If you are in Newcastle between the 11 June and the 30 August, then head to The Biscuit Factory Art Gallery to take a look at the work of Roger Clegg, the photographer behind the stunning collection of images in the Cicerone book The Spirit of Hadrian’s Wall.

Roger is an award-winning photographer, who lives in Hexham, just 20 minutes from the place that has become his abiding passion – Hadrian’s Wall. Roger embraced photography professionally after a career in business and then as a lecturer. He has captured the contrasting moods and timeless scenes of Hadrian’s Wall from coast to coast, and is responsible, amongst many achievements, for the iconic scenes on the side of Northern Rail trains; the pictures used for marketing Hadrian’s Wall and the British Museum’s Hadrian exhibition in 2008, and of course the book The Spirit of Hadrian’s Wall.

Roger’s picture of Sycamore Gap at midsummer with walkers won the Northumberland National Park prize in the Landscape Photographer of the Year Awards 2009.

Cicerone author Jon Sparks was Commended in the Digital Camera Photographer of the Year 2009. Final results were announced last night (Dec 8th) at London’s Mall Galleries.

Jon’s photo entitled Photographing Lynch Tor, Dartmoor was successful in the This is Britain category. Jon commented that he was pleased to be chosen in a category seemingly dominated by urban, documentary style images but as he said in his original image caption, ‘Even in our crowded island, wild places are usually not too far away’.

An exhibition of all the winning and Commended photos is on show at the Mall Galleries until Sunday 13th December; open every day 10am–5pm. Admission is free. Mall Galleries are on the Mall, a short distance west of Admiralty Arch and just a short walk from Charing Cross Underground and main line stations; see www.mallgalleries.org.uk

The 2009 version of the Digital Camera Photographer of the Year competition was the biggest yet, attracting over 100,000 entries from 126 countries, of which around 70 made it into the final selection.

About Jon

Jon is not a complete stranger to the business of winning awards, having previously collected top honours from both the Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild and the British Guild of Travel Writers. He is an experienced freelance photographer and writer specialising in subjects such as landscape and outdoor pursuits.

He’s particularly passionate about walking, climbing and cycling, but his enthusiasm encompasses almost any activity that doesn’t involve the infernal combustion engine. In the last few years he’s been ocean sailing, snorkelling, kayaking, canyoning and cross-country skiing as well as trekking, scrambling and climbing. He has also ridden bikes on everything from the boards of the Manchester Velodrome to the West Highland Way.

Jon has travelled and photographed in Pakistan, New Zealand, Canada, Morocco, and Australia, as well as most countries in Europe. He supplies images to the global libraries Corbis and Alamy and Britain on View, as well as directly from his own library.

Jon is the author of Cicerone’s Outdoor Photography guidebook.

Rachel Crolla – coauthor of Cicerone’s Europe’s High Points was interviewed last week on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour.

Caz Graham caught up with her in some pretty appalling weather on Scafell Pike last week, to talk about her experiences of becoming the first woman to climb the highest point of every country in Europe.

To listen to the interview broadcasted last Friday morning, follow this link to the BBC I-player.

Cicerone author Kev Reynolds has recently returned from leading a trek in Nepal – he sent us this note about a new road being developed in the Annapurna region.

“Until recently the Annapurna Circuit was one of the World’s classic treks, a three-week extravaganza of magnificent scenery and cultural diversity.  But the hill country of Nepal is sprouting roads like bindweed, and the valley of the Kali Gandakhi which drains the western side of the Annapurnas (where it cuts between Dhaulagiri and Annapurna I, it’s the deepest valley on Earth) can now be driven along from Pokhara to the pilgrim site of Muktinath.  Another road has been created from Tibet into the once-forbidden kingdom of Mustang, and it is thought that the Kali Gandakhi road north of Jomosom will eventually join it, making it possible for vehicles to journey all the way from lowland Nepal to the high plateau of Tibet – and vice versa.

Now a parallel road is being created on the eastern side of the Annapurnas, through the valley of the Marsyangdi.  By the post-monsoon season of 2009 buses could travel as far as Bhulbhule north of Besisahar, thereby reducing the start of the Annapurna Circuit by half a day.  However, this road continues much deeper into the valley and sections of it have so far almost reached Dharapani, destroying lengths of trail and many terraced fields, and forcing trekkers across man-made landslides and along temporary and in some cases unstable ‘paths’.

Many villagers are deeply unhappy about this new road, and fear its impact, for a lot of time, money and effort has been invested in creating some of Nepal’s finest lodges to accommodate the thousands of trekkers who, in the past, have flocked to the region.  If the Annapurna Circuit is to continue to attract trekkers, a new route will need to be created, which will ignore a number of lodges and villages now devalued by the road’s presence – for who would travel all the way to Nepal to walk on a dirt road?

Those of us who love Nepal and the Nepali people may question the value of such ‘progress’ and regret the degradation of a once-sacred landscape.  On a practical level, so far as trekking is concerned, the Annapurna Circuit has lost its magic.  Be warned: a number of trails described for Treks 1 & 3 in the Annapurna guide can no longer be used – please follow signs where they redirect the route, and take great care if you find yourself on a trail near road-building works, for Health & Safety considerations are virtually unknown here….  Trek safely and stay alert.”

Kev Reynolds

We have received a number of enquiries from people trying to use the new booking system for accommodation along the GR20. We asked Paddy Dillon,  author of Cicerones guide to the GR20 if he had any further information on the problems currently being experienced.

Paddy writes:

Anyone trying to access the PNRC website at the moment will find only the following message – La maintenance est en cours sur le site. Victime de son succes la plateforme de reservation est saturee. Repassez plus tard. Merci de votre comprehension. Basically, the site has crashed under the sheer weight of people trying to use the booking system, so come back later!

So far, there has been no feedback from anyone walking the GR20 this season, concerning the new booking system. However, it is also worth noting that it is still rather early for trekkers, at the time of writing in mid-June. Bear in mind that non-PNRC refuges do not require advance booking.

Recent reports state that the Cirque de la Solitude still contains a lot of snow and ice and is passable only with extreme caution. Also, a new refuge is being built beside the Hotel Castel di Vergio and the hotel’s budget basement accommodation will close after this season.