STUFFMOUNTAIN

Sam Ferguson commenced his interest for history and the outdoors while growing up in the Durham Dales. He remembers cataloguing the graves in Wolsingham church, studying the barrows above Rookhope and completing his university thesis studying an enclosure located above Esatgate. Sam left Wolsingham six form college to study Field Archaeology at Bournemouth University graduating with an honours degree. Having lived in Dorset now for eight years Sam has actively explored all area ’ s as a working archaeologist, an outdoor enthusiast and as a tourist. Sam thought what better way to share his passion for the outdoors and history by writing a book. The walks in the book give the reader an insight into the past of Dorset and all it ’ s well preserved archaeological monuments and countryside. Some of the monuments are well known such as Corfe Castle and the Cerne Abbas Giant while others not so familiar. Over the past few years Sam has developed his writing skills by writing articles...

This year I have been to Iceland and Morocco. 3G everywhere, even in places you would not expect to receive. I come back to Weardale in North Pennines and I am lucky to get a signal ? No chance of 3G at all. What has gone so badly wrong in the UK with our Mobile coverage ?

We had been recommended Skopelos in the Greek Islands as a good holiday destination many times, so this September booked it up. After a 3 hour flight to Skiathos, a 5 minute taxi ride to the port a 45 minute wait and then a ferry to Skoplelos Town which took 40 minutes. We based ourselves in Skopelos Town. We rented a car which helped us get to the remote area’s. Mount Delhpi from Mount Palouki.   The trail running in Skopelos turned out to be very good. The island is split by 2 distinct areas. Mount Delphi with the highest peak on the island of 681m and Mt Palouki at 567m. Both of these area’s are accessible running in from Skopelos Town. The most popular route was the Monastery Trail of Palouki from Skopelos Town This is popular with fell walking clubs and proved to be an excellent run.   Running off Mount Palouki on the Monastry Trail. The island also offers Mountain Biking , sea kayaking , diving and sailing activities and well as some remote...

While many were glued to Cricket at Chester Le Street, Stuart Ferguson ,a Mountain Runner was completing a run of the Weardale Watershed. A round of 24 principle hills above 1,500ft visited in order [ 15 of these are over 2,000ft ], clockwise route from Wolsingham traversing the North and South skyline above Weardale the most northerly of the Durham Dales. The Route devised by Stuart Ferguson, starting at 0500 on Saturday 10 th August 2013, Stuart completed the round solo in 13 hours and 54 minutes, with a Total Mileage: 50.35 and Height Gain: 4,800 feet.   Stu arriving at Killhope Cross after being soaked in a heavy downpour. Picture By Emma Ferguson The route traverses remote, exposed high moorland, peak hags, tussocks with limited rough tracks and trails. Apart from traversing the villages of Wolsingham and Rookope, the only site of tarmac is at high level road crossings. The Weather was Mostly Dry, a couple of heavy rain showers around lunchtime, partly sunny, li...

Check out my account of a fun day out at http://h18-orr.blogspot.co.uk/

The Hangar 18 team will have a stand in the field in front of New Dungeon Gyhll Hotel on saturday May 18th. Call in say Hi and take an opportunity to 'See the Gear'.

You can always for an off road Speed Training group session, just go out and do reps, 3 x 4 sets of 400m on the flat with 1 minute rest between each rep....but why not do something a little different. A handicap route. For example, a 3.25mile route with 525 feet of ascent over varied terrain. Start with a  single track hill climb of 200 feet, a short flat run along an old land rover track, a long descent of the rocky path to a bridge a climb up a forest trail , downhill to cross a ford [ wet feet ], after a short uphill then more or less a flat fast trail to the start / finish point. You time yourself and after the first run you are handicapped on your time to complete the route. If the handicap is correct then you should all finish around the same time. Not only are you running against the clock but you have added incentive of trying to catch the runner in front of you. Do this for a summer, say every 4 weeks, see if you improve. So speed training with a little valu...