A snippet of information on social media can go around the world virally in seconds, whilst advances in science mean we know more about the planet we live on than ever before.

There are so many books on the Dales which delve into its past – both archeologically and geographically – that there seems little else to discover. I have already penned three books on the national park that uncover its gems and look at its socio-economic recipe.

Thing is, if you keep looking at something, or take a different stance, a new way always reveals itself. Historians are still discovering how people lived in this area every day; cavers are pushing the boundaries of their discoveries to reveal new entrances, whilst farmers are changing the way they work to adapt to the landscape and the issues we face through population increase and climate change.

The Craven Way which rises out of Dent.

That change, the circle of life and always wondering what lies around the corner – I’m a caver so forgive the pure optimism of my exploration – allowed me to uncover more secrets of an area I thought I knew pretty well.

In writing Secret Yorkshire Dales, I spoke to people who are managing the land differently, explored quarries that were once plundered now being overtaken by nature, and met entrepreneurs adapting to new opportunities presented by traditional methods.

Then, there were pubs of yesteryear retaining their stories for future generations, modern-day mining enthusiasts protecting the past and notable folk still having an impact on the Dales whilst old thoroughfares, indelibly marked into the landscape they were designed to take people across, are still giving passage to wayfarers.

My journey brought me up close with fables and folk tales passed through families – in contrast with the ‘new ways’ – as well as new areas of the national park, opened up in 2016, just waiting to be discovered.

It was a real revelation to pen and I made friends for life… who then prompted me to consider a magnitude of different projects…

The magnificent Muker meadows.

So what are my favourite ‘secrets’?

First up had to be my interview with now chair of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Neil Heseltine. At Hill Top Farm, with partner Leigh, they farm in a different way, in harmony with the landscape and without heavy inputs. Neil reduced his sheep flock to increase his quality of life and his story is eye-opening… and probably an indicator of what is to come over the next few years in upland farming.

Second was John Cordingley’s description of more than 30 years of exploration in the underground river of Malham Cove. He’s no ordinary explorer. Humble to the extreme, he has dedicated half a lifetime’s work to discovering the massive cave system that must lie behind Malham Cove. His description of the differing water sources is simply a mind-bending revelation.

Next up is my fascination of the macabre preparation for nuclear war in this country. I visited all the sites of the Royal Observer Corps Monitoring Posts in the Dales – and those just outside the border – and one of then, at Dent Station, still exists. Such an incredible view … and then you wonder what the thoughts of the volunteers it continued would have been if the bomb dropped. Frightening.

Nuclear Bunker… in the Dales… behave yourself!

Going fourth… or forth… The Dales has a fascinating network of old drovers and packhorse tracks that link villages to important trading areas and other areas in the country. The area also has a Roman influence, with Cam Road stretching to Bainbridge, its fort and beyond. My favourite is the Craven Way – the old packhorse route that connected Dentdale to Ingleton and other routes.

It climbs steadily to Wold End before you reach Great Wold – a ridge of firm limestone which has also been noted as Craven’s Wath or Little Craven Wald. On this track is Horse Well, which indicates it was a path used by horses, and a number of springs. There are fossils in tracks at Duncan Sike Foot, small caves and refreshing springs. Further towards Whernside, Dent Head Viaduct comes into view as the descent is made to Ribblehead – and you can see all the famous three peaks in one vista.

And finally… Visiting my favourite brewery to watch my favourite ale being brewed you say? It’s a hard job! Dent Brewery may be small, but it packs a real punch. Its fermenters can produce up to 1,800 litres (that’s more than 3,150 pints) per brew per day and run five times a week in summer. Bottling is done off-site, although they have hand-filled for special orders, while all beers are conditioned in the cask, rather than in tanks!

Contained in this little house is Dent Brewery.

Secret Yorkshire Dales is available now.

Thank You!

Thank you to the many people who have kindly “bought me a coffee” to keep on writing. If you enjoy my writing, podcasts and photography, then please feel free to drop me a donation to keep the site going … and free!

The post When is a secret not a secret…? appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

I enjoy being on a windswept fell, alongside a river watching the light dapple on its surface or walking up a sketchy and exposed trail on the way up to a well-earned summit.

It’s something I’ve probably taken for granted – especially with everything that has happened over the last year or so. Not many people find a career that tallies perfectly with what they love.

As well as being a writer I work for an environmental charity based in the Yorkshire Dales; and part of that role involves the management of planting trees, plastic tree and encouraging the use of alternatives.

When I started on my career path, I was all about writing and wanting to see my work appear in print. As I’ve gone on I still enjoy that thrill, but I’m more passionate about helping people tell their stories and the project management part of the written product.

I don’t know if that is because I have found my style or just I’ve found different ways of keeping stimulated whilst writing.

Recently, I feel I have become more comfortable behind a screen than being outside and interacting with the subjects I have worked with for many years.

I love caving and I am active within the Red Rose Caving and Pothole Club; but the thought of going underground at the moment doesn’t give me the same contact with the senses.

Getting out for a simple walk has been beyond difficult; I’d rather hide away watching a seminar or YouTube.

And when I got the opportunity to head to the Dales with my work recently, I was hoping it would be cancelled so I didn’t have make the trip.

Have you felt these emotions? When I got there – I’d never just cry off – my first thought was when do I need to leave and what route I would take. I was not in the moment.

There were some real highlights though. Working with like-minded people in sub zero temperatures found something I’d been missing for a while – contact with people away from isolation.

And then there was the landscape. The Dales needs trees (that’s why we do what we do) but the light brown views of the hills, snow still on the ground and the crystal clear rivers were something I’d been calling for.

It was great.

But now I’m at home… typing… and the prospect of doing the same again seems daunting. I’m anxious because my house feels secure and it goes beyond a safe haven.

I’m an outdoors person.

Do you feel this way? How did you snap out of it? Is it normal considering the circumstances? Have I lost my passion for my calling?

The post Something’s missing? appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

I’ve quoted Seth Godin in my thoughts before and one of his recent emails struck a real chord.

Like most during lockdown, I’ve been trying to figure myself out, where I sit in this mad world and how I can contribute to it.

I’ve been struggling to find my sense of place and in return that has affected how I feel about my work and what I am seeking to achieve.

This has been aligned to my ever-darkening thoughts, lack of creative output and loss of muse.

It’s therefore no coincidence  that Maria Popova’s interview with Tim Ferriss would set hares racing in my head. Her Brain Pickings blog is nothing short of phenomenal and their conversation about her work, and how she does it, spoke to parts of me that have been crying out for some sort of boost.

Perhaps I needed to hear what I wanted to hear.

An affirmation.

Perhaps it was something I already knew deep down.

You need to write for yourself first and the rest will follow.

Bingo.

My first Dales book on the Three Peaks was written for me. I always wanted to pen a homage to the place I love and that work was about not only showing the world the issues people face in the Yorkshire Three Peaks but, more importantly, that I could do it.

So when Seth says ‘tell your story’ and Maria says ‘write for yourself’, I have to listen yes?

It got me thinking about Mascarandy and where it is heading. I know I have written about this a few times on these pages and tried to discover why I do what I do.

Quite simply … and it is simple … I love helping people tell their stories. My vision, mantra, manifesto for Mascarandy Media is thus – I help you to own your story.

So isn’t it about time I did the same internally too? I need to own my story, my direction and realise I have gotten to this point – soon to be 10 books in, alongside an experienced career – because people like me telling their story.

And that should include telling my own through my love of place, connection and nature.

This post isn’t a reawakening; it’s a note to self.

What have you discovered recently to raise your sense of connection to what you want to achieve?

If you like what you have read, would you consider buying me a virtual brew? I really appreciate those that have so far. Love you all!

The post Owning my story appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

Each has brought me into close contact with the National Park I hold most dear; the landscapes that connect my sense of being and nourish my soul, whilst its effervescent, down to earth folk seem more real, more concrete, more grounded.

I’ve always felt I could do more though. Not only to get further under the surface of that vibrant mixture of cultures that make the Dales but to champion local business and innovation.

My first book – Yorkshire’s Three Peaks: The Inside Story of the Dales  – attempted to disassemble a small area of the National Park and understand how its individual pieces are working with – and quite often against – each other to ensure its future.  

I’ve since written about Derbyshire, Cheshire and sport but I’ve returned to the Dales, completing the circle somewhat, to discover more of its secrets – and to emphasise its heritage,  entrepreneurs  and future.

Secret Dales will be released in November (damn you Covid for the late date) and I was thinking it would all but complete my Yorkshire Dales odyssey.

Thankfully, the ideas are still flowing and I have no doubt there will be more! You can stop booing at the back.

Secret Dales’ blurb suggests that it’s predominantly a history book:

An enlightening and entertaining journey through the Park’s past, delving beneath the surface – and sometimes well below – to uncover its secrets.  

You’ll discover a network of passages that have shaped the landscape above it and why the clack of needles was to be feared and hear folk tales from years past. You’ll also find out about hidden kilns and mines, why a village had to drive spike through a heart of a dead man and tread along long forgotten routes and pathways.

Then there’s secret Inns, meeting places, notable folk and more that make this area special.

On reflection, it’s more than that. It’s about diversification and adapting to change whilst maintaining that link with the past … and the Dent Vampire which I must talk about in every book I write by the looks of it.

There’s no bucket lists here, no must visits – just a delve into the past and how it’s shaping the future.

I look forward to showing you more…

Will you tip me a brew to keep this site running?

The post Let me tell you a little secret… appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

Like most writers caught up in the Coronavirus crisis – amazing that Microsoft Word already autocorrects this by the way – I’ve been wondering whether to add my two-penneth on the situation and how it affects my profession.

It’s clear folk not working for months on end, especially those self-employed in the outdoor industry, will have a profound effect on their prospects going forward.

But that’s all been said already hasn’t it?

Well, what about the so-called increased inspirational creative foresight all of us now possess since we’ve been quarantined in our own homes?

Search any social media platform and you’ll see plenty who are positively loving the fact they are at home more. There’s those who are learning new languages, doing yoga (I’m included in this, don’t @ me), baking and so forth.

Do you really want another scribe on that and why it might or might not be the case for me?

Brace yourselves … I was told that because my story is personal, it is automatically different because it offers another viewpoint. If that is the case then it may be that other people might want to read it? Isn’t it cathartic to get it on screen too?

So, I’m jumping in. Following the bandwagon. Here goes the short version.

The Beginning

COVID lockdown for me came around a week before Boris did his thing.

I’ve worked from home before – some 18 months out of a small flat in Didsbury years ago and was looking forward to it. My commute is a lengthy one and initially I found being in a changed environment very rewarding.

Like most I migrated from the kitchen table to a quieter space upstairs but after a while, the  lack of seeing people and not having that external stimulation was something that weighed heavy on me. I work in a rural setting, whereas my home is on the outskirts of a town. My place of work is connected to what I do.

Creatively, that burst of energy and the newness of the situation saw my Secret Dales project submitted to my publisher (well ahead of time), with publication now expected to be in November. That’s a perfect time for Christmas everybody so I will be offering pre-orders very soon!

Being away from my stimulus; the outdoors and particularly the Yorkshire Dales has been overwhelming.

It’s hard to know that my work, my research base, is some 60 miles away. No amount of virtual walking can replace that and I know many other outdoor scribblers are feeling the same. You see the pictures, videos and blogs and it makes the pining worse.

Lucky…

Yet, I know I’m lucky. I can continue working from home, contributing, whereas many are in a different position, waiting for the outdoor world to re-open so they can take commissions.

There are so many uncertainties about when that will happen, so much conjecture and I believe the financial packages available to lessen some of the impacts aren’t perfect for everyone.

I’m told that B&Bs and guest houses can’t access the funds. People who have nurtured these over a number of years face ruin through something that isn’t their fault.

And as we know from the Foot and Mouth crisis, a return to normal in a rural setting can take years – particularly in isolatied communities.

And yet…

I’m also fortunate that where I live is surrounded by fields and woodland, all explorable from my door. But that’s where I’m struggling…

At the time of writing, I haven’t left the house in near five weeks which obviously isn’t great for my mental health or my creative muse.

This facet of my life; the walking, caving, being outdoors, has been hit the most, almost to a point when I actually feel more comfortable indoors. It’s like I’m off kilter and have gotten used to a new way. Indoors feels safe, outdoors doesn’t.

I know it’s going to be very difficult to move away from that, but deep down I know I have to.

In the meantime, I’m trying to pick away at what I can control.

With Secret Dales now in the can, I’m looking for my next project whether that is writing, self-publishing, or project managing someone else’s work. Keen? Get in touch.

Secondly, I have moved a lot of my photography examples on to Pinterest.

It’s a nice showcase for some of the pictures that feature in my books, and the platform offers a degree of safety too when it comes to the images being lifted and used.

Anywhere you upload pictures to can be lifted I guess, but I felt this was a nice way to show what I do.

Check them out here – all images can be made available for commercial use so please get in touch.

Next, I have been using the isolated experience to talk to more authors. We writers can place ourselves on an island, we’re all competition to each other depending on the genre – but speaking to the likes of Phillip Bell (Beachy Books) and Alex Roddie  has helped immensely. Thank you chaps…

What I have been reading

Social Media … Bad for me, a hurtful place with only snippets of compassion. The #bekind movement didn’t last long

Winter’s Bone  &  The Death of Sweet Mister – Daniel Woodrell

The Lighthouse – Alison Moore

The novels aren’t the most uplifting trilogy of tomes but fit perfectly with my mental state! I found Woodrell via my favourite author Willy Vlautin. Their styles differ but their tales of hard hit Americana are similar.

What I have been listening to

I’m a podcast junkie so I won’t list all the podcasts I’ve taken over the last few weeks.

I will point you to this one by Beachy Books though – Phillip Bell answers my question: “How do you find your muse and motivation in a time of shit”.

What I have been watching

Check out this excellent short from Jenny Tough about her camping trip in the highlands. I’m a sucker for a great Scottish melodic soundtrack!

Kilian Jornet’s Path to Everest

And finally, there’s a few pics below from the woods around my house – and an old road too. Posting them will hopefully help me find my muse.

Are you in a similar vein of thought? What are you doing to keep going?

Will you buy me a virtual brew to keep this site up and running?

The post COVID thoughts … Is life on hold? appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

It’s been a while since our last update here – some four months – and it’s fair to say that’s a long time between drinks.

Things have been pretty hectic at Mascarandy towers with a book deadline and several other things happening to preclude some thought on these pages.

So here’s an explanation (kinda…)

Caving

Folk will know I’ve long been a keen caver. Since moving my ‘day role’ to the Yorkshire Dales it has allowed me to be closer to the caving areas – and open the door to finally joining the Red Rose Caving and Pothole Club.

It’s a club I’ve wanted to be part of for a while; initially because I thought the hut looked cool, but mostly, and now I’ve grown up, because it is based in the best caving area in the country at Ease Gill.

My Secret Dales book project allowed me to interact with members of the group and finally submit an application. I’m pleased to say I was accepted and have begun to finally learn how to get up and down a rope.

Down in fine – my sizeable frame helping the descent. Up isn’t – gravity working against my sizeable frame.

It’s been fun so far, but hard work, and I’d like to thank Jack Overhill, the training officer at the club for being very patient.

Why caving? It’s the fascination of not knowing what is around the corner. I find crawling in enclosed spaces somewhat comforting too. No idea why…

Wombling

Trees … millions of them. That’s the plan for the country to help it meet its climate targets and at Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust they have ambition to plant 100,000 in the next two years. So far, we’ve planted close to 60,000 taking our in total figure to around 1.5 million since 1996.

That’s a lot of trees … and a lot of tree guards.

YDMT has been leading the way on finding an alternative – and you can see why from the pic below. They were removed from Bargh Wood in Stainforth with the landowner – and we were featured on  Farming Today over the Christmas period.

I’m really pleased to be part of an organisation that is a real ‘doer’ when it comes to things like this. It’s outdoors, in the fresh air and making a difference.

(I’ve been to Bargh Wood so many times over the last few months planting and wombling that I am petitioning the owner to have it changed to Mike’s Wood. Catchy eh?)

Snapping

My deadline for Secret Dales is fast approaching and therefore I’ve been out and about researching and gathering as many snaps as I can. The book will have nine chapters and focus on things like landscape, folk tales, notable people, mining and cottage industries for example.

At times, it’s been a difficult write. Changing jobs meant a chance in circumstance and time management issues, but I’m pleased to say I’ve got on top of that over the last few months.

It’s made me realise two things. When the draft wasn’t proceeding as well as planned, I felt it was because I was spending too much time on my research; typing up notes for example. When it came to crafting the draft, that research made life a lot simpler. Lesson number one – enjoy the grind, it pays off.

The second thing was bringing my eldest up to the area I now work in. We went walking on Giggleswick Scar and cave hunting / cooking down at Ease Gill. It was lovely to be able to introduce her to a new environment even if she is a reluctant walker. I hope this is the start of her getting to know the outdoors a lot more.

And finally…

Just some further updates. The Mascarandy Meanders podcast will be returning shortly! It will continue to feature me meandering on about whatever outdoor or writing subject is bothering me at the time – but I’ve also lined up a few interviews too which I hope you’ll find interesting!

I’ll also be blogging a bit more about my journey to 10 books and various other things like top 10 bivvys, caving trips etc.

This site will be having a small update shortly too with some new banner artwork, giving it a fresh look.

Finally (again), if you’re unable to buy a book, postcard or print from my shop, then there are a couple of things you could do to help me keep this site up and running.

The first is to check out two of my partners and consider supporting Mascarandy through them.

Splash Map is an  innovative company which designs  wearable, washable, all weather maps for the real outdoors.  Basically, any map – Ordnance Survey etc – can be printed onto fabric that can be worn or stored in your pack.

FATMAP – I’ve been submitting walk ideas to Fatmap since they joined the scene and the link is my walk up Ingleborough. Check it out and my other walks and tell FATMAP if you like them!

Secondly, the proceeds of every book, picture and postcard sold on the site goes back into writing more books, taking more pictures and creating more postcards.  If you can’t buy a book, picture or postcard, then would you buy me a brew to keep this site up and running?

Yes?

Nice, I take sugar in tea or alternatively you can click on the button below.

The post Caving, Wombling & Snapping appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

TGO Bloggers Network

For those visiting these parts for the first time, hello!

I know you’re likely to have come here from all sorts of places but if you’re popping by from the TGO Bloggers Network then greetings to you.

I’ve recently been added to this list which is a collection  of  ‘the best online writing on the subjects of backpacking, hillwalking and the outdoors’ according to the fine people at The Great Outdoors magazine.

It’s a list I’ve wanted to be a part of for a while as it contains many of my favourite authors across the outdoor world. Alan Rowan, Alistair Humphries and Mark Horrell are all writers I enjoy reading alongside the likes of Fiona Russell and Kate Jamieson.

I’ve been penning stories on my ‘adventures’ for a while now as well as sharing video and audio content across the web. If you’re here for the first time, I hope you enjoy these pages.

(If not, let me know, I can take it…)

(I think)

Podcasts

I’m a podcast fiend. Commute, down time, work time, travels … whatever the occasion, I usually have one in my ears.

My choices are quite eclectic and I’ve even dabbled in producing some myself (you can subscribe to them here). At this precise time, there are 11 on my iPhone and I’m going to bore you with them.

First up there’s my NFL ones which at present are two of Ross Tucker’s. I also listen to Around the NFL and also Gridiron’s efforts too. Then there’s Farming Today, Outside Magazine, Ted Talks, BBC’s Costing the Earth and Documentary series. I’ve also got one from the Boston Globe too about Aaron Hernandez.

Still awake? I wanted to highlight one I’m really enjoying at the moment by Bonita Morris. She’s the youngest person ever to reach Everest and the North Pole and after releasing her book –  The Girl Who Climbed Everest – she’s producing her own Podcast.

I’m three deep into the ‘She Loves Mountains‘ series now; she is currently talking to Sophie Ratcliffe (Challenge Sophie) about her fascinating life and how she quit the rat race to become a real influencer in several fields.

All I can say is give these podcasts a listen. Inspiring, informative and taken from the view of someone who has done it, rather than someone just trying to get an interview.

They are conversations, rather than straight Q and A’s, but don’t just take my word for it – give it a try and you won’t be disappointed.

Books

Not the hard sell … it feels quite small fry compared to the big mountain experience of Bonita but work is continuing on my 50 Gems of Cheshire book. I’ve recently been in Parkgate on the Wirral which is a salt marsh and the county’s only coastal ‘resort’.

I’ve also spent some time with the chaps at Ness Botanic Gardens (see the raw snap above!) and over at Lovell Quinta Arboretum too. All three are fantastic places and complete gems in their own right.

The next job is to finish off snapping some of the remaining places and get cracking with the writing. Then it will be on to a Secret Dales project I’ve been wanting to get my teeth into for ages.

Social Media

Likes? Dislikes? Clicks? Are they important? I’ve seen loads of posts recently that show the reality of people who seem to be ‘living their best life’.

That’s a term that should be banished into the bin alongside ‘outside the box’, ‘blue sky thinking’ etc.

There seems to be this clamour to put something out on a social account that shows a person surrounded by paperwork, hair a mess etc to show the world that this is the reality of what they do rather than the pristine, well-filtered posts of the outdoor world.

Why do it? We head to social media, especially Instagram, to see the best of the world, not masses of paperwork that you’ve set up to show you’re normal!

No one wants to see a picture of me typing this with a brew (you can if you want though) – they seek the pics of Warnscale, my caving, being out and about.

Come on Insta outdoors folk … let’s keep it real yeah?

Finally…

Can the complete dullards who dumped the keyboards in Selside please take a long hard look in the mirror? And then hit yourself repeatedly, preferably with something hard. Like some keyboards.

I know where there’s a load of them.

The post These Are The Things… appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

I’ve picked up a commission from Amberley Publishing to continue the ’50 Gem’ series, this time focusing on Derbyshire.

The book with cover the Peak, as well as the area surrounding it, including Chesterfield and Derby too. I may even venture into the National Forest.

So far, I’ve selected a few of my favourite parts of the area, and been a little liberal with its boundaries too. Buxton isn’t in the Peak, but it’s in Derbyshire for one. Peak Cavern is another Gem as is Mam Tor and Edale.

Then you have Dovedale too… the choice is endless.

If you have a particular favourite you’d like to see featured please let me know. Pubs, Hills, Holes, Gems, Wonders… if you think it is worthy of being in the tome, get in touch!

You can tweet me @mascarandy or drop me a line at mike@mascarandymedia.com

The book is due out in May 2018.

The post 50 Gems of Derbyshire appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

I grew up waiting for the bongs watching Clive James give his candid view of the previous 52 weeks. I loved his simple style as he  ran the rule over what had happened that year.

Angus Deaton was next up, but it didn’t seem to work for me – I always felt he was trying too hard, or perhaps he and his writers just simply didn’t  have the aplomb and delivery that Clive had.

Nowadays they don’t really bother with review shows, apart from Charlie Brooker who’s Wipe delivers me pretty close to Mr James. But even that is getting more sanitised – this year’s version was far away from the genius of the one at the end of 2014. It was decent, but felt very mainstream compared to recent iterations. Cunk on Christmas however made me snort.

Moving On…

Anyway, my 2016 was pretty decent as it happens and I don’t want to make an apology for it.

I first thought about writing something that summed up the turmoil of the last 12 months and ignoring the above. Something about how me and many others feel about the environment, Brexit, and the USA elections. I know that for some though 2016 was a good year politically. People who wanted change, who wanted to send a message. I only hope those people are right and can lead the rest of us along with them. Because we all need to be in this together.

I was going to mention my concerns too, like  local councils looking to chop at the Green Belt. My hometown of St. Helens seems hell bent on handing over green land to developers to make it a logistics hub. We won’t worry about not only removing green land – stuff that helps us breathe – but we’ll add a load of trucks into the equation as well. Same for HS2. By the time it is built tech will be so different but the damage is likely to be irreversible. Many towns have brownfield sites that  seem to have been forgotten as well … or housing stock that could be made more attractive.

I was also going to talk about  fracking – which seems pointless given that renewables are clearly the way forward – and the badger cull. I was going to ask  why  the Tories would go against public opinion and 1) allow fracking and 2) allow fox hunting to return as well. All this coming at the same time May said there needs to be more local government and politicians need to listen to the people. Ahem.

Then there’s the whole potential cold war and climate change conversation. The two aren’t linked but could well be!

But anyone who talks up on the net these days gets shouted at. Like Brooker said on Wipe this year – we’ve gone from “meh” to just arguing and saying what we want without considering others. I was brought up to respect those around me but that seems to have gone from our society. That’s sad.

Anyway, it looks like I am going down that post road so let’s return to why  2016 has been pretty good for me, Mascarandy and my family.

2016…

I welcomed a new four-legged member of the family in Lhotse  and she is now in  front of the fire as I write these notes. She has been an excellent addition to the house; very loyal and always hungry. I forgot how greedy Lhasa Apsos are! She has been a good walker too, locally, but we  haven’t ventured too far north just yet. I need to get her into the Dales asap.

Early in the year Mascarandy underwent a bit of a rebrand to reflect more of what we are doing. It was fresh, modern, more professional and well received. We will continue to develop over the coming year.

I also had the pleasure of reviewing Terry Abraham’s new film about Blencathra  and that was a real highlight.

In May I launched my seventh book – 25 Great Walkers’ Pubs of the Yorkshire Dales  – and that was well received too. You can read a review here.

And my second daughter, Emma, came into the world… a little early as it happens. That was a surprise to all!

I probably didn’t get out as much as I wanted to in 2016 but enjoyed three great trips of note. There was a bivvy in Silverdale  which was horrifically wet, followed by one on Norber  that resulted in a severely infected foot after an accidental scalding. Looking back at my trip report I made no reference to the fact my Brukit fell over and poured hot water into my shoe and thus foot, but it was pretty bad. A course of antibiotics followed and talk of a possible skin graft. Thankfully, the latter didn’t occur.

The year walking wise was finished off with a walk along the High Street – easily one of my best to date.

2017…

So what has 2017 got in store?

After watching Jen Randall’s film The Bivvy Project  I texted a friend today to say 2017 needed walks, caving, bivvy and whisky and I don’t think you can go too wrong with that.

Mascarandy is waiting on a couple of projects in the new year to be given the nodbut what WILL be happening is the publishing of Danny Sculthorpe’s autobiography with Vertical Editions.

50 Gems of Derbyshire will also be in research and my  many pics will be on sale on Alamy, Shutterstock and Adobe Stock.

I’ll be out and about blogging as per usual and hopefully getting underground a lot more.

I’d like to thank everyone who made 2016 a good year for Mascarandy and in particular Danny Sculthorpe, Karl at Vertical Editions, the chaps at Amberley, Johnny Hartnell and Inglesport and Mike Law at Walking-Books.

Finally, my Yorkshire Dales books are now just £10 each at my store. Take a look and order!

Here’s to 2017… I have a bottle of unopened Talisker that is about to be no longer closed!

The post Here’s to 2017 at Mascarandy appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

Ok, I’ve made that sound like I’m really roughing it … to be honest it’s nothing of the sort. I use an Alpkit Hunka XL, Vango Ultralite sleeping bag and I’ve just recently bought a new sleeping mat.

It all adds up to a ‘comfortable’ night in the open air.

I don’t think I have ever been 100 per cent settled when I’m sleeping out but my most recent bivvy, in the Yorkshire Dales, really was the best I’ve had.

A few beers in a local hostelry and selecting a spot was as simple as it has ever been – up on Norber – as were the conditions of no wind, no rain and a warm and clear night.

Milky moon, crystal skies an added bonus.

A nice whisky followed as did a really deep sleep and a beautiful sunrise – as the pictures show.

My friend told me, as he woke, that a Robin landed on his rucksack and basically watched him as he arose from his slumber.

It  got me thinking that such an interaction is something that everyone should enjoy  but in the Dales, in my experience, it doesn’t happen as much as it should.

In Easegill (near Barbon) I have hardly heard birds tweet – and that’s simply down to the lack of trees  and other vegetation.  The Dales is a working landscape but it’s also a landscape that lacks trees and therefore places for birds to nest and thrive.

The latest State of Nature report doesn’t paint a great picture of our country’s wildlife.

It says  is faring worse in the UK than other countries too.

Last  month, the  Guardian  reported that  our  best-loved wildlife was  in serious decline  and we all know what is happening with one of our best loved mammals – and national icons – the Badger.

In a landscape like the Dales, farming is pivotal and critical – it is what has shaped the rolling hills and fells. The Dales would look totally different if it wasn’t for agriculture – but is that a good thing?

Rewilding is in the news at present and I certainly back its aims. But balancing agriculture and the needs of the natural environment isn’t simple whatsoever. We have to feed an increasing population for starters.

The farmers I know certainly do their best with the multitude of environmental schemes which pay them to strive for that balance –  but what happens to those projects  post Brexit?

People who think the government will continue subsiding farmers at the same levels are sadly going to get a big shock – and I have to say I was surprised that before the  vote  Farmers Weekly  suggested 58 per cent of farmers it polled would back ‘Leave’.

To me that’s turkey’s voting for Christmas – without the EU and subsidy there’s no way some hill farms could survive –  but the reasons why many would have voted ‘out’ are complex. It’s not just about subsidy. It’s also being tied into a single market, with a lot of regulation.

And I can see why some wanted to leave – but “regulation” to me is environmental controls and they are vital. In fact, a YouGov poll showed that the “majority of British public polled support protections at least as strong as current EU rules and many think farming subsidies should focus more on environmental protection”.

I know farmers who agree with that also.

Interestingly, the National Trust has just bought  Thorneythwaite  Farm in the Lake District and it looks like its  intention is to use the land as part of a general rewilding project.

This has caused some consternation in the farming community who effectively the Trust gazumped. The price paid for the Farm meant no prospective farmer could get close.  How this one unfolds no one knows but farming is changing. As is public scrutiny.

One commentator said that the Trust wanted to ‘disneyfy’ the Lakes, making it a nature reserve instead of what it is – a working landscape. However, it seems that Thorneythwaite is  already a reserve as it is, with hill sheep attached. What happens next is anyone’s call… but I do ask, if farms need subsidy to survive then why shouldn’t the Trust use its members’ funds to try something different?

I’m certainly open to having  my mind changed on that.

That ‘disneyfication’ comment has also been labelled at the 15 National Parks by the Open Spaces Society.

Their general secretary Kate Ashbrook pointed to the National Parks Partnership which has been set up to enable  businesses to engage with the parks ‘to enhance the quality and utility of the parks now and for future generations’.

She said  that businesses would want to profit  from the scheme through ‘inappropriate sponsorships’.

“If they (the Parks) become prey to commercial predators they will be at severe risk and their special qualities will be destroyed,” she said.

That was a worry  I wrote about  in Yorkshire’s Three Peaks – The Inside Story of the Dales. I was concerned with how the Yorkshire Dales National Park had been selling its own merchandise for the ‘Three Peaks’ competing against  local and well established smaller businesses.

I couldn’t see how that was right. The same could be said for the  Three Peaks Project receiving  funds from  Hanson  – who operate quarries in the area – and aggregate for paths.

But not everything is so black and white. So moral.

With cuts in funding it’s impossible to see how these partnerships  won’t get bigger in the future too.

And why not? Our National Parks are under pressure financially  so it’s no wonder they have joined together under a Partnership.

And therefore we shouldn’t be surprised if big business want to get involved. The Parks aren’t left with much of a choice.

I suppose the answer is pretty simple. Fund our Parks, rewild where possible and work with farmers to ensure they can  be allowed to manage the environment whilst supporting  their businesses.

It would be a utopian ‘partnership’.

Subsidies will be ending, no doubt, so use what funds there are to ensure a balance so maybe my children can hear birds tweeting and see other wildlife without having to go to a zoo.

The post Bivvy Nights… And Thoughts appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

The New Inn, Clapham

Clapham has always been the hub of caving in the Dales.

The Cave Rescue Organisation are based here as is the famous Gaping Gill system as well as the fantastic Ingleborough Showcave. It’s also a honeypot for walkers tackling Ingleborough – in particular taking the Nature Trail through the Farrer Estate. But it is the former that the New Inn always celebrated in its interior.

Inside this eighteenth century coaching inn, subterranean lovers would share stories of their discoveries and pictures depicted caves, potholes, caverns, pitches, tunnels, squeezes and their head torch wearing explorers. Some were a little risqué too as Jim Eyres’ drawing talents featured throughout. Jim was a well known caver in the area with his storytelling legendary. In caving’s heyday the New Inn would be chocker, the beer would flow and the laugher would follow. But over recent times, caving has become a much ‘nicher’ sport.

The number of participants has diminished as younger people aren’t as attracted to going underground as say, staying at home in more comfortable surroundings on a games console. Outward bounds centres take kids kayaking and abseiling but trips to caves are few and far between. That means there’s less people in the caves of Clapham and therefore, less cavers in the pub.  Coupled with the caving heavy decor of the New Inn, this meant times needed to change if, realistically, the New Inn was to stay busy. In all honesty, if you didn’t like caving then a trip to the pub would have been a little daunting.

Luckily I do. One night I heard a story of how someone’s prosthetic leg was used as a belay point in the Ease Gill Cave System in Casterton. Another evening I was regaled with ropes having no knots at the end, with resultant disaster and choice language. But that’s me and not everyone is as keen.
Therefore, it was no surprise when the Benson family took over the the pub in 2013 that they looked to give it a much needed revamp as well as restoring it to its former historical glory. Original oak beams and beautiful stone walls were made a feature and the dark and red decor in the bar areas were brightened up to bring it into the modern age.

Originally, the this grade II pub was a farmhouse in the early 1700s but was covered into a coaching inn around 1745. In 1807, an extra floor was added to make it four storeys. The new decor aims to bring this out, being fresh inside and bright without removing some of the original features such as large tables where people would gather to swap those caving stories. The proof is in the eating… or drinking and suffice to say the menu is top class as is the beer.

Caving may not be a prominent feature anymore but on my visit locals were stood at the bar sharing stories whilst your caver author didn’t feel out of place covered in mud following a long walk. And, after the CRO have met next door they still pop in for a beer, so it can’t all be bad.

Perhaps it was just time for the New Inn to be revamped after all.

Clapham is the Doorway to the Dales and never has a description been more apt. Built around Clapham Beck, the village is a bustling epicentre for people exploring the Dales but never gets away from the fact it is home to hundreds of local people. In fact social policies, in the past anyway, from the Farrer family, Ingleborough Estate owners, have ensured local families have had the opportunity to live in the village for affordable rents. The Farrer’s are also responsible for most of the beauty in the area including the woods, fields, moors and farms of the village. The Nature Trail takes in much of Reginald Farrer’s work too in acquiring rare plants from all over the world and is a must visit before or after a visit to the New Inn.

The Pub:

Address: The New Inn Clapham, Old Road, Clapham, Settle, North Yorkshire, LA2 8HH

Website: www.newinn-clapham.co.uk

The Walk:

Start Point: Yorkshire Dales National Park Car Park

Destination: Ingleborough circular

Distance: 9 miles

The Route: Turn right out of the car park and walk up to the church. At the road turn right and then go up through the Ingleborough Nature Trail (don’t forget to pay your fee and take a leaflet). Follow the trail out into the clearing and pass the water pump on your right (thwacking sound) and the superb Ingleborough Cave on your left. Continue up the path, which gains height, to Trow Gill. There’s only one way up so follow it and then take the obvious and well worn path to the stiles. Go over them and after a few metres you will see a dip to your left – that is Bar Pot. Don’t get too close and then continue the route, past various holes before coming to a fork. Take the route on the right and this will lead you to Gaping Gill. Cross the stream if it is safe and continue on the path up Ingleborough. You will rapidly gain height until you reach a false summit (Little Ingleborough SD743734) when it levels out. This will climb once more and reach Ingleborough plateau. In the mist finding the summit cairn can be a navigational nightmare as you effectively cut back on yourself (SD741745). It’s advisable to take a bearing from the cairn back to the path. Retrace your route down to Gaping Gill and the stiles but instead of turning right to go back to Trow Gill, go straight on, to Clapham Bottoms and then up to join Long Lane (SD758716). Take this Lane down to an intersection, turn right, go under two tunnels and you return to Clapham to the left of the church.

25 Great Walkers’ Pubs – Information

• Paperback:  96 pages
• Size:  165mm x 235mm
• Pictures: More than 80, full colour throughout
• Publisher:  Amberley Publishing
• Price:   £14.99
• Click Here to  Buy Now

The post 25 Pubs – An Extract appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

Not only was 50 Gems of the Yorkshire Dales released but 25 Great Walkers’ Pubs of the Yorkshire Dales was commissioned and 5-9 microadventures became the norm!

In March, the first of those 5-9 microadventures didn’t quite go according to plan. A visit to Ingleborough in full winter conditions had us retreating in a whiteout. Knowing when to turn back is a vital part of being a competent walker.

I was also invited to join the Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild – a great honour!

The wintry weather didn’t beat me in the end though and at the end of the month a bivvy at the Cheese Press Stone was a real highlight of the year.

The Stone is one of the 50 Gems of the Yorkshire Dales and that book was officially launched at Inglesport in May. Several copies were sold as visitors to the area discovered some gems they hadn’t known about!

The Store wrote:

We were delighted to be contacted by Mike Appleton, the author of 50 Gems of the Yorkshire Dales, as a book signing was definitely something new for Inglesport in our 37 years of trading.

The publisher Amberley Books were in contact every step of the way supplying us with flyers and posters for the store window.

Mike and Amberley books built up the tension and suspense via Twitter, Facebook and local press and the Yorkshire Post produced a great two page spread on the area a week before the event.

Before the launch we had people coming into the store, calling via telephone and contacting us on social media asking for a copy to be reserved.

On the day of the event Mike turned up about a hour before launch, introduced himself to the staff explaining his passion for the area and the reasons for promotion.

He also explained the following day that he intended to lead a walk to one of the gems and everyone was welcome to come along.

All in all we noticed an increase in footfall of customers old and new and the publication has been a good seller for ourselves and will be enjoyed by many over the coming years.

We would like to thank Mike and Amberley Books for making the launch a success and also for choosing our store for the event.

Good luck with any future ventures.

You can read about one of the Gems here.

Positive reviews for the book followed in June with both the Yorkshire Post and Westmorland Gazette featuring it heavily in their publications.

Wanderlust also carried the book on its website in a special feature  and will cover it in a special guide to the UK released in the new year.

In July,    another microadventure followed as well as a spot of iPhone caving  and a month later some serious underground travel followed – this time to Buttersett Mines.

25 Great Walkers’ Pubs of the Yorkshire Dales was also commissioned by Amberley.

In October, a visit to one of those pubs – the iconic Tan Hill Inn – brought probably the best bivvy and microadventure of the year.

And another pub visit to the Game Cock Inn in Austwick saw  a fantastic bimble  around Norber and its erratics.

25 Pubs is now with its proofreader and there will be an extract here shortly!

Just a few highlights of a busy here year… more to follow in 2016!

Remember…

Prices in the  Mascarandy Shop  are cheaper than Amazon – and the money goes direct to the author rather than a huge corporation!

Yorkshire’s Three Peaks – The Inside Story of the Dales  is now just a tenner too.

The post A Busy Year! appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

All in the name of research of course as 25 Great Walkers Pubs continues its fact finding stage!

A fantastic night in the Inn, with landlord and landlady Stephen and Viv proving to be excellent hosts.

The following day took a very hungover and weary researchers to Kisdon Force from Muker… and resulted in damaged wrist for my companion!

Johnny Hartnell hitting the deck at the waterfall  with such panache.

Stop Press

Prices in the  Mascarandy Shop  are now cheaper than Amazon – and the money goes direct to the author rather than a huge corporation.

That means I can continue to write and create content!

Yorkshire’s Three Peaks – The Inside Story of the Dales  is now just a tenner too.

The post Tan Hill Inn Bivvy appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

The hostelries are the primary focus with the wanderings a way of passing the time before, after (or in-between in a couple of cases) visiting them.

It’s different from usual pub books which see the boozers as an A and B point on the route.

These are walkers pubs, there are reasons for walkers visiting them – and the walks galvanise that bond.

Ok, so that’s a little grandiose but when it’s out, you’ll get my meaning.

For instance, you could visit the Barbon Inn and enjoy is warm, country style interior. But popping in after climbing The Calf, caked up to your knees with mud, will make that first pint all the better.

One of my recent wanderings in researching this project took me to Norber which is roughly just over a mile from Austwick – and the Game Cock Inn.

It was a walk I hadn’t done before – but heard a lot about due to the erratics and the views from Norber itself.

I don’t want to give too much of the walk away, but I was memorised by what I saw – the erratics in particular are stunning – and the sightlines that stretched all the way in front of me to include Pen-y-ghent at one angle,  before going near enough 180 to see Ingleborough.

I think the pictures below do it justice…

Stop Press

Prices in the  Mascarandy Shop  are now cheaper than Amazon – and the money goes direct to the author rather than a huge corporation.

That means I can continue to write and create content!

Yorkshire’s Three Peaks – The Inside Story of the Dales is now just a tenner too.

The post Norber Wanderings appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

There’s nothing quite like a refreshing beverage after a day on the fells and hills of the Yorkshire Dales.

Scenic beauty, majestic views, impressive crags, towering cliffs, peaceful tarns, extensive caves and picturesque villages that are rich with the heritage and culture are visited by millions of people each year.

And those that work within this stunning countryside ensure the Dales and its communities continue to be vibrant for future generations.

At their hub are hostelries that tell their own tales; cornerstones of local communities which reflect the social and economic story of a region that is changing and evolving everyday.

In this book, we chart 25 of the best pubs within the Yorkshire Dales and find out why they have become a beacon and pull to so many over the years.

Discover the Inn that was frequented by playwright JB Priestley and why beer is served in the traditional way in Arncliffe!

Visit pubs that are tap houses, house waterfalls, display quirky signs, have impressive features, produce great food, play great music and so much more!

The post Great Walkers Pubs appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

I wrote last month here that ‘a  busy 9-5 type of life – and more hours besides – needs an outlet to refresh the senses.’

It needs a 5-9 adventure.

Well, taking it a little further from the walk in that post, I ventured underground once again with my good friend Johnny Hartnell from Inglesport to the sandstone mines at Buttersett.

You can enjoy a video of the trip here  or watch it below.

The mines are pretty extensive and we visited three in total. Of course, you need to have the right gear and be pretty competent to have a look round them. It also helps to be fit as mines are unlike caves in the fact they don’t usually have a free flow of air.

Both myself and Johnny found this out as we got deeper into the mine – it is very tiring indeed.

Thinking of getting some 5-9 adventures yourself? Then why not grab a copy of 50 Gems of the Yorkshire Dales here for some inspiration. 50 places in fact!

The post 5-9 Adventure – Video appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

That’s the opening line from my new book 50 Gems of the Yorkshire Dales published by Amberley. The tome seeks to discover some of the best places the area has to offer; being distinctive, historical, picturesque, geologically fascinating and above all personal.

Identifying a ‘gem’ is something I thought would be easy.

As my introduction says: “We can all identify an icon, a symbol, an area of outstanding natural scenery; in fact we do it every day in the choices we make. Holidays are often based around lakes, mountains and ravines; drives and cycles in the country end up in fantastic pubs or cafes; we can all name a stunning vista from our childhood.”

The Dales is my gem and I have been able to transform that love into narration and the ability to use the knowledge I’ve gained, foot by foot, step by step, in language.

Surprisingly though, that adoration was tested to the full when I was asked to photograph, capture and name 50 of the best places in the Yorkshire Dales. Quite simply, for an area that has so much natural beauty, how can you choose one particular ‘sight’ over another?

How can you rank a gem? In a time of bucket lists and must dos, how do you choose the ‘big’ numbers, the scenery that everyone must see?

What happens if the smaller fells, a rock in an odd place or setting should be on the sheet too?

In the end I had to make a choice as I wanted the gems to be as personal as possible. They needed to connect me to a landscape I know and love so much. They are my 50 and as a result there had to be a certain amount of trade-off to make sure I drafted a list I could be happy with.

They also had tick the boxes – I hate that phrase – of what Amberley does best. Local, Historical, Geographical and Accessible. I think I achieved that.

Here are some of my favourites:

1. Ease Gill
It takes a hardy (if somewhat mad) soul to go underground through the multitude of passages that honeycomb the Dales, but the rewards are immense.

Ease Gill (main picture) is part of the Three Counties System, the longest and most complex cave system in Britain, and lies below the Casterton, Leck and Ireby Fells around the 2,057ft Gragareth. So much so that nearly 90km of passage has been found to date – with discoveries continuing all the time.

Cavers don’t have it all to themselves: you can enjoy what’s happening above the surface too. Simply follow the beck from its full flow, right through to where it disappears underground and then into spectacular gorges.

Its remote location means it is very rarely visited. It’s serene, colourful at all times of the year, and the perfect place to reflect.

2. Semerwater
Semerwater, near Bainbridge, is the second largest natural lake in Yorkshire after Malham Tarn – and legend has it that it was once the site of a prosperous city in the Dales.

The story goes that an old man came to the city in search of food and drink. He knocked on each door, being rebuked every time, before he found a welcoming ‘hovel’ where a poor couple pitied and took him in.

After enjoying the couple’s hospitality, the old man turned to face the town and said: “Semerwater rise! Semerwater sink! And swallow the town, all save this house, Where they gave me meat and drink.” Immediately, the waters of the lake rose up and flooded the area drowning all of its citizens, except for the couple who took him in.

Today the lake is rarely busy, usually glass-like and great for the many birds that visit its shores.

3. Cheese Press Stones, near Ingleton
Take the path to the Turbary Road from Ingleton to experience this eerie scenery at its finest. You climb into an area of dense limestone, boulders and pavement, before the going is fairly flat and grass-like with Gragareth stretching ahead. Here, in this superb setting – in the stunning Kingsdale – are the Cheese Press Stones.

These stones were more than likely left stranded in this location by ice movement in the Ice Age. Since then, unlike the limestone which is nearby, they have been shaped and smoothed by the elements, not contorted or cracked.

The view from here across the Dales is equally as impressive.

4. Gunnerside
Long before farming and tourism became the dominant way of making a living in the Dales, heavy industry shaped some of the countryside we visit today.

Take a walk around Gunnerside – particularly Gunnerside Gill – and the impact of this activity, albeit hundreds of years ago, is there for all to see. This picturesque dale, Swaledale, was the site of a major lead mining enterprise.

The valley still contains much of its industrial past with dammed streams and old workings dotted around the gill. Sure, it sounds a bit bleak – but in a strange way it adds a certain charm to some of the best countryside the Dales has to offer.

5. Some little-known pubs…
Yorkshire and pubs go together – and after a walk there are several you can enjoy. My favourites are:

The Falcon Inn, Arncliffe
The original Woolpack in long running soap Emmerdale. It’s the way it serves its beer that is the real gem.

The ale of choice, Timothy Taylor’s Boltmaker, is poured from a jug to a glass. It’s the traditional way of serving beer which keeps the ale at room temperature and ensures it’s great condition.

The George and Dragon, Dent
The tap house for Dent Brewery! Say no more!

Station Inn, Ribblehead
Remote and in the shadow of Ribblehead Viaduct and Whernside, this pub offers breathtaking scenery and great ale!

You can buy a copy of 50 Gems in my store now and for a limited time only if you type mascar15 at checkout then you can get 15 per cent off everything there.

The post 50 Gems: Choosing A ‘Gem’ appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

Struggling to get any kind of proper time off I opted to flip my day around and settle on a 5-9 adventure – or microadventure as they are more popularly known these days.

Little planning was necessary, although I always seem to overplan and overthink, just a pack with my camera in and some walking clothes.

Then, I was on my way up the M6 to try and fit in a blast around the Dales and possibly the chance to photograph an amazing sunset.

Meeting up with Johnny Hartnell from Inglesport we opted on a circular ‘see what happens’ route, with a pint at the end. We had a vague plan; avoid getting wet, stretch the legs and be back before it went dark. No need for a map, just some water, little conversation and hope for the best.

Our route went something like thus. Head towards the Youth Hostel, check out a limekiln, join a little seen river that flows into Ingleton, climb up to the stepping stones near Beezley and then come back via Ingleton Quarry and up towards Crina Bottom.

Only a few miles but good fun…

It also took in mole traps, watching wild deer, photographing a lone tree and then some iphone caving down Skirwith Cave due to the lack of torches on our person.

From there, snap a superb sunset, talk about sheep carcasses, explore a geocache in Storrs Cave and finally enjoy a nice refreshing pint in the Wheatsheaf.

Superb – and it goes to show that 9-5 needn’t be a bad thing… if you have a 5-9 ready and waiting.

Below are some of the unedited pics from the bimble. The purple river is a particular favourite but the iphone pic of the column inside Skirwith is a joy to behold.

The Dales is full of microadventures and you can find out more by reading 50 Gems of the Yorkshire Dales and Yorkshire’s Three Peaks – The Inside Story of the Dales.

Both are available in the shop – and for a limited time only if you type mascar15 at checkout then you can get 15 per cent off everything there.

The money comes to ‘Mascarandy’ too and that means I can write more books on this great area in the future!

The post 9-5 + Microadventure = 5-9 appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

Here, the Yorkshire Post carried an interview with myself about how the book was created and featured some of the gems whilst the Westmorland Gazette said it was “stunningly illustrated with 70 colour photographs.”

You can get your signed copy in the online store for just £14.99; and that comes with free P&P.

Incidentally, the launch of 50 Gems has generated more interest in Yorkshire’s Three Peaks: The Inside Story of the Dales.

Rob Fearnley said: “As good an account of modern rural life as I’ve read in years and every bit as important as the work of Marie Hartley in the early to mid 20th century. Appleton has spoken to a good range of people who live and work around the 3 Peaks which offers a fresh perspective on an area that is much more than than boots and beer. Highly recommended!”

The post Reviews Begin To Come In appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

Whether it’s the want to see the stars as clear as possible, the chance to be chilled to the bone or just because my time off always falls at the same time, around this point of the year I’m navigating up the side of a hill, by moonlight to find a great spot.

Last year’s bivvy nights.

This time, I had picked my ‘spec’ a long time in advance and I’m sure those of you that like the Dales will recognise it from the attached pics.

As a clue, I headed out of Ingleton in the Yorkshire Dales – one of the gems features in 50 Gems of the Yorkshire Dales – up one side of the waterfalls walk and then turned left when I reached the Roman Road. From there, you can work it out yourself.

I wanted to try to see how my Alpkit Hunka would cope under colder temperatures than my last trip, and I also felt like testing out my new Alpkit Brukit too.

Making my way up the hill to my nightspot I also had the opportunity to test out my night navigation skills, and scrambling at night.

It was that sort of trip.

I arrived at the ‘summit’ around half an hour later than I wanted to, but it was a perfect night to try out some night photography. After knocking out some shots and setting up a timelapse, I attempted to get some Adventure Food down me – a Vegetable Hotpot. It was anything but… yet it was edible and that was all that was important.

Getting into my Vango Ultralite it was a cold night, baltic, and I had a fair amount of frost around my site too. In fact, probably an inch. It was a restful night though; the stars illuminating the scene and allowing my brain to wander and rest… mostly without sleeping. I ‘slept’ by allowing my head to become those stars. Nature and human together. Amazing.

I woke up from my shivering slumber around 5am and took a moment to look around and take in the morning – the pink hue coming from over Ingleborough and the mist rolling up the valley.

I took as long as I could to pack up and then made my way back to Ingleton, via a couple of Geocaches and to my car.

Which had a flat tyre. Pump and run back home… where I then found I had another.

Wonder became wounder…

The post Bivvy Nights… appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

The Yorkshire Dales is one of the most diverse and rich landscapes in the British Isles. Limestone interlaces with sweeping and rolling fells, and dramatic peaks arise from its plains. Within are caverns that stretch for miles under the surface, emphatic flora and fauna that thrive in this unique environment and the hardiest of local folk who eke out a living in unison with their surroundings.

This equilibrium is harnessed and interwoven by a revered heritage that not only stretches back hundreds of years but is retained, protected and celebrated today.

In this book, we explore fifty of these magical places and discover what makes the Yorkshire Dales a unique place to live, visit and be part of. See the majestic Skipton Castle, enjoy the splendour of Bolton Abbey, and take in the fascinating views and history from the three peaks of Pen-y-ghent, Ingleborough and Whernside. Compare this to the tragedy and triumph of Ribblehead Viaduct. Follow the underground routes overground at Clapham and ‘The Churns’ and find out the secrets of life in Dent, Malham, Settle and Gunnerside.

Discover some of this area’s secrets and treasures and learn the fascinating history behind them with this handy guide.

You can pre-order your copy here.

The post Not Long Now… appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

You will be able to order the book in my shop and also from all the usual book outlets.

Two of the Gems are featured in this news item – the main image is from a waterfall near Dent and the second the wonderful Malham Tarn. Both images will also be available as prints in the shop soon.

It is a book I really enjoyed putting together and I hope you like it too. It dominated the back end of 2014 for me but comes from a lifetime’s affection with the Dales. Each Gem is a personal favourite and I’m sure people will find out something new about their special places too.

THIS is probably the highlight of the book for me and you can see more of the Gems here.

Book information:

The Yorkshire Dales is one of the most diverse and rich landscapes in the British Isles.

Limestone interlaces with sweeping and rolling fells and dramatic peaks arise from its plains.

Within are caverns that stretch for miles under the surface, emphatic flora and fauna that thrive in this unique environment and the hardiest of local folk who eek out a living in unison with their surroundings.

This equilibrium is is harnessed and interwoven by a revered heritage that not only stretches back hundreds of years but is retained, protected and celebrated today.

In this book, we explore 50 of these magical places and discover what makes the the Yorkshire Dales a unique place to live, visit and be part of.

See the majestic Skipton Castle, enjoy the splendour of Bolton Abbey and the fascinating views and history from the Three Peaks of Pen-y-ghent, Ingleborough and Whernside then compare them to the tragedy and triumph of Ribblehead Viaduct.

Follow the underground routes overground at Clapham and Chapel Le Dale and find out the secrets of life in Dent, Malham and Gunnerside.

Discover some of this area’s secrets and treasures, and learn the fascinating history behind them with this handy guide.

Malham Tarn © Mike Appleton

The post Each A Dales Gem appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

However, as it is the festive season it would be unfair in a period of tradition not to yield to some of what has gone before.

Therefore, like many other programmes and blogs, it’s time to write my review of 2014.

On a personal level, as soon as the clock did indeed strike midnight, I was glad to see the back of the year. It’s been 12 months I’d like to forget.

But as they say hindsight is always 20:20 and it wasn’t too bad after all.

I took my first ever Wild Camp in March and it really was an enlightening if somewhat cold experience. Finding a spot next to a fairly active waterfall I watched the sun go down, struggled to keep warm, and awoke after a fairly restless night to a pink sunrise.

A month later my fourth book was published.

Yorkshire’s Three Peaks: The Inside Story of the Dales was released in April to great reviews.

It is my personal journey into  one of the most popular areas of the Yorkshire Dales. I use the traditional ‘Three Peaks’ walk over Pen-y-Ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough as a roadmap  to discover the real story of the Dales.

Along the 26 mile route I interview the folk I meet on the way and find out what makes the area tick, why it is fascinating and how people are ensuring its viability for years to come.

It was a rewarding experience to finally present this work and offer some opinions and views on an area I have been connected to since I was a boy. It received some great reviews too as well as airplay on radio in the Dales and many printed outlets.

It led to the commissioning of my fifth book – 50 Gems of the Yorkshire Dales – which I am penning at the moment.

It charts my favourite places in the Dales and features oddities, natural beauties, historical gems and many other sites I consider to be the best. It is due out in May this year – and you can read a short trip report from November this year here.

October brought the opportunity to put together a documentary on the Three Peaks book in both audio and ‘TV’ formats.

The audio version features clips from the people I interviewed and passages read by the wonderful Lauren Moss of City Talk 105.9 as well as some of my thoughts whilst walking in its landscape.

You also hear from farmer Gary Middleton, the wonderful Bob Jarman at Ingleborough Cave and Robert Bell who owns Pen-y-ghent.

At around the same time I was approached by two film producers from St.Helens who wanted to make a short film based on the book and my affection for the Dales.

Recording for that has been completed and is now being edited for launch in the next month or so.

Finally, December brought probably the highlight of the year for me – a trip down Yordas Pot.

Johnny Hartnell, who works in Inglesport up in Ingleton offered to give me an alternative view of the cave as it appears as one of my Gems. My route can be seen in the clip above and it was a real night to remember – a real gem.

I also watched the sun going down over Ingleborough… magical.

So here’s to another year of Gems, trips underground and enough material for January 1, 2016!

The post Looking Back… 2014 Reviewed appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

Last week I spent four days around Ingleton for 50 Gems and got the opportunity to see one of the bone fide stars of the book up close and personal.

You can view my trip through Yordas Pot below or on the Multimedia page.

And as I said to the wonderful Johnny Hartnell – after his excellent tutelage – there’s no point going if you aren’t going to look down… or up.

More pictures from my trip can be found on my Instagram account too.

The post Do Look Down! appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

Road Trips often evoke spiritual, memorable and emotional moments as the miles clock up – and that certainly was my experience last week.

But it came in an area no more than two hours from my home; hardly a trip spanning timezones.

My latest project – 50 Gems in the Yorkshire Dales – has such a tight deadline that it was all hands to the pump, camera primed and four days in which to capture as much as I could.

Accompanied by a very willing (I think) driver, we headed to the North Western Dales and covered pretty much everything that was to be snapped in a limited time span.

Several stalwarts of the area were captured on camera – often a little quicker than I really wanted – but I was on a clock.

Thing is, the Dales isn’t built for this high paced visits… it encourages you to delve deeper and get more involved.

You have to belong.

On the first day, with the light fading and the drizzle falling, I ran from the car park at Aysgarth (which is around ten miles from Hawes) to the lower falls.

I set up my camera on a second-long exposure and got some lovely milky shots.

The middle falls – a short sprint away – were simply gushing; powerful, magnetic to the eye and hypnotic.

Light giving in to the dusk and evening, I sprinted to the upper falls and framed my shot with the branches of a tree offering a beautiful arc to the sheer magnificence of the waterfalls. Peat emulsified the water creating a latte effect as it twisted and turned underneath.

I stayed there longer than I really needed to and took in the moment. You simply can’t rush scenes like these.

A couple of days later I arrived at The Green Dragon in Hardraw, early in the morning, to get a decent and memorable picture of Hardraw Force which is on its land.

But the pub was closed and with no other way of getting in, it threw my planned day into disarray.

I drove back to Hawes and went through the motions of photographing the village and the Wensleydale Creamery before heading over to Semerwater.

The glacial lake reinvigorated my senses and my camera caught the light sneaking through the clouds and the ripples on its surface.

It really picked me up but I had a nagging pain in the back of my head about not seeing the waterfall and being behind on my project.

And, as it had been raining, I knew it would be in near perfect condition to picture.

Thankfully, back in Hawes, a simple phonecall to the landlord granted access to the Force.

Walking the short way from the pub to the fall, my anticipation rose as the noise of the water grew closer.

The light was fading once again but I managed to get some great shots in front and behind the waterfall as every sinew I owned pricked and awoken.

Such was the force of Hardraw that it was difficult to understand where the waterfall began and I ended. The noise, mist, pace and environment meant we became the same. In a sense I was rewilding.

I didn’t want to leave but it was getting blustery so a track was hastily bid back to the warmth and firelight of the pub. Smiles affixed.

I wrote in my Three Peaks book that the Dales calls you.

I think that day at Hardraw I answered its call and I can’t wait to return.

Below are pics at Aysgarth and Hardraw… untreated, untouched, pure raw files. .. with the main image being Semerwater.

The post Answering The Call appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

It wasn’t just the culmination of 18 months of hard work and research but a lifetime of connection with its sweeping fells and hidden dales.

I’ve put some of that personal affection in a special ‘radio’ programme below.

It features clips from the people I interviewed and passages read by the wonderful Lauren Moss of City Talk 105.9 as well as some of my thoughts whilst walking in its landscape.

You can hear from farmer Gary Middleton, the wonderful Bob Jarman at Ingleborough Cave and Robert Bell who owns Pen-y-ghent.

If you have any comments don’t hesitate to drop me a line.

The post Radio Programme: Inside Story appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

Checking the Mountain Weather Information Service the day previous seemed to suggest a decent ascent with a low amount of cloud and good views from the top.

It was clear that was a huge lie – not the site’s fault of course – as as soon as I got in my car at Leigh, it was wet, foul and windy even in Lancashire.

I pressed on as not only would a wet day test my skills but you never know, the forecast could have been right and I could have found an inversion on top of the hill.

It was important for me to at least grab a few half decent pics for the book because I’d promised myself I wouldn’t use archive stuff and refresh the imagery I had.

At around 7.30am, the walk through the Nature Trail is pretty eery and the view below was what greeted me as I came out of woods. The sky had made the scene somewhat dour and quite spooky, but wrapped it with a welcoming glove that hugged the landscape.

Leaving Trow Gill having captured a few nice images, I climbed up and made my way to Bar Pot and Gaping Gill beyond. Compared to the sheer amount of rain in the air, impressive shaft of the pot hole was quiet say for a tiny trickle of water snaking its way to the chasm. Rat Hole further up the beck had a minute amount of water heading its way, but you could see the flood debris just inside revealing its true nature and danger.

The route onwards was Ingleborough itself; a tough ask with gales blowing down its face and rain hitting me from the left. As I approached the summit and scorned the interpretation sign installed close to the top – what is this doing in a natural wilderness – I locked my Go Pro in place to make sure I could easily record the trip back down.

All the hopes I had of an inversion were sadly misguided – in fact, I hunkered down near a rocky outcrop to make sure I wasn’t blown off the hill.

The Dales can be a beautiful place… but at times like these, it’s best to admit you’re beaten and head back down to the safety of a cafe. I’d missed out on the picture I wanted, but I’d not seen a soul all the way up and had the solitude I’d craved. It’s a gem is Ingleborough – yet it needs to be treated with respect.

The post Battered… But Not Defeated! appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

Limestone interlaces with sweeping and rolling fells and dramatic peaks arise from its plains.

Within are caverns that stretch for miles under the surface, emphatic flora and fauna that thrive in this unique environment and the hardiest of local folk who eek out a living in unison with their surroundings.

This equilibrium is is harnessed and interwoven by a revered heritage that not only stretches back hundreds of years but is retained, protected and celebrated today.

In this book, we explore 50 of these magical places and discover what makes the the Yorkshire Dales a unique place to live, visit and be part of.

See the majestic Skipton Castle and Skipton Canal, enjoy the splendour of Bolton Abbey and the fascinating views and history from the Three Peaks of Pen-y-ghent, Ingleborough and Whernside then compare them to the tragedy and triumph of Ribblehead Viaduct.

Follow the underground routes overground at Clapham and Chapel Le Dale and find out the secrets of life in Dent, Malham, Settle and Gunnerside.

Discover some of this area’s secrets and treasures, and learn the fascinating history behind them with this handy guide.

To be published Spring/Summer 2015 by Amberley Publishing.

Have you got a gem? Contact Mike on mike@mascarandymedia.com

The post 50 Gems Of The Yorkshire Dales appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

Firstly, it’s amazing how past lives and past projects continue not only to reappear in my world but cause me to rethink, reflect and smile. With the announcement that Ice Hockey star Tony Hand MBE would be playing in his final season before retiring I was approached by ‘Slapshot Scotland’ who asked if we would consider updating the Tony Hand: A Life in British Ice Hockey autobiography.

He’d asked a number of people who agreed that bringing the tome bang up to date would be a fitting tribute to the Scot’s story. Tony was the first British born player to be drafted into the NHL and has scored more points than any other player in this country… and that description belittles his contribution to the sport really.

I’m hoping to make this project a reality after learning that Mr Hand would indeed be interested too. Watch this space.

Interestingly, the original book finished as ‘Sir Tony hand’ signed on as Player-Coach at Manchester Phoenix. That club has been in the Elite League, moved to the English Premier League, won the playoffs and are current champions too. He’s also been the Head Coach of Great Britain.

So yes, it does need updating!

Speaking of the ‘original’, sales have picked up since Tony announced his impending retirement and I received a tweet about a review from Ashley March who is Director of Comm. for @RiverKingsLNAH, Journalist for Sports Energy & @CCHLNETWORK amongst others according to her Twitter biog. She had reviewed the book and her writing certainly captures what both myself and Tony intended when we scribed it many moons ago. Check it out here.

Secondly, the PR and reviews for Yorkshire’s Three Peaks: The Inside Story of the Dales continue apace.

Last weekend, I headed up to Horton-in-Ribblesdale for the first day’s shooting on a documentary about the book and the area. I was joined by two film makers from St Helens and we worked on the slopes of Pen-y-ghent and in Chapel-le-Dale.

It was a superb experience and a real eye opener. Firstly, it’s amazing how long you stay in one place to get the right shot for a scene. We spent probably more than three hours on the hill but to be fair both Mike and Geoff made the experience very rewarding. They left me free with the mic to record my thoughts and also took me through how to talk to the camera, appear natural and not be afraid to get things wrong. I can’t wait for the next installment.

They also didn’t mind working with walls covered in moss, Max the dog and in the cold. And boy for a summer’s day it was cold.

The short radio documentary I have prepared on the book is pretty much good to go now too; with just the links and tweaks in production left to complete.

The latest review of the book was written by the team at Grough and you can read it here.

In my view editor Bob gets it pretty much spot on but I’m not sure I agree with his point about ‘there is little to reflect the viewpoint of the thousands of walkers who undertake the challenge or indeed those who just come for a quiet walk up one or other of the fells or an amble along some of the lower-level routes.’

Pretty much every interview in the book is with a person who walks on the fells and the book is written by a fell walker… but I certainly respect his viewpoint.

Thirdly… Speaking of challenges, more so the National Three Peaks Challenge, Terry Abraham has written this fantastic blog on the challenge which covers Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon.

Many of you will know I am very anti ‘challenge walks’ on the hills and peaks and I’m not sure how covering three mountains in England, Scotland and Wales, in 24 hours, can be sustainable. In fact, how can a hill challenge like that be environmentally sustainable for starters…

Why do people feel the need to cover these hills in 24 hours, or 12 in the case of the Yorkshire Three Peaks, as a challenge… leaving little time to appreciate the countryside as they blast around?

Terry’s blog is pretty stark too and the damage in Wasdale for instance is scary and damn-right outrageous. It would be remiss of me to print his blog here – follow the link and feel free to send me your thoughts.

I will never give money to challenge walkers nor will understand why challenges like this can’t be completed on a treadmill or in a local park. The cost of taking part in an event like this surely could be given straight to the charity instead?

Hills are free to climb and roam but there has to be a better way of managing them and personally I don’t think ‘engineering’ a route, as in large chunks of the Dales route, is the best way.

Finally, I’ve been producing PR for Bethany Cammack recently to highlight the work she is doing with charities around the St Helens area. There’s no challenges here, no special stunts, just a young woman using her pageant win and titles to help others. Good luck to her.

The post Hand, Films, Rants & Help appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

After my post on what was involved in writing the book – Unbiased and Balanced – I received these positive comments as well as a plethora of good reviews on Amazon too.

“Having just finished reading your latest tome, Yorkshire’s Three Peaks: The Inside Story of The Dales, I would like to congratulate you on a fascinating read.

“The descriptive nature of the writing made me almost able to visualise the countryside and landscape you were describing.

“Being a fan of the Dales it really provided me with a great sense of the aura and atmosphere of this wonderful part of the country.

“Your interviews and conversations with the locals gave great insight into the issues and problems that the local communities have and are still facing today. I would recommend this book to all Dales fans.”

and

“I have just finished your book and would like to say what an enjoyable read it was. I love the Dales and could empathise with the locals and their concerns for their area and the future.

“The photographs included more than do justice to the beautiful scenery.

“I haven’t done the 3 peaks walk all in one go myself, but after reading your book might seriously consider it! A truly good, informative read.

“I look forward to your next book. Good luck Mike.”

To get a signed copy of the book – and help Cave Rescue too as a proportion of the sales will go to the charity – click here.

The post More Reviews appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

Yours, Mine and the Truth*.

In writing Yorkshire’s Three Peaks: Inside Story of the Dales I wanted to cover as many angles as possible to find out what is happening in the area at the present time.

I set myself the task of walking the route and interviewing people I met along the way as well as landowners, Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority figures, farmers, business owners, Natural England, the Cave Rescue and users of this famous route.

It took me approximately three years of my life to research and complete — although that is tempered somewhat by the fact I wrote, with Lee Briers, his autobiography, in the meantime.

It involved several emails, visits, phonecalls, hours upon hours of walking, face to face interviewing and much more.

For the record, I spoke to:

Melanie and Matt at Pen-y-ghent Café; Steve Hastie from the Yorkshire Dales National Park and Friends of the Three Peaks; Dave Gallivan from Yorkshire Dales Guides, Dave Morphett farmer at Birkwith; Johnny Hartnell at Inglesport; Rae Lonsdale MBE and Steve Finch at the Cave Rescue Organisation; local resident Lucie Carr; Gary Middleton who farms on the slopes of Pen-y-ghent; Charles Ellis, Vicar of St Leonard’s church in Chapel-le-Dale; Adrian at the Seedhill B&B in Ingleton; Colin Newlands and Andrew Hinde at Natural England; Mike Harding; Chris Bonsall and Paul Weaire who spoke about what is happening in Ingleton (Chris is the organiser of the Folk Festival); Gill Woods (head), Richard Patterson (head of governors) and Jane Edwards (teacher) at Horton Primary School; Bob Jarman at Ingleborough Cave; Fell Runner Joe Symonds; Pip Land at the Association of Rural Communities; Robert Bell at Langcliffe Hall; Tom Lord at Lower Winskill Farm; Chris and John Sharp (Famers); Dave Taylor at the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust; Nick Oldham at the Yorkshire Dales National Park; Dr Farrer at Ingleborough Estate (who has now sadly passed away); Ben Ayres and Simon Garner at Hanson; Jonathan Tompkins; the Clerk at Horton-in-Ribblesdale Parish Council and Colin Speakman who provided me with  his Visitor Management Report for Horton.

There are others too and I appeared on Drystone Radio, which broadcasts in the region, at least four times to discuss what I was doing to gather opinion.

The views I received were wide and diverse. Many didn’t think there were any major issues as a result of the rural decline most of country is suffering. Some were more vociferous than others whilst many wanted to tell me of the beauty of this superb area.

I covered as many bases as possible before drawing a conclusion and my conclusion was pretty much to a person what I have been told in the book. I even wrote a chapter on positive things for the future and schemes.

That is, everyone needs to come together to make sure the area has a vibrant future.

Therefore I’m dismayed by one or two ‘reviews’ that said the book was biased. It certainly wasn’t. I could have eulogised about the number of visitors and the damage they caused and just taken one view. I didn’t. I quoted from the traffic management plan and spoke to the Friends of the Three Peaks as well as those who benefit from visitors in the area.

I also spoke to Robert Bell who owns Pen-y-ghent and users of the Three Peaks route. Several of them.

I could have written paragraphs on environmental damage. I didn’t. I spoke to Natural England, The Yorkshire Dales National Park and other important bodies. I even took a tour around Horton Quarry.

When it comes to retail issues I spoke to Inglesport in Ingleton, as well as other shop owners, and gained valuable insights from Mike Harding and his wife — and the Association of Rural Communities – about how communities are pulling together.

I even said that the YDNP’s selling of items connected with the Three Peaks damaged the local economy.

There was certainly no bias in there nor did I try to belittle what anyone was doing. My only bias was and still is, that I am phenomenally passionate about the Dales.

I allowed several of my interviewees the chance to review what they had said in the book too before publication.

The book has gained positive reviews from The Great Outdoors Magazine, Descent Magazine, The Yorkshire Dales Society, Drystone Radio, The Dalesman, The Westmorland Gazette and several others.

From my experience in journalism, the media do not provide positive reviews if they don’t mean it. It is easier to criticise.

The Cave Rescue Organisation  will benefit from the sales  the book too.  I certainly wouldn’t do this, nor would they, if it was a biased tome.

I’m not asking everyone to love the book. I had one lady call me to say she loved it especially the pictures. I had another one who told me they enjoyed it, but wished I had gone a little deeper into the issues.

I can accept that and plan to do follow up interviews on my site over the coming months.

If you have an issue with anything contained within the book then I am always here to hear your side — and I will interview you – and run the interview on this site.

People have opinions, will always do, and I am happy to hear them.

Descent Magazine summed up what I was trying to achieve perfectly in this review:

Having set scenes, Mike tells his tale by interviewing local people, many of whom are in positions of authority  â€”  not ‘authority’ in the sense of police and the like, but representatives of walking groups, the national park, shopkeepers and cafe owners, event organisers and so on.

This sets his book apart  â€”  it is a snapshot of time, of opinion, during a period of spending cuts and increased pressures on the fells. The fascination comes from this diversity…

*Gold star to whoever names the band, song and album…

The post Unbiased and Balanced appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

They say it gives ‘a very useful insight into the current position of life and work for those who live in the area today and is a welcome addition to add to our knowledge of a special area of the Dales’.

It is a great review.

Whilst I can’t comment on Chris Wright’s view of the book binding – that’s up to Amberley – one thing I would say is he raises an interesting point in the Settle-Carlisle line and Bus Services.

I do talk about transport in the final chapter of the Book and the number of times trains and buses are referenced are frequent. I certainly didn’t think I avoided the issue but yes, perhaps I could have gone into more depth.

I will be revisiting that on this site shortly!

The Great Outdoor’s (TGO’s) review:

The post Yorkshire Dales Society / TGO appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

I spoke to him last night and he told me he was delighted, humbled and pretty overwhelmed.

Kel is one of the most modest people you could meet and this will have come as a complete shock.

His humble attitude and the tale of a ‘village boy’ who still can’t believe his luck comes through in his autobiography too.

It’s a great read.

Congrats mate!

The post Congrats Welsh Saint! appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

Descent Magazine  implored the caving community to ‘seek out a copy… and take time to read and think about its contents. Mike offers some insights that might make you pause and think’.

The full review (many thanks to Descent):

Many people will know I have spent some time on Drystone Radio; on Dave Watkiss‘  View from the Clocktower  magazine show on a Thursday evening and, more frequently, my weekly Rugby League correspondent duties on Dave’s Saturday morning Sports Magazine.

Dave said the book  made him: “sway from one side of the argument to another… it was a very interesting book and it leaves you with plenty to think about”

The full review (many thanks to Drystone Radio):

Other reviews:  

• The Westmorland Gazette and The Lancashire Telegraph
• The Dalesman

You can buy your signed copy of Yorkshire’s Three Peaks: The Inside Story of the Dales here – with £3 from each copy sold in June going to Cave Rescue Organisation.

The post More Positive Reviews appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

But one I hold close to my heart is the Cave Rescue Organisation.

Based in Clapham and established since the 30s, they rescue people above and below ground in the Yorkshire Dales.

Their work is vital in saving lives and helping those  who get into all kinds of difficulty – and animals too.

And it’s amazing that on such an engineered route as the Three Peaks how many people still need rescuing.

Walkers, cyclists, runners – you name it – still get lost  on this well-known route.

I interviewed Rae Lonsdale MBE and Steve Finch from the CRO on a cold night at their depot and we spoke about the history of the organisation, what they stand for and what the future holds.

The latter is important as the number of rescues needed below ground are decreasing.

That’s due, in part, to less people caving, amateurs sticking to the ‘safer’ systems and the expertise in a decreasing pool of caving talent being higher.

Of course the CRO  still get called out to complicated cave rescues, but rescues on the surface far outweigh those in wet passages.

It’s statistics such as this  that make this organisation very important indeed.

Excerpt from Chapter 10 ‘Renew and Regenerate’

If you look at the stats from 2000, there were around 28 mountain rescues in that year compared to approximately 65 in 2009. In fact, from 2009, the number of mountain rescues dramatically increased in comparison to earlier years. Looking at the incident reports, the number of walkers having difficulties on the Three Peaks routes is higher too – placing more pressure on the CRO.

It difficult to pin down the reason for mountain rescues increasing over recent years, but it does seem a fair bet that as more people are taking to the hills more people need to be rescued. I don’t think that is rocket science. Because it isn’t the Lake District, Wales or Scotland, some see the Dales as an easier hit and perhaps underestimate what lies ahead. I’m no expert – but the guys at the CRO are.

Rae said: “If you get into serious trouble on the fells actually calling for help or a rescue can be difficult. If you call 999 and ask for the ambulance, as is suggested by the phone book, that’s what you’ll get. Get into trouble down Quaking Pot on Ingleborough, for example, and the last thing you’ll need is an ambulance. You’ll need a professional cave rescue service.

“If you ask for Cave Rescue when you call 999 they won’t put you though either. You should ask for the police and then Cave Rescue. It also helps if you say what county you are in and have a map.”

For each copy sold I’ll make a donation to the CRO.

You can buy the book here.

The post Cave Rescue Organisation appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

The Dalesman said: “Readers who want more substance than gloss will enjoy this personal account of a journey through a much-loved landscape.

“In this book, journalist Mike Appleton – accompanied by his dog Max – looks deeper than the tourist brochures generally do to uncover the inside story of this picturesque part of the world.”

Interestingly, before I saw the review I took a call from a lady who had seen The Dalesman. She had left a message on my phone saying how pleased she was with the cover of the book and the fact she could see her old bungalow on it.

I called her back, had a lengthy chat about the Dales and Horton-In-Ribblesdale and how  wonderful the area is to walk in. She was heading back up there in a couple of weeks and staying in The Crown.

She then called me a local celebrity!

Later in the day I had another message from the lady and the fact she had made a special visit to Leeds to get the book, loved the pictures and thanked me for all the work I do in promoting the area.

It was humbling that someone would go out of their way to give me a call and thank me for writing a book.

We shared a passion for the Dales and my only hope is the thoughts and comments in the book are taken on board so this fine area of the country is viable for future generations.

You can buy the book here – £3 from each copy will go to the Cave Rescue Organisation.

The post Reviews & Calls… appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

It is a precursor to a short TV documentary that will be filmed in the next few weeks by two local film makers.

The storyboard for that has been created and whilst I haven’t seen the settings, nor the story flow, I am really excited about what it contains. I hope to share some of that with you shortly.

In the meantime, the radio script isn’t far from completion and I have asked a local radio journalist to voice over some passages from the book to intertwine the wonderful interviews.

I talk about some of the issues the Three Peaks area of the Yorkshire Dales faces in the Sound Cloud clips below. They form the basis for the radio script. Enjoy.

The post Aural Exposure! appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

The Westmorland Gazette and Lancashire Telegraph said:

“AS ONE of the many thousands of walkers who have scaled the Three Peaks of the Yorkshire Dales in one day, I’m well aware of the beautiful scenery to be encountered.

However, setting out to trek over Pen-y-ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough in ten hours or so doesn’t give you an awful lot of time to pause and admire the surroundings in detail.

That’s where this lovely book comes into its own.

Journalist, caver and walker Mike Appleton helps us appreciate the finer detail of the countryside around the famous peaks, ably assisted by around 100 photographs.

His book takes us ‘away from the trudging boots’ to find the story of the Three Peaks area which the visitor and walker doesn’t always see.”

It’s always a great fillip to receive a good review and certainly word of mouth has been good around the project so far.

Sales seem to be going well too and now my job is to continue with the promotion of the book with Amberley Publishing  to continue its success.

With that in mind I created a Facebook Page for the book to post snippets and other information from the ‘Three Peaks’

If you’ve read the book please drop a review to me via the contact page, head to Facebook or Amazon.

The post Reviews appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

It uses the traditional ‘Three Peaks’ walk over Pen-y-Ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough as a roadmap  to discover the real story of the Dales.

Along the 26 mile route I interview the folk I meet on the way and find out what makes the area tick, why it is fascinating and how people are ensuring its viability for years to come.

I was always drawn to the Dales. My memories are filled with the sweeping landscape, caves, potholes, wandering off the beaten track and the sound of birds. Even now, whenever I hear a jackdaw croak I am taken back to my days around Dent. It fills me with happiness and I am drawn back time after time.

The Three Peaks area of the Yorkshire Dales is different than it was all those years ago when I first ventured up there. It is busier – more  than 250,000 people visit each year – but ironically local shops are on the decline. Cars are king and on certain weekends you cannot get near some villages.

I was inspired to put pen to paper when I saw a pile of plastic bottles stuffed next to a dry-stone wall on the way up Pen-y-ghent from Brackenbottom. I picked up a few but couldn’t carry them all. I thought, ‘Who will clean this up?’

And as I found out… there’s a lot happening. It is complex. There’s happiness, hardship, pleasure, decline, entrepreneurship, damage, life, change and evolution…

It’s fair to say the book  was an absolute pleasure to write – but some of the opinions very scary and  tortuous indeed. I met farmers, park rangers, locals, landowners, users, people who know every inch of its landscape and those to run, walk and cycle it several times a year.

The traditional start of the route, Horton-In-Ribblesdale, is an interesting place. In the summer it can attract more than 1,000 people to its narrow streets and humble parking facilities. People park on fields, in the road, on verges  and then hammer the route for pleasure and for charity.

Yet it’s a village that can’t even sustain a local shop. A number of locals can’t find housing within the village’s boundary. The local school will, over time, lose pupils as families aren’t attracted to the area.

What is being done to reverse this decline? You’ll find out if you read the book.

The route of the walk itself is now very ‘engineered’ and in areas it certainly detracts from the beautiful nature of the area. But what can the Yorkshire Dales National Park do? If they fail to manage it the  paths will get wider; if they do manage them, they have to engineer paths to  try to limit the impact of thousands of visitors.

And these need to be hard-standing and weathering and be cost-effective.

They can’t turn people away either, that is not the remit of a National Park, but they will encourage big groups to try and take their walk or event elsewhere.

It’s a tough problem to solve and the introduction of the Friends of the Three Peaks – and indirect commercialisation of route through this membership club and resultant merchandise – not only makes it harder to turn people away but puts them into direct competition with businesses.

In the book I speak to the Park, as well as local businesses and farmers who rely on the Authority, but don’t like what it is doing in some areas.

I speak to the Cave Rescue Organisation, the late Dr Farrer in Clapham who told me about his social policies, Bob Jarman at Ingleborough Cave and Natural England.

There’s also views from users of the Park like Joe Symonds – fell runner and Three Peaks Race Winner.

Mike Harding also throws his thoughts into the debate – and is pretty forthright – as is Pen-y-Ghent landowner Robert Bell and Reverend Charles Ellis who looks after St Leonard’s Church in Chapel-le-Dale.

I find beauty in the labyrinth of passages under the mountains and in solitude at Scar Close.

I also witness what happens at Horton Quarry but listen to the views of its operators and how they manage the work they do.

There’s plenty of funny takes and a fair number of cows and sheep!

I care deeply about the people I met there. It is vital to me it continues to thrive long into the future. It dismayed me that some of the  people I spoke to on my trip thought it wouldn’t survive, and in fact, that the Yorkshire Dales was dying.

Why? Because I don’t believe that is the case.

Why? Because there are too many people wanting it to flourish for it to go by the wayside.

I don’t find a silver bullet to solve the economic and social decline all rural areas are suffering, but I expose one truth – everyone wants to succeed and retain the Dales for what it is.

As I close my eyes I can hear the wind at the top of Ingleborough, Max panting on Whernside, the jackdaws as I walk towards the base of Pen-y-Ghent. I can feel the warm glow of the sun as it touches down over Birkwith and the ice-cold water that flies into my face at Great Douk. I can savour the experience of Scar Close and of seeing what the Dales is like without human intervention, I can feel the breeze making my face turn red as I slide down High Lot. Above all, I welcome the warm kindness of some of the best people on this planet, who cut across the Three Peaks timeline for only a short spell. It calls you.

Yorkshire’s Three Peaks – The Inside Story Of  The Dales is published by Amberley and is priced £16.99

For a signed copy click here.

The post Go Inside The Dales appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

When I was approached by  Allan at the firm about a new website I was sceptical. Yes, I needed a fresh look to the old version, but I wasn’t sure how radical a change I wanted.

There’s no hard sell with Allan. He took me through the existing site, made pointers to where it could be better and how best to present what I do.

The main issue was the fact my forthcoming – and now published – Yorkshire’s Three Peaks: The Inside Story of the Dales had some fantastic landscape images and the site wasn’t doing them justice.

He also presented a strong business case for an improved store, better home page and integrated SEO.

It was a no brainer. How can I write about going for a wild camp when I can’t  display my pictures well enough? How can I promote my work without an effective platform? How can I make best use of the audio clips and video footage I have?

What you have in front of you is thanks to Allan and Amplify. The site is his work – pictures and words by myself – and the patience and pragmatism is certainly all his.

I would recommend him and his firm  to anyone.

Allan’s view: “Mike’s new website provides him with a professional communication mechanism and marketing tool to easily share his latest news and promote his range of services.

“The idea behind the design was to showcase Mike’s latest titles on the homepage whilst allowing users to easily access his latest news. Supporting pages provide information on his services and ecommerce facilities, amongst other features.

“Content can make up 50 to 70 per cent of website pages. In this project we created a web content management system with powerful features, but it is Mike who has populated this and turned it into what you see now.

“It’s always great to work with people who are excited to use our creations and turn them into useful tools for their business.”

This site will evolve over the next few weeks. It will have trip reports, walking blogs, video and podcasts of the Yorkshire Dales book. I will review products too as well as muse upon writing and the media.

So look around, visit the store, buy some prints and send me some feedback.

The post A New Beginning appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

At present, I’m undertaking a Mountain Leader course and one of its many facets is the need to be proficient in wild camping and navigation.

I decided to take this a step further and attempt my first camp at the back end of Winter and bivvy.

People who know me know I am a big planner and this was something in the diary for a long time. I’d got an Alpkit Hunka  and a Berghaus Torridon, found an old and lightweight camping stove and some dehydrated food and was set to go. Then, a conversation with Terry Abraham  made me realise very quickly I’d need at least a three season sleeping bag too… and I was glad of it I can tell you.

I was pretty nervous the day before the camp as even though I knew where I was going to go, the realisation I would be out in a bivvy in the wilds was a tough notion for my brain to handle.  I chose a mountain I knew well and a good escape route just in case the bottle went.

The climb up to the top of the hill was fairly uneventful. I saw one person the whole way and despite the fact my fitness isn’t what it should be I made it up top the top pretty much when I wanted. I sat down, surveyed the scene and realised camping on summit wasn’t a good call. The place I’d chosen – along the wall at the summit ridge – was being hit with gale force winds and there’s no way I could have been comfortable.

After about half an hour I decided to head back down the hill to about halfway and camp near a waterfall I’d seen on the way up. This was an ideal spot as you can see from my pictures. I don’t want to add many more pictures of the area as I don’t want this camp to be noted. It’s technically illegal to wild camp in England and therefore I arrived late and left early. I was discreet.

I found a decent lie, made coffee with a significant tot and watched the sun go down. I then, around 8pm, climbed into my bivvy and tried to sleep. It was impossible and I think I must have done an hour on and an hour off all night.

Thankfully, the Vango Ultralite 600  kept me warm, coupled with about four layers, because it was significantly cold.

At midnight I woke up with a start as it had got very chilly in the Hunka – the sky had cleared and the moon was playing hide and seek with the clouds. Then, off and on once more, I woke at 5am to get ready for the sunrise. It was spectacular so I packed up my kit and chased it down the valley.

To be the only person on the hill was truly staggering and an experience I will never forget. I felt like the only person alive and at one with my surroundings. I have always been drawn to the countryside, the wild, the bleak and this made me feel like I belonged.

Thanks, and free plugs to the firms above, and Terry, for helping me achieve this.

Things I learnt…

1) Sitting down on the way up a mountain for a break leaves you with a damp backside. When you get to camp, climbing into sleeping bag with that dampness doesn’t help your core temperature.

2) Packing my Torridon better would have made for a better pillow.

3) Going to bed early wasn’t a good idea as I didn’t sleep. I should have read a bit more and took in my surroundings.

4) Waterfalls are great, but they are noisy…

5) PACK A SLEEPING MAT! I didn’t and I’m still suffering.

The post Room With A View appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

I’ve also had the proofs to the Inside the Dales project with publication due in the next four to six weeks.

It’s a busy time at Mascarandy towers with Hills, Holes and High Tales  in research too.

The new website is designed to showcase our work better and also the wonderful images I take on my many walks.

I will also be producing video walks soon and increasing the number of audio media available on the site.

Thanks to Amplify for making it happen.

The post Radio Ga Ga appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

I’m looking for your hidden gems!

They can start anywhere and end in a pub with a roaring fire, a B and B or a wild camp for example.

In fact, the more obscure and unique the better – and two day walks are welcome too…

Of course they don’t need to be epics.

I’m inviting people to suggest their walk and if it sounds like a cracker I will walk the route with you, take pics and find out why it is your favourite.

At least five or so of these wanders will appear in the book.

I’ll also use them in a series of podcasts too.

So what do I need? Well, I need your walks! You’ll get a copy of the book and my undying love in return. I’ll also bring wine gums on the walk and possibly a dog.

Drop me a line here or tweet me at @mascarandy to get the ball rolling.

The post Hills, Holes and High Tales appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

I interviewed him for my Inside the Dales project about his work in Clapham and the future of the area.

He was pretty frail at the time, but gave me an audience for more than half an hour whilst we chatted about how his family came to be in the Yorkshire Dales.

He told me:  “I’d like to think my son and daughter will continue to run the Estate but who comes after them I don’t know. Hopefully there will be someone in the family to take it on. It is a big job and they will need to be determined. I have been here for more than 50 years in an area as nice as this and it is very special indeed. It has been good to continue on the work of my grandfather and those that came before him too.”

Amen to that. Good night Doc, and many many thanks.

The post Fond Farewell Dr Farrer appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

2003:  

Dec: Seeking favourite walks as part of a new project. Click here for more details

Nov: Mike makes second appearance on Drystone Radio’s View from the Clocktower show to discuss Off The Cuff.

Oct: Mike appears on City Talk 105.9fm’s In Touch Show to talk about ‘Off The Cuff’ and Alty & Sale Sport to discuss Manchester Phoenix.

Sept: Mike named IHJUK Chairman.

Aug: Mike appears on Drystone Radio’s View from the Clocktower show to discuss Yorkshire’s Three Peaks: The Inside Story of the Dales.

 July: Mascarandy agrees to sponsor Saints starlet Greg Richards for the rest of the Super League season.

June: Check out our new online store which offers Postcards & Prints.

May: Work continues on two projects with another two already submitted for review.

April: Mascarandy is on Soundcloud  &  Mascarandy continues annual PR duties for the EPL Playoffs

 Jan, Feb, Mar: Work continues on new project and Ice Hockey coverage

2012 – Selected

April: EPL Playoff Finals Weekend work as EIHA Press Officer.

2011 –  Selected

Oct: Megan’s Just Grand At Co-operative Grand Final.

The post From The Archives appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

I don’t want that to sound arrogant but sometimes you just realise what you’ve done is ok and this time around I’m pleased with the end product.

I’ve always been the sort of person that seeks out some kind of external ‘support’ and recognition for my work because sometimes I’m not totally confident in my own ability.

I know I can write though and as this is my third published book – my fourth is on the way – I shouldn’t really need that feedback.

But sometimes you need that extra nudge from an external source to just confirm what you know, deep down.

Most writers will check out reviews and the vast majority will take on board any comments that are made.

If they’re good of course.

In the past I would have let the negative ones have more bearing on how I felt about a project – even though the majority of comments would have been mostly positive.

Weirdly, this made me more determined to make sure this book was right.

Yes, I know people won’t like it. There will be fans of Lee who wanted a more linear story and some who will find the overlapping story-lines difficult to follow.

But Briersy played ‘Off the Cuff’ so it was only fitting really that we adopted a similar style. It was never our intention to do that, but it kinda ended up that way.

On the plus side I’ve received comments from some of the most critical of my peers – journos! They don’t give out praise that often, but this time they have.

Nice of them. Shows what free copies can do!

My next project is a biggy for me as it is different from the norm. It’s not sport related, it’s the Yorkshire Dales and my second home.

I’ve invested so much time and energy in to it that perhaps I will need some external recognition of its success.

That said, once it is in my hands, I’m sure I will feel as excited as I did when Lee Briers: Off The Cuff, hit my doorstep.

Check out the clip at the bottom of this page  to hear myself and Lee talking about the project and what it means to us both.

The post Off The Cuff appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

1)  Lee Briers’ Off the Cuff  autobiography is due out in November 2013 (published by  Vertical Editions). It’s been a lengthy process getting it together and we delayed it a year so we could fill in this season. As I write this it could be a great year for Lee that ends up with a Grand Final win. Either way, Monday evening is my deadline so it is all hands to the pump.

2)  Yorkshire’s Three Peaks: The Inside Story of the Dales  has now been submitted to the wonderful people at  Amberley Publishing. It tells the story of the Three Peaks area of the Dales and the people I meet along the 24+ mile route. It’s pretty cutting at times too and the opinions of the folks I talk too quite stark about the future. It is due out in Spring 2014.

3) Attached to the above is a  four pack of postcards  which highlight some of the areas I have visited whilst writing the Dales book. They are on sale here and proceeds go to Cave Rescue. Only a limited few are left so please help!

4) Follow me  @mascarandy  on Twitter – it’s wonderful!

The post Plug Plug Plug appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

I like walking on my own – mountains and all – as well as caving, to rely on my own self and know my limits. People think I’m a little mental as a result and ask me “what would happen if you had an accident” but you never know you are truly alive until you push your capabilities.

Also, I tend to think I know what I am doing…

Society seems to balk at the fact people can operate alone and be perfectly happy. People don’t want to take risks anymore and the health and safety culture, and the fact we are more bone idle, has driven large sections of it never to experience the thrill of the peaks, the rain, wind and snow.

I think that’s a shame but on the other hand it’s better as the fells are free for the rest of us to enjoy.

I feel energised when I come back from trip to the hills and even though I get that familiar hunger pang to be back there almost immediately, it remains with me for a few days.

It’s a hit, a drug, a need. Being on my own there is a symptom of that hit. It’s vital. It’s necessary and prescribed.

Being office based leaves me with cold turkey until the next adventure and new experience.

That’s why writing my ‘Yorkshire Dales‘ book is important for my soul. Without it I would feel lost, without commitment.

2013 will probably be my busiest year to date. I am continuing with Lee’s book, although I have a week to complete the final chapter for now, and I have my Dales project which has proved bigger than I ever thought imaginable. It’s opened my eyes to many facets of the area and also the loss that is being felt ecologically and socially. I am already in mourning and I haven’t written it yet.

Please leave a comment and tell me what you think of how being alone is good for the soul.

The post Jack, Todd, Jones…. Single, Solitary appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

Lee Briers’ autobiography was such an involved book and has taken most of my spare time for the last 18 months.

Now we are on the last chapter and that means I can now finally focus on my Dales project.

That began in earnest last week as I got a week off from the day job to go interviewing, walking and caving in an area I hold close to my heart.

And it worked too. Interviews flowed, as did my literary juices and I feel ready to tackle it head on.

It wasn’t easy… on the first day my new camera decided to purge the battery of all its juice even through it was charged and then two of my interviewees didn’t show to arranged meetings.

However, these were just blips in a superb week.

Now I have a bundle of transcripts to do and even more interviews to arrange – thanks to the people I met on the way.

I will also be podcasting my walk and ramblings for ‘Walks Around Britain‘ too.

I’ve been reluctant to talk about the book to a few people as it is a real labour of love and I didn’t want to jinx it. Once completed, the plan is to give a chunk of the proceeds to the  Cave Rescue Organisation  too.

So, what’s it about:

The post Re-invigorated? appeared first on Mascarandy Media.

My wonderful and not manipulated in any way Instagram picture shows it in all its glory and how well it is motoring on.

Pictures do lie very much!

I have a year to complete the project which centres on the Three Peaks area of the Yorkshire Dales and how humans interact with nature; and how that interaction will shape the future of the region for generations to come.

I’d love to reveal more than that, but as so often happens these days, things get lifted from internet sites and ideas are stolen!

Suffice to say, it’s pretty hectic and I get loads of lovely trips up to the Dales to mither poor folk on the hills.

In the meantime, Lee Briers autobiography is with the publisher for its first draft review and hopefully you’ll see a mock-up of the cover very shortly.

We have one more chapter to complete – the 2012 season – and that looks like being a real belter for Warrington. It’s good copy for the book, but awful being a Saints fan!

The plan is to release the book in early 2013 so we will have details of signings and snippets towards the back-end of the year.

For now, I’ve got my Dales head on.

The post New Horizons and Manipulative Pics! appeared first on Mascarandy Media.