Rutland Water, Whitwell, Exton and Empingham

Date : 18 September 2011
Area : Rutland

Walk : Whitwell, Exton Empingham , Rutland Water

Start At : Car Park South of Whitwell

End At : Return to start

OS Sheet : Explorer 234

Start Grid : SK 9234 0830

End Grid :

Distance (M/k) : 10m / 16k

Ascent (ft) : 633

Descent (ft) : 633

Route

These notes are provided to enable the walk to be plotted on a 1:25,000 map.
From the car park return to Whitwell, at the main road turn right to the Viking Way sign before the pub. Follow the Way signs north passing through Exton to Grid 9299 1290, take path east. In Osprey Wood cross the embankment take the path on right down steps follow past Fort Henry Lake to Horn Mill. Go downhill to a path on the right to Empingham. Where the paths cross on the hedge line turn left to Loves Lane, then right to the Village. At the A606 cross straight over into a small lane to a path on the right across fields to Rutland Water and along the perimeter path back to the car park.


Journey
As we drove towards Oakham and Rutland Water, the sky was overcast and the wipers were wiping intermittently, by the time we got to Whitwell it was dry and the sky to the south and east was clearing.


The Anglian Water car park at Whitwell costs £3 a day to park which is not bad considering the facilities available, toilets, café, cycle hire, adventure park and an outdoors shop.


The first section of the walk was along part of the Viking Way, a long distance walk between Oakham and the Humber Bridge (143miles).


Leaving the car park to walk up the hill into Whitwell we noted that there was a distinct autumnal feel/smell to the air. The path from Whitwell to the village of Exton starts along the drive way to the car park behind The Noel Pub,  keep to the left hand side to the top then over the stile and into the fields beyond.

This is a wide open farming countryside with attractive views over field to woodlands with the occasional house, barn or church spire in the distance. The path was a wide well mown field margin leading the way gently uphill, past hedgerows full of red and fat black berries. We gradually reached the crest of the ridge and descended into the village of Exton. In the short time since we left the car the air temperature had risen from 18 to 23 C.

Exton is a village of two halves the lower side is more modern housing while higher up the hill, neared the Hall, the houses are much older, more picturesque with plenty of stone and thatched cottages.

Passing by Pudding Bag Lane we continued up the Viking Way on Exton Estate roads, as we walked we were amused by a number of variously worded signs, set just off the path, all warning of great dangers if we dared to step off the right of way.

Later we passed a field full of cows and youngish calves, with a Danger Bull sign pinned to the stile on the far side of the field only, which is worrying. Thankfully we did not see a bull in the field.

North of Tunneley Wood we walked down into and up the far side of a large trough nearly 2k long, perhaps 300m wide and 25m deep. We turned east walking along its north side, where we stopped for lunch. I assumed that this feature was not natural and thought it possibly an old ornamental lake or river.

Back home, on the internet, I found out that it was the remains of an ironstone quarry and/or was the route of a railway line that ran clockwise right around  Exton Park and village, serving several ironstone quarries before heading off to Cottesmore (see Ironstone Tramways ) This perhaps explains some of the warning signs earlier in the walk as the map shows disused workings in that direction.

Nevertheless, the quarry and railway are gone and the remains have merged into the agricultural landscape with little sign of what was here only fifty years ago. We will have to come back and walk over several of the footpaths in the area one of which is marked on the OS Map as passing across one of the disused workings.

Turning south down some steep rough steps we walked into another world, a long tree lined ‘river’ valley that was enchanting to wander through, so peaceful and quiet. We stopped several times to listen, other than an insect buzzing or bird song it was silent. Surprisingly this was also on the line of the quarry railway.

Fort Henry Lake was stunning in the sunshine, the autumn colours starting to appear, the swans and cygnets on the lake, the last of the water lilies and Fort Henry.

Fort Henry is an 18th century folly, The estate website says of it: “The interior boasts the most elaborate plaster work and is a dreamlike setting for a summer lunch, dinner party or photo shoot, with only the swans to watch in this tranquil setting”. (See Exton Estate)

We wandered over the medieval village of Horn, which showed up quite well, and the lovely walk continued down the valley to the Trout Hatchery at Horn Mill where we watched the trout jumping and the spinning paddles aerating the water. The air temperature was now 29 C.

As we headed for Empingham, climbing steadily we met the conundrum of a ploughed field with no way marker in sight and no footprints to show the route, so we took the field edge option. Setting off anti clockwise we ended up walking three sides of the field. The next field was also ploughed, this time I checked the map.

In Empingham we wandered around looking for a shop, anything selling ice cream, without luck, the pub was packed, so we pressed on to Rutland Water and had a nice big 99 cone in the shop/cafe at the car park at the Butterfly Centre.

This was one on of the most satisfying walks we’ve done in some time, it was a journey, it was interesting, it was warm and sunny, which does make a big difference, we both enjoyed it. It rained all the way home.

Ivanhoe Way Day 3 Worthington to Stanton Under Bardon

Date : 11 September 2011

Area : Leicestershire

Walk : Ivanhoe Way Day 3

Start At : Worthington

End At : Stanton under Bardon

OS Sheet OS Explorer 245

Start Grid :4049 2060

End Grid : 4676 1115

Distance (M/k) :10.2 / 16.3

Ascent (ft) : 1080

Descent (ft) : 725

Route

These notes are provided to enable the walk to be plotted on a 1:25,000 map.

The Ivanhoe Walk is clearly marked on the map

Journey

We originally started out on this final leg of our Ivanhoe Way walk on Saturday 13 August but a couple of miles in a domestic problem brought the walk to a halt a rapid return to the car and a dash home. Thankfully things were soon sorted out but a day was wasted. Since then I have been embroiled in some fairly extensive decorating which has kept us from walking for nearly a month.

The first section from Worthington to Gelsmoor where we bailed out, was pleasant enough through a small housing estate across fields and along their edges until we came out on to the B5324, Rempston Road at Gelsmoor.


We resumed the walk by parking a car in the village of Newbold and wandered around to Rempstone Road passing The Gelsmoor Inn and joining the Ivanhoe Way at the first of the many, many stiles we would cross during the next 8 miles or so.

 In this first field there was a bunch of very curious blonde and red headed young ladies, who crowded us a little more than was pleasant and lead to the first navigational faff of the day, unfortunately not the last. Having sorted our mistake out, we pressed on passed Griffydam, around Peggs Green and across Swannington Moor towards Whitwick.

The land around these villages was for several hundred years the site of a half dozen collieries, plus the railway lines and industries associated with coal mining, we passed the headstocks from one of the pits as we walked. Indeed other than this remnant we saw little indication of the industrial past in the landscape, only fields, trees and hedges.

The numerous small fields, stiles and slightly strange waymarking caused several stops to check or correct minor navigation errors all of which slowed us down and broke up the rhythm of the walk which made this section of the walk less than enjoyable.

In Whitwick we walked down the wonderfully named Dumps Road to The City of Three Waters, which led us to the lovely Cademan Woods from here the walk took us through several housing estates and a stretch of woodland before skirting around Bardon Hill and quarry, across to Rise Rock Farm out onto the A511 and down to the the small car park to the north of Stanton under Bardon.

All in all we found much of this portion of the Ivanhoe Way walk disappointing and unsatisfying, but the dull, windy overcast day did not help. If I were to offer any advice to anyone contemplating walking the Ivanhoe Way, I’d say do it anticlockwise and possibly get the Whitwick, Ashby, Measham part done first.

Ivanhoe Way Day 2 Measham to Lount

Date 06 August 2011
Area :Leicestershire

Walk : Ivanhoe Way Day 2

Start At : Measham

End At : Lount

OS Sheet : Explorer 245

Start Grid : SK3347 1209

End Grid : SK3994 1847

Distance (M/k) : 12.9 / 20.7

Ascent (ft) : 764

Descent (ft) : 718

Route

These notes are provided to enable the walk to be plotted on a 1:25,000 map.

The Ivanhoe Walk is clearly marked on the map. Leaving the car park in the middle of Measham walk down the High Street picking up the track to Donisthorpe and follow the Ivanhoe Way through Moria, Ashby De La Zouch and on to Heath End where we went off route to Staunton Harold Hall up to the B587 and along the road to the car park at the New Lount Nature Reserve.

Journey

What a difference a week makes, the first third of our three sections walk around the Ivanhoe Round, last week, was a very rural walk with big fields and long views. In this second section we seemed to spend a lot of the walk plodding between two lines of trees with few chances to see much beyond them. This was a great shame, as what we could see was attractive. I am definitely not advocating mass tree removal, but the occasional glimpse to the countryside would be nice.

Large parts of the walk are in the old Leicestershire Coalfields, as well as the New National Forest. At the end of the rail path we entered an area of new woodland covering what was the old spoil heaps and lagoons of Donisthorpe Colliery. Having seen several old pit sites in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire before reclamation I am well aware of how awful some of these areas were. Now to see the new young woodland where so much mess existed is truly wonderful.

I have to say, I was never a supporter of the pit closures and despite the very obvious and wonderful improvements to the scenery and the atmosphere I cannot help but  feel that the closure of all those pits was at best premature, at worst unnecessary.

Having read the notice boards at the entrance to the Donisthorpe Woodland Park, together with the very detailed descriptions from the web pages of another walker, Matthew, I know that the the reclamation of this area was a mammoth piece of work with several major muck shifts, engineering works, new footpaths and much planting. Its impressive.

From Donisthorpe we went on along the way, turned a corner and stepped into a super little area containing a land locked section of the Ashby Canal, the remains of the Moira Furnace, a bank of restored Lime Kilns and a Museum all set in a very pleasant area of open grass land, almost a park, it was busy and attractive. On the canal tow path we saw a short black post which I assumed was an old mile marker for the canal. Only, on stopping we could see it marked the Mine, the seams worked and their depth below where we stood, it made us think.

We will have to come back here and have a good look around and hopefully take some better photographs than on this fleeting visit.

Crossing the canal we walked down the towpath, across the road and into a short section of woodland coming out in Moira, where the railway passes under the Ashby Road and walked towards Norris Hill. Eventually, we turned south off the Ashby Road and into an area of new woodland, which had sheep in it, before we trundled over the fields to the outskirts of Ashby De La Zouch.

The walk down into Ashby was fine and quickly the town centre came into view. It was noticeable that after the quiet of the countryside just how noisy the place was. On this stretch as thoughts of lunch loomed, I realised that although I had packed the food and brew kit in my rucksack, I’d forgotten to pack the coffee and milk. Black looks and hard words were duly received.

A plan was hatched, we would stay on the main road through Ashby, missing out the backside of the industrial estate, stop off at Tescos, for elevenses and I could do the necessary shopping.


Refreshed and provisioned, we did a bit of map jiggling and were quickly back on course, from here it was a lovely walk through new woodland and open fields passing Old Parks Farm. We eventually stopped for lunch sitting by the side of the path. When, just as the water boiled and I was juggling cups and hot water pot, spoon and sandwich, the only walkers we saw all day stopped to chat.

Reaching Heath End we left the Ivanhoe Way and swung right, south east, toward Staunton Harold Hall with its garden centre, tea room, art galleries toilets etc. had a look around and a spent few minutes sitting in the sun, out of the breeze, eating ice cream.

We walked on through the estate from Staunton Harold Hall to the road junction on the B587, north of Lount where we passed under the A42 into Melbourne Road and along to the car park at the New Lount Nature Reserve where we had parked my car on our way to Measham that morning.

Ivanhoe Way Day 1 Bardon to Measham

Date : 29 July 2011

Area : Leicestershire
Walk : Ivanhoe Walk Day 1

Start At : Stanton under Bardon

End At : Measham

OS Sheet : Explorer 245

Start Grid : SK4688 1115

End Grid:  SK3347 1209  

Distance (M/k): 13.3 / 21.3
Ascent (ft): 429

Descent (ft): 762

Route

These notes are provided to enable the walk to be plotted on a 1:25,000 map.

The Ivanhoe Walk is clearly marked on the map. From the small car park to the north of Stanton under Bardon walk south to Bagworth, east to Nailstone, Odstone, Shackerston then north west to Snarestone and north to Measham.

Journey

This was a walk like no other I’ve ever done; miles of fields, almost no roads, no woodland, a handful of small, picturesque villages, no hills to speak of just slight rises and falls in the landscape with long gentle slopes. The most prominent features were the lines of electricity pylons and the steeple of Nailstone Church.

The way marking was excellent, clear and well placed, often indicating the name of the village it was pointing to and sometimes the distance. In thirteen miles we saw no walkers, two cyclists and two horse riders and in all this ruralness we only walked across two cow fields, one horse field and one sheep field. We counted 12 different crops growing, walked under two railway bridges and over two canal bridges, saw a number of moored canal boats plus one chugging quietly along and saw bits and pieces of farm machinery churning away in the distance. Naturally there were an inordinate number of stiles and gates to negotiate, and several little plank bridges to cross.

The very fact that we have retained these statistics marks this out as a boring walk, far from it, to our own amazement we were never bored, although the frequent long straight lines of the paths and tracks did get a little tedious. However, there was plenty of interest along the way, the crops, a building in the distance, a glimpse of a lake, seeing a bridge, birds, wild flowers and smoke on the horizon, the villages and the houses in them.

All this was contained within what we could see, as the dullness of the day made the far distance obscure so that, throughout the morning, as we walked across the higher land our views were limited to about two miles. This limited horizon coupled with the straight lines and relatively uniform slopes of the large fields created, a sensation we both experienced, where everything we could see appeared to be a very long way away. I guess that’s how walking in a desert might feel, it was certainly odd.  

This walk is on part of the Ivanhoe Way a walk that encircles an area of South Leicestershire. The Ivanhoe Way is 35 miles long, the official/start finish is I believe in Ashby De La Zouch, but I guess you can start anywhere and walk it in either direction. Because this bit looked flat and boring, in comparison to the rest, we decided to do this bit first. We parked one car in Measham then drove the other to the small car park just above Stanton under Barden and headed south.

While we saw several pubs on the way round we did not see any shops so if you need to take food and drink with you. As I've said the route is well signed, however between Bagworth and Shackerston it shares signs with the Leicestershire Round with the LC seeming to take precedent.

The Ivanhoe Way routing from the Ashby Canal outside Shackerston to Snarestone was a bit of a let down with a long road section and some scruffy fields. Should I walk this bit again I would stay on the canal as far as Snarestone and then possibly further to avoid the nasty walk along the busy B4116 from Snarestone to Measham and the poor walk around the perimeter of Hansons Brickworks on a narrow concrete path with speed humps every few hundred yards, after 13 miles I was tired and managed to trip on a good few of the humps.

We are now planning the Measham to Calke Abbey or a bit further section of the Ivanhoe Way.

Ambergate, Cromford, Alderwasley and Shining Cliff

Date: 23 July 2011
Area: Peaks, South of Matlock
Distance: 12.6 Miles 20.3 k

Start Location: Ambergate Railway Station

OS Sheet: Explorer OL24

Grid Ref: SK 3490 5160

Route

These notes are provided to enable the walk to be plotted on a 1:25,000 map.

From the Station car park head down the approach road, left under the bridge to the A6 turn right, North, take the first footpath on the right and up on to the canal towpath all the way to Cromford Wharf.

Turn left up the road to the A6 turn left, South, on right take Intake Lane uphill passing beneath the High Peak Trail to join the Midshires Way heading south through Alderwasley and into Shining Cliff Woods at Typeclose Plantation. Turn left, East, taking the path past the old YH and down to the Wireworks at Hurst Mills. Turn right through the Mills to the lane turn left over the River Derwent, to the A6, turn left back to the Station

Journey

I have not walked in this area for quite a few years and had forgotten what a pleasant area it is, not classic white peak, quite wooded in parts, with villages, farms and houses sheltering into the folds of the hills. On a sunny day it appears pretty and tranquil, but it’s not, there is industry here, transport links, history, grit, masked by the trees, hedgerows, meadows, the views and vistas and the gentle roll of the hills.

Canal towpaths are fairly low on my list of places to walk, just above busy roads and shingle beaches. This is mainly because they are flat and boring. However, today I found the Cromford Canal to be flat and fairly interesting with plenty to see, birds and butterflies, reeds, flowers, ducks, moorhens, water and sunshine and houses with manicured gardens. From Ambergate until we were diverted off the towpath, due to works being carried out to the canal, and sent around by Holloway, we saw very few people.

Now, this diversion has caused some acrimony between me and Mrs G because before the walk I told her it was a10.5 mile walk but when at the end, the GPS said it was 12.6 miles she said thought I lied. Something I done before on longer walks, she also felt it that it was a lot more uphill than I had implied as I’d told her the canal walk was flat. Unfortunately the diversion by Holloway added to the overall climb. The other bit of the acrimony comes later.

Just before the diversion we spotted a small creature on the path in the edge of the reeds and grasses, a water vole, and I actually managed to get a couple of passible photos of it. As we walked along, it ran a few yards in front of us diving into the grass, popping out again and nipping along, as it did this for the fourth or fifth time a duck which had been standing in the long grass whipped down and grabbed it in his beak, the little scream from the vole was heart wrenching and the duck flopped into the water and paddled away as Mrs G shouted to me save it save it. Too late.

The walk from the canal across the park land, no deer in sight, towards Holloway was a steep pull, less so around the very attractive Manor House and gardens of Lea Hurst, (wasn’t he a footballer). Lea Hurst was once the home of Florence Nightingale, both before her work in the Crimean War and afterwards. The diversion route continued down to the village of Lea Bridge where there is another Nightingale connection, her Grandfather Peter Nightingale who with John Smedley built Lea Mills in the late eighteenth century.

Back on the Canal, Highpeak Junction was a frenzy of slightly elderly men muttering and pointing, taking photos and positively drooling over the few bits and pieces of old railway memorabilia that is dotted about. As Highpeak Junction is the starting point of one of the earliest railways in the world, the Cromford and High Peak Railway, opened in 1830 only 7 years after George Stephenson’s Stockton and Darlington Railway, I cannot fault them for their avid interest.

The Cromford Canal stops just across the road from another historic location Arkwright Mills, just before you reach the end there is a lovely seating area, toilets, car park, not so lovely, playing fields and cricket pitch the perfect place for lunch, there is also a café and an art gallery.

Arkwright’s Mill was built in the 1770’s to manufacture cotton using machinery driven by water power. The Cromford Canal was opened in 1793 providing a quick and cheap way of getting raw materials to the mill and cloth out to the markets.

The mill is currently being restored and is part of the Derwent Valley World Heritage site.

Our walk took us away from the mill and heading for the hills, crossing the A6, another important transport link we headed up Intake Lane. I believe the term intake here refers to the drains that collected water off the hills to feed the mill ponds at the mills.

As we trudged up Intake Lane we had brief views across the valley to Holloway, Crich and the Sherwood Foresters Monument prominent above the quarry face. The climb eventually levelled out as we passed through the bridge beneath the railway incline from Highpeak Junction. The area between here, west to Black Rock is a super place to explore on foot or bike, just amble around, let the kids run wild in.

As Intake Lane carries on south we pass one of the camp sites we first stayed at on our first visit to the Derbyshire Dales in about 1963. The site is now many times bigger than we remembered it and it seemed to be fairly full.

Crossing over Wirksworth Road the path wiggles up and down the hills through a succession of woods and fields eventually tipping out on the road just outside Alderwasley Hall The hall is an independent residential special school for children and young people aged 5 to 19 with Aspergers, speech and language difficulties and Acquired Brain Injuries.

As we passed the Hall and entered the park land I managed to miss the path heading south west towards Shining Cliff Wood. The second point of acrimony, as we stayed on the Midshires Way only realising my error on reaching Typeclose plantation following another diversion, this time to avoid a bull near the path which caused us to climb a gate into a sheep field and climb over a wall to get out.

A quick re-jig, a bit like a faff only less puffing, and we sorted out the path passing the old Youth Hostel and down to the dilapidated buildings that form Oak Hurst Mills, commonly known as the Wireworks. The works and buildings extends over some 700m. They were opened in 1867 as wireworks, and continued in the production of wire including telegraph wire and suspension cables until 1996. Now it is being vandalised, and is becoming overgrown, a very sad eyesore, walking through the place was a bit eerie. It is a shame. And I forgot to take a single photo, stupid or what.

Wayfarers Way, Hambledon to Portsdown Hill

Date: 16 July 2011
Area: North of Portsmouth

Distance: 8.5 miles, 13.5km

Start: Hambledon

OS Sheet: Explorer 119

Grid: SU 6465 1504

Route

These notes are provided to enable the walk to be plotted on a 1:25,000 map.
The Wayfarers Walk is clearly marked on the 1:25,000 Map

Journey

Once again I’ve been down to Portsmouth to visit my mother in law and family, which also gives me an opportunity to go for a walk. While peering over the maps trying to work out a walk around the Hambledon area where I had done a couple of walks before I started this blog, I noticed the Wayfarers Walk. This starts way up in North Hampshire at Inkpen Beacon, the highest point in Hampshire and works its way down through New Alresford to Hambledon and on to Farlington / Bedhampton near where my mother in law lives, before going on to finish along the coast in Emsworth. I covered most of the Farlington Emsworth part of the walk in a blog October 2010 see HERE.

So on Saturday morning I caught a couple of buses to Hambledon and started walking south back to Farlington. Once I got myself orientated it was a short walk to the Wayfarers Walk, down a lane and up a short but steep climb through a flower meadow over Speltham Down.

It was pretty, but the flowers were just past their best, I wish I had seen them a few weeks earlier. Just over the top of the slope into the first of many fields the rain turned heavy and for twenty minutes the whole landscape became a watery, wind swept blur. After that it just rained without really stopping until I reached Portsdown Hill some 7 miles later.

Most of the walk was through or along fields, with, because of the rain, not much in the way of views and no photographs. For the most part the going was fairly flat. Between Hambledon and Denmead I actually met a runner and two couples walking dogs. Somewhere in this section I hit a field growing one of the two crops I most hate to walk through, Maize (corn on the cob). “As high as an elephants eye” is one thing but this was WET, dripping, drooping, slap, slop in the face in a malevolent green way sort of way. But least it doesn’t try to grab you like the other horror, oil seed rape, does.

Denmead is an old village that has expanded into a small dormitory town. It seems to be keeping its shops and pubs and looks a comfortable place. After a trudge through its northern parts I reached the village centre and found a nice coffee cum cake shop where I bought a big date flapjack. Passing through the southern bits of Denmead and across the golf course the rain persisted.

South of Denmead the going stayed pretty flat although the bulk of Portsdown Hill was evident in the distance. All the streams and ditches were swollen and the lanes I walked along or crossed were covered in puddles, thankfully there was little traffic. I kept hoping to find somewhere to stop for a brew, but there was no shelter anywhere. Passing through a stretch of woodland before turning east towards Purbrook Heath I listen with some trepidation to peels of thunder away to the west.

From Purbook Heath the path started to climb, finally getting steep as the path tracked straight up the hill along the back of a long row of houses. While this walk so far had been uninspiring this stretch was crap, literally, it was narrow with garden fences and walls to the left and a hedge, nettles and brambles to the right and all the way up there were piles of dumped grass, hedge cuttings, other garden detritus wood, brick, slabs, rubble and other rubbish. Going downhill there may have been a view but going up there was nothing. It was a relief to get out on to the road at the top of the hill.

From here I followed the Wayfarers Walk for about half a mile before reaching a viewpoint looking out over Portsmouth but even though the rain had stopped some thirty minutes earlier the views were poor. At this point I headed down the south face of Portsdown Hill and back to the mother in laws and a hot shower. The Wayfarers way continues along the top of the hill towards Bedhamton and on to Langstone Harbour.

This was not the best of walks due mainly to the weather, on a sunny day most of it would have been a bit more pleasant. From experience most long distance walks have less attractive bits, one has to expect that and I suspect (hope) for the Wayfarers Walk part of this walk was it, although I suspect it may include the section from where I stopped down to Langstone Harbour.

I’m already planning the next stage, New Alresford to Hambledon 16m, possibly in early September. I’ve sorted out the bus from Farlington to New Alresford, I now need to work out how I get back to the mother in laws when I finish.

RAB Aeon Tee

In this month’s TGO magazine there is a review on Baselayers.

All the usual suspects are there Smartwool, Sprayway, Trekmates, Paramo, Berghaus, Craghoppers, Montane,  Ice Breaker, Marmmut, Marmot, Reggatta, Snugpak, Vaude, Outdoor Research and Odlo a very wide section of the outdoors clothing market, most price ranges and materials. I read with interest only to find my personal favourite was not there, I know TGO can only review those garments that the supplier/manufactures supply and 16 different baselayers must take a lot of time to test. But there was no RAB Aeon tee shirt, to use a phrase “I could not believe it”

So the RAB Aeon Tee is light, the men’s large weighs in at 89 grams (matching the lightest in test) it has flatlock seams and the polyester material has a UPF rating of 30+. The material is the closest thing to silk I have ever worn; it is smooth, comfortable and hard wearing. The fit on me is just loose enough and the raglan sleeves come down to just above the elbow.

I bought my first one last summer and I have worn it or my Aeon long sleeved tee on nearly every walk since and to work during the last winter’s cold weather under a shirt and tie . When working hard walking the Aeon  wicks sweat away from the skin extremely well so that I rarely feel damp. In the cold conditions it creates a warm layer next to the skin and eliminates cold spots. Most importantly it dries very quickly.

On last year’s multi day walk around the lakes I wore mine every day in mixed weather conditions, never washing it and after six days of walking and travel I had no qualms about wearing it to the pub or on the train. I carried a Aeon Long Sleeve Tee in my rucksack in my dry clothes bag.

As well as mens short and long sleeve versions of the RAB Aeon there is a women’s version, the Aeon Tech Tee in the same material but a slimmer cut. The size 14 weighs 64 grams. Mrs G wore hers on our Cumbria Way in June.

I rate these tees way above any of my other baselayer’s and have had a similar response from other walkers and a couple of mountain marathon guys I have spoken to.

The Tees are for sale at a number of outlets at £20-22 while the Longs are about £27 which makes them among the cheapest in TGO’s bunch and a good bit less than the recommended.

Good. Weight, wicking, feel, price.

Bad. Nothing

Final word, I’m off to Go Outdoors to buy some more in case RAB discontinue them, heaven forbid.