How will I get ready for this walking challenge?

This month I have finally decided to do it again. I am of course talking about the Three Peaks of Yorkshire walking challenge! This means it will be my third attempt and this time I cannot fail So I am getting ready for it and I have already laid out a plan. I have even managed to sway some colleagues at work to follow me on this journey; they have never done it before and they really seem to be committed to it. We have decided that the big day will be during that Bank Holiday weekend in May (25-27). Now I still need to go through some preparation and I thought I would ask you for some tips about training routes and equipment.

About the training routes

I know this challenge requires participants to be physically apt for it – you don’t decide to walk the equivalent of a marathon distance on a whim. So I have laid out a training programme but I am struggling to find some good 20 to 25 mile walks around West-Yorkshire. So any suggestions for some routes would be welcomed – just leave a comment with a link to the walk if you can. If you are interested, here is the training plan:

In February

In March

• Sunday 3rd March –> 11 Miles

The Worth Way (Keighley to Haworth and back)
I did this walk last year and I really enjoyed it. And it looks like we are in for a treat that weekend since Keighley and Worth Valley Railway are organising a Winter Steam Gala with trains running all day long.

• Saturday 16 or Sunday 17 March –> 16 to 20 Miles

Manorlands Meander
As for The Worth Way, this is a Long Distance Walk in the Brontë country and we will probably start it from Bingley train station to add a bit more distance to it. Never done it entirely but walked in the area quite a few times. Plus it looks like it’s part of a twin challenge to raise money for the Sue Ryder Manorlands Hospice charity in Oxenhope. I will have to enquire about that.

• Easter weekend (either 29th, 30th, 31st March or 1st April –> 20 Miles

Dales Way Link (leeds to Ilkley)
I have done parts of the Dales Way and it will be nice to do this one. It also uses some of the Ebor Way section when you approach Ilkley and the views are fantastic there over the Wharfe Valley. We might do Ilkley to Leeds actually so we don’t have to worry about catching a train back once we finish.

In April

• Saturday 13th or Sunday 14th April –> 20 Miles

Any help for this one will be much appreciated

• Saturday 27th or Sunday 28th April –> 20 Miles

Any help for this one will be much appreciated

In May

• Saturday 11th or Sunday 12th May –> 25 Miles

Any help for this one will be much appreciated

• Bank Holiday weekend: Saturday 25th, Sunday 26th or Monday 27th May (Bank Holiday) –> BIG DAY

The Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge
I am pretty confident about the itinerary for this one as I have attempted in twice starting from different places – in theory I have walked it completely really

About the equipment

Now I need some help regarding the walking gear I will need for this challenge. This week I actually broke my waterproof jacket’s zip (see picture)! Thankfully I can still use the interior zip but it’s not practical and a bit flimsy. So I definitely need to replace this jacket which I had for almost ten years! It was a great investment and I don’t regret it. I have had a look around online and in shops and at the moment I have my eyes on some of The North Face Jackets on the Costwold Outdoor website. The good news is that they are having some sales on, the bad news is that I don’t really know what to choose. I would be happy to get any opinion on what best replacement for this jacket I should go for considering this challenge.

Also while I am at it, I think I will change my walking boots too (see picture). I have a pair of Brasher which I bought about four years ago and I just love them. However I am afraid they are getting to the end of the road and I certainly don’t want to have a problem with my shoes while doing the three peaks. I think I am going to go for another pair of Brasher and again I had a look around and found out that Millet Sports had a good range of Brasher. However my current shoes are made of fabric and I was wondering if I should go for leather boots. So what are the pros and cons between fabric tops and leather boots really? Thanks for helping

The post Getting ready for my next walking challenge appeared first on Walk In Yorkshire.

The origins of the Recipe

So what is a Yorkshire Carbonnade ? Well originally the word carbonnade in French means a piece of meat or fish cooked slowly on hot coals (from the latin carbo, -onis, coal, charcoal). Nowadays it’s more about a piece of beef cooked in beer. Of course the most famous type of carbonnade, is a la flamande, a flemish beef stew made with ale and traditionally associated with Belgian cuisine (also called vlamms stoverij in Dutch. Where I am from, in Northern France, we took it as one of our own too. To make it I would use a local beer called Jenlain, brewed in Jenlain near Valenciennes by Duyck brewery and not far away from Belgium. However since I’ve moved up here in Yorkshire, I’ve found it difficult to find this special brew. So ever since I’ve been on a quest to find an adequate replacement. And I have finally found it to make this Yorkshire Carbonnade: The Old Peculier by Theakston brewery in Masham, North Yorkshire. It’s a dark ale almost like a stout with nice roasted barley flavours, perfect for this stew. So here you go, that’s my Yorkshire take on an old Northern French / Flemish favourite!

To make a Yorkshire Carbonnade you will need (serves two):

- a piece of beef to braise (350g). I find shin to be perfect for this.
- 3 big onions finely sliced
- 1 pint Old Peculier
- 4 branches or 10 g of thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 teaspoons of English mustard
- 4/5 carrots sliced or diced
- 50g of butter
- 20g of brown sugar

Optional: this recipe is perfect to eat with a nice good serving of chips or as here with some mustard bread

Please note that almost all the ingredients I have used in my recipe come from Yorkshire! That is definitely true for the beer, meat and vegetables, making it a true Yorkshire Carbonnade

1. Turn the oven on to preheat at 160°C/320°F. Roughly dice your beef in big pieces, slice your onions and dice your carrots.

2. Place the onions and the carrots in a big hot oven-proof pan on the stove, if possible a cast-iron one, in which you’ve melted a big knob of butter. The onions will soon change colours and it’s time to add the sugar to caramelise them.

3. When the onions have a slight brown colour, take them with the carrots out of the pan and place them in the lid. Put a new knob of butter and add the meat in the pan. Stir frequently until every single bit gets a nice dark brown colour.

4. Put the whole bottle of beer in, bay leaves, mustard and thyme. The beer will probably produce some foam for a little while, don’t worry it will soon wear off. Finally add the onions and carrots back in the pot, stir well and put in the oven.

5. This will now cook really slowly for at least 2 to 3 hours. Check every hour until the meat just falls off. If you’ve used shin, make sure that all the fatty tissues has melted away (it might require cooking for longer). Be careful not to burn your pan though and make sure that there is always enough liquid in – don’t hesitate to add water if necessary.

6. When it’s ready the best way to accompany this dish is with some nice chips and of course a pint of Old Peculier! However on this occasion I didn’t have any potatoes so I improvised with some bread spread with mustard. To do this, simply cut some pieces of bread to your pan dimension. Spread the slices with mustard and place them on top of the Carbonnade with the mustard face up. Put the pan back in the oven without the lid for another 30 minutes until the bread is nice and crisp.

7. Serve and enjoy ! As you can see I couldn’t wait any longer to drink my beer but I still had enough to eat with

The post Yorkshire Carbonnade Recipe appeared first on Walk In Yorkshire.

Popular New Year Resolutions – Can it be all about walking?

So you have decided to make a new year resolution? Whatever it is I can guarantee you that walking should be high on your agenda and I may have a way to convince you. For some reason the US Government official website has recently published a list of the most popular new year resolutions. Although bizarre at first sight on such website, I thought I could try to find an argument for walking to do with each resolution.

Popular New Year Resolutions according to the US government

So here is the list:

Drink less alcohol:

That’s a harsh one to start with!  Well, we have all been drinking a lot during the festive period and it’s not uncommon for many people to give up drinking in January. I even found out that there is a charity raising money on that principal and calling it the Dryathlon! To be fair I am not sure about this method,  and it looks like it’s not enough for your dear old liver to recover according to the British Liver Trust. That’s why I believe walking could help. If you go out for a walk, you are less likely to drink a lot because you might have to drive home or you might be too exhausted and too tired to stay up longer. In any case, I think going to the pub after a walk is not a bad thing at all as long as you don’t drink to excess. Drinking one beer after exercise is good for rehydration apparently.

Eat Healthy Food:

Not an easy one either in relation to walking. I suppose that it’s all about a mind set. If you decide to take on some exercise,  any type, you want to change your eating habits too. Walking is a great form of excercise since just 30 mins of a brisk walk a day is enough to get you going! Combine this with a normal food intake, and you are on a good path to a healthy lifestyle.

Get a better education:

OK, I am lost for arguments with that one. Walking won’t get you a better education but if you decide to go back to school or on a training course to get yourself an edge in this difficult economic climate, why don’t you use your legs to get there? Or at least use public transport and get off at a bus stop or station 15 minutes walk away from your destination.

Get a better job:

It’s like above, walking won’t get you a better job. However if you feel stressed because of work, walking is a great way to decompress. In many ways, walking will help you to feel better mentally and might help you plan for the future.

Get fit:

At last something that’s got to do with walking! It’s obvious and I keep telling you, walking will makes you fit. So go on, you don’t risk anything with that one.

Lose weight:

Again another argument to back walking. Walking is a good form of excersise and when associated with a healthy diet should make you lose weight. However I would add that walking on a regular basis (a brisk walk 30 mins / day) should prevent you from putting more weight on. So it’s probably the best way to avoid the yoyo effect associated with many diets.

Manage debt:

Sorry you won’t be able to walk your debts off here. However you can start managing your debts by saving money on cutting spending on a few things. One way is to use your legs instead of your car. Just calculate how much it would cost on an annual basis to use public transport to go to work instead of using your car. You have to take every cost into account for your car though: petrol price, annual servicing and repairs, road tax and insurance (i.e car insurance is more expensive if the car is used to commute to work). Now if you have a good transport network, and it doesn’t take you a considerable amount of time to go to work, just give it a try. And of course walk to and from the station/bus stop.

Manage stress:

I’ve already mentioned that earlier and walking is a very good way to lower your blood pressure often associated with high stress levels. It’s a good way to clear your mind especially if you have too much to think about at work. Being out in the natural elements should make you feel better but did you know that walking releases endorphins, the happiness hormones in your body? So it’s another reason to try walking that stress off!

Quit smoking:

The big one! Probably the most popular resolution for smokers year after year. Well I can’t say that walking will definitely make you stop smoking. It’s all about will power after all but if you really decide to stop smoking, walking could help. As above with stress, walking helps clear up your mind and should help stop your cravings by releasing the good endorphins. Now all will depend on how much you really want to quit smoking.

Reduce, reuse and recycle:

You will definitely help the environment by walking! Compared to any other form of transportation, walking has the lowest carbon footprint of all. So think twice when you use your car, could you do the same thing locally? Go to the local shops by foot instead of the big supermarket out of town for example – especially if it’s just to buy a pint of milk and some bread.

Save money:

I mentioned this earlier in managing your debt but walking can help you save money. I was amazed how much I could knock off my premium car insurance by saying I only used my car for leisure, not for commuting. Then some car insurers lower their premiums if you have a low annual mileage. And then of course the obvious is that you don’t spend as much on fuel. At £50 on average for a fill up these days think how much you could save a month or a year even if you were filling up twice as less for example.

Take a trip:

You are up for a treat here if you want a special holiday that you will remember all your life, a holiday of discoveries and maybe challenges, I am of course talking about a walking holiday! Wherever you go, either in the Yorkshire Dales or to the other end of the planet, a walking holiday will be the best way to meet knew people and discover knew places. The slow pace of walking will make you appreciate even more your surroundings.

Volunteer to help others:

Once you have a good knowledge of your area thanks to walking all around, why don’t you volunteer yourself to lead a walking group? You know all the benefits of walking, so why don’t you try to pass it on to others? Some people are afraid of walking on their own and will never experience what it can really bring to them. In the UK there are many walking schemes existing these days like Walking for Health or the Ramblers for example, so just give it a try.

What about my own new year resolution? Well I’d like to post more often on this blog… about walking of course!

The post Any plans for New Year Resolutions? appeared first on Walk In Yorkshire.

Christmas is often a hectic time, but it’s also a great time to venture outside and discover the Yorkshire countryside, especially as many parks in Yorkshire have a fun Christmas theme and events.

Stockeld Park, Wetherby

Stockeld Park is a privately owned 2000 acre estate, which opens its doors to the public every year starting from October. It’s a great place for walkers, as you can explore the special events near the house, such as the Nordic Skiing trial or test yourself within the maze, or you can simply venture out into the vast acres of the property.

Located three miles North West of Wetherby, the Estate is in the heart of the Yorkshire countryside. The Nordic Skiing trial is of especial interest to walkers, and sport enthusiasts, as it’s a 1.2 km cross country trail, which takes you through the woodlands and along the lake of Stockeld Park. If you don’t fancy the skiing, you can also just follow the trail and walk alongside it.

During Christmas time this trail takes you through the Enchanted Forest of Stockeld Park, which is illuminated with Christmas lights, and other lighting effects to bring the mythical and magical creatures within to live. Don’t forget to say hello to the talking tree.

Yorkshire Wildlife Park, Doncaster

The Yorkshire Wildlife Park is an award winning wildlife experience, and unlike other wildlife experiences, you won’t need a car to travel through the park, as it is a walkthrough. By foot, you can discover all the park’s residents, and there are a lot of them. Lions, tigers, lemurs, leopards, wallabies, mara, capybara, meerkats, squirrel monkeys…There are a lot of animals, and a lot of walkthroughs.

This park provides a great chance to get up close to exotic wildlife and see endangered species living in a large enclosure surrounded by woodland, while enjoying a walk you’re bound to treasure.

It also has some great Christmas extras. On the 1st of December the Doncaster Concert Band marks the arrival of Meerkat Santa, who will be listening to children’s Christmas lists until the 23rd of December. If all the fresh air has made you peckish, then you can enjoy a traditional Christmas dinner at YWP’s restaurant.

Roundhay Park, Leeds

Above are two of the biggest parks with a walking emphasis in Yorkshire, but there are many more parks with lots to see and explore. Roundhay Park in Leeds is one of Europe’s biggest city parks with 700 acres. You can discover the park through various walks, including the 2.7 km walk around Waterloo Lake, or the equally long Secret Gorge Walk; and the Mansion at Roundhay is a great venue for Christmas themed parties.

This article was written by Sarah Oxley on behalf of LS-1, providers of apartments and flats in Leeds. Sarah has been living in Yorkshire for two years, and is always in the look-out for great walks. She also loves Christmas.

The post Christmas Events In Yorkshire appeared first on Walk In Yorkshire.

Helmsley – historic, haunting and yet a hive of activity, is one of the most popular towns nestling on the outskirts of the North York Moors. This quaint town, which retains the old-fashioned charm of a time past, is a perfect and easy family day out without the need to travel far and wide. That said, it is less than an hour’s drive from Whitby and Pickering along the A170 road and well worth the trip.

What better way to start a day out with a crisp stroll, which you can make as long or as short as you like?

Starting on Sawmill Lane, follow the footpath signs that take you past the thriving business units and workshops and then to the open countryside. Wellies and walking boots may well be required for this one but the path takes you parallel with the River Rye and is perfect for getting away from the hustle and bustle of other tourist attractions and just enjoying the fresh air, peace and quiet. You can follow it around in a loop or simply turn around and head back when you have had enough.

There is plenty back in Helmsley to keep you occupied for the rest of the afternoon with a mix of shops catering for both local residents and the tourist trade. Get lost in the second hand bookshop on the edge of the market square, get yourself kitted out in all the country attire at DV Townend on Bridge Street or pick up a gift for those back home (or even yourself) at Indigo on Castlegate. If you are a fan of homes and interiors from around the world and particularly French vintage then there is definitely something in there for you.

A hard day’s walking, shopping and exploring is sure to have worked you up an appetite and while Ingrid Flute’s holiday cottages have everything you need for your stay you might want to cap off a lovely stay in North Yorkshire with a special meal. For that you don’t even have to leave the market square as the Black Swan has one of the finest reputations around and certainly won’t disappoint. The restaurant is fantastic and afternoon tea here isn’t just your average cuppa. There are over 20 different teas from Whisky and Ginger to Apple, Mint and Chilli – all of which are created by the staff and all available to buy so you can enjoy at home.

This blog article has been written by Cliff Ward (The Original Cottage Company)

The post Helmsley in North Yorkshire appeared first on Walk In Yorkshire.

www.walkridesouthpennines.co.uk

Website’s statement:

This site hosts South Pennine walking, cycling, mountain biking and horse riding routes for all ages and abilities, from a quiet stroll along the canal towpath, to a bike ride that will test your endurance and provide a few white knuckle moments.

Social Media: Twitter (Pennine Prospects):  twitter.com/tweetingtwite

Sister website: Walk & Ride Festival

Every year Pennine Prospects organise the Walk & Ride Festival in September www.walkandridefestival.co.uk. The festival is a great opportunity to discover the South Pennines and involves hundreds of volunteers.

THE REVIEW:

This is one of the first local – or regional to be a bit more accurate – websites I am reviewing. Although no longer involved I am a little bit biased since I helped with researching and writing some of its initial content.  Nonetheless I think it deserves a good and honest user experience review. This website was designed, developed and put together by the team at Pennine Prospects, a local development agency for the South Pennines which spans the borders of the historical arch rival counties of Lancashire and Yorkshire. As stated by them “The aim of the site is to provide a functional tool for the 7 million people living within an hours’ drive of the area, to explore and enjoy the breadth and depths of the South Pennines.”  It’s all about the great outdoor pursuit in the South Pennines and specifically three types of activities: walking, cycling and riding. However for this review I will only concentrate on the walking aspects.

First off, I really like the graphics and designs. The colours are bright and sharp but not too much and there is a very good use of quality pictures throughout making the website pleasant to look at. The navigation is really easy with inviting menus taking you straight to the point. The only down side is the font and size used which I believe makes it quite difficult to read. Especially when there is a lot to read like on the homepage welcome note. However unlike most other websites I have reviewed you won’t be annoyed with adverts since it’s been funded by public money – through the LEADER programme.

As previously said I will only concentrate on the walking section though both the cycling and riding sections are based on the same structure. So to find a walk you simply have to click on the “walk” menu which takes you to a map of the South Pennines. The map has been divided in 11 areas and you can then either select one that interests you directly from the map or from a list on the right hand side. You are then directed to a new page with a list of walks for that area ordered by a simple grading system (easy, moderate and challenging). There is also an “advanced route search” option but I am not sure that it works properly. It’s compulsory to select a type of activity, an area and a grade. This is annoying because it could filter out walks you might be interested in. Why can’t I look for easy routes only regardless of the location for example? Yet I don’t see the point in some of the added options. For example I doubt anyone would find it useful to be able to select “no” stiles, “yes” gates, “yes” steps, “no” road sections, “horse box” car park facility and “circular”. Worst of all I can’t even make it work to be honest! I think on this occasion they should either redo or scrap the page completely I’m afraid. To my mind there is a missing search option too: search by postcode. The South Pennines is a vast area and even if the main targets of this website are local people, I don’t think  everyone knows their local area that well. A postcode search with results ordered in a radius system from closest to farthest would be a good added bonus.

What about the walks? Once you have selected a walk you are directed to its page where you will find a small description, some stats, some useful information such as toilets and refreshments and a pdf downloadable/printable map. You’ll also find a profile of the walk. Unfortunately most of them are in very small print and difficult to read. There aren’t any walk directions, the idea is that the map should suffice. The map is actually a 1:25000 Ordnance Survey version which I personally prefer and is more accurate than Google Map for example. However I noticed some walks have 1:50000 scale maps which is not great especially when no directions are given. I wonder if they could add notes on the map?

I must admit it’s probably not the best website you will find out there however as suggested on the website they are looking for help and would like people to send them their walks. And if you find any mistakes on the walks, you can also leave some feedback via a useful dialogue box. This is because Pennine Prospects really wants the community to participate in the project and they are also involved in organising the Walk & Ride Festival every year. They have hundreds of volunteers for this event, so if you feel like helping and contributing to the community and promoting the great outdoors of the South Pennines why don’t you get in touch with them? I have and I will probably put more of my walks up on my side of the South Pennines for everyone to enjoy.

To Sum Up:

Pros Really nice graphics and designs, easy navigation and overall an inviting website No adverts You can download and print the walks on 1:25000 O.S. maps in pdf format Useful information with every single walk such as toilets and refreshments locations You can contribute by leaving feed back or submitting a new walk

Cons Font size is too small. Makes it difficult to read with long text. Advanced search doesn’t work and criteria used are not relevant. Lack of route directions can be a problem. Not everyone can read O.S. maps. Noticed some of the walks are on 1:50000 O.S. map

Features	Yes	No	Comments
Free			The project was funded by the LEADER programme
GPS waypoints or Apps for smartphones			None available. Maybe in the future?
Photographs or videos of the routes			None available.
Info available along the route (i.e refreshments and toilets)			Every single route comes with handy bits of information such as toilets and refreshments locations, nearest public transport from the start or car parking availability.
Community based website			Pennine Prospects really want people to get involved by sending them feedback or submitting new walks. Not to forget that they always look for volunteers during the Walk & Ride Festival in September.

Please rate this article below and/or leave a comment about your own experience of www.walkridesouthpennines.co.uk

The post South Pennines – Walk Cycle Ride appeared first on Walk In Yorkshire.

I am currently facing a new challenge since the latest arrival of our newborn son last month – how to combine my passion for walking and spend as much time as possible with my family. You see we now have two kids and although the first one has now been walking for more than a year she still needs her daddy to carry her from time to time. And for the new one, well that won’t happen for a good while yet! Let alone the kids, my wife is not really into walking – not long distance walks anyway. Since we have decided to have kids, I’ve been left with a dilemma. Either I leave my family and go walking on my own or go for a walk with all of them which usually doesn’t take us really far. However I don’t think it has to be like that and as ever it’s all about concession and the ability to adapt to a new situation. First of all there is gear to help. For example with baby number one we had a really good sturdy all-terrain pram. Thank god for it! That helped a lot and I can’t imagine how our lives would have been without it. After more than two years of good service, it has been used so much that’s it is completely falling apart now! OK, that was a second hand but I don’t think the family before us used it, let’s say the way we did. I must admit I am mostly responsible for its demise and rough terrain or not I was pushing the damn thing wherever my feet had taken us. Learnt a lot in this process though and started to devise local routes which were more suitable for buggies. I’ll probably put some online one day but in the meantime if you are interested to find some suitable routes you could try these websites: www.pushchairwalks.co.uk or www.walkswithbuggies.com They are both on my “to review” list of walking websites.

Anyway with the arrival of baby number two, we now have a new pram and we went for a tandem buggy. We are really satisfied with it even though it’s quite bulky and doesn’t steer that well but it does the job. We’ve had our first outing as a family last week and just went around town, fed the ducks at the canal and had a picnic in the park before going back home. This illustrates my second point really. Now that number one can walk well it’s about time to try to make her appreciate going for a walk. So instead of going to the park by car we took the pram and made it a fun trip. Today it’s ducks, slides and swings but tomorrow it will be spotting wild birds, rock climbing, foraging for berries, geocaching and much more. It’s all about making it interesting for them. And we have also invested in a second hand child carrier now, that’s for number two when he can hold his head up then we can all go out without a pram and finally start the process of really walking as a family!

I am not the only one talking about the same subject and I found some really good tips from different people and organisations. Below is a compilation of what I found.

From the Ramblers: www.getwalking.org/walking-for-children-and-families

From Where2Walk: where2walk.co.uk/walking_blog/walking-with-children

From the Telegraph: www.telegraph.co.uk/family/5777831/How-to-get-your-children-to-enjoy-walking.html

From the Ramblers (Walk Magazine) www.walkmag.co.uk/features/walking-wi/

The post Walking with kids appeared first on Walk In Yorkshire.

Cet article fait parti de ma saga sur les “10 raisons de venir dans le Yorkshire“

Le thé, une boisson traditionnelle dans le Yorkshire

Après la bière, la boisson préférée des anglais reste bien sûr le thé. En fait, quelqu’un qui ne boit pas d’alcool est appelé un “teetotaler”. Par contre le rituel du thé à l’anglaise est très simple: de l’eau bouillante, un sachet de thé ‘English Breakfast” dans un “mug” (grande tasse sans soucoupe) et du lait. Voilà! A répéter au moins 10 fois par jour. Enfin bon, je vous l’accorde la reine doit sans doute prendre son thé autrement… Le thé “English Breakfast” est en fait un mélange de thé noir africain et indien qui se boit fort et demande l’association de lait et/ou de sucre afin d’en adoucir le goût. Il existe un thé du Yorkshire, le “Yorkshire Tea”, qui est aussi un mélange de thé noir et qui est produit par un des derniers fabricants de thé et torréfacteur de café au Royaume-Uni, Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate. En fait, je dirais même que c’est devenu mon thé préferé

En ce qui concerne les salons de thé, c’est incontournable si vous venez en Angleterre. La chose à faire c’est de prendre un “Cream Tea” dans l’après-midi. C’est bien sûr du thé qui sera servi dans une théière accompagné de “scones” (ça ressemblent à de petites brioches moins chargées en beurre et comprenant souvent des fruits secs). Sur vos scones vous mettez de la “clotted cream”, une crème très épaisse originaire du sud-ouest de l’Angleterre, et vous ajoutez de la confiture par dessus. Délicieux! Si ça ne vous tente pas, il y aura certainement quelques parts de gâteaux qui vous intéresseront tels que “Chocolate Fudge”, “Carrot Cake”, “Sticky Toffee Pudding”, “Spotted Dick” et tant d’autres. Je vous laisse découvrir ces trésors, tous plus succulents les uns que les autres ! Par contre si vous avez vraiment une grosse fringale, offrez-vous un “Afternoon Tea”. C’est le fameux stéréotype de l’anglais qui prend son thé à cinq heures de l’après-midi (rappelez vous, ils arrêtent même la bataille dans “Astérix chez les Bretons” pour prendre leur eau chaude à dix-sept heures !). En fait, c’est plus qu’un thé avec des biscuits, c’est carrément un repas. Notre goûter à l’air bien pale à côté. J’ai vu plusieurs versions allant du simple plateau de sandwichs au très luxueux saumon fumé, champagne et gâteaux. Le tout bien entendu accompagné d’un pot de thé! Je pense que c’est une expérience à faire au moins une fois si vous en avez l’occasion.

Pour vous aider à trouver les meilleurs salons de thé du Yorkshire, Welcome to Yorkshire a concocté cette carte pour vous. Et une dernière chose qui peut être utile pour la compréhension linguistique. Dans le nord de l’Angleterre, en ce qui concerne les repas, en général les gens disent qu’ils prennent leur “tea” à l’heure du dîner… et leur “dinner” à l’heure du déjeuner. Donc si quelqu’un vous dit “Have you had your tea yet?”, ça ne veut pas dire que la personne veut absolument que vous preniez ou finissiez votre thé !

Complément d’information (avril 2013):

J’ai récemment regardé sur la BBC un reportage en deux épisodes réalisé par la comédienne Victoria Wood et intitulé “Victoria Wood’s Nice Cup of Tea” (Une bonne tasse de thé avec Victoria Wood). Bien qu’en anglais, ces épisodes sont vraiment intéressants si vous voulez en savoir plus sur la l’histoire de la relation entre les britanniques et leur passion pour cette boisson chaude. Si vous voulez donc en savoir plus sur cette tradition “so british”, j’ai trouvé les épidoses sur YouTube:

Episode 1 (VO anglais): les origines du thé en Extrême-Orient et pourquoi les britanniques en sont devenus tellement acros qu’ils ont utilisés l’opium pour soumettre la Chine à leur bon vouloir

Episode 2 (VO anglais): retour au pays pour mieux comprendre cette relation avec le thé et entretien avec différentes célébrités (Matt Smith aka Doctor Who, Graham Norton et Morrissey). Visite de la maison de thé Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate notamment.

DU CÔTÉ DU MARCHEUR:

Outre le fait que je ne pars plus sans mon thé lorsque je vais en randonnée, j’aime bien également m’arrêter de temps en temps dans un salon de thé. Bien sûr je n’irai pas dans un de ces luxueux salons de thé avec mes chaussures de marche pleine de boue. Non, j’irai plutôt dans un petit salon de thé familial également appelé “café” en anglais. C’est très pratique le matin, surtout si vous n’avez pas mangé grand chose pour votre petit déjeuner. L’odeur des saucisses grillées vous mettra sans doute en appétit et je parie que vous vous verrez vite tenter par un “full English Breakfast” (petit déjeuner anglais complet). Enfin à vous de voir car ce n’est pas très bon pour la marche et la digestion surtout si vous avez plusieurs kilomètres à faire dans la journée !

The post 5. Le thé et les salons de thé dans le Yorkshire appeared first on Walk In Yorkshire.

www.walkit.com

Website’s statement:

The urban walking route planner. Get a route map between any two points, including your journey time, calorie burn, step count and carbon saving. It’s quick, free, healthy and green.

Social Media: Facebook: www.facebook.com/walkitcom Twitter: twitter.com/walkitcom Blog: www.walkit.com/blog

Smartphone App:

iTunes App Store: Walkit app (for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad) –> £1.99 to download

THE REVIEW:

Ever since I started my reviews of self-guided walk websites I have wanted to review walkit.com. And since May is “Great British Walking Challenge“, I think it’s about time to give them the honour. The Great British Walking Challenge is the brainchild of Living Streets, “the national charity that stands up for pedestrians” and walkit.com is one of their close partners. The aim of the challenge is to record your miles, minutes or steps and compare your results with other participants. While you can easily record your time, it’s not that easy to record your distance (miles or steps) if you don’t have the proper tool. And that’s why Walkit.com should be the perfect tool to help you do so with this challenge. Or is it really? Well the first problem you will have is that by definition it’s an urban planner, so forget about it if you live in a rural area. And the second problem is that not all cities and towns are represented on the website. For instance, in Yorkshire only Leeds and Sheffield are available! They keep adding new locations but with around 40 cities currently available I wonder how much of the UK population is actually covered? It’s probably over 50% but I am not sure that it’s over 75%. So why should you bother using it? Well if you are located or travelling in one of the lucky places covered, I must say it’s a pretty nifty tool for walkers!

The real power of the website lies in it’s ability to create A to B walking routes using the quickest and most direct way across the city, even across open spaces such as parks or public buildings (i.e train station) – try to do that with Google Map! It also calculates all sorts of parameters related to your walk: distance, time, calories and even the carbon footprint saved if you were using a car or public transport. While registration is free you can subscribe to a mywalkit+ which will give you even more options including tracking your progress and “banking” your routes. However this will cost you £15.00/year or £1.50/month. It’s not just a clever city route planner though because you can also get some circular walks. It’s really handy if you want to do a lunchtime walk around your workplace for example. You can select from 15 mins up to 4 hours – that would be a really long lunch walk though! The free option only gives you one circular walk but the paid for option can give you up to 5 walks from the same starting point. Even though it seems a little bit limited, for every single starting point you can choose 11 different walking times and 3 different walking paces, so that’s 33 different walks on the free option! I can’t confirm if that would be multiplied by 5 again on the paid for version though.

Now regarding descriptions and directions they are very well done. You can tell there has been a lot of thought behind them and I am quite baffled because it’s done on an automatic basis. For example it will give you any shop, bank or public building you may pass on your way. You can of course print the description along with the detailed mapped route. However they also have an app for iPhone but as explained in previous reviews I am not equipped yet and won’t be able to give an opinion on it. On the app page there are only bad reviews and that worries me a bit but you might be able to make your mind up yourself by watching this video review of the app from Frackulous before buying it.

One other feature on the website is the ability to plot your own route. I have tested it and although it’s not complicated and quite intuitive I had some trouble with the “annotations”, once saved they were not where I plotted them on the route. Thought I would be able to edit the route after saving but it doesn’t seem to be possible. I’ve now sent some feedback about this – hope I’ll get an answer soon. The nice thing is, once you have plotted your route you will find it in their “themed walks” section if you decide to share it with everyone. The route I created is one of my favourites in Leeds, a Station circular between the river and the canal. You will find the details below and a comparison with other websites too

Station circular between the river and the canal

Station circular between the river and the canal

Station circular between the river and the canal

There is also a new feature called “nearby” but it’s still in its beta version and is only available for 5 cities currently, Leeds being one of them. I can’t make it work properly though as I don’t have access to the “from” and “within” – must be a bug – so won’t be able to comment on that.

And finally if you wonder when the rest of the great Yorkshire cities and towns will be covered, maybe you could participate in their Facebook campaigns

To Sum Up:

Pros A brilliant route planner for urban walkers. For every single city they work from a base mapping data (not O.S. map) that they develop to include all paths and walking routes available but they also listen to any feedback users may send them to create what they call a “walking knowledge”. Extra parameters added to your walk: calories burnt, CO2 saved, number of steps If you register, you can add personal details about your height, weight, stride and walking pace which will better estimate your calories burnt, time and step number Not too many adverts.

Cons Doesn’t cover all the country. By definition it’s a urban route planner but even so only 42 UK cities and towns are currently  covered I am not sure what mywalkit+ can really bring apart from tracking your progress Not sure if they test properly all their features before releasing them. Take the “what’s nearby?” which misses the “from” and “within” drop down list at the moment

Features	Yes	No	Comments
Free			It is free although there is a mywalkit+ upgrade available for £15/year or £1.50/month
GPS waypoints or Apps for smartphones			You can’t get GPS waypoints but you can use their app for iPhone
Photographs or videos of the routes			I say no although when you plot your own walk you can add pictures to “annotations” using a Flickr widget. You will need to use tags to find the picture you want making it really difficult to find the appropriate picture. The plotted walks can then appear on “themed walks” if you decide to share them with everyone.
Info available along the route (i.e refreshments and toilets)			The route directions include popular coffee shop names and brands.
Community based website			They really want people to get involved and help them develop the base mapping data by sending them feedback if some walking paths are not included. Plus you can plot your own route and participate in their Facebook campaigns to make the case for launches in new cities

Please rate this article below and/or leave a comment about your own experience of www.walkit.com

The post Walkit.com appeared first on Walk In Yorkshire.

Since I arrived in this beautiful County of Yorkshire about three years ago I’ve rediscovered my passion for walking. I have never lost it, it’s just that down in the mighty city of London it’s not as easy to find a lovely walking spot. So it was a joy to be able to walk from my doorstep and find myself in the middle of nowhere in less than two minutes when we moved up here. Since then I have walked on my own most of the time. However lately I have been trying to get walking with other people for the social aspect of it. You see I am unemployed and apart from my lovely wife and young daughter I don’t see many people on a regular basis. Don’t get me wrong, I am not crying for help! I just enjoy the chat and company. You might be in the same situation and I just want to share my experience of walking with groups. They are all different experiences but definitely worth mentioning. Maybe it will help you decide to join one of your local walking groups?

Walking in the evening

Last year I had the chance to find a great walking group, called Onna Walks and we were walking every Tuesday evening mainly in the Bradford district area. The timing is really convenient for people who work as we start walking usually from 5.30-6.00pm. But as you can imagine there is a problem come winter time and we’d have to walk with torches! So after a whole Spring and Summer of rambling around Bradford, we wrapped up our walking season with a lovely walk in Bingley in late September and we were even blessed by a wonderful sunset overlooking the Aire Valley. That made my day because it was the first walk I led for the group! And guess what? We are now back at it! Our first walk was last Tuesday, May 1st  in Chellow Dean Woods and nine of us (plus two lovely dogs) were brave enough to go out in this damp and cold weather. I am so glad that we are walking again and I hope our little group will thrive once more.

Chellow Dean Woods route details on Walk4Life

Walking for Health

As mentioned in another post, “Why do I walk?” I am also a Volunteer Walk Leader for the Walking for Health scheme at National Trust East Riddlesden Hall. This is a bit different to me because I have some free time at the moment I really wanted to give something back to the community and decided that the best way would be to help people get some exercise through walking. Since joining in December, I think I gave more than 20 hours of my time leading walks every other Tuesday from 2pm for our group called Riddlesden Rambles. It doesn’t seem a lot but what matters is that people keep coming back and really improve their health with us by walking gently for an hour, an hour and a half maximum. We are currently five walk leaders taking turns and our group of walkers currently has around 10 people and keeps on growing. There is no doubt that in the coming weeks more people will join if the weather improves. And we actually want to set up some longer walks because we can see that our regular walkers are demanding more now. However we still have to wait for an answer from NT regarding insurance and liability issues.

Walking far away… not so far really!

As you can see, I really like walking in my local area and I always discover something new when out on a walk. However I have recently started to feel a bit limited in the number of walks I can do from my doorstep. The great thing though is that I am not far away from the Yorkshire Dales National Park. I have been quite a few times in the National Park by car, even attempted twice “The infamous Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge” but the real beauty is that from Bingley I can get on a train and in an hour’s time find myself in the middle of some of the most beautiful sceneries in the world. And that’s exactly what I did last Wednesday. I actually decided on a whim to go for a guided-walk organised by the Friends of Settle-Carlisle Line (FoSCL). I found the info about the walk the night before thanks to Twitter (I really love this thing) as it was advertised within the “ride2stride: The Settle-Carlisle Walking Festival“. I jumped on the 9.06am train at Bingley and arrived in Settle about an hour later where a all crowd of people was already waiting for us. I had decided to go for the strenuous 13 miles walk to Horton going through Stainforth, Feizor, Crummack and Sulber. I had never walked that side of the National Park and I really discovered some pure gems. We went through woodlands full of blossoming flowers, typical rugged landscape of the Dales and beautiful limestone landscapes. And the company was not bad either! We were quite a large group of around 25-30, some regular FoSCL walkers and others just attracted by the walking festival like me. I talked to so many people that they will have to excuse me if I don’t remember their name next time because yes I think I will join them again on one of their regular Wednesday walks when I can. And not to mention that at the end of the walk some of us decided to go to the pub and we were welcomed by some folk music as we stepped in the Crown Inn. This entertainment was also part of the festival and was a good way to finish this walk, even better with a pint of one of my favourites “Old Peculier” from the Theakston’s Brewery.

Horton to Settle (station to station) route details on Walk4Life

Walking long distance footpaths

Finally, I really like walking long distance footpaths and although I have never walked one on my own it has never been with an established walking group but rather with friends. Don’t we say that two people is a group? I think that most people will agree, if you go on a walking holiday you’d better go with people you know well. What I like best is wild camping and I know it’s not everyone cup of tea so I often end up within the same circle of people mad enough to like it. To me there is nothing better in this world than a simple meal and drinks with friends around a fire after a long day’s walk. Unfortunately it’s not something you can experience everywhere in this country as wild camping is not seen kindly by land owners. Fortunately there are a lot of comfy B&Bs, hostels and Inns and although my days of wild camping are far from over, I must admit I do enjoy these establishments… and the warm showers!

The post Why walk with a group? appeared first on Walk In Yorkshire.