WalkLakes Blog

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2025

January  
Gauging Stations Update  
Hills Database Updated  
Top Ten Bagged Hills  

2024

December  
Bluesky joins Mastodon, Instagram and Facebook  
Christmas shopping  
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October  
20 Lake District Barns Rescued  
Doggy Rescue  
New Fell Top Assessors  
We've Closed our Twitter Account  
Kirkstone Pass closed  
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August  
Searchdogs Open Day  
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July  
A Busy Weekend  
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June  
Going camping? Make sure you're safe  
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April  
Herdy supports sheep safety this spring  
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March  
Piers Gill. Something has changed.  
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February  
Using our Mapping for Other Walks  

2023

November  
Winter - Time to check your gear  
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September  
Hills Database Updated  
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August  
Being Prepared  
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• Merrell All Out Blaze Vent Gore-Tex Hiking Shoes review

Paul has joined the approach shoe movement with a pair of Merrells.

You may remember Beth's enthusiasm for her first pair of decent approach shoes in a review she posted here a while back and she's not the only hill walker I know who's moved from the stout boots that we were all brought up to wear for walking to the much lighter option of the approach shoe.  read more ...


• emergencySMS

If you get into trouble in the hills with only a poor phone signal emergencySMS might be a life saver.

I've mentioned this here before but with the fellwalking season now going into overdrive with a lot of new walkers out and about it seemed like a good time to mention it again.  read more ...


• Winter - Time to check your gear

Time to wash, proof and otherwise prepare your existing winter gear; and new gear you might want to buy.

Autumn is upon us, the fells are going brown as flora and fauna prepare to sleep through the harshness of winter. This is still a great time to be out on the fells. There's a quiet solitude awaiting for those who do, especially away from the popular areas where you may go all day without seeing anyone else.  read more ...


• AKU Women's Rock Lite shoes review

Beth has a look at her first pair of approach shoes and finds them really good.

This summer has seen a monumental shift in my walking footwear. I have recently discovered the joys of approach shoes.  read more ...


• New Videos from Ordnance Survey

The videos, presented by Steve Backshall, take you through the basics of how to read an OS map and use a compass. Useful stuff.

The Ordnance Survey have put online eight excellent videos on YouTube presented by TV presenter, adventurer and OS champion Steve Backshall which take you through the basics of how to read an OS map and how to use a compass. Here they are.  read more ...


• Breathable, Waterproof Hard Shells

Beth looks at the basic technology in modern waterproof clothing.

Everybody remembers their first waterproof jacket don't they? Especially if you were growing up in the 1970s, it was likely to have been a cagoule - a smock like thing, or if you were posh a jacket with a full length zip and a flap across the back to let some of the sweat out. What we remember was how we sweated at the slightest exertion. A few decades on, we now have jackets made with magical fabrics that let sweat through one way, but not rain the other. Back in the '70s there were waterproof and breathable fabrics but they were rare and hugely expensive. Ventile was such a thing, a war-time invention of a tight weave of very fine cotton whose fibres expanded when damp to effectively seal out water. It was made into aircrew immersion suits, or taken on Arctic expeditions. It's a lovely fabric but heavy.  read more ...



WalkLakes recognises that hill walking, or walking in the mountains, is an activity with a danger of personal injury or death.
Participants in these activities should be aware of and accept these risks and be responsible for their own actions.