A step sideways and a step forward | Pinnacle Newsletter #69
#69 A step sideways and a step forward
A lot has happened since my last newsletter. My apologies for missing last week – I was in the Norfolk Broads for the Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild AGM weekend. More on that in a moment.
So, here’s what’s new.
After more than two years, I’ve decided to move on from the front line at The Great Outdoors – but it’s very much the start of a new chapter. Rather than repeat here what I’ve already written and published elsewhere, today’s newsletter will be a short one. If you’d like to find out why I’m leaving the role, and a few hints about the new directions I’m heading in (sorry, too early for many specifics still!) then please head over to my blog where you can read all about it.
At the aforementioned weekend in the Norfolk Broads – which ended with my wife and I stranded overnight in Wroxham due to flooding, but that’s by the by – I had a great time and met a lot of very experienced outdoor writers, in some cases authors whose books I’d been enjoying for years. Putting names to faces is always worthwhile, and it was particularly interesting to have good chats with Andrew McCloy, Joe Williams, Chiz Dakin, Jacquetta Megarry, and many more.
At the Awards Dinner, I was surprised to receive the 2019 OWPG Award for Excellence (Outdoor/Travel Feature) for my TGO piece ‘Summits and Skylarks’, published in the February 2019 issue of the magazine. And if you aren’t bored about reading updates about me yet, you can read all about that here. Congratulations to the other winners.
If you write about the outdoors, and you aren’t yet a member of the Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild, then you should consider joining.
In other news
If you’re in the Edinburgh area on 23 October, here’s an event that’ll be worthwhile: a talk by Alex Staniforth on his new book, Another Peak. I’ve just finished the book and found it a very interesting read.
Recently published
What I’ve been reading this week – this week’s quality online reads on the environment, outdoors, and more.
Top wild camps on the Haute Route Pyrenees – I camped every night during my 2019 thru-hike of the Haute Route Pyrenees, and 23 of those camps were ‘wild’ camps. Here are a few I enjoyed the most.
Change is afoot – a few remarks on the changes I’ve made to my website’s design.
Book review: Mountains of the Moon by Alan Rowan – I tremendously enjoyed this one.
And a couple of short pieces from my Entanglement blog, which is on a completely different subject and may not be for you:
‘Why your Instagram isn’t growing’ – commentary on an interesting piece I found on PetaPixel.
Do millennials struggle more with social media’s dark side than other generations? – this is something I’ve wondered for a while.
Until next time,
Alex
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