Worcester, Malvern & Forrest of Dean – July

We had a week booked off and accommodation in 3 places we’d not visited before. Our first stop was Worcester, on the way we visited Avoncroft museum of historic buildings.

These Prefab houses were built to meet the post-war housing shortage (3 million houses were destroyed in the UK during the 2nd world war). 155,623 were built in Britain – 7600 of these in Wales. This aluminium example is from Llandinam Crescent, Gabalfa, Cardiff.

Following a design competition thirteen designs were selected for manufacture, and the Arcon Mk V, of which this is an example, was the most popular. They were built at an average cost of £1,209.

I looked around inside. Although dated, it looked like a pretty comfortable place to live with 2 bedrooms, a comfortable living room and a functional if not elegant bathroom. Lots of storage and small, so it would have been easier to clean and cheaper to heat in Winter. I love my house, but I could comfortably live in one of these.

This example was originaly built to last 10 years and was still being lived in 50 years later.

This Medieval town house is featured on all of their literature and was the first building in Avoncrofts collection. Mid 15th-century it’s a typical medieval “hall house” with a central hall a smaller private rooms around the outside.

We arrive in Worcester at our hotel, the White house.

Sometimes it can be hard to find where carparks and hotels are once your on a busy street (I know that Sat Nav’s can find a postcode, but for finer details, we’ve started to use google and do a “virtual” drive around the area in advance, so we know what to look for)

We used this technique in Worcester as the carpark was in a hidden alleyway off the main road).

In the evening, we went out for dinner then came back to have drinks in the hotel bar. We took the drinks up to our room as we were interrupted by an “important” football match.

The next day, we wander around Worcester. Another beautiful day, we start by a walk along the river.

Cathedral’s are nothing new to us (we live in Chester) but this one was incredible.

I work in Civil Engineering now. Although my job is still in IT, I know some of the machines and equipment we have at our disposal to build things and so it’s all the more amazing to see this massive structure built with nothing more than manual labour between 1084 and 1504.

We spent some time in the Museum of Royal Worcester. It had loads of interesting historical things about the monarchy and it’s relationship with Worcester.

From here, we visited the Commandery. It was from here, The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 and was the final battle of the English Civil War, which began in 1642.

On one side Charles the 2nd (who’s father had been captured and beheaded earlier in the war) with 14,000 Scotsman. On the other, Oliver Cromwell and the 28,000 strong New Model Army (the actual soldiers, not the rock band from Bradford).

With all this talk of fighting, it was time for some refreshments. There was a nice café there next to the Canal, so we had lunch.

Another fab evening at a Mexican restaurant (we don’t really have one in Chester so it was a real treat), then our last full day in Worcester. We decided it was time for a bike ride, so we looked for a nearby target destination.

I’ve always loved that scene from Bells, 2nd season of Black Adder. “Bob” is talking to her father, and I’ve always remembered the line “For the last time, your mother is a live and well and living in Droitwhich”.

I saw on the map that Droitwhich was 10 miles away on quiet paths and canalsides, so that sealed it. If you haven’t seen the scene, you can watch it here: Bob scene from the Black Adder.

It was a quiet peaceful day (we met some losers on the canal who wouldn’t move out of the way, but otherwise a perfect cycle journey).

I’ve got to say that Droitwhich is quiet (and when I say quiet, some mean people would describe it as “gods waiting room”). The people were very nice, and we had lunch there before heading back (Nikki had some sort of salad nonsense and I had a cheeseburger).

Off to our 2nd destination, Malvern. The town itself is at the foot of a hill so popping out for a pint can be an exhausting business.

We stayed at the Great Malvern Hotel.

It was run by a couple, and some of the reviews said the lady was charming, but the man was grumpy and obtuse. I took exception to this. Rani was indeed lovely, but Jeremy wasn’t grumpy, he was focussed and matter of fact.

Maybe he wasn’t very good at small talk, but I knew, if the heating broke, he’d pick up the phone and sort it out. I read stuff on Facebook about “be kind”, “be nice to people” and that’s mostly true, but sometimes bluntness will get you what charm won’t.

In the afternoon, we went for a bike ride around some country lanes (30 miles, 3 pints).

The following day, we walk up to Malvern hills.

It was amazing, a 40 minute walk from the front door of the hotel and your were staring at this “hill corridor” with views for miles around.

We took a different route down, wandering through a massive forest.

The following day we did the other part of the hills and visited the British Camp Hill Fort.

Our 3rd and final destination, The Royal Hotel in Ross on Wye.

It was a very nice hotel, but a bit “big and corporate”. We spent the afternoon wandering around the town, and even had something to eat at Wetherspoons, which we don’t normally do.

The following day, the thing I really wanted to see. The forest of Dean.

We cycled around it for hours without leaving the forest. There was even this enormous lake, right in the middle of it.

Trails run through it endlessly, so the next day, having cycle’d all around it, we put on our walking boots and trekked around for several hours.

The day after, one final stop, Goodrich Castle

I think anyone who’s ever watched Robin Hood loves a good “castle”.

We headed home and completed our holiday, with dinner at Artichoke in Chester (one of our favourite eateries).

End of Lockdown – July 19th

Now back home.

The full lockdown end didn’t happen when it was supposed to and we had to wait until the 19th of July.

No more masks on the train to work, you could get drinks at the bar and a host of simple things that we were now able to do.

To celebrate, Tony and I went out for a curry.

Yes, you probably recognise this picture, it’s the standard one I use whenever Tony and I go to the Bombay Palace, this isn’t an actual picture from the evening (we were having to much of a good time to bother taking pictures).

Not much happened last year apart from an early return from Sri Lanka and a weeks holiday in Northumberland.

So this year we decided to chase every possible adventure in the UK and work around Covid restrictions to have as normal a time as possible.

At home, midweek we’d watch a webcast from Wanderlust magazine (with Pizza delivery). For real life entertainment, we watched 2 plays at Chester’s Theatre in the park.

At weekends, we’d either have a film night or sometimes live comedy, streamed from Just the Tonic – Working from home.

It gave me an insight into what life must have been like for my parents, living in the 70’s.

I wanted to write about everything I’ve done this year, and since most of it happened over summer choosing a title was easy.

I was inspired by a TV series from 1983 featuring Billy and Icky (who everyone at school were talking about at the time) shown over 5 Sunday evenings 🙂

Cheddar Gorge – April

Easter was largely a none event and lockdown was still in place. You could however stay in self catering accommodation.

Cheddar (named after the cheese) looked nice, so we decided to go there. On the way, we visited the Westbury White Horse in Wiltshire. I’ve done lots of things like fly in a helicopter and go on a steam train, but never seen a real “hillside” white horse.

Darwin Escapes offered various sizes of lodge. Self catering isn’t normally my thing, but I have to say, it was luxury (obviously the price was inflated as everyone would be holidaying at home).

Nikki’s mum had joined us on the trip and the 3 of us got on rather well.

The lodge had 2 bathrooms, 2 bedrooms, a wine cooler, washing machine, dish washer and even a kitchen sink.

The thing I liked most was the lounge area where you could stretch out and relax. I normally stay in hotels, my room usually has a chair to sit in, but to relax I have to go to the bar downstairs. It was nice to be able to have dinner, relax and then walk 10 feet to bed.

I’d brought some of my bush craft gear, so on one evening, I sat on the veranda and carved a spoon.

We could walk direct from the site on a circular route to take in the Gorge.

Geologically, it’s spectacular to look at lots of people around and fab to be out for a whole day.

After walking all day, I was delighted that the weather was nice, so we could sit outside the bar and have a cold beer (drinking alcohol in pubs and bars was still banned but you could drink outside, so long as it wasn’t raining. Luckily the weather was fantastic).

On our 2nd day, after a hearty breakfast, we did a walk around Cheddar reservoir (which obviously, was quite easy to navigate, you just kept the water on your left, until you got back to the place where you started).

The area we stayed was close to Glastonbury (made famous by the music festival held there, which I’ve manged to avoid).

On the way home, we decided to visit Glastonbury and we found a walking tour on the internet. There seemed to be lots of Nepalese/Mystic type shops there, that didn’t really resonate with me.

The highlight was a walk to the Glastonbury Tor. Some loon’s were doing a traditional chant inside the Tor which I found irritating. They invited me to join in, instead I enjoyed the views from the top of the hill.

Lake district – May

We’d not been back long, but were still keen to get out and about.

We decided to do something similar, this time Darwin Escapes site in the Lake District – Keswick Thanet Well.

Since the 3 of us had got on so well previously, we kept the team together for this trip.

We don’t really like long drives, so we try to break up the journey out by visiting somewhere interesting on the way there, and the way back.

Driving to castles during lockdown has become something of a joke her in the UK. But we drove to Brougham Castle and our eyesight was fine. It took us about 2 hours to explore the castle then we carried on our way.

Nikki was keen to see Mayburgh Henge. According to some people (and I’m not one of them) It’s as historically significant as stone henge. To me, it was some stones in a field, but as requested, I took a picture of Nikki and her mum.

We got set up in our lodge, had something to eat, and some nice wine.

The next day, for orientation, we visited Keswick.

I first visited Keswick nearly 30 years ago, when my friend Lee Sawbridge chose it as a camping destination. Since then, I must have visited the town over 100 times, but it’s still special to me (and it has a Rohan shop).

Although we stayed a whole week, we didn’t do as much on this trip, as the emphasis was on relaxing. Up in the hills, we found a small lake (not surprisingly called Small Water) and we had lunch.

One highlight though, was a walk around Haweswater and Harter Fell. The weather was fantastic all day.

Nikki’s mum and I were looking forward to the final episode of Line of Duty. Internet on the site wasn’t very good. I was debating how we’d stream it, or maybe wait to the end and download it all once finished. Sometimes you just can’t see what’s right in front of you.

Nikki’s mum commented simply – There’s a television over there on the wall, why don’t we just watch it on that 🙂

Bedgelert camping – June

Camping to me used to involve a tent, a bit bigger than the coffin I’ll eventually be buried in, drinking hot chocolate from a stove in the porch, while trying to read with a head torch ignoring the rain outside.

But Nikki has a fantastic tent, with chairs, you can stand up in it. For this trip, I even got hold of some camp beds.

Beddgelert is a place we’ve always been fond off, so we headed for there. Disappointingly the campsite we’ve previously enjoyed (right near the town) has now closed so we used the one 2 miles away in the forest (very commercial, but it had what we needed).

Our tent has everything we need, but since the sun was out, we had a barbecue and laid out our food on the camp table assigned to us.

When we go away, we can take our gear and our bikes, or our gear and our camping equipment. But due to space restrictions we can’t take all three.

We’d done our research and found that we could rent mountain bikes direct from the campsite.

The campsite is right next to a forest with loads of mountain trails, so we did that for 2 of the days.

I was disappointed that the Steam Train that passes through Beddgelert wasn’t running (well it was, it just didn’t stop in Beddgelert).

For day walks, we did a different route up Moel Hebog and on another day, a fairly flat walk to the Cwellyn Arms and had a few drinks before walking back.

We wandered into the town for dinner and drinks a few times, but were disappointed that the Hebog restaurant which we really like hasn’t re-opened (the whole town has been flooded in recent months).

Llangollen cycling – June

I’ve always enjoyed visiting Llangollen. Main reason is, I can ride there on a bike (it’s about 27 miles). They also have a Steam Train and some amazing pubs, so It’s no surprise that our walking group are frequent visitors.

I’ve previously cycled there and carried all my gear in a rucksack on my back. More recently, Nikki and I cycled there and hired a pod. On this occasion, we decided to stay in The Hand hotel (daft name, great hotel).

So we pedalled over and as we arrived at Wrexham, Met up with Brian, Sue and Aled who joined us on the journey (and joined us in the bar later, for a fantastic afternoon).

In the morning, after a cooked breakfast, we cycled back the hard way over “Worlds End”. Agonising at times, but what an achievement, I’d never done that route before. Luckily, the world didn’t end , we got back to Chester and had Sunday lunch at Artichoke.

*We had a good time. Such a good time in fact that I completely forgot to take any pictures. These are ones from previous trips, but I think they capture the ambiance of the trip.

Anglesey for David’s birthday – June

My brother and his wife Leigh love spending time in Anglesey.

Since it was his special birthday, we were invited to join them to celebrate.

We were staying at the Victoria hotel. On the first day we arrived, we did a nice coastal ride, got back, got showered and then met David for a slap up dinner at Dylans. With spectacular views across the straights and amazing food, it’s the nicest place I’ve ever eaten on Anglesey.

The next day, up early, breakfast and then an in-land journey, this time around Bangor and lots of places from camping trips of my youth.

Of special significance is this picture. I’d agreed to ride 500 miles in a calendar month for SSAF, the armed forces charity. I’d been counting up my miles and by the time we reached Bangor Pier, I’d completed it.

That evening, we had a low key meal in a lovely hotel called the Gazelle (which is a bit daft, as I have never ever seen a Gazelle, anywhere in Wales, apart from the Welsh Mountain zoo !).

*To be honest, I’d completed the 500 miles, a mile and a half before the pier, but a photo in front of a bus stop wouldn’t have been the same would it ?

I’ve lived in Chester for over 20 years. Moving there was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. But…

I’m not from Chester, I’m from Manchester and that will always be my home.

Nikki decided she’d like to visit Manchester for a long weekend.

I couldn’t wait !.

We’d be staying at the Midland hotel. It really is nice in there, and since I booked with Travelzoo over a year ago, we got a fantastic deal.

Nikki had meetings all day, but I’d booked the afternoon off. Getting off the train, I had a walk around and then went to meet my old friend Nick in the Bank (a pub, we weren’t paying in cheques or anything !).

On the way, I was disappointed to see Debenhams closed down. I bought my first video recorder and various other thing here (my brother and I would meet each weekend and go to the cinema. Afterwards it would be MacDonald’s or Pizza hut, then we’d go and treat ourselves to something nice.

Another thing I was surprised to see, was Manchester Town Hall. It’s featured in loads of tv programs like Ripper Street, and Foyles war. It’s got a bit rundown, so they’re doing it up.

I hadn’t realised just how much work is involved. It won’t re-open until 2024 and portakabin’s stacked 4 high, tells you how many people are involved.

In the evening, drinks at the Midland and dinner at the black cat.

In the morning, breakfast at the hotel (someone we met in the lift, couldn’t run to the cost of breakfast, so he’d been sent out to buy MacDonald’s.

We’d decided to visit Media City.

When I was last there 15 years ago, it had the Imperial war museum of the North and the Lowry centre. I was disapointed to find that water taxi’s no longer run, so I took the same route my friend Frank led on my original trip.

Media city is on the Manchester Ship Canal. But the much smaller Rochdale Canal runs a similar route, so wandered along that for 3 miles.

A strange sort of telephone box entrance and we’re inside the IWM.

They had most of the original artefacts including this amazing Harrier Jump Jet (which are much smaller than you’d expect them to be with only a 25 foot wingspan).

The museum is specifically about War, and the impact it has on people. They are very specific that it isn’t a military museum.

But there are loads of interesting things in there. There’s a section on medical advances due to war. Superglue didn’t exist before the Vietnam war !.

A temporary exhibition about Aid Workers.

In this picture, an original Karimore Jaguar S75 rucksack.

From here, you cross a bridge to Media City, which is like an Island.

There were various things going on, but there was one specific thing I’d come here to see. The Blue Peter Italian Sunken Garden.

I’d seen it constructed as a child week by week and I was really upset when it was vandalised. When Blue Peter moved North, I heard that the Garden had moved with it.

I asked a few people working at a bar, but they’d never heard of it. Then I realised they were about 20 and wouldn’t have been born when it was constructed. They told me about a place called the Blue Peter garden, and this was it.

After all those years, I finaly got to sit in the sunken garden. It even has the original statue of Petra in the corner.

A visit to the Lowry art gallery, in the Lowry centre.

It has the largest collection of Lowry painting in the world.

Interestingly, my favourite picture by him is one of Piccadilly Gardens. That was commissioned and hangs in the Manchester Art Gallery (which I’d be visiting the next day).

Having spent the whole day exploring, we had some dinner, 2 bottles of wine and then decided to head back to “town”.

Looking down the ship canal at this amazing view. But I was shocked to see, some people had climbed onto the bridge.

I can only guess at what these idiots were doing, but one of them was clearly photographing the other.

If he’d tripped I wonder if the camera would have captured the last moments of his life. Some people are too stupid to be allowed out of the house.

Our final day in Manchester. We visit the Manchester Art Gallery. It’s a lot bigger than I remember it.

There were loads of cool pictures and installations. My favourite was this picture showing Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow. I’d read about it and it sounded harrowing. This picture captured it perfectly.

Manchester’s “new” law courts. I remember when they opened, they caused controversy as the architect had modelled the buildings on filling cabinets. Not particularly inspiring.

The area of Spinningfields didn’t even exist when I left Manchester. As we wandered around, we were struck by the amazing buildings. You can see why Manchester is now considered Britain’s 2nd city.

We were heading for the People’s museum, but I stopped on the way to take this picture. A canal-side bar called the Mark Addy was a place we frequented in my youth (Mark Addy was a character from the book, The Manchester man).

It was tragically run down and abandoned. Quite sad really. I’ve heard since that it flooded several times (one one occasion, completely submerged), and 10 years ago finally closed.

Inside the peoples museum, there was loads of stuff about the history of politics in the UK, the Trade Union movement, Suffragettes and the Miners Strike.

Lots of interesting visuals like this one with Ronald Regan and Margaret Thatcher.

They also had the one used by Nigel Farage (the phony one that’s meant to look like immigrants coming into Britain, but was actually taken during the conflict in the former Yugoslavia).

But by far, my favourite thing was this. The famous “Donkey Jacket” worn by Michael Foot at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday. He as pilloried wearing it at the time, but in reality, the coat was purchased from Harrods.

Sunday lunch and then train home.

There’s loads of other stuff I could have written about, but I’ve tried to pick the unusual stuff.

Looks like the Covid experience may be coming to and end.

The search for adventure continues…

ok, so this blog hasn’t been updated in absolutely ages. Why you might ask?

Well, like many other people, with the possible end of Covid in sight, I set myself a series of projects and goals (with a 100-day countdown).

Just to show what is possible, above.

Built by my old friend Andy Ogden and his family, a superb garden beach bar, made from pallets and the like during the first lockdown.

I don’t pretend to understand joinery, but even I can see how impressive it is.

So, the theme of this month’s blog is what projects/jobs I’ve been doing. Some of them are useful and some a bit wacky, I’ll leave you guys to decide.

My goals have been a bit more modest.

This one for example involves me learning to tie 3 new knot’s every day.

January and February is usually the time I go through my outdoor gear and prepare for the adventure season.

I decide to replace/upgrade a few things and also treat myself.

I’ve had various lighters over the years (I’ve never been a smoker, but if you’ve ever made fire from friction, you know why).

This is an authentic Zippo. It’s engraved with Trust No One, just like the one used by the Cigarette Smoking Man from the X Files.

It’s also modified with a USB chargeable plasma igniter, rather than the normal petrol one which makes it a lot cleaner and a lot more reliable.

I’ve treated myself to several new things from the Rohan shop, including their Flex Jeans, which they say are the most comfortable Jeans you’ll ever wear (and I agree).

Additionally, I’ve upgraded my travel washbag. I take a bigger wash bag on longer trips with stuff like insect repellent, but for shorter trips I just take the basics.

This is the one I now use for short trips – it’s is the same size as my old one but opens out like a tray, rather than the traditional “hang up” ones.

When I was 17 there wasn’t much going on in my life, but I got hold of a book called The SAS Survival Handbook – by John “Lofty” Wiseman.

It had loads of stuff about Deserts and Jungles (places that were impossible for me to visit at the time, but I had my dreams and my enthusiasm).

It inspired me to make a tobacco tin “survival kit”.

I got hold of a tobacco tin and with help from my Grandma I was able to get needles and thing for the sewing kit.

The local fishing shop helped me with the fishing equipment and my mum advised me on painkillers and imodium.

I spent ages getting it perfect and even lit candles of different diameters to see which would light for the longest.

During the lockdown I’ve completely re-created it. I don’t know if I’ll ever need it (I’ve done so many Bushcraft courses I can improvise most of the thing in there from the forest) but if I do need it, it’s there in my pocket.

“Lofty” also talked about knives and cutting tools and went into great details about something called a “Parang” (pictured above).

I learned it was basically a native machete used in the Borneo Jungle.

I’ve been in Jungles in 4 continents and used various practical cutting tools like this.

During the lockdown, I’ve setup a high shelf in my kitchen with all 4 of them on display.

One thing I’ve been pleased about, is my work.

Although I work in IT, I’m classified as a Construction Industry key worker. This has meant I haven’t missed a single day’s work throughout the whole of the lockdown.

After my experiences in 2009 I can’t describe how much of a relief that’s been.

Speaking of work, some of my friends and colleagues noticed a delivery of tennis balls was left on my desk (I’ve never expressed an interested in sport, so they were a bit surprised).

They were even more surprised when, during lunchtime I proceeded to cut them all in half!.

They needn’t have worried.

Nikki and I are going camping soon and I’ve upgraded us to some camp beds.

In order to protect the tent floor, the “half” tennis balls go underneath the legs of the bed.

Since I’ve spent a lot more time at home, I’ve been upgrading my wall “real estate”.

I’ve got a new X Files – I Want to Believe Poster, bought a new picture of the Fighting Temeraire and an amazing poster of Escape from New York.

My Alan Turing news article from the MEN in 1997 has been reframed along with my “Jane Smith” picture of Crib Goch.

I went over to Liverpool for an evening at my old haunt the Town House, where I had a few drinks (and some chips, which I bought) with Matt and Mike.

Also met up with my old mate Nick from Newton Heath. Out of everything I think the thing I missed most was going to the pub with friends.

Can’t wait to stand up and walk about in the Lock Keeper after the 19th of July.

A regular fixture during lockdown was a streamed comedy event, we watched most Saturday evenings at 9pm.

Just the Tonic productions – Working from Home, had some brilliant comedians and lots of short sets so constantly switching tone.

One particular comedian I really enjoyed was Marcel Lucont. Playing a witty, aloof Frenchman, I howled with laughter.

Best thing, he’s actually appearing at Theatr Clwyd in a few weeks and we’ve booked to go and see him.

I’ve caught up on a lot of reading.

I was fascinated by the story of Bernie Madoff who recently died in Prison.

One minute he was the go to guy who everyone wanted to work with, the next he appeared in court in a bullet proof vest.

People lost billions of pounds due to his Ponzi scheme over several decades.

Interestingly, after appearing in court for the first time, he was allowed bail and returned to his Penthouse.

One of the people on the ground bellow, held up this sign !.

Well, thanks once again for “tuning in” to johnsunter.com.

Near and far, the search for adventure continues…

 

Some years ago, I was at Fairbridge Drake’s Applecross centre in the Scottish highlands.

One evening there was a slide show about the activities of the centre and I was delighted to see a picture of  me in a Snow Hole from a previous trip.

At the end of the talk, I was given the slide to keep. Problem is I didn’t have a slide projector, what could I do ?.

So it stayed in my memories box for 30 years.

As some of you know, Nikki’s father tragicaly passed away last year.

He left hundred of slides, mostly of Aeroplanes. We bought a slide scanner and converted them all to .jpg (the intention is to put some of them up on the internet for any interested party to look at).

It gave me the opportunity to finaly scan my picture from the Snowhole.

But with all the scanning, it got me to thinking about my own digital posessions. They’ve drifted into my universe (god, am I really writing this crap, I’ve been stuck at home too long 🙂 and like the long neglected contents of a garage, badly needed organising.

So I went through everything and broke them down into the following areas and bellow I’ve written the strattegy I used in each case.

Documents

I’ve got letters applying for my first ever job, complaints to the Gasboard, you get the idea.

It took several hours to sort them into catagories, then I put them into dropbox. I always know where they are, they’re backed up and I can access them securely from my phone or any internet enabled device.

Any paper documents I had, where the original wasn’t needed (like a Will), were scanned and put into the relevant folders.

I also have a shared dropbox with Nikki, with secure copy of things like passport/driving license etc. If I’m away travelling (if that ever happens again:) and something happens to me, Nikki can easily get access to these from a phone, tablet, computer in the lobby of a hotel etc.

Photos

I scanned all my photo there weren’t digital.

Then I went through every picture and catagorised them. Where there were duplicates, I ordered them by year (so Lake District 2014, Laked District 2015).

Where I had random pictures (I have a picture of some loon walking across the Shropshire Union Canal when it was frozen over) I put them in a catagory called Misc

This job took 2 whole weekends to complete. Once done, I put them up on Dropbox.

Music/podcasts

I had a lot of Tony Robbins motivational stuff that I’d converted from cd. I also had quite a few podcasts that I’d downloaded (BBC’s 50 things that changed the modern economy is superb). I organised these into a podcast section and put it up on dropbox. I put any downloaded music into a similar folder.

I decided going forward, I would simply use Amazon Music. Anything I wanto listen to now, is on a playlist on my phone, Alexa or my pc with it’s Harmon Kardon speakers.

TV and Film

I rationalised my DVD collection and just kept a few special ones. Everything else was digitised.

With quite a lot of tv series and films, this took quite a while to organise. The the main thing here, was to make it easily available (otherwise, it simply wouldn’t get used, which was the whole point of this entire project).

With the help of my friend Matt, I setup a Plex server. It enables me to stream tv content to any tv or tablet in my house. So when I’m in bed if I feel like watching a random episode of Spooks or the New Statesman, there it is.

For newer content, Netflix and BBC I Player are all that I need. If there’s something I want to watch and simply can’t get anywhere else, I can buy the dvd on Amazon and play it on my Xbox.

Books

I always like to have interesting books around me on my book case. I went through and any I didn’t read or out of date travel guides were deposited at the charity shop.

For fiction stuff, I relly totaly on my kindle.

Gaming

I’m not a massive gamer, but I’ve played all the Halo and Call of Duty games.
In the past I’ve always bought the box set from Tesco or wherever, but now I just download it.se my home etc, I’ve got copies off them off site (pretty much what I’ve been doing at work for decades

Conclusion

It was 20 years ago in a very volatile personal situation that I had to re-organise my life. I remember reading Alvin Hall’s book Your money or your life.

One key thing I got from the book, was about having simple file box and having every important document (birth certificate, insurance document) in a place where you can put your hands on it in 10 minutes.

Once I’d done that I felt a lot more relaxed about things, knowing that everything was where it belongs. Times have moved on, but the principle is still the same, once you’ve organised everything you feel much more relaxed.

Hard to write an adventure blog when they’re isn’t much adventure about.

But outside it’s snowing at the moment, which offers garden based adventures.

Walking group, Globetrotters and Chester cinema club closed (to say nothing of every pub and restaurant in the land).

Not much chance of any overseas exploring on the horizon and even James Bond has been put back to November.

But…

Every day, the days get longer and the end of COVID-19 and a return to normal life gets closer.

Speaking of Friends (ok, I know Alexa isn’t a proper friend) my neighbour recently moved out.

I’ve always maintained if you want good neighbours, start by being one yourself. In the 3 years that he lived next door they have been charming and helpful but always respected my privacy.

With 1 exception. I was woken at 3am in the Morning to shouting. I got up, walked down to my living room and turned on the lights. And there was my neighbour.

While talking excitedly to a friend on the phone I’d gone to bed and left my front door open. My neighbour had come home from work seen the door alerted me to it. I can only imagine what would have happened without his assistance.

Why was he coming home at 3am ?. Well, he was a Merseyside Police officer. He was proud of what he did, but he appreciated discretion and didn’t want too many local people knowing. So I told no-one.

They moved out just before Christmas. I was sad to see him leave, but he left me this Gnome. I always admired it (he said he hated it).

To Kieran, Marcella & Arthur, the best of luck in your new home.

I start each year with a Mindmap of goals for the year.

This year, I’ve kicked everything off with a 100 day plan, starting on the 4th of January and ending on the 14th of April.

It’s an attempt to kick-start things off this year as between SAD & COVID-19 lockdown it can be hard for anyone to get motivated.

But in life, you get what you focus on, and I’m focusing on various career, financial, domestic and adventure goals and the 100 day finish line.

A very important tool in this, is monitoring.

One problem I’ve occasionally found, is you seet a goal and a deadline, and you only start to worry when the deadline is looming.  With monitoring, it’s done every day and every week and makes you “stick to things” if you know what I mean.

For my weight and fitness, I use a mixture of Nutracheck & my Garmin watch. One monitors what I eat and drink, the other one monitors my activity. If I stick to the plan I’ve worked out I should be significantly healthier (and lighter) at the end of the 100 days.

Another thing I’ve setup is a routine habit monitor in 1 note.

It has things in it like make bed every morning and drink 2 litres of water. Just simple things, but as theyre done every they form into solid habits, so you don’t even know your doing them. Pick 10 yourself now, and track them every day for 100 days.

You’ll be amazed by the results.

It’s become an annual ritual at Christmas that my dining table is taken over by my train setup. I like to add something new each year.

In times gone buy that might be something simple like a bridge but this year I treated myself to a Mallard.

In its iconic blue, the steam train was the fastest train in the world at 126 mph in 1938 (I’ve seen the real one at the train Museum in York).

Of all my trains, my favourite is the 125.
I was originally given one as a gift by my father. I was too young (I would probably have tried to eat it) so my mum put it away. When we got it out a decade later, it didn’t work, so we gave it to the school jumble sale.

30 years later, the only way to get that train, was to buy a broken one, buy a working one of similar design and have the frame transplanted onto the chassis (by the experts at Chester Model shop).

Problem is, it still doesn’t run very well due to its age. So I was delighted to see that Hornby have re-launched the 125. A brand-new train that will run like a dream.

I think you can guess what will be racing around the dining table next Christmas.

Like a lot of people, with little else to do, I’ve been catching up on “box sets”.

At Christmas, Nikki’s mum was talking about Foyles War, so I looked it up.

22 film length episodes. 8 series over 15 years. Originally set in Hastings on the coast, it tells the story of an “ordinary” detective solving crimes in wartime with all the problems and dilemmas that presents.

The last 2 series are set in London, Foyle leaves the police and works for MI5 in the early days of the Cold War.

The first 7 series were actually filmed in Ireland, but the last was filmed almost exclusively in Liverpool (although Chester is used for a street Market, and Manchester Central Library briefly becomes the court at Nuremberg).

I watched the final episode yesterday. I remember Nikki telling me a while ago, that work at her office had been disrupted due to filming.

And the picture above is it !.

A key character is shot on the steps of the Port of Liverpool Building on Man Island, which passes nicely for the MI5 building in London.

The series is a genuinely intriguing drama/whodunnit with realistic interesting characters. If you’re bored, watch it, it should kill quite a few long dark evenings.

Speaking of intrigue, I had a Call of Duty fest over Christmas.

I finished COD – Modern Warfare, I started and completed COD – WW II, and I’ve almost finished my favourite COD – Black Ops, Cold War.

I remember playing the first Black Ops game some years ago. In one level I was “dropped” into Vietnam and everything seemed familiar for some reason.

I was quite well-read on military history at one time, and I realised, having read many first-hand accounts, that I was in the middle of the Tet offensive.

In another level of the game, after shooting down several Soviet helicopters, I receive grateful thanks from Jonas Savimbi of UNITA, during the Angola independence conflict !.

I won’t spoil the new Black Op’s game, but it has some amazing action taking place in the Lubianka building (the KGB headquarters where you get to wander around) and a personal meeting with Ronald Reagan !.

I just wanted to finish with something novel.

Stupidly, I had to dash out of the house and get something. I was gone for 2 hours and while walking home, realised I’d left the oven on.

Fish fingers and chips don’t need 2 hours at 200 centigrade, so I expected chaos when I got back.

But no. I discovered the oven has a special feature where it can recognize it was meant to be turned off (I have no idea how) and shut itself down.

The food was slightly burned, but otherwise, everything was OK.

I love technology 🙂

Near and far, the search for adventure continues…

Well, I’m writing this on “holiday” at home (the picture above, is a poster I’ve recently bought and put up in my living room).

Who, would have thought that I’d be writing this, my 500th blog entry in the middle of lockdown.

It’s actually 500 since I moved to the wordpress platform. Before that they were simple html pages, overwritten every 2 weeks so I’m pretty sure it’s is over 1000 since I was given the domain name as a gift in 2001.

Well, the main disappointments this year, have been:

• Travel – booked trips to Riga, Bratislava, Tunisia, Majorca, Greece cancelled. I’ve also had 4 UK trips cancelled, and that doesn’t include the ill fated 36hr trip to Sri Lanka.
• Interaction – not being able to go to the pub whenever I want, unable to spend time with my friends and I miss simple things like walking around an outdoor shop for an hour.

But on the positive side:

• I’m in a fab relationship with someone I really love and we’ve grown closer over the lockdown.
• I’ve got a secure job and regular income for the forceable future (well, as secure as any job can be in a climate like this).
• My home is secure, warm and comfortable and my cupboards and freezer are filled with nice food and wine.
• With access to all kinds of entertainment like an xbox, the internet, loads of my favourite books, lots of fun tv and films to watch I’m unlikely to be bored.

I’ve also been thinking, what positive things have happened this year because of Covid 19 ?

• Completely updated all my trips on johnsunter.com that took over 200 hours of work (but I had lots of free evening).
• Explored various places on foot and by bicycle and seen just how much beautiful countryside is half a mile from my front door.
• bought a new tent and experimented with cycle camping (the next big thing for me, it allows me to cover a lot more ground a see a lot more on a trip)
• Completely updated both of my bathrooms (why not, I had plenty of money, the pubs were closed for 101 days 🙂
• I’ve read more books in the last 6 months than in the previous 5 year.
• On Wednesday evening, we’d have a pizza delivered and open a bottle of wine. The simple pleasure of making time to spend together.

But sometimes it’s even more important to have perspective.

I’ve always loved shopping at Rohan, they make the best travel/outdoor gear available (in my opinion obviously).

But the best isn’t always cheap. There was a time for a few years when I just couldn’t afford to shop there.

So the other day, when I popped in treat myself (Mistral Jacket if you’re interested) I was talking to the staff there (who I’ve come to know quite well over the years and appreciate they’re honest opinions).

I commented that I’d had several trips cancelled and I was feeling a bit down.

They mentioned that someone who normally serves me who’s originaly from Poland, had received word the night before, that her father had died.

Lockdown in the UK was about to start, so if she went home to her fathers funeral she’d be stuck there for a month and wouldn’t be able to come home.

Obviously her employer were prepared to be flexible, but she had 2 children as well to make it even more complicated.

It’s story’s like that which make you you grateful for what you have. In comparison, my temporary lack of adventure holidays didn’t seem so bad.

A friend of mine approached me recently and asked for my help. Her boyfriend had turned 40 and was feeling quite melancholy.

My suggestion was simple. Get him to write down 5 things he really wants to do (that are practical and achievable, but for some reason he hasn’t got around to doing). When he feels miserably or misdirected, look at the list, go through it and work out what 1 thing he can do right now to further each of those 5 goals.

My friend was very grateful…

She shouldn’t have been !. I’m a shameless thief when it comes to using other peoples good ideas (ideas I’ve collected over the years). My suggestion was based on 2 ideas I’d got from other people.

So just for fun, I thought I’d catalogue where the idea’s came from.

Yvonne Brock.

Over 30 years ago, I was talking to my friend Yvonne while sat in her bedroom (we all seemed to socialise in our bedrooms back then, we didn’t own houses 🙂

I saw a hand written list of activities fastened to the back of her bedroom door. I remember her distinctly saying that’s a list of things I’m going to do this year.

I commented that there were quite a few things I wanted to do that year. She said simply, they’re a lot more likely to happen if you write them down.

Hardly worth mentioning that a week later, after I returned home, my mum asked why there was a list of activities fastened to the back of my bedroom door…

Paul Henderson – IBM.

25 years ago, one of the proudest  moments of my career, was to work for IBM (partly, because my mum and all her friends had heard of it, and they were really impressed).

I learned loads of technical things while working there, but one very important thing was documentation. Everything was articulated and written down in a log, so if you cleverly fixed something for a customer and got hit by a bus on the way home, one of your colleagues would be 99% percent towards fixing it and wouldn’t have to “re-learn” all over again.

One of the most important things I learned though, was the bottom of the log always had a next action. It was drilled in to me, that if I didn’t have a next action, I wasn’t actually in control.

Another really useful trick I learned from a book called the Pocket Life Coach.

It suggests writing a PUW or Putting Up With list.

The idea goes basically like this. If I need car insurance I buy it. If My waterproof jacket gets a hole in it, it’s replaced or repaired.

But, what if there’s a dripping tap, what if the brakes on my bike work, but squeak a bit, what if there’s a pile of books I know I should read, but just haven’t started yet.

Thing is, it’s these small things that ebb away at your happiness. So, draw up a PUW list and get to work on it now. Others will appear to replace the most important 5 right now, but I’ve found I sleep better and feel a lot more content, when I know these small things are in play and there’s a plan to fix them.

I’ve included the picture above, as it symbolises something I’m putting up with at the moment.

When I first moved to Chester, I lived in a place called Saltney.

It was right next to the border between England and Wales, and I was fascinated by a road called Boundary Lane.

The only suburban road of it’s kind in the UK, the houses on 1 side are in Wales and the Houses on the other are in England.

There’s a nice pub there, called the Anchor (It’s on the Welsh side).

I read in the press, that the Landlord was concerned he was losing customers to “England” as his pub had been forced to close as part of a Welsh “firebreak” lockdown, at a time when English pub’s were open for business.

The Welsh lockdown finished on the 9th of November, however the English lockdown began on the 2nd. So I imagine the residents from both sides of the street are now off for a pint in the Anchor.

All’s well that ends well, but if there’s a better illustration of how badly Covid is being handled in the UK, I’d love to hear it

Two years ago, I cancelled my TV license. You can do this, if you:

a, Don’t watch any TV programs in real time, who ever makes them

b, Don’t watch programs made by the BBC.

Seemed daft to spend money I didn’t need to. I watch mostly Netflix and Amazon and the odd thing I watched on BBC, I watched at Nikki’s house, which is completely legal.

I’ve changed my mind, and now pay tv license like everyone else. BBC news is respected around the world and some of the thrillers and crime drama’s are amazing.

Just looking at IPlayer, you can watch every episode of Luther, Life on Mars, Battlestar Galactica, Dr Who, Strike, Bodyguard, The Capture and a raft of other amazing tv for just 40p a day.

Other stuff I’m watching at the moment, is adventures with Levison Wood, Star Trek Discovery and the Mandalorian.

One trick I used to use to motivate myself to do “from scratch” cooking, was to make a list of cooking projects, laminate it and then fasten it to the cupboard doors in my kitchen.

I’d then use a highlighter pen and cross out the one’s I’d done.

I’ve been doing a lot of stuff from Ray Mears Wilderness Chef book (although admittedly, I’ve been cooking in the kitchen, not on a camping stove in the garden).

Something I’ve learned to do several times on bushcraft courses but never gotten around to doing at home, is making bread.

So that’s now added to several others on the new laminate in my kitchen. when I’ve made the bread, whatever the outcome, I’ll post pictures of the result.

I normally use Onenote and the GTD method to organise most things, but I also use Microsoft Todo on my phone if I need to grab a quick idea I might have on the go (and how much is an idea worth ?)

But I also like to record idea’s and plan’s sometimes on paper.

Above is General Montgomery’s plan for D Day, written on 1 piece of A4 paper.

I’ve used lots of pens over the years and the one I love the most is the Fisher Space Pen (although quite expensive, I prefer the model in Titanium)

The reason I enjoy writting down plans and list’s is best explained by a quote by Dwight D. Eisenhower “In war I’ve found that plans are useless but planning is essential”.

The simple act of sitting down with pen and paper, focuses the mind and allows creativity to flow, in a way typing into an Ipad never will.

I usually have a notebook of some kind with me at all times (I also have notebooks and pens in all of my bags, next to my bed, on my desk and in my kitchen) just in case inspiration strikes.

One I especially like is the Rite in the rain 7 inch ring bound notebook.

I don’t usually need my scribblings to be waterproof, but you never know.

It’s complimented by the Rite in the rain C980 writing case you can see above.

It can hold upto 4 pens, but I have a penlight torch, a multi screwdriver and 2 space pens in mine.

I also include a plastic form for navigating on OS maps, and I always carry a pack of post it notes in case I want to mark an article in a book or magazine (I’d never write directly onto either).

As the saying goes about Camera’s, “The best camera is the one you’ve got with you when you need it”.

I’ve always got a telescopic pen with me on my keys, but what about other times ?. Sometimes I take a trip to the pub with only my “basic man” outfit. A wallet, keys and a phone.

I was delighted to see Rite in the rain have brought out these amazing mini notebooks you can fit in your wallet.

They’re the same size as a few business cards – the one in my Rohan RFID wallet above is in red next to the Santander card with a yellow one for illustration to the left (they come in packs of 6).

To the left of the yellow notepad is a Bellroy Micropen. A technical marvel, that can fit unobtrusively in a wallet, to complete the ensemble.

Finally, just for fun, I saw this almost 40 year old advert for the Commodore 64. My brother and I had one, we paid for it ourselves but convinced mum it was a sound investment as we’d both learn about computers and how to type. I think 99 out of every 100 hours it was used was to play games.

Someone’s altered this advert. If you know who Ron Jeremy is, you’ll understand why it’s so mischievously funny 🙂

Once again thanks for reading from everyone here at johnsunter.com I’ll do another post, before Christmas, but near and far, the search for adventure continues…

Well, despite the picture above, I haven’t been doing much lately, so no update to johnsunter.com

To be honest I’ve been feeling a bit down. I’ve always suffered with seasonal effectiveness disorder and now a 2nd Covid lockdown has just made me even more miserable.

No adventure on the horizon (well none that definitely won’t be cancelled) and I’m drinking a bit too much.

My meet up with Nick yesterday ended up being cancelled (a bit disappointing really and since Manchester is going to be imminently, fully locked down, I don’t know the next chance we’ll get to do it).

On the plus side, I’ve started watching loads of new TV stuff – Wynonna Earp, The Umbrella academy and Star Trek Discovery

If you have young children, I highly recommend the Disney live action drama Mulan. I watched it with our freinds daughter Amy and she really enjoyed it.

I went to see True Romance and have dinner at Chez Jules (for several years we didn’t have a cinema in Chester, so a local restaurant stepped up and started showing films).

Have seen a few things at Storyhouse cinema, including Capital, Ford v Ferrari and A life on our planet with Sir David Attenborough.

Things at work are going well (I haven’t missed a days pay throughout this nightmare, and were busier than ever) I suppose I’m due some good luck after the events of 2009.

I even have my own modest office now (it’s early days, but I have great plans for this place 🙂

Really struggled to get back into a routine when I returned to work (3 days a week, Wed & Fri at home).

I started using a daily checklist, inspired by the book checklist manifesto which I highly recommend.

A couple of things have worked out this year.

We went camping to Beddgelert. A very “keystone cops” affair, as we arrived at the campsite on Friday evening, and it had closed down.

After about an hour, I realised that we were booked into another campsite, 2 miles away (the one we’ve visited before and really like had closed down. I couldn’t remember it’s name so just googled Beddgelert campsite, it pointed me at the other one and I’d booked it).

Anyway, we ended up having a really good time and among several day walks, completed Moel Hebog up the hard route.

Speaking of camping, my old friend Caz showed me this rig he’d set up (and which I’ve now bought myself).

Basically, 2 telescopic poles, a 3 meter by 3 meter waterproof sheet (in the army, referred too as a basha) and plenty of para-cord.

A simple concept, but it revolutionises minimal camping. In younger days, while camping, you would sit out in the evening, but if it started raining you’d retire 2 to a tent and the social aspect of the evening would sort of end.

If we’d had one of these, we could have stayed up all night 🙂

On another weekend away (all together, I was away from home for 6 consecutive weekends) we visited Iron-Bridge Gorge.

It was organised by the excellent Brian from the Walking Group (the walking group isn’t operating officially at the moment). We ran an off book trip to Iron-bridge Youth Hostel and booked the whole thing (we had a room each :).

Lots of fun walking days. I think next time I’ll also rent one of the Canadian canoes they have under the bridge.

In the evening, we enjoyed some nice food and good company.

I also got to spend a day at Blists Hill Victorian town.

It was a literal recreation of a Victorian town. It was enormous and had loads of costumed actors and people demonstrating steam engine’s and stuff like that.

The search for adventure continues… although it feels a bit more difficult than usual at the moment.

Well, I’ve been getting out adventuring almost every weekend.

I usually cycle around Cheshire somewhere (this shot was taken on the canal).

I also try to get out walking and I’ve discovered loads of interesting places off the beaten track in Chester.

Barbecue’s are a regular weekend occurrence now.

We also got hold of Madhur Jaffreys Ultimate Curry Bible, as recommended by Mike Delafield, and we try making a different curry every Friday.

The beer fridge I’d wanted for years and finally got as a Christmas bonus from SGS has been a godsend for weekends and summer evenings.

I bought Ray Mears new book.

I certainly wouldn’t describe myself as a chef, but I can knock together a decent meal on a camping stove.

The book itself is really interesting and has loads of useful stuff, so if you’re about to go on a long train journey, go out and buy it.

I’ve replaced my tent, The Wild Country – Zephros 2 with, The Wild Country – Zephros 2, compact.

I loved my old tent, but there were one or two niggling problems like cheap zips, bendable tent-pegs, fiddly to put up.  All have been fixed.

A project I did recently was an overnight camp to Chester lakes campsite.

As it’s only 5 miles from my house, it enabled me to load up my bike, pedal over and test the balance of my bike and various new camping things I’ve recently bought.

I’d spent the days before, rationalising and testing my cooking rig (inspired by stuff in Ray Mears Book).

I prepared all the gear I thought I’d need for a week’s camping in the lakes (although I was only camping for 1 night, it seemed a good test). Would my bike be overloaded ?. The whole point was to make the freedom of cycling a pleasant experience).

Next came loading up the panniers.

That was a real challenge as you had to fill them out evenly, by leaning the bike against a wall or something like that.

So, I found my £3.99 B&Q stool, and “mounted” the panniers on that.

It worked out really well and I definitely recommend that as  a “best practice” way to load panniers.

So, with the afternoon booked off work, I set off pedalling to the Lakes Campsite and setup my little camp.

I managed to find a small secluded forest that seemed quiet. I made a brew on my stove, tested my new mini wash kit, and got changed from my cycling gear into my trekking clothes.

Everything was going to plan.

Inspired by stuff I’d read in Ray Mears book.

Don’t take something simple to fill you up. Think about what you’d really like to eat.

In my case, crackers and cheese spread. The panniers were so carefully loaded that the crackers didn’t even break.

I wandered around the campsite exploring. They had a nice place called the Wild Goose, so I had a few beers in the sunshine. Then I wandered over to the Red Lion in Dodleston and had dinner with Nikki.

After the meal I said goodbye to Nikki, wished her a safe journey home, then headed back to my camp for the night.

Eight cars and multiple tents had setup their rig right near mine (the picture above isn’t they’re actual camp, which was much worse, this is something I found on the internet to capture the scene).

The quiet of the evening was broken, when I realised the loud music was due to an amplifier they’d brought, powered by a generator !

A strobe light and the smell of weed finished me off, I loaded up my bike and pedalled home (I was drinking hot chocolate in my house by 10:30 pm).

No matter, it was a test/proof of concept and it worked.

Saturday was spent catching up on jobs, including fixing Nikki’s dryer which required some creative use of concrete.

I also started watching a series called Gangs of London, which I’d really recommend.

On Sunday, we went walking again. We passed through a new place called Park in the Past.

I was delighted to see that you could rent Kayaks. I’ve made a note of that and I’ll be back there soon.

We even wandered across Hope Mountain.

Overall, a pretty fab day out and a nice end to the weekend.

I’m back in work until Thursday, then off to Northumberland for 9 days which I’m really looking forward too.

Were moving around, so I’ve booked accommodation in 3 different locations and booked dinner in different places for each evening.

Well, only 2 more posts and I’ll have completed 500 posts on johnsunter.com

Once again, thanks for reading, near and far, the search for adventure continues…

Although house keys aren’t a subject that jumps out at you, it’s obvious that Ranulph Fiennes, Ray Mears and Chris Bonington are probably all carrying them right now. Since you’ll always have your keys with you, you can put additional equipment with them, which can save hours of your time.

The right balance is important though, too much stuff on there, and they become cumbersome and untidy. Over time, I’ve found what I think is the right balance (for me at least), so this week’s short post is about the contents of my key fob.

First decision, which actual keys to put on there ?. The keys to the garden shed can be stored in the house and don’t need to be with you every minute of every day.

Minimalist is best. I have a polymer Rockdoor at home, so the key on the left locks the door in 12 places and can withstand a police door jam for upto an hour.

The only other key I carry, is a spare for my bikelock.

A nightmare scenario for me would be out on a ride, stopping for a pint and realising I’ve locked my bike and the key has dropped in a stream or something.

I can nearly always locate something to write on, but something to write with, not so often.

Obviously, I have a notebook and pen with me wherever I go, but if their out of reach and I need to fill in a form… write down a phone number…

The Trueutility telescopic pen is superb for this.

The ink cartridges aren’t very big but I’m not writing an epic. It also features a sort of stylus for writing on tablets, but I found it to be too big and largely useless.

You can get the newer version here.

So for the actual key fob. I can’t take the credit for this.

Years ago, Sue Llewelyn from Fairbridge Drake (an outdoor charity where I used to volunteer) used a small climbing sling a key fob.

It was a perfect fit, as it was light, hard wearing yet weighed practically nothing. It’s only the 2nd one I’ve needed in 30 years it’s that hard-wearing.

Rock Empire don’t seem to make them any more, but you can get one like this from DMM.

A USB key, just a few observations about the one I have, and how I use it.

A few DONT’S

1. Put a plastic one on your keys, the other items on there will destroy it (this one is mostly stainless steel).

2. Get one with moving parts, sliders, or any faf like that.

3. Buy one with any complex encryption. Keep it simple, you can zip/password pictures of your passport, driving licence etc.

A few DO’S

1. Get at least USB 3.1 (the blue one). you’ll only be using this as a last resort, so you don’t have hours to wait while it copies the data.

2. Create a simple text file named NOK with next of kin details and contacts, and medication you’re taking,  any medical conditions you have.

3. Get something at least 128 gig (that’s 128 billion characters) if not, at least 64 gig.

On my USB key I have:

A couple of films I haven’t seen and some software I use like Greenshot, VLC media Player, 7 zip, just in case I don’t have access to the internet.

A zipped version of the documents mentioned above and a folder called \Pictures to develop. I put things in there, so when I pass Max Speilman, I can just pop in and develop the pictures I want without incident.

 Like the pen example above, I normally have a Swiss army knife or Leatherman with me at all times, but for the occasions that I don’t, this thing comes to the fore.

In terms of a keyring tool, I’m looking for something sharp to open parcels, something that can open a bottle…

They don’t seem to make these any more, but there must be some knocking about on eBay.

It has a blade, a nail file (rarely used), a small screwdriver (used for opening things) a bottle opener and can opener.

The scissors are useful for cutting cardboard, which can be quite hard with the main blade. Obviously keep it oiled and sharp.

The sort of cover flap on the left, doesn’t seem to offer any useful function and adds weight, so I’m considering removing it.

So the whole thing fits quite flat, weighs practically nothing and sits in my pocked unobtrusively.

Some things I considered and decided not to add, but you might consider adding to your key set.

1. A small torch

2. Some sort of lighter/firesteel

3.  A whistle.

4. Cash stash with £20 in it.

5. Something engraved with NOK details.

6. Mobile phone charger.

I hope this week’s blog entry has been interested. I’m now 3 entries away from 500 on johnsunter.com so stay tuned.

See you next week, the search for adventure continues…