Fun

7 Things that freaked us out about EBC Trek (but turned out to be very different)

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This article is part of a collaboration between Berkeley Square Barbarian and the tour operator Spiritual Excursion. A couple of months ago, Ellie & I were preparing for our Nepal trip in April. There were seven things that freaked us out about EBC Trek:   (1)   IS IT GOING TO BE TOUGH COPING WITH THE HIGH ALTITUDE?   Everest Base Camp lies at 5,364m above sea level. Kala Patthar, a nearby peak with great views of Everest, is 5,644m. Climbing it is usually included as ‘optional’ in every Trek package. But only one in ten trekkers completes the climb. Most don’t try or make a U-turn half way up. Either way, the trek goes pretty high up. The altitude can affect people. Were we going to see fellow mountain lovers being helicoptered out in emergency evacuations? Trekkers falling seriously ill? Was it going to be hard to sleep because of […]

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Fitness & Health

Rye to Hastings – A Self-Guided Walk

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On one of the first days after the lockdown here in England was eased, Ellie & I did the Rye to Hastings walk for the third or fourth time. It’s one of our favourite walks and this time around we did it without a guide. How to get lost on a coastal walk I hear what you’re saying: why would anyone need a guide for a coastal walk? You simply walk along the coast. Water to your left, land to your right, right? What’s the challenge? Oh well… there are plenty of more talented navigation experts out there, but it’s not that we are the only people that sometimes get lost on coastal walks. You will, of course, usually have a pretty good idea of which direction your destination is, broadly speaking. However, you might not always have a clear view of the sea and there are many cases where […]

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Fun

Hiking from Glynde to Seaford with ‘Go London’: ‘The sunny South Downs and seaside walk’

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Ellie & I have been doing walks with Gary Bebb’s fabulous ‘Go London’ (usually spelled GO London) hiking group for more than two years now. Soon after the last lockdown ended we booked ourselves on another walk with them. However, when we checked the weather forecast the night before the walk, we froze: temperatures around 3C / 37F and constant rain all day. I’ll be frank, I thought about bailing out, and Ms B made up her mind quickly: this was not for her. In the end I went on my own. 15 hikers bailed out from the ‘Sunny Walk’ When I arrived in Glynde after about an hour on the train just before the agreed time of 10:30am, only 10 of the 25 persons who had booked had actually shown up. Neil (Neil Froggitt), with whom Ellie & I had done another walk before, was our guide for the […]

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Fitness & Health

Panshanger Park and Hertford Castle – Another walk with ‘Go London’

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Ellie & I have been doing walks with Gary Bebb’s fabulous ‘GO London’ hiking group for more than two years now. A few weeks ago we joined him and 20 other hikers on the “Panshanger Park, Chadwell Springs, and Hertford Castle” hike. The 18km (12 mile) walk which involves 118m of ascent (all added up) and takes about 4 hours to complete, is classified as “Beginners Hike.” No complaints from our side. We had just come out of lockdown hibernation and weren’t going to climb Everest anytime soon. No maps, instructions, or directions This blog post does not include any maps or specific instructions. It is not aimed at enabling you to do the walk on your own. It is instead intended to give you an idea for what to do on London weekends if you should ever be bored. If you don’t live nearby, hopefully you’ll still enjoy some […]

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Fun

Hadleigh Castle and the Saffron Trail – Hiking with ‘Go London’

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Ellie & I have been doing walks with Gary Bebb’s fabulous ‘GO London’ hiking group for more than two years now. Ten days ago we joined Gary and 16 other hikers on the “Coastal Hike – Hadleigh Castle and the Saffron Trail.” The 16km (10 mile) walk involves 230m of ascent (all added up). It takes about 4 hours to complete and is classified as “beginners hike.” This was fine with us. Lockdown had just ended and our bones were still a bit rusty. Why ‘Saffron Trail’? Part of this hike is along the Saffron Trail. An Essex hiking group devised this route only 20 years ago. They wanted to have a major north-south long-distance walk in the county of Essex. Until then there had only been two long-distance walks which both went from west to east: The Essex Way and St Peter’s Way. The Saffron Trail starts in nearby […]

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