The Outdoors Station

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://lin...

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...

On Wednesday I finally made it to Holne. A charming little village, which once again like many communities, has suffered the closure of the local pub and so the heart of the community had naturally graduated to the tea rooms. Which although open at completely different hours, obviously serves as a community centre, for information, a small shop which allows you to top up with local produce, lots o...

On Tuesday the 25th April 2017 I set off from Wembury just outside Plymouth on the Two Moors Way, 40 years after ‘the way’ was officially launched. I had given myself a generous 8-9 days to tackled this route, which passes through some of the most remote and charming countryside in Devon, touching little backwaters rarely visited and certainly well off the traditional tourist trail. This first pod...

This podcast has been done in a bit of a rush, however I thought listeners would like to hear the gear choices and reasons for the forthcoming 120 mile Two Moors Way from Wembury to Lynmouth coast to cost south to north. The weather has been dry the last week or so and the forecast is looking fair, so I am hoping the weather gods will shine on me for the duration. Hope you enjoy :) Please join our...

May is almost here and 300 people will be starting to keep a much closer eye on the weather in Scotland as they prepare to head off on the 38th TGO Challenge. A 200 mile walk from the West coast to the East coast of Scotland taking independent routes between each coast and promoting fellowship amongst backpackers all along the way. Andy Howell of the well known blog Must be This Way, will be on hi...

This extended podcast is the second part of the interview with Aleks, where we touch on several aspects which he had to deal with on a daily basis as he ran from North to South across Europe. The daily near death experience of running on a road which caused him to change his route significantly. The diverse reaction from people he met on route. The waves of doubt and depression which came over him...