there has been Hearty Ale Chutney, Onion Marmalade and Bramley Lemon Curd. There's blackberry & apple jam and shortbreads to come.
There something very satisfying, particularly when budgets are tight, about making presents. After two days of work in the kitchen there are a collection of fantastic looking preserves that we are going dispense in just a few days.
Thanks has to be passed to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Pam Corbin for the book Preserves:River Cottage Handbook 2, a great publication that combined with another book or two has provided us with all of our recent preserves recipes.
Well, by the time I get round to another post, Christmas will have been and gone, so all there is left is for me to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Sunday, 21 December 2008
Friday, 28 November 2008
Winter Takes Hold
Well winter is here and with it have come the usual colds, coughs and ailments.
The Froggart woods are still in that sad transition phase, where the colour from the autumn leaves has now left, but the decaying leaves are still grey and decomposing on the floor.
The Silver Birch that dominate the woods haven't yet reached that state of winter glory where they turn a deep purple at their extremities and a ghostly silver on the trunk.
My fell running has dropped off a little having had too many weekends away recently in urban environments and the inevitable festive over indulgence that goes with those trips. Something I hope to make up for with a good run this weekend, if I can shake this cough a little more.
The village is preparing for the winter months as well, we have a visiting ice rink on the sports field this weekend with a winter market thrown in for good measure.
As I type, I'm hoping my delivery of logs for the fire is about to turn up to add that comfort that a real fire brings to a home over winter.
My photography has dropped to an all time low sadly. Note to self, must get round to getting a new camera for next year and ensure a refresh the photographic element of my online presence.
A friend was up recently I was sold on the Canon G10 as an interim between buying a new DSLR. A great little camera that can produce high quality shots and with a decent wide angle to the lens that always help with landscape photography.
Anyway I want to finish with a toast to another season that is about envelope us with is bracing winds and cold temperatures, here's to winter.
The Froggart woods are still in that sad transition phase, where the colour from the autumn leaves has now left, but the decaying leaves are still grey and decomposing on the floor.
The Silver Birch that dominate the woods haven't yet reached that state of winter glory where they turn a deep purple at their extremities and a ghostly silver on the trunk.
My fell running has dropped off a little having had too many weekends away recently in urban environments and the inevitable festive over indulgence that goes with those trips. Something I hope to make up for with a good run this weekend, if I can shake this cough a little more.
The village is preparing for the winter months as well, we have a visiting ice rink on the sports field this weekend with a winter market thrown in for good measure.
As I type, I'm hoping my delivery of logs for the fire is about to turn up to add that comfort that a real fire brings to a home over winter.
My photography has dropped to an all time low sadly. Note to self, must get round to getting a new camera for next year and ensure a refresh the photographic element of my online presence.
A friend was up recently I was sold on the Canon G10 as an interim between buying a new DSLR. A great little camera that can produce high quality shots and with a decent wide angle to the lens that always help with landscape photography.
Anyway I want to finish with a toast to another season that is about envelope us with is bracing winds and cold temperatures, here's to winter.
Wednesday, 29 October 2008
Post OMM Review
Well for anyone who reads this blog, you will have read in my previous posts the lead up to the last weekend, my training and preparation for the OMM race in the Lake District.
You will now most likely of heard of the race on the national news after a weekend of intense weather. Granting insight into the little followed sport of fell running and the individuals who are involved.
It was, as expected, wet, windy and generally very wild. What follows is an account of Ayshea's (my wife) and my experience on the day of the race.
We had a late start time 11:05am, much to my annoyance, by the time we were under the start gun it was throwing it down with rain and the wind was picking up by the minute. It immediately started hampering our progress up to the first checkpoint. Knowing our times were going to be significantly affected by the weather compared to the early starters was frustrating.
After reaching the first check point we headed across the source of Sour Milk Gyhll to checkpoint two. Not being able to take the preferred route due to the extremely high torrent that the usual stream had now become, we contoured below Raven Crag and up to the second checkpoint.
Leaving the second checkpoint, by this stage thoroughly soaked to the skin but warm, we headed down to Honister Pass where we dropped in to empty our pockets of energy gels that we had already spent. In the cafe we found half the races participants, drying off, brewing up and generally making themselves at home. Presuming them retiring from the race, we zipped up and went back out into the weather to reach checkpoint 3, as we left we bumped into a fellow who asked if we were heading back to the base, bemused I looked back at him and told "no, why would we" and head off into the rain to find checkpoint 3. This must have been about 12.30pm-1pm.
Heading up the steep incline from Honister we passed streams of folk pouring off the side of Dale Head. Assuming they were on the score courses we ran on and headed off towards High Spy. After battling our way across the tops in wind and rain, which on the whole was coming from behind us we made good time to checkpoint 3. After turning around and heading back into the wind we released what the rest of the course was going to hold, very bad weather.
Reaching the crossing point of the stream at the top of Dale Head Crags by a technique of head down and just starring at a compass baring, we looked up to the summit to see squalling winds battering the top, with winds that must have been reaching 90-100mph. We decided it was unsafe to cross the summit and rerouted to run down the pass road and then up the hillside of Buttermere Fell to reach checkpoint 4. It was on our return to the Honister Pass that someone asked if we were still competing and we were then told the even had been called off.
We were disappointed, we'd been training for a long time for the OMM and wanted to achieve good times. But in the conditions it had just become a challenge to complete the course.
We ran down off the pass, back towards the HQ, encountering the deep water on the lane up to Seathwaite that had drowned several cars. Returning to Wilfs after checking in to get some welcome hot food.
After spending the night in our car, only occasionally waking to check the water levels weren't rising any further, we escaped the following morning.
In review, we didn't get much from the weather than we weren't expecting or didn't come prepared for. We knew before we arrived it was going to wet, very windy and generally very wild.
We were disappointed that we didn't get the opportunity to run much after all the training we'd put in. But we didn't blame the organisers for running the event, we wanted to go, its a mountain marathon for crying out loud and mountains can have bad weather.
I'm currently finishing off Richard Askwith's Feet in the Clouds, during the book Askwith covers the subject of risk and responsibility whilst on the fells eloquently. In my own opinion, which echoes most of Askwith's quotes from fell runners, I made the decision to compete on my own behalf, I didn't need anyone else to tell me what I could and could not do.
The freedom I find on the fells and the weather that mountains can throw at me is one of the many ingredients that actually brings me satisfaction from a day or night, or in fact several days in mountains. My decision to go out into the fells or larger mountain ranges are based on a life time spent walking, running and climbing in mountains, as were most of the other competitors in the OMM.
The inevitable press backlash on the event only saddens me further to see what a cushioned soft society we have become. A society where individuals will not only avoid all risks themselves, but they will go further and criticise those of us who take risks on our own behalf.
There's a animal part to the human spirit that is being heavily sedated in our sedentary office roles in modern life. It's unnatural in my opinion, and for those of us who still like to run like mad mountain goats once in a while jumping for rock to heather, we should be free to do so without criticism.
You will now most likely of heard of the race on the national news after a weekend of intense weather. Granting insight into the little followed sport of fell running and the individuals who are involved.
It was, as expected, wet, windy and generally very wild. What follows is an account of Ayshea's (my wife) and my experience on the day of the race.
We had a late start time 11:05am, much to my annoyance, by the time we were under the start gun it was throwing it down with rain and the wind was picking up by the minute. It immediately started hampering our progress up to the first checkpoint. Knowing our times were going to be significantly affected by the weather compared to the early starters was frustrating.
After reaching the first check point we headed across the source of Sour Milk Gyhll to checkpoint two. Not being able to take the preferred route due to the extremely high torrent that the usual stream had now become, we contoured below Raven Crag and up to the second checkpoint.
Leaving the second checkpoint, by this stage thoroughly soaked to the skin but warm, we headed down to Honister Pass where we dropped in to empty our pockets of energy gels that we had already spent. In the cafe we found half the races participants, drying off, brewing up and generally making themselves at home. Presuming them retiring from the race, we zipped up and went back out into the weather to reach checkpoint 3, as we left we bumped into a fellow who asked if we were heading back to the base, bemused I looked back at him and told "no, why would we" and head off into the rain to find checkpoint 3. This must have been about 12.30pm-1pm.
Heading up the steep incline from Honister we passed streams of folk pouring off the side of Dale Head. Assuming they were on the score courses we ran on and headed off towards High Spy. After battling our way across the tops in wind and rain, which on the whole was coming from behind us we made good time to checkpoint 3. After turning around and heading back into the wind we released what the rest of the course was going to hold, very bad weather.
Reaching the crossing point of the stream at the top of Dale Head Crags by a technique of head down and just starring at a compass baring, we looked up to the summit to see squalling winds battering the top, with winds that must have been reaching 90-100mph. We decided it was unsafe to cross the summit and rerouted to run down the pass road and then up the hillside of Buttermere Fell to reach checkpoint 4. It was on our return to the Honister Pass that someone asked if we were still competing and we were then told the even had been called off.
We were disappointed, we'd been training for a long time for the OMM and wanted to achieve good times. But in the conditions it had just become a challenge to complete the course.
We ran down off the pass, back towards the HQ, encountering the deep water on the lane up to Seathwaite that had drowned several cars. Returning to Wilfs after checking in to get some welcome hot food.
After spending the night in our car, only occasionally waking to check the water levels weren't rising any further, we escaped the following morning.
In review, we didn't get much from the weather than we weren't expecting or didn't come prepared for. We knew before we arrived it was going to wet, very windy and generally very wild.
We were disappointed that we didn't get the opportunity to run much after all the training we'd put in. But we didn't blame the organisers for running the event, we wanted to go, its a mountain marathon for crying out loud and mountains can have bad weather.
I'm currently finishing off Richard Askwith's Feet in the Clouds, during the book Askwith covers the subject of risk and responsibility whilst on the fells eloquently. In my own opinion, which echoes most of Askwith's quotes from fell runners, I made the decision to compete on my own behalf, I didn't need anyone else to tell me what I could and could not do.
The freedom I find on the fells and the weather that mountains can throw at me is one of the many ingredients that actually brings me satisfaction from a day or night, or in fact several days in mountains. My decision to go out into the fells or larger mountain ranges are based on a life time spent walking, running and climbing in mountains, as were most of the other competitors in the OMM.
The inevitable press backlash on the event only saddens me further to see what a cushioned soft society we have become. A society where individuals will not only avoid all risks themselves, but they will go further and criticise those of us who take risks on our own behalf.
There's a animal part to the human spirit that is being heavily sedated in our sedentary office roles in modern life. It's unnatural in my opinion, and for those of us who still like to run like mad mountain goats once in a while jumping for rock to heather, we should be free to do so without criticism.
Monday, 20 October 2008
Fungi Finding with Friends
I spent last weekend, searching the local woods for fungi with some friends who were up to stay with us for the weekend.
Armed with our trug and identification guides with explored the inner depths of Froggatt and the surrounding woods over a period of a few hours.
This was my first real concerted effort to acquire fungi for free, I've been a seasonal fruit collector for several years now. Collecting enough fruit to make chutneys, jams and jelly's for my family at Christmas and the odd fruit crumble.
What a great day we had, trudging through the less explored parts of the woods, clambering over brambles that seem to be there to generally discouraged progress towards hidden secrets well of the beaten path. Hidden water runs and tumbled down buildings, heavily laden with moss and undergrowth, twisted Oaks shaped over years of seeking sunlight and yet more brambles.
From our hunting we found Chanterelle, Cep, Brown Bolete and Yellow Brittle Gills. We took our veritable feast of fungi home to carefully establish their identity for certain.
After some careful identification, dissection and disagreement on features we reduced our trug full of funghi to a small pile of about seven mushrooms that had passed the "will not cause severe kidney disorder" or maggot test.
Gently fried with some garlic we munched our meagre collection with smiles of an afternoon that couldn't have been better spent.
I endeavour to embellish this day further with photos of the fungi we encountered at some point in the not to distant future.
Armed with our trug and identification guides with explored the inner depths of Froggatt and the surrounding woods over a period of a few hours.
This was my first real concerted effort to acquire fungi for free, I've been a seasonal fruit collector for several years now. Collecting enough fruit to make chutneys, jams and jelly's for my family at Christmas and the odd fruit crumble.
What a great day we had, trudging through the less explored parts of the woods, clambering over brambles that seem to be there to generally discouraged progress towards hidden secrets well of the beaten path. Hidden water runs and tumbled down buildings, heavily laden with moss and undergrowth, twisted Oaks shaped over years of seeking sunlight and yet more brambles.
From our hunting we found Chanterelle, Cep, Brown Bolete and Yellow Brittle Gills. We took our veritable feast of fungi home to carefully establish their identity for certain.
After some careful identification, dissection and disagreement on features we reduced our trug full of funghi to a small pile of about seven mushrooms that had passed the "will not cause severe kidney disorder" or maggot test.
Gently fried with some garlic we munched our meagre collection with smiles of an afternoon that couldn't have been better spent.
I endeavour to embellish this day further with photos of the fungi we encountered at some point in the not to distant future.
Tuesday, 14 October 2008
Welcome to Grindleford
Hello and welcome to Grindleford, where I, Ed Richardson, will mutter and meander through my life as and when I get the chance.
I've had a blog running for a while now, but it was get a bit divisive between my work and private life, so I've split them. My work life can now be found at Digital Signals and meanwhile my other life mutterings will be found here in their new home, Grindleford.
To get the ball rolling I am going to cheat and copy some posts over that are relevant from my existing blog.
I've had a blog running for a while now, but it was get a bit divisive between my work and private life, so I've split them. My work life can now be found at Digital Signals and meanwhile my other life mutterings will be found here in their new home, Grindleford.
To get the ball rolling I am going to cheat and copy some posts over that are relevant from my existing blog.
Thursday, 9 October 2008
Stefanine Posavec's Sentence Drawings
A while back now I visited the Millennium gallery in Sheffield to see the On The Map exhibition.
I'm a big fan of maps in general and their ability to communicate lots of information in a none textual form. After using OS maps and the alike since a very young age I can envisage landscapes in a 3D image quite quickly using good maps, something that has always interested me. Displaying what might otherwise be incomprehensible data in a regulated format to give insight to something that would be hard envisage otherwise.
The exhibition incorporated a number of artists that used maps in some form to display or express various forms of data, visually representing the data in colourful alternatives.
One particular artist, Stefanie Posavec's work struck me as interesting and appealing. Stefanie takes something we interface easily with, words, and then almost reverses the process to create a visual representation of these words, using Jack Kerouac's book On The Road as a source.
In doing so she creates more depth than the words might have by themselves. Well the depth is always there in the copy, but she visually represents certain aspects of the copy such as character changes, story changes, new sentences and makes visual representations of these and their relationship with the rest of the novel, to illustrate aspects of the text that might otherwise go unnoticed.
The result is a series of maps of various data sources, creating visual images of one of my favourite books "On The Road".
The work is interesting and provocative, creating a visual feast for anyone interested in either maps or On The Road.
Good luck for the future Stefanie with your work.
I'm a big fan of maps in general and their ability to communicate lots of information in a none textual form. After using OS maps and the alike since a very young age I can envisage landscapes in a 3D image quite quickly using good maps, something that has always interested me. Displaying what might otherwise be incomprehensible data in a regulated format to give insight to something that would be hard envisage otherwise.
The exhibition incorporated a number of artists that used maps in some form to display or express various forms of data, visually representing the data in colourful alternatives.
One particular artist, Stefanie Posavec's work struck me as interesting and appealing. Stefanie takes something we interface easily with, words, and then almost reverses the process to create a visual representation of these words, using Jack Kerouac's book On The Road as a source.
In doing so she creates more depth than the words might have by themselves. Well the depth is always there in the copy, but she visually represents certain aspects of the copy such as character changes, story changes, new sentences and makes visual representations of these and their relationship with the rest of the novel, to illustrate aspects of the text that might otherwise go unnoticed.
The result is a series of maps of various data sources, creating visual images of one of my favourite books "On The Road".
The work is interesting and provocative, creating a visual feast for anyone interested in either maps or On The Road.
Good luck for the future Stefanie with your work.
Wednesday, 8 October 2008
The OMM approaches
As a transgression from the last few posts on Digital Media, fell running.
Only a few weeks to go now till the OMM event and I can't wait to get over there and get thoroughly knackered, wet and miserable.
The training to date has continued to go well and I am currently trying shake off a seasonal cold, but even that didn't stop me fitting a 12km run along the edges (Froggatt, Curbar and Baslow) on Sunday.
I've invested in some new shoes from Accelerate as the New Balance M800's I've been running in over the summer occasionally let me down in wet open fell conditions, which are exactly the conditions I am expecting in Borrowdale in a few weeks.
Now its just a matter of some more light training, about a 25km run this weekend in Edale I think and then a much lighter weekend run the following weekend and we are there!
I'm looking forward to a challenging few days back in the Lakes, in an area I infrequently visit.
Avoiding injury and illness are my tasks now . . .
Only a few weeks to go now till the OMM event and I can't wait to get over there and get thoroughly knackered, wet and miserable.
The training to date has continued to go well and I am currently trying shake off a seasonal cold, but even that didn't stop me fitting a 12km run along the edges (Froggatt, Curbar and Baslow) on Sunday.
I've invested in some new shoes from Accelerate as the New Balance M800's I've been running in over the summer occasionally let me down in wet open fell conditions, which are exactly the conditions I am expecting in Borrowdale in a few weeks.
Now its just a matter of some more light training, about a 25km run this weekend in Edale I think and then a much lighter weekend run the following weekend and we are there!
I'm looking forward to a challenging few days back in the Lakes, in an area I infrequently visit.
Avoiding injury and illness are my tasks now . . .
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