editor David Jordan
The Editor Writes As this issue of Outdoor Focus goes to print, I’ ll pause between jobs, pick up a magazine, a real one, on paper, and read stories about adventures for an hour or so( yes, I know, you can see why I volunteered for this role). It’ s my break from the bright screen, a change of scene too. I’ ll go find a comfier chair or maybe go for a walk and take it with me, perhaps stop on a bench. Looking forward to a break made me think about the value of stories in print. I keep a lot of the books and magazines that I read, at least those I’ ve enjoyed or value the most, so that I can reach for them when I want to revisit an article, remember something, share or show someone else. That tangibility is a foil to my fallible memory. These stories, ideas, maps and images become a part of who I am and reveal something about me to myself and others who might browse my bookshelves. I can’ t replicate any of that digitally. I’ d first have to remember that something was there, somewhere, in a file structure online, then spend time figuring out how to find it, or hope it hadn’ t been‘ taken down’. I can’ t identify with it in the same way and without that I feel like something of my identity becomes more transient or lost.
p6-7
p4-5
Mike Parsons looks back on early developments in backpacking with an extract from his forthcoming memoir
p12-14
Nike Werstroh & Jacint Mig talk with David Jordan about Trailnotes
Andy Hamilton considers the boundaries of a book
Perhaps this loss, for some, is a contributing factor in the recent dramatic rise in anxiety outlined by Jonathan Haidt.
Either way, despite some industry despondency about the future of print, I firmly believe it will not just survive, but grow. Today when I break, I will be reading volume 1 of‘ New Mountain Magazine’, another high quality, independent print magazine launched into a market of tired people discovering the effects of‘ computer vision syndrome’( no, I hadn’ t heard of it either, until educated by my optician). I know I’ m in good company here too. Chiz, our hard-working webmaster, recently forwarded me some stats about the number of people accessing the digital version of Outdoor Focus. They were tiny. That will be some comfort to me later today, when my tired brain forgets to make the hyperlinks live for the online version!
Thanks this time to Sam Davis for the gorgeous cover image. If anyone finds themselves in Spain in August, do go visit his exhibition:“ Las Cuevas de Matienzo” a photography exhibition showing the vast caverns that run through the mountains of the Matienzo depression. Full details on page 16.
p8-9
Tony Howard p10-11 reflects on an inheritance of adventure
p15
Andrew Read tells the story of the Greater Manchester Ringway Trail
Roly Smith reviews the latest books p16
Last chance to book your place on the Big Weekend 2025 at the Blencathra Centre in the Lake District
Editor David Jordan ISSN 2043 8605 editor @ owpg. org. uk Design David Jordan, Ronald Turnbull Cover Lonely Tree, Llyn Padarn, Eryri Photographer: Sam Davis
The Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild( OWPG) is the only UK-based association of media professionals working largely or entirely on outdoor subjects. Our membership covers every field of activity and all corners of the globe. We include writers, journalists, bloggers, photographers, publishers and editors, all with a passionate interest in the outdoors. For information on who we are, what we do, and where we’ ve been, visit www. owpg. org. uk – or join us on Facebook. 2 OUTDOOR FOCUS Summer 2025