What a fantastic day! So pleased that everyone made it to the summit of Blencathra. Another divided walk – and our group had a great view of the other team scrambling up the exhilarating ascent via Hall’s Fell Ridge. We were there to applaud them and I felt very proud of them!

The weather has been incredible – I am so relieved when I think of how wet and windy October in the Lakes could have been. Instead it has been almost unreal – so still and beautiful.

We had a great house concert last night… I had a text from Benji Kirkpatrick, who couldn’t be there, saying that in his absence someone else needed to take over the telling of dreadful jokes on stage. As it turned out, this role was embraced by Lindsey!

Big thanks to Graham and Vanya for sharing their house with us – it’s been a treat.

Now the mood is exuberant as both groups of walkers are together, heading downhill …. towards the pub! 

JJ

Here we are, the early morning brigade, about to walk up Clough Head and over to the Great Dodd. The Vale, which others will set off in later, in another 45 minutes, is just off to our right. Unbelievable day … if anyone walking with us is new to the Lakes, I hope they don’t think the weather is always like this. It’s incredible. Great session last night, lots of songs as well as lots of tunes, great to have other musicians with us, Nick Passmore and so on, Rowan sang, the women’s choir sang… But now we have to get up that hill – that’ll sort everyone out! This group is going up to 700 metres there, and then 850 metres later – so we’ll be just under 3,000 feet by the time we get onto Stybarrow Dodd and Great Dodd. Then we’re going to go down Sticks Pass and meet the other group which will have done a slightly easier route, so we all meet down at Legburthwaite, in the car park, near to the Lodge at Thirlmere. This is the first of the divided walks – looking forward to it and we’ll see who’s with us at the top! JJ 

Photos: see if you can guess which team is doing which walk!

Just moving off from the stone circle at Castlerigg. We’ve got more than 60 people here – we’ve been looking down at St John’s in the Vale, over the Dodds and High Rigg and Low Rigg, some of the iconic and beautifully-named hills, and Blencathra is way back behind me at the moment. I can’t believe the weather – it’s just amazingly good – very high cloud, beautiful blue sky, strong sunlight for this time of year, throwing sharp shadows on some of the rocky outcrops. Looking from here makes you realise how much more rugged the north lakes are compared to the south and I think that’s why I prefer them. We’ve got a lot of great walking to do but this is just a gentle start on the old coach road between High Rigg and Low Rigg and back down St John’s in the Vale to Threlkeld, and we’ll be in the Salutation Inn by 5 o’clock. Hope to see you there.” JJ 

OK, it’s here: a track from John Jones’ new album NEVER STOP MOVING, available for you to hear today only on Oysterband’s facebook band profile tab (http://on.fb.me/Zoy2L0), smartphone app and Reverbnation profile (https://www.reverbnation.com/oysterband).

Today’s track is SHE WROTE HER NAME TODAY.

The album will be out on 4th September and will be available to buy in Oysterband’s online shop: http://www.oysterband.co.uk/shipchoice.asp.

Look out for a completely different kind of album preview later this week…!

A track from JJ’s new album Never Stop Moving will be posted online for you to have sneaky preview – for one day only, NEXT TUESDAY – don’t forget to listen!

Hi to all Oysterband fans, Ramblers and long-distance listeners – My new album, “Never Stop Moving” will be released on Friday 4^th September and available at Shrewsbury festival before then and at BunkFest on the weekend of the release.

This is the album I have been making (alongside “Diamonds on the Water”) for the past three years, with many of the songs honed and fully realised on our walking tours the length and breadth of this beautiful, curious and contradictory country in search of the haunting stories that hide beneath the surface.

Inevitably my own story at the end of last year became mixed up with it and, for me, what I always thought of as my English folk album of big songs from small stories became an expression of my own ‘revival’. The last song to arrive, “Never Stop Moving”, seemed to capture that. I am moving again and somehow my voice just gets stronger…and for that I am just bloody grateful. Stay strong out there. Best, JJ

NEVER STOP MOVING…Big songs from a small country…

Watch this space for more about “Never Stop Moving”, including videos and a couple of tracks we hope to be able to post in advance as a taster. If you aren’t going to be at Shrewsbury or BunkFest, you can pre-order the album here http://www.propermusic.com/product-details/John-Jones-Never-Stop-Moving-201345; and it will also be available in due course in the Oysterband shop http://www.oysterband.co.uk/shipchoice.asp!

…..And so to Nettlebed. Carrying our packs, bruises and hangovers we completed the last 19 miles into Goring on a stiflingly hot day, with some gorgeous views of Didcot Power Station, on a dusty, hard Ridgeway that hurt the feet. It is amazing how, so close to so many people, roads and towns, you feel aloof and removed from the bustle of life, lost in the rhythm of the walk and even though I guess some people were feeling the pace, the journey had to be finished. Finished where we ended our first ever walking tour, in the surroundings of Nettlebed Village Hall for a great final show and everyone on fine form. Lindsey and Benji really powered the rhythm section along, Tim’s fiddle soared under the controls of Oysterband sound maestro Tim Porter, Rowan just gets stronger and stronger and was in great voice while Al ‘s guitar anchored everything and glued us together. I am privileged to have such people round me and that goes for everyone who walked, welcomed us, met us along the way and shared in the journey. My thanks to everyone involved in any way, including the Reluctant Ramblers support team who make all this happen: Tom Povey, Fran Burge, Bev Bond, Colin Kirkby, Tim Porter and Caz White. JJ