Welcome

Hi. My name is Stephen. I am 33. I live in the west of Scotland around half an hours drive from Glasgow. The town where I live used to be famous for building some of the finest ships on the face of the earth. Now it is a shadow of its former self, awash with liggers, loafers and gangsters (or is it gangstaz?). The crime rate and murder rate here are soaring like the bloated overfed seagulls that foul on its pavements and residents as they shuffle to the nearest pharmacy for another dose of prescription methadone. The 'shell suit' shops are doing a roaring trade in all manner of synthetic polyester streetware. You could walk for miles before seeing a natural fibre on a human being. James Watt.. the father of steam baulks from his heavenly perch as he looks down on the detritous of his former home town that is now the wasteland of Greenock...Having lived here for much of my life I have become immune to the sights of the area. So what the hell am I doing here? I work as a secondary school teacher which kind of binds me to the area meantime though that may change if the crime rate continues to rise exponentially. I live with my playful pet dog and my wife to be. My father was a keen fisherman and hillwalker. He used to take my brother and myself out on trips with him when we were very young. We learned alot from our dad through adventure (and misadventure!) out on the hills. Every river you fell into or hill you got lost on gave you another near death experience from which to learn from... :-) These days I still head out to escape from the over planned, pasteurised, sanitised paper chase of my 9-5 mon-fri grind. So escape I do.. to the outdoors...the playgrounds of my youth and beyond and that's what the focus of my blog will be about..my outdoor adventures. These will range from balmy moorland strolls to hasty retreats from ice clad and blizzard bound mountains. So feel free to look in from time to time, whether it's to follow my footsteps in person or just to look at the pictures...Yours..Stephen....Ps..If you click on the photos they open to more detailed full size images.