The Outdoors Station

In this podcast we continue our search at the Photography Show at the NEC for the best camera of 2018 for outdoor enthusiasts and this time it is the turn of Panasonic to give us their suggestion for good, better, best. Their choices are the TZ-200 Compact, the FZ-330 Bridge and the top of the range G9 with some conversation on the tough little FT30, the latest version of the FT3 which I’ve had fo...

In this podcast Andy and I visit the 2018 Photography Show at the NEC with two objectives in mind. I had arranged to meet all the major brands to try and narrow from each of them 3 cameras (good, better, best) which would be ideal for the outdoors enthusiast. I’m not talking action cams, or heavy DSLR’s, but those in between which offer remote charging via USB, good weather resistance, and feature...

We continue our discussion with Keith and his book High and Low and during the discussion touch on many deeper aspect of the content and how he dealt with the realisation that depression was the cause of his emotional rollar coaster. We start of discussing his views on food preparation for walks such as the PCT or AT. We discuss if hikers over prepare? What about finances? Many listeners want to k...

With many outdoor long distance hiking books under his belt, this unique offering High and Low adds to the growing library of Keith Foskett. An interesting mix of people, places, mishaps and depression. In this first part of the 2 part interview we discuss aspects from the book and also Keith's approach to hiking life. Depression is like chest pain. You know its serious when the doctor wants to se...

Libby and Lisa completed their self-propelled, continuous round of all 282 Munros in the summer of 2017 in 77 days, setting a new fastest-known female time! Beauties and the bog are a team of fell running women based in Sheffield, UK, close to the Peak District National Park. Originally formed as a team for the High Peak Marathon, their adventures began when training for this 42-mile, overnight fe...

We finally have to leave the solutiude and romance of Sandwood Bay and head for Cape Wrath lighthouse. Although we can see the lighthouse form the bay itself, the first fence we have to cross has the ominous sign, suggesting that checking for a live firing exercise might be a sensible thing to do! However, there’s no phone signal at the bay and we felt confident from the conversations we had with...

Sandwood Bay is a wonderful location, thankfully far off the tourist track, which accounts for the peace it offers for the more adventurous backpacker. There are stories of Vikings, Ghosts, Mermainds and sunken boats and treasure. None of which we found. I recall we have the entire place to ourselves and saw one or two other people leaving as we arrived, which gave us the place to ourselves all af...

This podcast starts with an interesting interview with a young couple who give an idea of how hard it is to make a living in this part of the world. However the upside is the sense of community and the strong supporting bond between those who choose to live here. The surrounding area is actually owned by the community and the Assynt Crofters Association. It makes a fascinating read if you want to...

The second part of this series originally recorded in 2008 as Lee and I make our way from Ullapool to Cape Wrath through a variety of weather and exciting camping conditions. Please join our newsletter and follow us on our socials > https://linktr.ee/the_outdoors_station

The next few podcasts are to make up for my silence of these last few weeks. I am soon to be interviewing Keith Foskett regarding his forthcoming book High and Low, part of which touches on the Cape Wrath Trail. So before speaking with him, I thought I would re-visit my 2008 adventure and recycle the 5 part series to inspire our audience to consider one of the last wilderness trails in the UK. It...

This ia an important subject and one which hopefully you wil be able to share with other individuals, groups and interested parties, who all share a love for the outdoors and a desire to maintain it with respect. Life Trek Adventures is run by partners Seb and Heidi. Their shared passion for outdoor sport and adventure travel has taken them around the globe in both personal and professional contex...

It was a very, very pleasant New Years Eve for Rose and I as Andy and Kate finally made it over to our new place and following a nice wet afternoons walk on the local Malvern Hills to give Pip the dog a good stretch, we settled in for a magnificent Venison Stew and a night of laughter with our old friends. After a good sleep we all woke to a new day and a New Year and naturally after the usual ple...

So here we are at the end of the 2017 and I just want to say thanks to everyone who contributed to this podcats and great to hear the variety of relationships they have had with The Outdoors Station during our 12 years and 10,000,00+ downloads. In order we hear from Alan Callow, Brian Vargo, Dave Hanney Alpkit, Sarah Jackson, David Lintern, Katy Mccullagh, Roman Ackle, Chris Townsend, Alex Roddie,...

Thanks to you, my audience we have just passed the 10 Million download mark. This is an incredible achievement for a small independent, unsponsored producer. This goes to show there is a need for the content and service we provide and I want to celebrate this by asking you, the audience, to call in and leave a message so I can create the next podcast from you and your relationship with this podcas...

Hannah Simpson has just completed a 734 Mile extreme cycle touring, wild camping, solo unsupported adventure along the length of Britain. Not very exciting I hear you say. Try doing it on a Unicycle!! Hannah did and here's her story. Please join our newsletter and follow us on our socials > https://linktr.ee/the_outdoors_station

This podcast is a simple review using the Homecamper.com service, who I interviewed at the Adventure Travel Show earlier this year. This was at our own expense and not paid for by Homecamper. It was also the first time we had taken a dog to France and experiencing the customs treatment for the 4 legged travellers. We visit three sites and basically camp in the back garden of those who have linked...

It’s been a busy month or two at The Outdoors Station and backpackinglight.co.uk towers. Our plans for some more remote hikes were scuppered by the urgent installation of a water treatment system as the other failed on Christmas day. However as most folks will know I took off and did the Two Moors Way and Rose tackled the Cotswold Way over a period of 3 weekends, so although it wasn’t the Isle of...

The Cotswold Way National Trail runs between Chipping Campden and Bath, the 102 mile route explores the Cotswolds AONB. Rose undertook this walk in July 2017 with her Springer Spaniel ‘Pip’ over a period of three weekends in a variety of weathers. Weekend 1 - Chipping Campden to Birdlip, weekend 2 - Birdlip to Wootton Under Edge and weekend 3 - Wootton to Bath. Gear was chosen to make this as ligh...

This weeks podcast is dedicated to Friedrichshafen the big European Outdoor Trade fair which lets those in the trade or press, fondle and drool over forthcoming products for 2018, that might set the heart racing. Our European Correspondent Roman Ackle took up the baton in a very hot and sticky few days to wander the halls on our behalf searching for products, developments, new brands and emerging...

This podcast covers all the equipment I took and a review of my thoughts relating some of the items and alternatives I could have considered. The full video of the walk and this section should be available soon. The audio has been taken from the video soundtrack, so make sure you drop by soon to check out the full experience. Please join our newsletter and follow us on our socials > https://linktr...

Part 7 combines the last two days of the walk down to Lynmouth. Only 18 miles to go and I had to find a wild camping spot so I didn’t arrive too early. At Withypool I finally meet some fellow backpackers and we discuss our shared thoughts on the journey and the places we’ve been through. Ultimately we both ended up at Simonsbath by the local car park to camp. The final day it was a gentle walk acr...

I had traveled so far in the previous 2 days, that I now had to cut back the distance to prevent arriving too early at Lynmouth. So I decided to just aim for Tarr Steps 10 miles away and then make a decision. In between showers and sunshine I trudged on through a fairly dull section, with no views until I hit Exmoor proper. Arriving at Tarr Steps, the medieval 17 stone slab section over the fordin...

Apart from the boy racer who seemed to feel obligated to ride up and down the main road at least a dozen times in succession at midnight last night, I slept reasonably well and woke early to an overcast damp day. However as I had carried all this fuel with me, I got the solo stove going and had the first warming proper brew of the trip closely followed by a bowl full of porridge. During this time...

Even though the weather was changeable that night with the blustery wind and rain, I slept reasonably well and woke refreshed ready for, as it turned out to be, the longest day of the trip. It was a good start at 7am and I meandered my way along charming narrow paths, fascinating high walled tracks and through woodland to the outskirts of Chagford. I was going to head into the village for some bre...

My goodness me it was cold that night! Even inside the hut I slept with my insulation on, however I did sleep well and after the two meals the previous night and a hearty breakfast of porridge I was set up for an early start in good spirits. And what a beautiful day it turned out to be. As each hour unfolded I was treated once again to the best Britain can offer. As I walked along the beautiful pa...