I spotted this item today on the site of the Pennine Bridleway National Trail. It’s so important that I’m sure they won’t mind my copying it in full:

Its something that makes sense to most of us but we probably don’t all do it – when using the Trail please remember to carry some form of identification, preferably with an emergency contact number too. This reminder comes after a lone mountain biker was found injured on the Trail recently with no means of identification and no memory of who he was. It could be something as simple as a piece of paper with your name, number and emergency contact number or something more like engraved dog tag, road ID or an ICE sticker on your helmet. Horse riders should also remember to tag their horses bridle/saddle in case they should become parted.

While on this theme I guess a reminder about map and compass might not go amiss.

To all our safety …

The end of last month saw the launch of a biography of Joss Naylor, the legendary Lake District fell runner from Wasdale.

He’s a man of 73 now, but in his early years was a pioneer of some of the roughest running in Britain. He once ran 72 Lake District fells inside 24 hours.  And not only in his early years!  Just four months ago, on behalf of a hospice charity, he ran 35 miles and climbed over 15,000 feet over the Buttermere peaks, and including Great Gable, Pillar, Skiddaw and Blencathra on the route.

Keith Richardson has now written a biography of Joss which tells not only of his running but also of his childhood in the bleak country above Wastwater, his life as a shepherd, and the social history of the wild country of Wasdale.  The book launch at The Theatre by the Lake, Keswick, was attended by almost 400 people

Unfortunately I can’t just now include a workable link to Amazon as they don’t currently have access to copies of the book.  Apparently a single bookshop has bought up all remaining copies from the publisher!  I do hope that it will be reprinted before long, and made more generally available.  You can, though, get Eric Robson’s recent DVD, Joss Naylor – Iron Man [2009].