July 2020

The Great Outdoors

UK's leading authority on hillwalking and backpacking for over 40 years.

The Great Outdoors2 min read
Tiny Feet, Big Imaginations
ALL MY BEST MEMORIES as a child stem from being on walks with my parents in the landscapes of northern England. But they weren’t simply walks – they were fantastic, outlandish adventures. While the adults behaved like Walkers – scrutinising unwieldy
The Great Outdoors3 min read
CONTRIBUTORS & CONTACTS
TGO’s equipment editor and all-round backpacking guru Chris Townsend has been spending lockdown exploring his local woods, fields and moors and appreciating the privilege of living in the Cairngorms. He has seen few people during these walks but many
The Great Outdoors1 min read
The Great Outdoors
Editor: Carey Davies, carey.davies@kelsey.co.uk Online Editor: Hanna Lindon Editorial Assistant: Chiara Bullen Equipment Editor: Chris Townsend christownsendoutdoors@gmail.com Sub Editors: Roger Smith & Sally Walters Art Editor: Helen Blunt Advertisi
The Great Outdoors1 min read
Assynt, Sutherland
“It is no secret that the crenellated mini-mountain of Stac Pollaidh is one of the best all-round viewpoints in the north-west Highlands. It’s hard to think of another hill in the area that offers such an exquisite outlook, for relatively little effo
The Great Outdoors1 min read
Holme Dunes
WITH THE ARRIVAL of long, summer days, many of us will find ourselves drawn to glorious, sparkling coastlines that beckon us to walk along their cliff edges and beaches. Lesley Munro’s rendition of Norfolk’s Holme Dunes is a wonderful reminder of sum
The Great Outdoors4 min readMedical
Stiles, Gloves And Slipstreams: How Walkers Can Stay Coronavirus-safe
WHEN THE UK began emerging from lockdown last month, restrictions on outdoors exercise were among the first to ease. Government decision makers were keen to emphasise that this approach was based on solid scientific evidence. “Broadly, the scientific
The Great Outdoors2 min read
Readers’ Page
Postal address The Editor, The Great Outdoors, Kelsey Publishing Ltd, The Granary, Downs Court, Yalding Hill, Yalding, Kent ME18 6AL Please include a phone number and postal address. Letters may be edited for clarity or to fit the space available. Ma
The Great Outdoors1 min readInternet & Web
Social Media
We love to hear what you’ve been up to in the hills. You can share your photographs with us on our Facebook page and on Twitter using @TGOMagazine. We’re also on Instagram – so tag your shots with #TGO #TheGreatOutdoors and we’ll share them! Sadly, w
The Great Outdoors1 min read
Your Adventures
The ‘full’ return to the hills and mountains is still some way off at the time of writing, but the easing of lockdown has allowed us to enjoy the outdoors again in ways that were previously off-limits. Here are a couple of walks our readers have enjo
The Great Outdoors4 min read
The Great Outdoors Book club
Book OF THE MONTH Outpost: A Journey to the Wild Ends of the Earth by Dan Richards pb Canongate Books, £9.99 From a Scottish bothy to an experimental Mars base, the author explores “the romantic, exploratory appeal of cabins and isolated stations” Wh
The Great Outdoors3 min read
On The Trail With The Ettrick Shepherd
LOCKDOWN HAS GIVEN me time to re-read some of the books that have had a particular influence on me. In a moment of serendipity I came across my slightly battered copy of Highland Tours by James Hogg, known as the Ettrick Shepherd. Hogg was an unlette
The Great Outdoors3 min read
Top 10 HILLS FOR KIDS
Sharing our love of hillwalking with children can feel a bit of a gamble. Chances are they’ll either love it or hate it, and the fear of hearing “Are we there yet?” as you reach another false summit is sometimes enough to make you go it alone. Howeve
The Great Outdoors4 min read
The Virtual TGO Challenge
Supported by Ultralight Outdoor Gear BY MARCH IT WAS CLEAR – for the first time in its 40 year history, the TGO Challenge would not take place. It seemed inevitable that we would miss out on the great inspiration this collective crossing of Scotland
The Great Outdoors4 min readEarth Sciences
Y Berwyn
THE FIRST REAL HILL-WALK I ever did in Wales was the moorland ridge of Y Berwyn. For me, there’a kind of magic about its name. I’d first encountered it in the library of my school’s outdoor section, which had a few mountain books that I devoured time
The Great Outdoors6 min read
Little feet BIG ADVENTURES
ALMOST EVERY expectant parent makes themselves a secret promise that goes something like this: my life really isn’t going to change that much. With a shudder of distaste and a warm glow of superiority, we watch our friends ferrying their tots round a
The Great Outdoors3 min read
10 TIPS FOR WALKING with kids
Kids thrive on familiarity. My eldest hated the pushchair and loved the carrier, purely because we carried her everywhere. The youngest was too much of a porker to carry for long, so she’s far more attached to the pushchair. Small children can adapt
The Great Outdoors3 min read
Readers’ Stories
This feature was produced with the help of Miscellaneous Adventures, a multifaceted outdoors focused business run by Andrew and Emma Groves. Based in a small woodland on the south coast of the UK, they run a design and photography studio, teach and h
The Great Outdoors8 min read
Leading For Two
I SAT DOWN in the middle of the campsite, slumping against a particularly indifferent pine tree, on the edge of Lac du Matemale, flanked by the beautifully imposing mountains of the Pyrenees, and burst into tears. Not even the offers of croissants an
The Great Outdoors9 min read
Forgotten Scotland
ALTHOUGH I CAN’T SAY when or how I first became aware of the Glen Loin Caves, it feels like they have always been there, hardwired into my imagination. Most people will never have heard of them, but I have come to think of them in near-mythical terms
The Great Outdoors9 min read
Glorious Solitude
AT 2:45AM, I switched my headtorch on and saw what lay immediately ahead: a steep slope and plenty of scree to negotiate. A fierce, bitter wind whipped around us. We began to shuffle like penguins and inch our way up the mountain’s exposed slopes. Th
The Great Outdoors3 min read
Gear NEWS
The Glacier Peak is a new range of colourful summer clothing from The North Face. Key pieces are the Glacier Tee (£40) and Shorts (£55) for men, and the Glacier T-Shirt (£40), Tank Top (£35) and Shorts (£45) for women. The tops are made from recycled
The Great Outdoors12 min read
20-40 Litre Daypacks
A GOOD DAYPACK is an essential item. ‘Good’ means one that’s comfortable to carry, holds all your gear, and has features you find useful. Not every pack is ideal for everyone. ‘Daypack’ is a broad term, and it varies depending on the time of year and
The Great Outdoors5 min read
Take Three Canister Stoves
STOVES THAT RUN on butane/propane gas canisters are by far the most popular for backpacking and wild camping. It’s easy to see why. They are simple to use. There’s no liquid fuel to spill or that needs to be ignited to prime the stove. They also boil
The Great Outdoors1 min read
Wild WALKS
1 Eastern Highlands Blath Bhalg 2 Glen Coe Lairig Gartain & Lairig Eilde 3 Lake District Hart Crag & Dove Crag 4 Snowdonia Yr Aran & Cwm Llan 5 Pembrokeshire Poppit Sands to Pwllgwaelod 6 Cornwall Zennor & Carn Galver
The Great Outdoors3 min read
1 Blath Bhalg Eastern Highlands SCOTLAND
12km/7.5 miles/3-4 hours Ascent 480m/1580ft 1 A924 bridge over Brerachan Water at Dalnavaid GR: NO009637 Cross Brerachan Water and walk 640m SW up A924 to Dalnacarn. 2 Go L over locked gate and ascend track to hut. 3 Progress SE along ATV track and,
The Great Outdoors3 min readEarth Sciences
2 Lairig Gartain & Lairig Eilde Glen Coe SCOTLAND
13km/8 miles/4-5 hours Ascent 476m/1560ft 1 Car park S side of A82, half mile west of Altnafeadh GR: NN212559 From a green signpost, the good path heads SW up the valley to the head of Lairig Gartain. 2 The path descends for 300m, rather rough, then
The Great Outdoors3 min read
3 Hart Crag & Dove Crag Lake District ENGLAND
11km/6.8 miles/4-5 hours Ascent 750m/2460ft 1 Cow Bridge car park on A592 near Brothers Water, Hartsop GR: NY402134 Go through gate at far end of car park, as if to follow broad path beside Goldrill Beck but, instead, immediately climb narrow path on
The Great Outdoors3 min readEarth Sciences
4 Yr Aran & Cwm Llan Snowdonia NORTH WALES
10km/6.2 miles/4-5 hours Ascent 735m/2410ft 1 Car park at Nantgwynant GR: SH627506 Cross road from car park and join Watkin Path. This broad track twists above the farm at Hafod-y-llan and swings west to cross an old incline above a series of fine ca
The Great Outdoors4 min readEarth Sciences
5 Poppit Sands to Pwllgwaelod Pembrokeshire WALES
28km/17.4 miles/9-10 hours Ascent 885m/2900ft 1 Poppit Sands (car park and bus stop) GR: SN153486 From car park, follow Pembrokeshire Coast Path (CP) signs uphill and along lane past YH to farm & campsite at end, Allt-y-Coed. Path continues to Cemaes
The Great Outdoors3 min read
6 Zennor & Carn Galver Cornwall ENGLAND
14km/8.7 miles/4-5 hours Ascent 530m/1725ft 1 Carn Galver Mine car park GR: SW421364 A path at the north corner of the CP heads downhill to join the South West Coast Path, which you follow NE for 5km to a T-junction above Pendour Cove, turning R to Z
The Great Outdoors1 min read
READERS’ PHOTOS ‘summer’
In our readers’ photography series, we invite you to send in your best pictures on a specific theme. Next is ‘summit’ by 29.06.20. Next month: ‘summit’ Send your pics to tgo.ed@kelsey.co.uk or The Editor, The Great Outdoors, Kelsey Publishing Ltd, Th

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