Liebster Award

This should be fun. I've been nominated for a Liebster Award; thanks to Stuart (lonewalker) for the nomination. He's from the other side...Cheshire.

The Rules

If you have been nominated for The Liebster Award AND YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT IT, write a blog post about the Liebster award in which you:

1. Thank the person who nominated you, and post a link to their blog on your blog.

2. Display the award on your blog — by including it in your post and/or displaying it using a “widget” or a “gadget”. (Note that the best way to do this is to save the image to your own computer and then upload it to your blog post.)

3. Answer 11 questions about yourself, which will be provided to you by the person who nominated you.

4. Provide 11 random facts about yourself.

5. Nominate 5 – 11 blogs that you feel deserve the award, who have a less than 1000 followers. (Note that you can always ask the blog owner this since not all blogs display a widget that lets the readers know this information!)

6. Create a new list of questions for the blogger to answer.

7. List these rules in your post (You can copy and paste from here.) Once you have written and published it, you then have to:

8. Inform the people/blogs that you nominated that they have been nominated for the Liebster award and provide a link for them to your post so that they can learn about it (they might not have ever heard of it!)

My Questions...and my Answers:

1...If you were restricted to only walking on one hill/mountain, which one would it be, and why?

It would have to be Mam Tor and the Great Ridge. It's easy for me to get there on the bus from Sheffield, and the Hope Valley is a particularly beautiful and interesting part of the Peak District because it marks the boundary between the Dark Peak and the White Peak.

2...Your favourite piece of technology to use when outdoors?

A couple of years ago I bought a Garmin GPS. I only used it for a few weeks; it gobbled up batteries and wouldn't even last for a full day's walking...I still take it with me, and the batteries, just in case of an emergency though.

I suppose I'm more of a low-tech type of person and so would choose my map case for this answer.

3...What was your most memorable walk?

It would have to be when I did the Lyke Wake Walk on the North York Moors with a group of friends as a sponsored walk for a local charity. It was nearly thirty years ago, I doubt that I'd be able to do it now - the distance is over forty miles.

4...What's your favourite piece of outdoor equipment?

My maps...I love maps.

5...What was your funniest and/or scariest moment in the outdoors?

My scariest moment was being attacked by cows in Nidderdale and having to jump in the river to escape from them. My funniest moment was when the elasticated waisteband in my friend's trousers failed and he had to spend the rest of the walk wearing just his underpants...fortunately it was a warm summer day.

6...If you could create one binding piece of UK legislation relating to the outdoors what would it be?

This is a difficult one. There are few things that annoy me when I'm out walking, but I don't think they could be tackled by the use of legislation though; poor and confusing signage (especially when footpaths are diverted), farmers placing feeding troughs right next to stiles or gates, and Sheffield City Council closing several public toilets in moorland areas.

I suppose the only issue that could be tackled by legiislation would be the use of off-road motor cycles in inappropriate and dangerous locations.

7...What's your outdoor ambition?

I'm the walks leader for the autism group here in Doncaster. At the moment we are limited to only doing local walks; I'd love to be able to take some of the members out into the Peak District - there are so many lifeskills that can be improved for these people by using a day out hiking across the moors as a practical, rather than a classroom-based activity. The group is currently seeking funding in order to hire a minibus for the day, so I'm hoping that this small ambition of mine will soon be achieved.

8...If you could choose anyone (from the past or the present), who would you most like to talk on a walk in the great outdoors?

I can't really answer this question, I'm not a people person...I'm an ideas person. It would be nice though to have a girlfriend who enjoys walking.

9...What piece of music, book, or film do you associate with getting out?

It's something I've never thought about. A couple of years ago I was in a car with two friends from Leeds being driven alongside the Ladybower Reservoir: it was a lovely sunny day and Phil, the driver, decided to play Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries on the car's MP3 player - it seemed very appropriate.

10..What outdoor related achievement are you most proud of?

Completing two long distance challenge walks on the North York Moors, the Lyke Wake Walk and the Shepherd's Round.

11..Where will your next adventure take you?

When it comes to walking, I've got nothing planned, however exciting things are happening for me with the autism group here in Doncaster.

Eleven Random Facts About Myself

1...I'm a widely published poet, but I haven't written anything, or had anything published, for several years...since most of the poetry magazines started publishing online. I much prefer writing my walking blog now, here's a link to my poetry though: Lost Among Equals

2...Technically I'm a Tibetan Buddhist monk master of meditation [I think]. This is due to my poetry. I know a man who is a qualified teacher of Tibetan meditation techniques. He was taught by a genuine Tibetan Buddhist monk who supposedly used my haiku poems as part of his route to enlightenment. I've been told that anyone who helps a Tibetan Buddhist monk on his path to enlightenment is automatically raised to the staus of a monk themselves, and so that how it came about.

3...I've got Asperger's syndrome. One of the manisfestations of the conditions is that we tend to obsess on certain things; my obsessions are maps, written language...and lists.

4...By birth I'm a Pomfretian - so it's natural I'm going to like chips.

5...One of the symptoms of my Asperger's syndrome is dropfoot, caused by hyperflexibility in my ankle joint. Because of this I'm always overflexing my ankles and so my bootlaces are always coming untied - my solution to this problem is taping up my laces with gaffer tape.

6...As I've got older I'm starting to suffer from golfer's vasculitis - fortunately it's nothing more than a minor inconvenience at the moment.

7...I'm quite clumsy and I do tend to trip and stumble a lot; fortunately I do know how to fall over so as to minimise my injuries.

8...I love ballet and the opera, and theatre in general. I have an annual budget from social services as part of my care budget and so I'm able to regularly attend performances in Leeds, Wakefield, Sheffield, Rotherham, and here in Doncaster.

9...Six months ago I was the most unwell I've ever been, I was coughing all the time day and night, and was diagnosed with acid reflux erosive oesaphagitis. I've just about recovered now, but have to be careful what I eat - fortunately my diet isn't too restrictive...most of the things I'm not supposed to eat I don't like anyhow.

10..I'm right-handed, yet there are certain things I prefer to do with my left hand; opening doors and gates is one example.

11..There are no anagrams for my name; I don't know if this is unusual or not.

This is my list of blogs I am forwarding this post to...and my list of questions to continue the chain.

http://dittzzy.blogspot.co.uk/

http://roachling.blogspot.co.uk/

http://yorkshireramblings.blogspot.co.uk/

http://diane-heartshaped.blogspot.co.uk/

http://peakramblings.blogspot.co.uk/

http://beefgravy.blogspot.co.uk/

Here are my questions:

1...What's the most unusual, or funny, name of a place you've visited?

2...If there was a hole in the bottom of your rucksack and something fell out, what would you hope it wouldn't be, and why?

3...What is your least favourite area for walking, and why is this?

4...Walking poles; help or hindrance?

5...What are your preferred weather conditions for walking?

6...What was your most embarrassing moment when out walking?

7...How often do you think the Ordnance Survey map is wrong?

8...Do you combine your walking with any other hobby, such as photography, public presentations, blogging [of course], or maybe first aid?

9...For those of you who regularly walk in the Peak District; White Peak or Dark Peak?

10..Do you go walking to escape from your everday life, or do you go to participate in something different, and better?

11..What's your walking bugbear; what really annoys you?