Hi again,

I have a long list of things I’d like to share with you today (including a newsletter from the archives at the bottom), so I’d better get started…

•  On May 6th I’m giving a free online talk for the John Muir Trust to help us to help us protect wild places. Please join us!
•  I’m still exploring the single map that I live on. It only measures 20km x 20km, but that means there are 400 grid squares waiting for me…
•  A mission to change the idea that people in larger bodies can’t ride bikes.
•  Grounded by the pandemic, a travel photographer spent the year pedalling the roads around his home, resulting in a series of poetic self-portraits.
•  Here’s a good wild swimming challenge to get stuck into for the summer, whatever your current ability.
•  Slow Ways is an initiative to create a national network of walking routes connecting all of Great Britain’s towns and cities as well as thousands of villages. Try one near you today.
•  The majority of the English countryside is out of bounds for most of its population. 92% of the countryside and 97% of rivers are off limits to the public.
•  In a world where our time and attention are fractured into smaller and smaller bits, legendary biologist and runner Bernd Heinrich is a throwback.
•  Have you read one of my books recently? There are 12 to have a go at, so far… (Book 13 coming this summer.) And some quick snippets… 
  • ✂️ Archaeologists in France have uncovered a stone with 4,000-year-old etchings they believe may be the oldest three-dimensional map in Europe.
  • ✂️ Discover the inner workings of a trig point. (Gosh that sounds dull. Am I the only person who found this interesting?!)
  • ✂️ A really good free First Aid app. Stick it on your phone and hope you never need it in the hills.
  • ✂️ Lockdown exploring continued… sites like Random Street View appeal to my wanderlust.
  • ✂️ Similarly appealing, if you love listening to the local radio in cafes and taxis across the world. Here’s last month’s #1 hit in 3000 places that I’d love to visit.
  Can I help you? Let me know if you have a relevant project that my readers would appreciate. Here’s what you guys have been up to recently…
  • ️ Michael has a podcast about travel, everyday adventure, and doing little things to make life more interesting.
  • ️ Kathryn and her husband retired, sold their house and most of their belongings, and began to travel internationally.
  • ️ Huw has started a very niche bike-tool loaning project, which I could imagine growing and spreading in many ways.
  • ️ Chris has written a book, (Just As Well) It’s Not About The Bike, about a 1,300km cycle from Valencia to Gibraltar.
  From the Shed Archives Shouting From The Shed – 20

   

  Hello!

  Let me start by apologising to all of you who experienced crazy formatting in my last newsletter. I do it deliberately to see whether you have the initiative and perseverance necessary to merit membership of my elite mailing list.

  Second: if you enjoy the content of this newsletter, please do forward it to a friend or two. New readers are very welcome (whatever their levels of initiative or perseverance).

  • The new film from my friend, Leon, is intriguing. The Samaritans are one of the most ancient tribes in the world – they’ve been around for over 3,000 years. But the population is now fragile and the tribe at risk of finally dying out… Their population consists of just four extended families, around only 800 people in total (in Roman times there used to be over a million). They have three men to every one woman. To keep the tribe going they’ve tried bringing in women from afar, including a number from Ukraine. But is it too little, too late?
  • Leon has also released a film about the past, present, and future of a Patagonian wilderness.
  • The happiest person in Adventure has released a new book. It’s the story of cycling 11,000 miles through every state of America. And an excuse to show off her penchant for funky leggings. Again.
  • Tired of the instant, easy, digital era, Ian Ruhter makes massive images with 19th Century technology. Nose around his website – it’s stunning and informative.
  • Tim Moss cycled around the world with his wife, Laura. The trip almost never happened due to issues with his mental health. He writes openly about his struggle.
  • Curious Humans promises an occasional newsletter dose of brainfood, recent podcast interviews & mind-expanding ideas.
  • Two of my favourite things on the internet are FailArmy and Humans are Awesome. You can imagine my delight to see a mixture of the two. Simultaneously inspiring and Darwin-Awards-esque.