Author Topic: GREAT little places and a special moment.  (Read 1807 times)

barewirewalker

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GREAT little places and a special moment.
« on: 10:21:44, 12/08/19 »
Have you ever found yourself in a place that is so insignificant that you wonder might why you there and yet it has something that gives you a special moment.
The remark by Vghikers on another topic made reflect on this subject;

I can't resist a trig point, those isolated low ones in fields are worth seeking out.

I looked up a place that gave me one of those special moments because I suspected that such a trig point would be nearby. I was standing in the middle of the of the Old High Ercall WW2 aerodrome. There was no obvious reason for someone to want to be there and even if the airfield had never been there, I think that place would have given me the same feeling. At the moment the awe of the place took hold of me a dust devil suddenly blew some 50yards away.

I was trespassing by being there, but I was there because two rights way end half a mile either side of where I was standing, should that way be in place I am sure that others would have sensed something similar, when the lostway between joined them. No particular feature, immediate destination to mark it out but that spot had a particular presence.

Do others get such experiences in out the way places and can they be pinpointed without a nearby trig point?
BWW
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Pitboot

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Re: GREAT little places and a special moment.
« Reply #1 on: 11:47:59, 12/08/19 »
I like being on military ranges. There is often evidence of historical interest, old fortifications, various debris etc. (I don't advocate wandering around when there are restrictions or when firing is taking place.)
I once located a very rare tank turret covered in weeds and almost invisible. I informed a museum curator who I knew might be interested, now the piece is recovered and on display.
Another time, in Canada, I was investigating a concrete bunker and found that it was inhabited by an eagle, with a nest full of eaglets, I beat a hasty retreat.
These were both places well off the beaten track, even for the army, on the fringes of where modern activity takes place. My work took me there.

Dyffryn Ardudwy

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Re: GREAT little places and a special moment.
« Reply #2 on: 12:20:48, 12/08/19 »
Parking my car, opposite the summit of Drygan Fawr, half way across the Welsh Desert or Abergwesyn Common.
On most of my infrequent visits, you can be there for well over an hour without seeing any traffic or other person, and ive crossed its 20+mile length, without encountering another car.

There are not that many places outside the wilds of Scotland where that can happen.

Last year, i saw several Red Kites giving a pair of Buzzards a hard time, and with the total silence all around you, there is probably nowhere else in the whole of Wales, where you are disconnected from civilisation.

Its not the place to break down, as a mobile signal is non existent.

gunwharfman

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Re: GREAT little places and a special moment.
« Reply #3 on: 13:00:41, 12/08/19 »
I had one of those moments recently on the Two Moors Way. It was north of the A30, I walked a fair way on a narrow tarmacked road and then had to turn left down a steepish hill to the bottom of a valley. At that moment in time, it was lovely and sunny, no wind and there right in front of me was a small pond of clear and still water, surrounded by all sorts of greenery and flowers, plus a white tall elegant sculpture! It was very quiet so I sat myself down, had food and a rest and just admired everything around me.

Dovegirl

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Re: GREAT little places and a special moment.
« Reply #4 on: 13:24:08, 12/08/19 »
I sometimes walk in the Low Weald of Sussex, on paths that are probably little frequented except by people who live locally, and I've found some beautiful spots, especially good for seeing wild flowers. This spring I found a path bordered by masses of bluebells and stitchwort. Another day I was walking by a wood carpeted with wood anenomes, not much more than a mile from the South Downs Way and yet in a secluded location on the plain below the escarpment.

The Low Weald doesn't feature much on the popular walking radar but it has some very pretty spots to be found by those who like to explore off the beaten track.

BuzyG

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Re: GREAT little places and a special moment.
« Reply #5 on: 22:42:04, 12/08/19 »
Our loft, on a still summers evening after dark. Telescope trained on Saturn,s inclined rings , just contemplating how insignificant we are.

ninthace

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Re: GREAT little places and a special moment.
« Reply #6 on: 01:06:06, 13/08/19 »
I have a thing for old mine workings, especially those in really remote spots on the moors or up in the hills. Just to think of all industry there must have been and the miners trudging up to do a hard day’s work where we mow walk for pleasure.  For those who walk the Pennine Way, if it wasn’t for the pits, there wouldn’t be a Tan Hill pub.
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richardh1905

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Re: GREAT little places and a special moment.
« Reply #7 on: 09:41:20, 13/08/19 »
I too have a fascination for old mine workings and quarries - came across some lovely secluded small scale lead mines in the Gwydir Forest (Snowdonia).
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Dyffryn Ardudwy

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Re: GREAT little places and a special moment.
« Reply #8 on: 13:27:33, 13/08/19 »
You should pay a visit to the Welsh Klondike or the Dolgellau Gold belt.
There are many old mine workings, mainly along the bottom reaches of the Rhinog range nearer to Barmouth.
Ive walked past a few of them, but have left them alone, as their not a place to visit without company., and being in a remote region on the Park, if i got into difficulty, it would be game over.

According to the publication written by GW Hall, titled "The Gold Mines of Merioneth", there are still considerable amounts of gold ore still to be mined in the region, and recently in the Western Mail, the company that own the rights to most of the mines, have shown recent interest in reopening one of them.


The only problem, is that they require an act of Parliament for permission to reopen and mine them. and the last serious attempt, was way back in 1915

If exploring old mine workings is your thing, and wanting a good excuse to visit a very special part of Snowdonia, the area above Plas Y Brenin forest, is the place to go.
« Last Edit: 13:32:23, 13/08/19 by Dyffryn Ardudwy »

richardh1905

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Re: GREAT little places and a special moment.
« Reply #9 on: 15:20:43, 13/08/19 »
Ah yes, Welsh gold. Have visited some of the mines that you mention (and my wife has a Welsh gold wedding ring from a jewellers in Machynlleth)

I do like to go underground, but old metal mines in particular are nasty pieces of work.
« Last Edit: 15:24:17, 13/08/19 by richardh1905 »
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BuzyG

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Re: GREAT little places and a special moment.
« Reply #10 on: 18:57:50, 13/08/19 »
Ah yes, Welsh gold. Have visited some of the mines that you mention (and my wife has a Welsh gold wedding ring from a jewellers in Machynlleth)

I do like to go underground, but old metal mines in particular are nasty pieces of work.
Very true.  There are still many areas around Bodmin moor, where the ground is still baron.  One of those lessons I was sure to teach the kids, when they were young, don't stop in such a place for your lunch, as the ground is still poisoned with heavy metals.

barewirewalker

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Re: GREAT little places and a special moment.
« Reply #11 on: 11:49:28, 14/08/19 »
I to have been fascinated by mine working since my early teens. But it is more the spiritual quality of some places that the geography imparts. In Vghikers remark and seemingly insignificant trig points can have this quality, because the geography is special enough to be viewable from at least three other points.

As a teenager walking in the Loch Torridan area, I got permission to separate from a slow moving section of a part and walk an extra part of the Beinn Alligin ridge. I had a strange sensation, almost as if I was walking in the clouds, on returning to the party, who were preparing to get off the hill as poor weather was brewing up, my fancies were brushed off by the others.
That evening I went for a walk along the Loch shore and met an old Ghillie, when I told him where I had been, he said, "Och, yeell have been feeling you were walking on air up there". That was exactly the feeling I was having.



BWW
Their Land is in Our Country.

andybr

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Re: GREAT little places and a special moment.
« Reply #12 on: 15:18:11, 14/08/19 »
Over the last few years I have become used to seeing signposts for the Yorkshire Centenary Way while walking on the Wolds and around Castle Howard. Recently I decided that I would walk those parts of it that I have not already covered and yesterday I made a start by doing the first 20 miles from York to Huskitt Hill near Coneysthorpe (where i left my car). Once out of York there is a lengthy stretch along the side of the river Foss across fairly uninteresting farm land. By the time the route leaves the river I was feeling less than inspired and decide to stop and have some lunch at an old rusting footbridge just beyond Strensall. While I sat and ate I was surrounded by Dragonflies, a Kingfisher flew up the river towards me before veering off across the fields and some surprisingly large fish swirled below me fighting for crumbs from my pasty. The scenery did improve considerably during the second half of my walk but it will be the time on the bridge which will stay with me.

vghikers

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Re: GREAT little places and a special moment.
« Reply #13 on: 19:27:02, 14/08/19 »
The locations of those oddball trig points were picked out by the OS as having some merit as viewing points, if only for being the best of a bad bunch for aligning with the nearest neighbours, quite interesting sometimes.

The old mines are always gripping, especially evocative are the Rhosydd and Cwmorthin sites where the gruelling lives of the miners fills the mind and takes you back to that age.

Also aircraft wreck sites. On a cold bleak day at a wreck site on Brown Knoll in the Peak District, I remember feeling quite mesmerized by the thought of crashing in such a terrible fogbound wilderness and crawling for help in the freezing cold.


ninthace

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Re: GREAT little places and a special moment.
« Reply #14 on: 19:50:11, 14/08/19 »
There is a lonely wreck site where a Meteor came down between the Shooting Box at Great Rundale Tarn and the point where the Pennine Way tops out at Knock Old Man.  A few pieces of turbine laying in the middle of a peat bog in an area where almost nobody goes.  I came across it by accident and had to find out what it was from the internet.  No memorial at all at the site - a sad place.
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