A Tings Life, Croston (2025)

28/09/2023

It took over 40 years of living in Lancashire before I did this walk but it now the hill I have been up more times than any other in the county. Its a cliche but its crazy how easy it is to miss whats on your doorstep!

This beautiful walk starts at the gorgeous hamlet of White Coppice and after a short but steep enough to get your blood pumping climb you soon start a gradual and beautiful uphill plod to Great Hill. Once at the top I head back the same way but then often stick to the path towards Brinscall and loop around heading back along The Goit.

Just near the start of the walk is also a set of small but pretty waterfalls that are well worth checking out.

Check the Ordnance Survey feature for a link to the route on OS Maps.

[ad] This walk also gave me a chance to test out some kit kindly gifted by . I have been using the top and pants as my go to outdoor clothes for over a month and really impressed with them. The Guide Pro pants are lightweight and packable whilst the two-way stretch Flexion nylon/spandex provides mobility, breathability and has a StormRepel water repellent coating. I can honestly say they are amazing! I have the zip off / convertible ones as well giving the flexibility of shorts and trousers, perfect for changing conditions or multi-day use.

The High Route Grid HZ Mock is a lightweight grid fleece thats a perfect combination of low bulk, high warmth, full mobility and maximum comfort that you want in a premium midlayer for outdoor activities. I over heat when hiking but this mid layer has been perfect.

Its amazing to have this big name in outdoor clothing now over in the UK. Well worth checking them out.

Have a great day everyone 🙌❤️

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29/08/2023

Not all beautiful walks in the lakes involve mountains. Some plod though valleys, alongside meandering rivers and even have cafes and a pub on route!

This is the walk from Skelwith Bridge to Elterwater and back. If starting from Skelwith Bridge there is parking near . If you are staying at Skelwith Fold Caravan Park, Lake District we walked from there. This adds a bit of a climb back up to the park on the way home but it’s well worth it for the stunning views of the fells on the way out. Either way its well worth planning in a stop at Chesters for lunch. With views over the Brathay River and amazing food you cannot go wrong!

Leaving Chester’s and heading upstream it’s not long before you find Skelwith Force which is well worth a look. Then its a gentle plod along the river, through the fields as you follow part of the famous Cumbrian Way. There’s lots of places to stop and take in the gorgeous views. A couple of miles later you find yourself at Elter Water and then its a short push to the village if Elterwater. Here you will find the Britannia Pub and a good excuse to grab a drink and recharge the legs before returning back the same way and enjoying the views all over again!

From Skelwith Park - 5.5 miles
From Skelwith Bridge - 3.3 miles

Dont forget to save the reel into your hikes folder!

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11/04/2023

We hope you all had an amazing Easter weekend and got your share of the beautiful weather.

It was a local one for us as we had away for a few days this week. Yes we stayed at home for the nice weather and plan on heading away in the caravan in the rain! Looking forward to 4 nights in the Lakes though.

No real plans but will get a walk in and really want to go and check out . Shout if anyone has any great wet weather in the lakes options.

All being well we have an instagram take over for later in the week which should be fun.

Also thanks to everyone that got involved in the competition. Its now closed and can’t wait to see who won!

Happy Tuesday 🙌❤️

lancashire

11/02/2023

First morning of the year not waking up in Lancashire. Good morning east coast!

7am stroll on beautiful beaches, a calm north sea lapping the shore and this incredible sunrise.

Happy Saturday everyone

Staying at

03/02/2023

We found a great little fine dining spot at the weekend. It served post hike squashed sandwiches with a mug of soup carefully warmed, lake side, over a mini stove and half a lion bar duo with a side of Wethers Originals for desert.

Best part was the decor. Such an atmospheric venue.

Eating out doesn’t get much better than this.

Happy Friday everyone, the weekend is almost here!

01/02/2023

When I took this photo I never really thought about the depth of memories within it, it was just to capture a moment between mum and daughter.

But photos like this remind me why the outdoors is special to us. In one photo is a new memory, the first of the bigger fells Izzy hiked and a place we remember a loved one lost too young.

The Lakes is more than a collection of fells and lakes, its a living connection to our past, a place we can re trace our memories, a place we can reconnect with loved ones we can no longer hug and a place we can create new memories and new trails to re trace in the future.

Here’s to lots of news memories in February

30/01/2023

Even the sunsets in the Lake District are that little more special.

This is how all days should end! Post hike hot chocolate, finishing off the snacks, on the shore of Derwent water and watching this with your favourite humans and pooch.

The countdown to the next weekend starts again

22/01/2023

Just a walk in the park.

This use to be our local park, a place we have walked so many time when before we moved. Its still only 20 mins away but we havent been for so long. It really is easy to overlook whats on your door step.

Hope you are having a fab weekend. Happy sunday 🙌❤️

18/01/2023

Never let others define your value.

6 words i put on a story yesterday and first of all can I just say a huge thanks to the many of you who reached out to check in on me.

Allowing our view of ourselves to be negatively influenced by others around us is something thats hard to avoid for a lot of people. Its certainly something thats been impacting me for a couple of months.

Part of my focus for January was to leave this behind and to prioritise my mental and physical health. I have neglected both these things in the latter half of last year.

My half marathon distances have slipped back to 5k struggles but yesterday something felt different.

Personal challenges like runner and focused time doing things that make me feel good like exploring the great outdoors are my protection.

Doing these things, the only person that can impact my value is me. I can push on a other mile further than before, explore somewhere new and feel a sense of achievement or push myself to do something i havent done before.

These things (amongst others) help to maintain a certain level of balance and self value, a belief in what I can do and who I am.

When this tank drains I typically end up letting others, and typically those that are not important enough in my life to have such an influence, impact me.

So this isnt a screw you to them, there will always be those people, this is a kick up the arse to me. Run, hike, climb, explore and all the other things that maintain that sense of value.

Never let others define your value

14/01/2023

Easily one of the best views from 2022 and another little family friendly fell in the Lakes.

Castle Crag is the smallest Wainwright and the only one under 1000ft but given its location in the heart of borrowdale this doesn’t mean the views are small.

The mix of Woodland, river, caves, slate mine and views make this a fab family walk with lots to keep everyone engaged and interested.

See the featured hiking routes story for a link to the route on OS Maps

11/01/2023

Considering we spent the vast majority of our lives not spending time on the water it’s amazing how much we miss it now when we haven’t been out for a bit. Love the options, adventures and memories give us.

Wonder what new things we will discover this year?

If the rain stops of course 😂

Hopefully more mornings like this soon (well not that soon looking at the forecast!)

09/01/2023

Photo is from 1936 when we last went for a dry walk.

Please can we have more days like this! With only a couple of exceptions it feels like it’s been raining everyday since before Christmas Day. Looking at the forecast is just getting depressing!

The local plods and runs have keep releasing a bit of the frustration of being stuck inside but really need a good weekend and a long hike in the hills or a good paddle out.

If you are feeling the same just know you are not alone 😂

Happy monday and heres to a week of refreshing weather forecasts in the hope things change!

19/02/2022

‘No matter how strong the storm, how hard the rain and how vicious the wind there is always a gap in the clouds for the light to shine through’ - Ben Greenhalgh

The day Windermere met Storm Dudley

Hope everyone got through Storm Eunice ok and have a great and safe Saturday 🙌❤️

18/02/2022

Sad to say it’s time for home today but we have had a blast! Lots of mini adventures and time just chilling, we surprised izzy when her cousin came to stay for a few nights and swapped the days in the hills for a few tourist things we hadn’t done before.

There was no doubt about it we had some pretty crazy weather but the spells of blue skies were an unexpected treat.

And you know what they say, there’s no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes and we certainly put our to the test. We have practically lived in them and even out in the freezing cold 45+ mph winds and driving rain we were toasty warm. They have been brilliant for walking the dog, nipping to the shop and giving us the chance to get out and have walks around the site we are on and see Windermere under the influence of storm Dudley. They are going to be amazing additions to our outdoor kit for all sorts of reasons from weekend away in bad weather to paddle boarding to chilly nights camping to dog walks and so much more.

Have a great Friday everyone, hope storm eunice passes without much fuss and bring on Izzy’s birthday party this afternoon (the big day is Sunday!)

14/02/2022

The countdown is on and we cannot wait. Last summer the Lake District was a real escape for us and we have missed it over winter. Its a place both of us have fond memories of as kids so it was amazing introducing Izzy to more of our favourite places as well as finding a few new ones. Izzy made the mountains look easy compared to us! I doubt we will be back straight away, this is not over yet and we can imagine the lakes will be crammed Easter weekend but we will be there as soon as we can.

Most wont need us to say this was our hike up Catbells. We love the scrambling on the way up and then the beautiful Derwent lakeside walk on the way back.

02/02/2022

How close to bumping into someone from Instagram have you been?

Its such a small world it turns out! Now we are not on about arranged meet ups, just when you don’t even realise you are near each other until after. We have had so many from visiting Madam Tussaud’s with of few hours of each other and sharing identical photos with Ant and Dec last weekend to realising you follow someone who held a gate open for us when hiking Helm Crag two weekends ago after seeing photos they posted later that day.

And then there was this! This was summer last year (and of Aug). We were camping on Windermere and woke up to an amazing misty morning on the lake so went for a paddle. I soon realised there was loads of kayakers and paddle boarders on the other side of the lake so went for a nosey. Turns out they were safety boats for swimmers in an length of Windermere challenge. This week, 5 months after, i randomly found out one of the paddle boarders was someone i follow and they remembered seeing me but didn’t know it was me until now!

I guess it’s no major surprise, most of who i follow are UK based with similar interests so its going to happen but these random moments still make me smile! Its a small world after all!

Happy hump day everyone 🙌

31/01/2022

Its been a pretty quiet weekend thanks to high winds and man flu so heres one from the weekend before. We took a bit of a detour after spotting some waterfalls on the way down from Helm Crag and followed Green Burn for a while. A lovely end to the day splashing around and checking out some really pretty little waterfalls and the light was beautiful.

Hopefully normal adventures can resume soon!

If nothing else we have 4 nights on the side of Windermere coming up so can’t wait for that!

Hope you had a great weekend and happy Monday 🙌

29/01/2022

The summit of Helm Crag and the iconic Howitzer. So technically you need to climb to the top of the rock to summit the fell. Maybe another day! This is why its the Wainwright that Alfred didnt summit as he didnt climb it either.

Happy Saturday, have an amazing day 🙌

A Tings Life