Sometimes exploring opens up your eyes and ears in ways you didn't expect. Parsonage Gardens is a lovely place to escape the buzz of the city centre - and it has a history that gives cause for pause.
Playing frogger on the ski-runs at Oeschinensee (Oeschinen Lake)
10,000 trees: the changed face of the walk to Raven Crag
Raven Crag still stands proudly overlooking the northern tip of Thirlmere, but the lower slopes around it look a little different than they did a few years ago, and the direct route to the summit does not look like the one Wainwright wrote about in 1958 or even the version of Clive Hutchby in his excellent 2016 revision.
A winter wander from the Gornergrat Bahn
Meandering up to Orrest Head on New Year's Eve
Perhaps the stroll to the top of Orrest Head has itself become something of a cliché as a gateway to Lakeland, but that's with good reason - it's a lovely little walk with views that far exceed the effort required to obtain them. What better way to introduce a German Shepherd puppy to the Lake District?
Walking the PR10 Levada do Furado trail
The Levada do Furado trail (waymarked as PR10) has everything you'd expect from a Madeiran levada walk. Clinging tight to the steep mountainside, it winds through the forest from the trout-farming hamlet of Ribeiro Frio ("cold river") high in the mountains, eastwards to the pretty village of Portela which has a fantastic view of the north-east coast.