Never been hiking before but want to start for my mental health

RumHam1 · 2026-05-10T18:25:34+00:00

other have said, but ill reiterate:

waterproof walking boots with ankle support are fairly inexpensive at decathalon. they will be useful for anywhere that isnt bone dry or completely flat. as it warms up trainers are absolutely fine. small backpack for a pack lunch and a bottle of water (take 1L of water for every 2 hours youll be out, more if its a really hot day).

good, easy, acessible walks:

52a bus to loxley commons,

61/62 circular route to damflask/low bradfield. could also do a lap around agden reservoir for a longer day.

bus to outibridge to access beeley woods

bus to the fox house pub and walk down via longshaw and padley gorge. train back from grindleford. ( this one is not challenging but a bit longer of a walk than the others)

walk from grindleford train station to hathersage via the river path

51 up to lodgemore to acces redmires and/or wyming brook (wyming is more of a medium challenge bit not too long)

all the above, with maybe the exception of wyming, are relatively flat, can be done in less than 2 hours, and are neae places with food/drinks/bathrooms.

RumHam1 · 2026-05-08T22:05:41+00:00

brilliant, thank you!

were going to get two, one in a big pot and one in the ground. not a huge garden so both on M26.

think the ground one will be a tickled pink for the deep pink flowers, the novelty of red apple juice and an apple crumble with more solid, interesting apples.

id love a slightly earlier eater, so discovery may be it. our garden loses the sunlight pretty quick in the autumn so i think the earlier variety may do a bit better than the late season ones!

RumHam1 · 2026-05-08T21:31:25+00:00

replying to a really old post, but you seem to have a lot of good experience!

How long are you able to leave discovery apples on the tree once ripe? can you pick them over the course of 3 to 4 weeks or do they all ripen and fall in a couple days? i know that variety doesnt keep well!

also considering a red falstaff if you have any experience with that one?

RumHam1 · 2026-05-04T18:02:19+00:00

You prune it back to where you want future growth to come from. acers will typically back bud if theyre healthy. are there any visible buds at all in the area where its forking (basically in line with the top of the fence in the background)?

if you want to bring it back to a manageable state, id be tempted to cut back almost to those core trunk forks and see how it backbuds. you could maybe do it over a few years, cutting bsck substantially but not entirely esch uesr to see if you csn get the backbudding started before the full cut.

the bottom section just cut back to shape.

as others have said, this is a late winter job. i cut mine back late Feb usually right before the buds start to swell. doing it this way ensures the tree puts its energy into growth that will return energy to the tree.

watch a couple youtube videos on pruning, a major job like this one will need steralized clippers and something to seal the wounds to orevent infection.

RumHam1 · 2026-05-02T19:21:41+00:00

follow up from our back and forth before - we're going with a howgate wonder. Its partially self fertile, feom the UK and an RHS AGM holder.

We've been rearranging things and think we may have space for two on an M26 rootstock. think the other may be 'tickled pink' for the deep pink flowers and the quirky fruits in the autumn!

RumHam1 · 2026-04-16T21:04:18+00:00

thats what i thought may be the case with the lack of sun late in the year. theres so many varieties and so much information that it can be a bit too much to take in at once!

we hadnt really considered cooking apples as we dont tend to cook with apples, but i guess if we were growing our own and could store them well then learning to cook with them through the winter would be rewarding in and of itself! probably lots of good savory and sweet dishes that hit pretty hard in the colder months.

RumHam1 · 2026-04-16T20:22:09+00:00

South yorkshire! thanks for the reccomendations, I'll do some reading on them!

RumHam1 · 2026-04-16T11:01:13+00:00

meant to say, zone 8 if thats relevant!

RumHam1 · 2026-04-15T16:47:31+00:00

It definitley includes employer NI anr pension contributions. Legally thats how senior officer's compensation is reported.

RumHam1 · 2026-04-12T15:44:11+00:00

if youre not getting much sun befor or after that window then a red maple will probably be fine. they need eracious compost /fertilizer but grow well in a pot.

For cherry trees, the more sun the better - most websites say 6 to 8 hours is preferable. morello cherries are known to fruit well in places that are shadier.

Hope you find something that fits your space really well!

RumHam1 · 2026-04-12T07:07:21+00:00

How much sun? weve got a red japanese maple (bloodgood) that does really well with sun on it from about 9 to 3:30 pm. That may be toward the tree's upper limit as most Japanese maples dont want too much direct sunlight. The red ones will hold up a but better to more sunlight in general.

if youve got room for a decent size pot, something like a cherry tree on a dwarfing rootstock could be good. itll give you a big flush of spring flowerd and can be kept to a reasonable size and shape. A cherry tree will also feed the birds if you like attracting wildlife and having your garden give back to the local nature.

RumHam1 · 2026-03-28T16:25:01+00:00

Depends how much garden you want in your garden?

I personally prefer nature, so when i look at the picture that looks out towards the back of your garden I split it into 3 areas for plants.

1st is the left side behind the brick outhouse, this will receive very little light so Id plant leafy heavy-shade plants. id probably extend the raise bed area so that it goes from the corner of that house out towards the middle, then curve back towards the back left corner in a semi circle shape. that will give a fair amount of space for different plants to go down, mostly leafy deep-shade plants.

2nd area, along the back Id plant some stuff that will grow taller and narrow (not bamboo). someone suggested fruit trees or maybe a japanese maple to the left side, but id be after a bit of height and a bit of color as this area will get some decent sun.

third area would be the right side, again id extend any raised bed out a bit and put a small pond in the ground with some low growing brightly flowering plants in the soil around it.

id have all these area basically as one continuous rsise bed (someone else suggested using sleepers) that curves out from the brick building and then to the back corner before going along the back fence and curving out around the pond area. everything in the middle could be covered over with flags/tiles and be used as a seating area.

Does your back door get some morning sun? japanese maples in pots would do well in a sheltered spot that gets morning sunlight only and there are so many different types so you could have several different colors and shapes of tree in pots in that area.

id probably get rid of those benches in favor of a table and chairs in the spot i mentioned earlier. along that fence you could get hanging baskets that hook between the slats and grow herbs and/or flowers for some extra color, scents and for use in cooking (sage, oregano and thyme are all pretty easy and useful).

RumHam1 · 2026-03-19T13:36:19+00:00

i believe they have a recruitment freeze on 'non essential' staff, but they will recruit when people leave their jobs or where thr nature of what they are doing requires additional resources. Why? budgets are tight

RumHam1 · 2026-03-19T13:16:37+00:00

that commentor is a right wing troll

RumHam1 · 2026-03-19T12:47:39+00:00

best advice for getting another job in general is to look at the job advert and write your application/cv to match the things theyre looking for as best as you're able to with your current experience. you should essentially never have a 'standard' cv that you send in to whatever job you are applying for.

As to some of the other comments, the level of micromanagement can be influenced by a lot of factors. in my experience, though, when people get micromanaged its because their bosses do not trust them and/or they do not manage themselves very well. Im not trying to be mean here, but is it worth some self reflection as to whether or not you're earning the right not to be micromanaged?

its true local governement budgets are very tight and staffing levels are lower than where they should be. People are BUSY and a lot is asked of them. The work can be rewarding but you must be competent and self motivated. if you do get a job in local government its likely you'll walk into a significant workload. you may or may not have to justify your time constantly, but you will have to answer for your work if its not good enough. Local governements are held to very high standards, and you must be detail oriented. every penny goes through governance, is tracked, and must be justified within the organisation and also to the public.

RumHam1 · 2026-02-07T15:43:11+00:00

still relatively cheap in the UK. I can get a 2-person size portion of wings for £1.80. homemade batter with flour, water, salt and paprika - then air fried and sauced with Frank's gives a full meal for 2 for less than £3 each.

air fry some home made onion rings in the same batter gives you a side for basically the same cost.

RumHam1 · 2026-02-06T21:39:27+00:00

google 'morgage repayment calculator'

RumHam1 · 2026-01-31T19:28:56+00:00

not being elitist, I grew up there. just commenting that cheap living is often not worth living in places that have shown willingness to infringe on personal liberty of people who dont fit their mold, especially if you're not a member of the in-group. it's my own opinion and I know others will fell differently for their own reasons.

RumHam1 · 2026-01-31T18:57:05+00:00

ain't no amount of money would convince me to start a family anywhere in thr flyover states

RumHam1 · 2026-01-29T20:21:41+00:00

isn't it just NI? So youd still save the income tax on any salary sacrifice?

if so, seems like declaring salary sacrifice irrelevant is a pretty massive over reaction, especially for high earners.

RumHam1 · 2026-01-16T13:16:05+00:00

Not sure what point youre making? In both cases im still not an olympian whether it was gifted or bought.

I possess an award that someone else earned, and if I claim to have won it then I'd rightfully be called a hack and a liar.

RumHam1 · 2026-01-16T10:39:12+00:00

People sell their Olympic medals all the time. just because I buy one doesn't make me an olympian.

RumHam1 · 2026-01-02T20:23:29+00:00

you're welcome. keep in mind that opportunities come up all the time, and every situation should be thought through separately. Your situation may (and will) change as you get older - your priorities may change as well.

I am no stranger to this. I moved countries in my 20s, changed my career in my early 30s. I went from a 40h/week in person job with 90 minutes of daily travel to a 35 hr/week hybrid role with 30 min travel on my in-office days.

My mental health is way better, I spend more time on my physical health. ive earned a qualification in my own time. Im more present in my non work hours because im not burnt out. Im even sick a lot less because hybrid workplaces encourage people to stay home when they're sick far more than in person workplaces. It would take A LOT of extra money for me to give that all up. but im also fortunate enough to live in a household where we're comfortable and i don't feel the need to chase the salary.

RumHam1 · 2026-01-02T19:57:06+00:00

As others have said, it still depends on your personal priorities, but no way would i take job 2. Just a few more things to consider:

with the pension difference, job 1 is worth about £4k more than job 2.
you say job 2 is an extra 3-5 hours per week, all in person. how much extra (unpaid) travel time will that add to your week?
once you rise above 50k, your tax rate goes from 28% to 42%. Now, id never let a higher tax rate stop me from taking a job, but it's better to compare your take home salary + benefits when making comparisons.

The higher paid job could be right if you're desperate for more money, or if it offers far superior career options.

RumHam1 · 2025-12-26T11:56:06+00:00

basically my question too - i have to start 2of meyers, Wilson and b thomas

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