Frosty walk

Stolen winter ramble.

Sloe gin

Just finished bottling this year's sloe gin. Yule is definitely underway in the Nutton house. Next year a new house and new baby will also feature but probably less gin.

Gone to the dogs

I enjoyed a visit to Kinsley greyhound racing track for my birthday last friday.  It was fun to have a modest flutter, try to win some money and to replicate Blur's Parklife album cover.

No such luck on either count.

Snow substitute

Last Wednesday, with record cold temperatures and snowfall being recorded in parts of the UK, Leeds City College closed due to the inclement weather.  To minimise disruption to my students I used the college's virtual learning environment to contact my students, set up a chatroom and make resources available for a virtual session.  In the event, my home internet connection failed and I wasn't able to run the session as I'd planned. No substitute, I suppose, for time together in the classroom.

With my teaching plans on blocks I decided to get out and enjoy the snow with friends.  Doubtless a choice shared by a number of my students!

Scots pines on Ilkley Moor from a "snow day" walk from Saltaire

Snow business

Paid work in the outdoors has gone a bit quiet at present.

Field teaching with the RSPB all but ceases in the winter, though we are working on some winter programmes. There is still plenty of fun learning to be had during the colder months. A shift of focus and a change of clothing is all that is required. Schools seem reluctant to schedule visits, however.

I'm still working voluntarily with Bradford Adventure Activities Development Unit on a project to establish an outdoor activities club at a local youth centre.  We found two old plywood canoe kits which we intend to construct and use.  Last weekend we took a walk in Upper Wharfedale, round Trollers Gill. Home of the mythical Barguest.

For myself, I've been getting out on my bike and into local woodland, birdwatching and enjoying the wintery weather.

Highlights have been:

• Watching a peregrine falcon mobbing a plastic owl from the staffroom window at Leeds City College.
• Floodlit white-water kayaking at Bradford and Bingley Canoe Club.
• Seeing a stoat being scolded by a pair of wrens at Timble Ings in the Washburn Valley and 
• Getting out on bikes with my brother in the snow today.

Snowy cycling on Baildon Moor...

...and at Eldwick. Feet very cold by now.

Outlook changeable

So, a bit of an update since my last post.

We spent the October half term in mid Wales staying at the welcoming and rather eccentric Neuadd Arms at Llanwrtyd Wells and at Fforest near Cardigan.  The weather started bright, cold and crisp (the coldest October day for seven years) and we enjoyed the year's first migrant thrushes (redwings) and soaring red kites as we took a walk in the countryside around Llanwrtyd Wells before enjoying beer from the hotel's own micro brewery.

Red kite sculpture at Llantwrtyd Wells

After skittering through icy puddles on mountainbikes at Coed Trallwm we moved to our "glamp site" at Fforest, our drive taking us through spectacular and desolate countryside around the Abergwesyn Pass. Here we paid our money and enjoyed great hospitality, luxurious tented accomodation; egg, toast and muesli for breakfast, Halloween fun and games and deteriorating weather.

Outside our luxurious dome at Fforest

Inside our luxurious dome at Fforest

Free however, was a paddle through the beautiful Teifi gorge to the sea and watching displaying peregrines, sparrowhawks, Canada geese and flocking starlings at the Welsh Wildlife Centre at Teifi Marshes Nature Reserve.  We'll come back to this part of the world.

Me at Poppit sands after my paddle to the sea

Since then work for the RSPB and with a local youth project has kept me busy away from my main employment with Leeds City College.  A highlight was Global Entrepreneurship Week when my friend, Brant Richards of Shedfire and Ragley Bikes visited to coach students with their Education Challenge projects.

Global Entrepreneurship Week

Some wet and muddy mountainbiking, kayak coaching for my canoe club, practice with Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue Association and making sloe gin has put a spare time smile on my face as we head into winter.

Muddy trails at dusk on my local mountain bike circuit

Sloe gin in preparation for the new year

The biggest grin must go to the prospect of another addition to the Nutton family, however. Very exciting.

12 week scan of our baby

What makes something special?

This was the philosophical question we identified in our Philosophy for Children workshop at the Institute for Outdoor Learning National Conference, this weekend. The aim of P4C is to develop communities of enquiry in educational settings in order promote creative and independent thinking with children and young people.

Sadly, it seems to me, that thinking skills have become a niche interest beyond primary education.  In a number of the contexts in which I teach, too many students are too strongly outcome-focussed, hoping to arrive at an acceptable result by the quickest means. A "What do I do next?" teacher-dependent approach often prevails. Attempts to develop a process-focussed approach, considering the means by which we arrive at decisions, seem to go against the grain of the educational experience of many students and they find it difficult.

In another workshop Marcus Bailie of the Adventurous Activities Licensing Authority talked about human error accidents in adventurous activities. Marcus identified human error as the biggest single cause of accidents and talked about the different safety cultures of surgeons and pilots as examples. Models of human error, including "lemons" and "the turkey trap" were discussed. Limiting distraction/focussing attention, supervision (of students by the instructor and instructors by managers) and buddy checking (duality) were also discussed.  Buddy checking is strongly embedded in flight crew teams but not in operating theatres. Finally Marcus addressed the "to tie in or clip in" issue of rock-climbing with groups. He concluded, against a strong degree of popular wisdom, that it is generally safer to clip in as it:

• is easier to teach clipping a karabiner safely than tying a safe knot
• is easier for students to check one another - the "squeeze test"
• frees the attention of the instructor to supervise safety rather than repeatedly tying knots

The issue of "more links in the safety chain" is not significant, as equipment failure contributes much less to safety than human error through inattention.

And on Sunday I went kayaking on the River Washburn with friends from Bradford and Bingley Canoe Club and walked with Mrs Nutton through local autumn woods.  Quite a special weekend!

Green Talent

I've just returned from a workshop, at RSPB Old Moor, on the Green Talent Project in which the RSPB is a partner.

The aim is to prepare 14-19 year olds for sustainable work in a low carbon economy.  In my experience many young people see sustainability as an unfashionable minority interest but in truth it is likely to underpin our lives and especially those of young people as climate change and resource scarcity becomes a more present reality.

Green Talent opens the eyes of young people to the challenges and opportunities in an engaging way using mobile technology and fun activity.  It's not all doom and gloom and finding creative solutions for businesses in maximising the "triple bottom line" of people, places and profit will bring economic reward for those able to engage.

In other news, a great weekend was had potholing in Hurnel Moss Pot with friends from Bradford Pothole Club, competing in Bradford & Bingley Canoe Club's slalom event and learning to use the Little Dragon warm air breathing apparatus with Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue Association.

It's a dog's life

At last night's UWFRA meeting a representative of SARDA (the Search and Rescue Dog Association) came along to tell us about their work.

The dedication of the trainers in bringing their dogs to the required standard of competence was very impressive to hear.

If you spend time in the UK hills they are certainly an organisation worthy of your support.

Rolling, rolling, rolling

I've just returned from a very single-minded weekend at a "rolling clinic" at Plas-y-Brenin, the National Mountain Centre.  In three years of kayaking I think I've managed an Eskimo roll probably three times in practice and never "in anger".

Under Chris's excellent coaching I have now got a much more reliable roll, though by no means "bombproof". Yet!

By the end of the first day I was quite dispirited. Though I'd got in a handful of decent rolls I began to fail more frequently as tiredness and frustration set in.  After watching video of my attempts I returned to the pool on Sunday morning more confident and got in a series of successful rolls before, once again, tiredness (but not frustration this time) took hold. With rests (for the mind and body) between attempts I was able to be more consistently successful by the afternoon.

The Snowdon Horseshoe from the Plas y Brenin bar terrace

By the end of a weekend spent indoors and with body aching and sinuses stinging it was nice to sit outside and take in the view before the drive home.

Reflecting on Bradford's archaeology and distinctiveness

Part of last weekend's visit to Buck Wood involved an examination of the local archaeology.  In 2006 the Friends of Buck Wood commissioned an archaeological survey and produced a leaflet describing their findings which included remains of an iron age settlement.

 
The cover art is by a local and very talented artist, Joolz Denby.  I thought she might be interested in contributing to a local distinctiveness project I'm involved in (here) and in that spirit she sent me an image she'd taken of Bradford's City Hall.

Image of Bradford City Hall by Joolz Denby

Joolz has some very positive views on what makes Bradford such a distinctive place and one worth celebrating.  She airs them very eloquently below and, through her work, contributes to local distinctiveness herself.



Thanks Joolz.

Buck Wood geology

A quiet weekend, this last one. However, on Saturday I enjoyed a walk round local woods with The Friends of Buck Wood and in the expert company of Alison, a former geologist with Bradford Museums Service.

Buck Wood (in the bend of the River Aire, in the northern part of the map) lies on the Soft Bed Coal, Flags  and associated shales, seat-earths and other rocks of the  Lower Coal Measures and the Rough Rocks of the Millstone Grit Series.  These were laid down in the tropical forests and river deltas of the Upper Carboniferous period about 300 million years ago.

Alison showed us, among other things, fossils.  The one below is of Sigillaria, a tree-sized club-moss. The pimply holes are scars left by rootlets growing from a main root. The fossil is in a rock known as Ganister, a tough, fine-grained seat-earth (found immediately below coal seams) formed from quartz sand.

Lucky dip

It's unusual that we get a school group visiting the reserve at this time of year.  Primary schools seem to hibernate once the nights start drawing in.  However, today we had a very able group of 5 year olds pond dipping and "being a bird" at RSPB Fairburn Ings. We were fortunate to have very warm and sunny weather. Perhaps that had a bearing on our being judged "outstanding" by the accompanying staff!

Excited by such an accolade, some of our reserve residents felt the need to cool off.

See more, recent images from the reserve here.

Navigation course

I met up yesterday with Jen Suilven and clients, Charles and Pauline, to assist on a navigation course for Lupine Adventure Co-Op at Ambleside.

It was useful for me to get experience working with adult, commercial clients rather than the school groups I'm more used to.  Jen is a very experienced and well qualified instructor and it was helpful to see how she used the area around Loughrigg to best effect. We also had a good deal of fun!

Starting to stack up

Among a number of appointments today I met John Hendy of Creative International Adventures at Shaw Lodge Mills, Halifax.

Chimney stack at Shaw Lodge Mills

Over the last year or so he and his team have renovated the previously derelict boiler house of the huge and architecturally impressive mill complex.  Inside, climbing, caving, circus skills, archery and other activities can be practiced by local young people.  The building also provides a base for expeditions locally and further afield.

John has big plans which will benefit young people in the Calderdale area.  I hope I can be part of them.

Wood watching

Aside from Toy Story 3, mountainbiking in the Yorkshire Dales and a couple of birthday celebrations, I spent some of the weekend in my local woods at Northcliffe, sitting quietly, watching and enjoying the September sun.

I saw a nuthatch placing acorns in fissures in branches, pecking at them to get at the kernel, trying out a few variations to see what worked best. I watched speckled wood butterflies dancing through dappled patches of sunlight and basking in the late summer warmth. A common carder bee foraged on the ground, investigating dark places under leaves; looking for a hole to overwinter? Flies buzzed and the leaves sussurated in the breeze. There was a faint fungal whiff of earthy, woody decay on the air. As the sun went behind ocassional clouds a chill descended. In less than two weeks will be the autumn equinox and the summer will be gone. There's certainly a sense of the season turning.

A Muscid fly rests on an oak leaf.

Means business?

I actually prefer the term, "contact card". "Business card" is so Gordon Gekko!

These are from Moo and are made of recycled paper and environmentally friendly inks.

The images are from my Flickr photostream. Aside from it being a handy and, I hope, attractive way of passing on my contact details, it's like walking round with my holidays in my pocket!

Not working, networking

Today I attended a meeting of Bradford Environment Forum.

Representatives of Bradford Friends of the Earth, Bradford Environmental Education Service and Bradford Community Environment Project, along with a senior officer from the council were all in attendance.

The level of discussion around sustainability issues was really encouraging and it's clear that Bradford faces some significant challenges. It was heartening to hear them being met with such creativity, enthusiasm and intelligence.

I may also have snagged some work.

Later we adjourned to the New Beehive Inn for "Green Drinks" where the discussion was rather more exuberant.

Grass Wood search practice

Last night's Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue Association practice took place at Grass Wood near Grassington.

Aside from being a great place to practice searches, with its complex network of paths, crags and rocks and dense vegetation, it's a fantastically beautiful place too. Even in the dark.

It starts here

Over the last few years I've been shifting the balance of my work to include more environmental and outdoor teaching.

I've had a good deal of success with work (some voluntary, some paid) with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Bradford Council Adventure Activities Development Unit and recently with Lupine Adventure Co-op.

This year I've decided to step up a gear by negotiating a further day away from my main employer.

The aim to increase my work in the outdoors even further starts here.

From tiny acorns...

The little one

The English Defence League had billed it as "the big one". In the event a small group of bigots were contained, by police, in a relative backwater of the city while the majority of Bradfordian's went about their business.

For myself, the evening before, I attended a vigil for peace and on the day itself I went to a "mini mela" to celebrate Bradfordian diversity. Later I cycled into town and mingled with some young Muslim Bradfordian's who were enthusiastic to see the EDL off their streets. While a minority were intemperate in their views, and attempted to confront the EDL, most were just there, as I was, to see them leave under no uncertainty about their welcome.

This morning I met council officials at the site of the EDL's protest. Overnight, workers had restored the gardens, clearing litter, bottles and stones. Later the Dean of Bradford cathedral conducted a multifaith ceremony to reclaim and cleanse the site. Now that the grubbiness has been removed Bradford can continue forwards.

All those involved in the safe conduct of Saturday's events deserve congratulation.

Fell racing and Sky riding

Last weekend I spent a very satisfying weekend marshalling the Burnsall Classic Fell Race (part of Burnsall Feast Sports) with Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue Association.


Here I met an old friend, Pete Watson, who was enjoying the view from the summit. Pete is one of my heroes and, for many years, held the record for the most victories in the event and in 1969 (the year I was born) broke the record for Burnsall, which had previously stood for over 40 years. It was a pleasure to see him looking fit, in his seventies, encouraging and enjoying the success of others. The History of Leeds City Athletic Club describes him as "one of the best pure fellman". I couldn't argue with that.

On Sunday I took part in a local Skyride. A mass participation cycle event sponsored by a well known broadcasting monolith.

All very satisfying.

Summer update

In the last two weeks of my holiday I have been involved with a couple of youth work/charity/outdoor projects. The first, "Champions' Challenge", involved supervising a group of lively youngsters on a journey on foot and by bike for 5 days around the Yorkshire Dales.

The journey took in the Yorkshire Three Peaks as well as climbing, caving and environmental challenges. Below, a ranger instructs the youngsters in building a red squirrel feeding box as part of their John Muir Award.



The idea, apart from providing a fun challenge for the youngsters, was to demonstrate that sustainable journeys can be made from Bradford to the surrounding countryside using only public transport and one's own muscle. The event was a collaborative project between Bradford Metropolitan District Council and Go Dales! A joint project of the Yorkshire Dales National Park and Sport England.

The second event, "Personal Award for Excellence" or "PAWE" was based at Ambleside Youth Hostel and was a reward to young people, nominated by their schools, who had "given back" to their schools, communities or families. The Keighley News reported the event here.

Among activities such as wakeboarding, canoeing, climbing and ghyll scrambling; the group also got to take part in dragon boat racing under the coaching of Paul and Rachel, both previously GB team members and medal winners. Both were very motivating to meet; Paul, a former Royal Marine and Rachel an ocean racing oarswoman. Their current projects can be found respectively here and here.

A dragon sends the local wildlife into temporary retreat.

Although the weather was mixed the event culminated in glorious weather and a disco on the Swan, a steamer on Windermere.

View from the bow of the Swan on the last evening of the PAWE residential.

More photos here.

Finally, yesterday, we went to a falconry centre near Thirsk to take advantage of a voucher I'd been given for my 40th birthday. As well as looking at some impressive birds of prey I got to fly some of them and built up a short but meaningful relationship with Brown, a young, male Harris hawk on a "hawk walk" when he flew to my fist for a reward of turkey chicks' wings. It was particularly rewarding when Brown, bored with the fare we'd been offering, rocketed off into a wheat field and flushed a Grey partridge.

Brown relaxing while not chasing worms, caterpillars or Grey partridges.

More photos here.

Back to proper work tomorrow!

Pedal Power for the Soul

Came across this blog in an idle moment today.

Pedal Power in Amsterdam

The blog quotes the following -

“When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking.” - Arthur Conan Doyle.

Reminded me to take the medicine now that my pot is off and that, despite the welcome birth of London's "Borisbikes", cycle culture still has a long way to travel in the UK.

Married life - the story so far...

It's actually suiting me rather well.



I've certainly been too busy being married to post to this blog for a while so I offer the following by way of an update.



Our wedding was fantastic. More fun than I imagined. Full of wonderful friends, the weather was great and the location in Northumberland was magic. Lou looked beautiful.



Photo by Jason Baughan, www.baughanphotography.co.uk



Our photographer also did a brilliant job.



We spent our honeymoon in the Algarve region of Portugal courtesy of a family friend who loaned us their apartment. This isn't it!



Lighthouse at Cabo da Sao Vicente, Portugal



Cliff top walks, lounging on the beach, visits to castles and meals out were the order of the day. We also did some bird watching and visited A Rocha at Ria de Alvor and watched some bird ringing.



Undignified weighing of a Great tit at A Rocha, Ria de Alvor, Portugal



We got quite a decent list together in Portugal which included some lifers and other "Mediterranean specials":

• Azure-winged magpie
• Hoopoe
• Woodchat shrike
• White stork
• Pallid swift
• Kentish plover
• Alpine swift
• Bee-eater
• Crested lark
• Red-rumped swallow
• Black redstart
• Black-eared wheatear
• Sardinian warbler
• Short-toed eagle
• Montagu's harrier
• Zitting cisticola
• Little bustard
• Cattle egret
• Great bustard
• Spanish imperial eagle

Work and Training



Work has continued to present "opportunities and threats". Most positively, the field teaching work I'm involved in at RSPB Fairburn Ings was judged to offer:



"a very high quality of provision with some features that are outstanding"



by the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom in their recent inspection. A result we're all very pleased with. We'd all put in a great deal of work into enhancing the degree to which we apply assessment for learning.



Community sculpture at RSPB Fairburn Ings



I continued to work with Bradford Metropolitan District Council, Adventure Activities Development Unit. I produced a report on how our outdoor teaching can, and does, support learning in school, relating our adventurous activities work to the primary national curriculum. This was very well received by the Unit and leaders in the schools we work with.



I completed some work with Lupine Adventure Co-Op, leading a fantastic group of 6th form students from Furze Platt Senior School round the Yorkshire Three Peaks on their annual 3 Peaks Challenge. I hope that I can continue this sort of work in the future.



I renewed my outdoor first aid and minibus driving qualifications.



Through my work with Leeds City College I have participated in training with:

• Jason Bangbala on behaviour management. Jason delivered a dynamic day-long session which was fun, inspirational, practical and challenging. He exemplified a high energy, humourous and robust approch to classroom management and stressed the need to take personal responsibilty; individually doing whatever it takes to "get the job done". I'll certainly be applying some of his philosophy and strategies. However, he raised questions about how sustainable this approach is. He hinted at having experienced burn-out in his own teaching career. In my experience there is often work that can be done at an institutional level to support positive student behaviour which assists both teachers and students.
  
  
• Linda Jenkinson on reconnecting with nature and life-coaching. Linda (a qualified life-coach and birdwatching trainer) taught us about the origins, symptoms and consequences of our current "societal disconnect" from nature and coached us in noticing our natural environment. She then helped us to action plan, using gap analysis, to reconnect and increase the quality of our lives. I found this "time out" useful to re-establish my priorities and plan a way forward. I didn't need any convincing of the value of reconnecting with nature!
  
  

Fun and Games



I have found the time among everything else to:

• Take part in the Ravenglass Seaquest Event. A canoe orienteering event in the Mite, Irt and Esk estuaries.
  
  
• Go ringing with Andy Jowett of the Yorkshire Dales Upland Bird Study Group.

Andy with a common buzzard chick. That's my rope in the background.

• Attend a few practices with Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue Association. On one of these I managed to dislocate my right index finger.
• Take a couple of walks in the Yorkshire Dales and Lake District.

Brotherswater and Ullswater from Caudale Head

• Take a couple of tourist trips down Gaping Ghyll with my brother, nephew and Andy Carson. Andy took some great shots, one of which is here.
• Go on Andy Carson's stag do to Sofia. Photo again here. Andy second from the left.
• Go for some rides on my bike. I was especially enjoying evening rides with my brother until 4 weeks ago when I broke my wrist.
• Attend a couple of weddings. I DJ'd a short but nerve wracking set at Andy Carson and Julie's while everyone went off to get bacon sandwiches. Hence the empty dancefloor. Honest!

I sort out some tunes while people stand about. Note the cast on my DJing arm and that my right index finger is also suffering a dislocation!



Finally. We went to Scotland for a week's holiday visiting:

• Glen Coe
• Arisaig and Eigg
• Loch Garten

A walk near Arisaig. Probably the best 2 hours of weather the whole trip. More photos here.



Among great scenery we saw an Otter (fleetingly), Golden eagle, Red deer, Manx shearwaters, Grey and Common seals, Red squirrels, Siskins and Ospreys (at RSPB Loch Garten).



What's next?

• A week's outdoor instructing for Bradford Met on their Champion's Challenge event.
• A week's outdoor instructing for People's Award for Excellence (PAWE).
• A half day learning about falconry and handling hawks in North Yorkshire.
  
  
• Back to teaching at Leeds City College in the middle of August.
  
  

Skipsea Village Portal

Skipsea Village Portal, originally uploaded by clivenutton.

Really pleased to have an image of mine used on the Skipsea Village Portal website. I'm always keen to support celebrations of local distinctiveness and community. Thanks Tim.

Had a pleasant evening there back in 2007. You should visit too!

Twin trees

Twin trees, originally uploaded by clivenutton.

Took a walk round the Bolton Abbey Estate in the Yorkshire Dales at the weekend in lovely winter weather.

A bit galling that the Trustees of the Chatsworth Settlement have a virtual monopoly on parking in this stretch of Wharfedale and charge 6 quid for the privilege.