Tori James blog

Get yourselves down to Cardiff Bay on Thursday 13 October to hear from Richard Parks and his record-breaking 737 Challenge. Click for details.

Happy Birthday to Llamau, a charity in Wales making big steps to improve the lives of homeless young people and vulnerable women. I am honoured to be speaking at your 25th anniversary conference tomorrow and would like to congratulate you on your achievements to date and wish you good luck for the future.

www.llamau.org.uk

Spent today filming for the new Visit Wales campaign. The sun shone, the surroundings were spectacular and we had a lot of laughs…….

Apparently Piers needs a proper holiday.

Piers Bramhall, a 27-year-old Londoner and his lovely girlfriend Emma Foley have been invited on the holiday of a lifetime in Wales. The idea is to show them the best Wales has to offer, from the traditional to the unexpected. Piers and Emma have already been treated to a male voice choir, a doorstep visit from Joanna Page, a breakfast cooked in their kitchen by Bryn Williams and a rugby match in the company of Ian Rush and Kelly Jones - and they haven’t even left London yet. To make the holiday a success, the campaign needs you. Whether you’ve lived in Wales all your life or have only visited once, your advice is needed. Share your favourite places, the best views, the most romantic places to eat, the best pubs.

Everything.

What makes your memories of Wales so special?

www.facebook.com/visitwales

The goal of the new explore fund is to get more young people outdoors by funding programmes that reconnect children with nature to inspire and enable the next generation of explorers and conservationists.

Financial support of up to Euro 2,500 is available to not-for-profit community organisations across Europe for projects that encourage youth outdoor participation. Projects should focus primarily on creating more connections of children to nature, increasing access to both front and backcountry recreation as well as providing education for both personal and environmental health.

Details at: http://explorefund.eu/index.php

Deadline for applications: 8 August 2011

Where were you on Friday 29 April? Glued to a television set, waving flags on the Mall? The Royal Wedding was a fabulous occasion, and so too was an event taking place in the heart of the Cambrian Mountains of mid-Wales, the 1st Great Tregaron Walking Weekend.

It never fails to amaze me what you will find and see when you step off the main roads and thoroughfares and venture onto one of the many public footpaths that criss-cross our country. It’s as if you’re suddenly transported into a different place, with different views, noises and smells. On Saturday, as part of the 1st Great Tregaron Walking Weekend, I had the opportunity to venture out with 40 walkers on the 11 mile ‘Cwm Berwyn’ walk from Tregaron and I was not disappointed. This walk is one of 7 walks that have been designed for walkers of all abilities and which has been published in a new guide, ‘Tregaron Trails’. It had a bit of everything; lush green fields with baby lambs, open moorland, meandering streams, dense forest as well as a wonderful view from Garn Fawr. And of course, some brilliant conversation with both local walkers and visitors and an entertaining game of bingo on route!

Thanks to a small group of local people, the town of Tregaron (not far from Aberystwyth) has just secured the ‘Walkers are Welcome‘ status which aims to promote the area as a location for walkers, increase tourism and boost the rural economy. The enthusiasm for the project was evident; the Talbot Hotel was even selling a ‘Legs 11′ ale which had been brewed specially for the event and which comes highly reccommended after sampling a few pints with the first Welshman to climb Everest, Caradog Jones!

And if you’re not already curious about what the town has to offer, you must take a visit simply to discover more about Twm Sion Cati (Wales’ own Robin Hood) and the local folklore which states that an elephant is buried in the garden behind the pub!

The success of the weekend was down to a small team of local people who love walking and who are keen to see Tregaron grow into a ‘mini-Chamonix’. A special mention goes to Dafydd Wyn Morgan whose energy, ambition and humour have no doubt been a driving force behind this project. Thanks for the invitation and congratulations to you all. I hope to visit again soon and I will be taking ‘Tori doll’ with me on my next adventure.

For a copy of the Tregaron Trails booklet visit www.walktregaron.co.uk (also available in Welsh)

View more photos in the Gallery.

TEDxCardiff is one of many great reasons to live in Cardiff.

TED started in the US and TED Talks inspire millions of people around the world each year by sharing online videos from a diverse range of speakers. They are designed to provoke thought, action and to entertain.

Thanks to the ambition of two Cardiff based creatives, Neil Cocker and Claire Scantlebury, TED has been bought to Cardiff and yesterday they hosted the second TEDxCardiff at the Wales Millennium Centre. I was honoured to be invited and to be in a line-up with some fascinating speakers.

I listened, learnt and contemplated. There was something for everyone, from the impact of social media on friendships to the suggestion that Google is conscious; the ever-changing importance of global climate change; the inequalities in vaccination information and enforcement; new medical science and the art of printing kidneys; art by offenders in prison; life with and without the Big Chill; encouraging creativity in education; space and science fiction and the idea that you, I, the world we inhabit is simply insignificant when considering the wider universe.

I talked about how a personal childhood experience and how the things that people say to you, can have a huge and positive impact on your approach and attitude to goals and challenges. “Success comes in cans, not can’ts”. (Quote, Anon.) For me, it comes in jam jars.

Videos will be online soon.

Looking for a map of the Brecon Beacons? Want the main areas all on one map? Take a look at the new 1:40 000 scale map produced by Harvey’s in conjunction with the British Mountaineering Council. They retail at £14.95 but if you’re a BMC member you can snap one up for £10.95.

“But Tori, surely you’ve already got a map of the Beacons?”

Yes, but NEW maps are VERY exciting, and this one is a different scale (more excitement) with different colour shading and use of symbols. It’s good practice to use different types and scales of maps - especially if you’re venturing overseas this summer.

More info at: http://www.thebmc.co.uk/News.aspx?id=4185

On 29 April 2011, Tregaron is inviting walkers to the first ever Great Tregaron Walking Weekend. The town recently secured the ‘Walkers are Welcome’ status and I’ll be going along to check out the walking that the area has to offer as well as sharing my own adventure to the roof of the world.

Visit www.walktregaron.co.uk for more details about the weekend or call 01974 298150 to book your tickets.

I’ll be speaking at Bristol Explorers on Thursday 3rd March. See www.explorersconnect.com for more info.