August 

2/8/2026   Windbank

A 5* rasp, but very light winds so tricky knowing where to go. I favoured Baugh Fell, but that would be a solo trip. Leaving it late I missed the bus so arrived as a few were climbing out and heading off - someplace. I arrived on top at 1.20pm to find not that many, about four pilots and nice to meet up with Brian Waller. This I believe was his first time on Windbank.

(I also met and chatted with the owner of the field's mother, and the arrangements we had re the printed notice. Everyone of our cars had them.  The rest of the field had the usual cars and vans plus tents further towards the plantation. She looked at the notice and instructions but had never heard of them and was actually in the process of renewing the sign on the post.  She added it was the National Park applying pressure to stop parking in the field.   Make of it what you will; it's for others to sort)

It certainly wasn't 5* and would have struggled to warrant 2* ... there was a lot of high cloud and this increased during the rest of the afternoon.  It didn't look hopeful. Rather than sit and sweat (I'd left my water in the back of the car) - I udged a little higher and off to the side. There was no more wind, but it was a nice pimping spot should anyone take off.

Eventually Brian and another took off ... both didn't do much at first but I sensed Brian had found something ... and in these tricky condiitions you need to act fast, take a punt and maybe it will work out. I headed to where he put in a low turn, found a weak something and followed suit.  From that point we climbed together nicely enough (video) to 3600' ... then it stopped. Rob tried but slipped out of the bottom and had to land.

I headed further up the ridge, Brian followed, but the sink was pretty consistent so I turned back  needing something - Brian was a lot lower and was more desperate than I.  I have a fair idea where climbs are found on this ridge and sure enough another decent climb came along that got me to 3600' - again it just fizzled out at this height. Base was a lot higher and I needed height to proceed - the sky was very ill defined and the top cover had thickened.

I tried going north but again met sink, turned and headed back really just to make take off would be tricky. A short -lived, broken something produced 400' and I got back OK. By this time the day had really shut down so I went and landed. At least I got an hour that I didn't expect given the conditions on  the hill when I arrived.

VIDEO LINK (very short couple of clips)

7/8/2026   Three Men

Another evening on Three Men as the winds eased. Rob was already flying when I arrived - testing out his recently acquired Alpina 4. I walked up, anxious that the wind had already started to drop and I may be too late, but it was fine and I could use the low take off.

Not much but way of thermal, but the lift was on the hill from the SW and with sound ridge lift. We'd been in the air for about 45 minutes - Rob a lot longer, when Richard McG turned up - by now it was getting lighter so he missed the best unfortunately.

As it continued to ease more and keen to avoid the nil wind landing of the previous evening I went and landed .... Richard followed and then Rob.  Rob's A4 can certainly float, it always seemed to be above me despite following it and in the same air. 

10/8/2026   Dodd Fell

The perennial dilemma , Lakes or Dales?  In the end Dodd seemed the logical and easier option. The wind direction (NW) and RASP favoured the Dales and the base was better - getting from Barton always runs a bigger risk of going down before getting into the Dales. Dodd was also going to be very sociable both on the ground and in the air. I  lost count,  but take off was strewn with gliders.  The sky looked excellent, but the wind on the light side so it was all about getting established at height and then it was fairly easy to mince between climbs.

Rob, Tim and I had initially set a goal at Sunthorpe but we felt  the sea breeze could be well inland by the time we got there so changed it to Doncaster.  Base wasn't that great at first, maybe 4500' so getting to Great Whernside could be tricky. After that it rose to 5000' plus then up to nearer 6 grand by the time we enter the VoY.

My first flight was short and sweet but I managed to slope land back near take off height. Others could be seen sweating a balled glider back up the hill.  A 10 minute wait and I chanced it again ... this time I managed to climb out with a few others. Some left with this thermal, but I felt it wasn't the one and headed forward and across the valley - a long way. The cloud I hoped would deliver, didn't and I almost overcooked it arriving low back on the ridge. Fortunately, it was now working better and the first climb I found I took to base.  A few others joined in and one was Gary S (I thought Geoff C at first) - until FLARM said otherwise. Gary is normally one of the first away but had been delayed by a landing and wardrobe mafunction ... which he never fully sorted in his eagerness to be away. No one else followed us so a two man effort from this point.

Gary and I would stay relatively in touch, but rarely together for the next 50k.  It wasn't a close relationship ... more a casual awareness of each other. He passed over Buckden/Great Whernside high, but this was my most testing point of the whole flight. I got what felt low under Buckden, on a section I'd scratched earlier this summer. A rough climb came along, some battling until eventually it got better and Gt Whernside passed beneath from  5000'. Gary at this point (appeared low over the moors - 2k ahead).  At this point he got a good climb which reassured me - company does make things so much easier. (radio would help - I carry one but end up switching it off due to too much chatter effecting my concentration)  The clouds were good - well defined and they all worked.  But increasingly noticeable was the drift - it was getting so slow. At this point I later discovered than many had then turned back north. Still .... on we went, very slowly. It seemed to take ages to just get past Harrogate and the clocking was ticking. 

Eventually Wetherby came into view and two more paragliders appeared. I tried to climb and catch up but never really managed it. Gary was now a dot in the distance. I headed towards a glider at my level, got a climb and carried on south. It was now clear there was a light wind from the south as the speed on trim dropped to low 20's kph. Maybe from the Humber? I also spotted a dust devil east of Leeds ... it looked a bit out of place at first, but apparently no longer in the UK. 

Task abandoned. Given the headwind, the time and still a fair way to go I turned 180 and headed back north planning on a return to Harrogate at least, and then we would see. Back over Wetherby I had a rethink, every direction was so slow. I turned east towards Tadcaster. 

No good reason beyond there's a bus every hour into Leeds and I could land in the field by the bus stop. A climb middway and I arrived over Tadcaster with fair height. I was then surprised to see a glider thermalling just 200m ahead of me, en route to him I found a weak climb, he joined me and we circled like prancing lovers whilst I videoed. It turned out it was Simon Hulme when we met up shortly after in a field.  Gary later told me in passed over heading NE to land near York. Good idea ...I never thought of that as it wasn't that far.

I landed where intended, by the bus stop; no wind and fast - determined to run I peddled air and ran it off successfully. As I packed Simon and a friend appeared with offers of a lift. Normally I would hug and kiss for that - but they was going north and my plan was a bus into Leeds and train to Ribblehead where my car was conveniently waiting.  Getting back proved easy except for one annoying thing. My OAP bus pass gave me a free ride into Leeds. I used the time to try and get a train ticket on line for the 19.49 to Ribblehead - each time it seemed to reject payment and there was no confirmation message.  Eventually I bought one at the ticket office in Leeds - sitting in the train later I found a confirmation email - in effect I paid twice! £20.80  x  2 .... try getting that back, I've tried all day with no success. It makes a mockery of their pamphet slogans - 'Here to Help'. And try getting a helpline number that isn't a machine or has a 2hr queue!.

A few video stills   LINK

Without company I didn't video  much and the haze spolit the air quality at height.

15/8/2026 Dodd Fell

Excellent for some, disappointing for most. The window to escape the Dales was very short.

A decent rasp,  to the east, but only tentatively touching Dodd. By midday the 8/8 cloud cover was only showing small signs of breaking, there were weak thermals but only to a modest base under 4000' . Despite a light wind and a few going down,  the first gliders showed you could stay up OK ... then the main A pilots took off and climbed and left .... that quick.  

That eased the take off as it had been very busy on the ground.  

In total I had three flights and each was different in its own way. The first, lasting an hour, was just gentle thermalling to no great height and the sky closed in again with miky high cover.  I landed next to Tam and Pete L on the top, chatted and snacked. A few gliders off to the north seemed to be getting quite high and pushing forward   and a vague, darker street seemed to be working.  We took off for flight two.

Pete and I headed north, found some lift and climbed together to 3'300: Pete then headed forward whilst I took a few more turns of height and followed. It was a decent line but with no thermal to speak of  ...Pete getting lower headed back. Rob U was also heading back a lot lower. I got over the Hawes/Newby Head road and also turned back - I reckomned one good climb would  have made Brantside possible but it didn't happen.  I almost over cooked it and arrived back low on the ridge - but it was still working. The wind now seemed very SW so I landed with the intention of calling it a day.

Before I set to packing the conditions changed. The wind came back on the hill to WNW and the sun started to show itself eventually. I thought another  flight was worth it. It was different to the other two which had been very smooth and gentle. I went to the very north end and found it increasingly turbulent for some reason, and headed back - the main ridge was was fine.  Eventually I landed, packed and left for home.

I flew, it was OK, but a disappointing day.  Had I been more convinced of the conditions, had a gaggle formed and the sky downwind hadn't deteriorated  .... plus the hassle of a car at Dodd I may have chanced it. It never came close to being worth it.

16/8/2026  Brantside

I hadn't flown Brant for a while (a few years?) and forgot how good it was ... convenient, easy access and quite lenient re the wind direction. It was also the place the first decent sized Dales triangles were done from - maybe why Mike Cav favoured it. 

It was after 5pm when I walked in, dry but the skies were dark and it didn't look that appealing - however the wind seemed OK.  By the time I arrived at take off it had brightened up considerably, not sunny, but it looked rather nice. The wind was light, but soarable, square onto the hill - in fact perfect for a bit of relaxed soaring.

In total I had almost an hour of smooth bouyant soaring with the occasional gentle thermal thrown in. One decent height gain allowed me to transit over to Wold Fell. Wold was soarable but not wishing to get stuck across the valley I headed back without really testing it out. More soaring and dropping onto the smaller back ridge to check it out.  It was a really easy, predictable bit of soaring.  Eventually, I headed back to the car via the back ridge  and as I packed felt the first drops of rain for a long while - such a novelty.

21/8/2026   Semer (N)

The day looked really good during the morning, but it was pretty obvious it would over develop and shower into the afternoon. I opted (again) for Semer (N) ... and I opted to use a slot between 11 - 13.30hrs, before it over developed and whilst the wind was a true N ... later it was forecast to go more NNE.   This is pretty much what happened.

At the parking the wind was on, but felt a little fresh -  however that seems normal and usually near take off it's eased.  I laid out in a nice 10 - 12mph with the wind square on  ... so easy conditions and I took off very low - just above the wall.  Yet again, no other pilots and little interest shown to be out, which surprised me somewhat.  I set my tracker running, later for some odd reason, it never showed this flight, but did record my final flight.

The sky looked OK, no sign of showers but it was obviously on the build and worth keeping an eye on. The lift was abundant and intially I thought I could just push out and head for Bainbridge, instead I turned back and set off for the back crags. A short spell here and for once it was fairly easy to get across to the north face of Wether. However, I came in low on a short section of cliff - it was working (I could stay up) but with not a lot happening. The idea was to  gain some height and drop back to the much higher and bigger ridge behind. 

Eventually I managed to sqeak onto the  better setion of ridge.  There was more lift here, but a longer transition back to the ridge of Semer.  At this point the weather began to be a concern - there was a lot more wind at height and the first hints of a shower.  I really should have stayed and gained more height  ... just a 100' would have sufficed, instead I set off back towards the end of Semer. I didn't make it and landed just short in a light breeze. 

I could walk back to the car  ...  or I could fly back.  The decider was a good footpath leading to a nice take off at the extreme end of the crags. A 15 min walk and I laid out, the wind a little off to the E, and  made it back to take off after getting really low at wall top height.  Lots of lift to I headed towards Bainbridge before spirraling down. Again, it felt windy at height but actually very little when I landed by the car.

On the way back I managed to get a puncture and thankfully  carry a spare, so did a tyre change. (Whoever thought a silly foam can was the answer - it wouldn't have fixed this tyre).

Later went to J36 and got three new tyres in prep for my MoT.  I also met a really nice farmer whilst fixing my tyre - the one just down from Newby Head.

A fairly eventful day one way and another.

22/8/2026    Kingsdale hike n fly

My initial plan had been to do the FairField Horseshoe. It was a good plan which the conditions suited. However, when I saw the interest from several people to do the Kingsdale Round,  and it being on my doorstep, I changed my mind. I'd long decided it was best done in an easterly and so a westerly I knew would be far tougher. Still, I travelled in hope  ... that being the forecast WNW it may be OK.  I videod my thoughts as I progressed - part distraction, part to see if at my age I showed signs of crumbling.

I know the first climb up to the top of Gragareth ... it's long, drags a bit and usually in an E wind I don't go that far up the slope. This time it was right to the trig point.  The slightly disturbing concern was the wind seemed to have a lot of south in it. That could screw up everything ... but now committed I carried on.  It's very shallow on the west side except for one short ridge that is only about 80' high with a fence along the bottom. I laid out, the wind off to the SW and promptly found myself going downwind, with no ridge lift and landed by the track that leads back to the summit ridge.

More plodding uphill, then along the top ridge to tag the Green Hill cylinder. Again, the W slope  is shallow, the was wind slightly off, but worst of all it was now essentially blown out - especially no good on a shallow slope. I laid out, waited but as nothing seemed likely to change I secured the wing, gathered my trackers and set off for the Great Coum cylinder on foot - about 1k away.  Once tagged I turn back and midway bumped into Paul Rowntree. Paul carried on and decided to lay out and wait just beyond the TP.  Meanwhile I reurned to my wing.

It was still windy, a bit less and sitting around seemed like wasting time. Overhead was a dark overdevelopment so it didn't look that attractive. After a bit of wandering and thinking I decided to walk across the head of Kingsdale and ascend the Magnet  ...  it had to be on there and by then maybe lighter as the evening set in.  It's a fair trek and at the mid point I passed John Hamlett going the other way (he had flown from Three Men, passed over the ridge low and landed towards Dentdale - his hope was to get back to his car by flight or foot).

I made it to the Kingsdale road, a bit weary, down to two mouthfulls of water and with my left trainer starting to come apart.  A section of road and then the grind up to the Magnet take off. Just as I arrived I saw a checked glider flying ...great so it's nicely soarable. And it did feel good until I came to take off when it fell light. I took off in a gust and promptly went down - not far but it resulted in a balled carry up. At this stage it looked just a fly out as far as possible, I wouldn't make the road but .... that seemed all I had. The second take off wasn't too hopeful ... but I climbed easily, in bouyant air and headed across to the Whernside end where the ridges are a bit bigger and steeper.  Well, at least I'm flying and there is some lift.

I hung around here trying to debate options.  One thought was flying over the back to the Station Inn .... I was gagging for a drink  (no water left) but I'd left my wallet in the car (deliberate).  Option two, head towards Kingsdale with the height I had but the slope is out of wind and that would deck me quite quickly. Option three, I hadn't tagged the cylinder at the north end of Whernside - a big slope but with the wind  across it as it turns WNW. With my meagre 300' of height I went for .... fast!  The downwind leg, quite low was approaching 50kph and sinky.  The cylinder shot passed above me, too low to tag. I turned back and landed. It meant a balled up walk up the slope of 90m to tag it, But I continued to the ridge top to feel the wind. 

It felt OK, but still a bit off and I knew only this section WSW had a chance of working. It sort of worked for 150m, then I was sliding down the slope. In retropect it may have been better to land higher, pack, walk up and along to the SW face .... where I had to retag the next TP.  But I couldn't face it. I landed well short of the road in boggy tussocky pastures, packed on a thistle ridden slope and set off for the road over horrible terrain and managed to drop into a bog with both feet. So, I was now well wet, but it didn't seem to matter. I heard a vague tickle and managed to catch drops from a rock to gain a small amount of water. It seemed well filtered and I'm still OK.

I reached the road at approaching 8pm. Rested a while and had a vague hope of  a car ... nothing travels this road late ... and nothing did. I set off walking,  the sun set, a slight chill set in and the half moon rose. There is no signal up these valleys .... nothing. I reset my tracker messages from 60 min intervals to 5 mins intervals ... maybe Karen would spot where I was. Donned headgear and gloves then  plodded on .... and on, and on. It's long way down and a long way along. It got dark. Oddly, I didn't really feel that tired. a bit weary, footsore and a bit bored, but walking in the dark is quite a nice experience. On and on .... I knew the road well so just aimed for landmarks.  I arrived back at the car at 10pm .... just in time for match of the day and a night of cramp!

How I spent my Saturday    ROUTE LINK

24/8/2026  Whernside

Six of us (Liam, Rob U, Chris K, Carl S, Westie and I)  met at the Station Inn at 10.45am. A great sky, but with the wind on the increase and maybe already blown out. We discounted Semer and went for Whernside, it being the handiest, the least likely to blow out until we got in the air and by using the low take off.

The others were on the way up whilst I got talking (at length) to an old guy about his Massey Ferguson 35 tractor .... this led to assorted conversations that I lost track of. Eventually I made my apologies and set off 20 minutes after the others. They were laying out as I walked in ... off to the right, so I went left onto the friendlier slopes I prefer. Gradually all were in the air, doing OK when I took off.  The wind on take off was fairly gentle ... surprisingly.

Once above the ridge the wind was noticeable, quite fresh and off to the east which would scupper my goal at Cockermouth. I rather lost sight of the others with only Rob showing on FLARM.     I slowly edged to the north end of the ridge where the clouds were better and the wind more on the ridge.  Then it was very slowly pushing out, find a climb and manage a few turns before being committed over the ridge.

Finally, I threw caution to the wind, literally, and left far too low, about 3100' knowing I could never make it back.  The climb vanished, as they do, and I was left crossing Kingsdale, sinking fast and knowing I could barely make the moors below the main Gragareth ridge. I had visions of tramping the same road as two days previous.  Then,  a few hundred feet over the heather, a bullet of a climbed arrived ... I saw it top 5m/s at one stage. This get out of jail took me to 5150' .... game on again. How quickly fortunes change.

From this point it seemed easy to stay high, find climbs and stay at height, the wind seemed almost light and the thermal circles started to open out. Passing high over Barkin seemed to take ages.  I got Chris on the radio near Kendal and he mentioned 13 kph .... I think I was seeing about 19 kph at height.   He and Westie were getting together and I started to speed up intent on joining them ... at this point I was staying high, the clouds were working and I was very confident of flying fast and getting climbs. I rather wanted to be  as far north as 

possible, but the wind dictated direction and it said go west .... whereas I favoured the northwest passage.  In fact they were well south of Kendal, whilst I was passing to the north towards Kentmere.

At first I wasn't too fazed about losing height ... first under 4000', then 3000' and it became a concern, Approaching Staveley it dropped under 2000'. This is getting serious ... give me another rough bullet - I'll take it. But the sky seemed too blue for survivaI. I cruised low over Reston Scar unaware that Ben Keayes was finishing some logging and landed just below. Bit gusty on landing ... then nothing. A bit disappointed as the day looked to really be getting going.

I walked out of the field (after picking a helmet full of mushrooms) and crossed the road to be greeted by Ben. We then had a catch up over coffee in Staveley. Ben then kindly took me back to KL.

Chris and Westie made the coast ... a flight I would love to do again. The last time was with Kev.  No video ...I had the GoPro, but had forgotten to retie the lanyard.