Site History
The origins of this site, at least as far as this Bob Graham section is concerned, started in around 2002 when my interest in the Round itself reawakened. I was doing less climbing and more running, both on and off-road, and I needed a bigger challenge. I’d known about the Bob Graham Round from around the time of Billy Bland’s then record run in 1982 and had bought the original edition of the 42 Peaks booklet produced by the club.
At the time I was employed as a software engineer in consumer electronics. The Web, while not in its infancy, wasn’t much more than a petulant child and things were very “Wild West” in how things were done: Internet Explorer did something one way, Netscape Navigator did it entirely differently. I saw creating a website as a bit of a personal challenge.
Closer to the matter in hand, at the time there was also very little on-line information about the Round itself and what there was tended to be somewhat static and dry. With typical hubris, I thought that I could do better!
Among the ramblings, notes and personal tales, the main feature that I brought to the table was the schedule calculator (it’s found from any of the pages in this section via the button at the RH end of the section menu) that allowed users to work out if their training runs and current level of fitness were good enough to do the round. The calculator developed over the years, moving from a simple adjustment of times to allowing for personal weaknesses on rough ground, adjustable times at road crossings to multiple paces across the round.
As the underlying technologies of the Web progressed so did the site. The idea of “mash-ups”, pulling data from multiple sources and working out something new took hold. Other features such as styling of web pages also moved on.
In 2012 I became the membership secretary of the Bob Graham Club, poacher turned gamekeeper? dunno. As well as handling registrations and ratifications I was also responsible for the Club’s website. Development on this site slowed, partly because my attention was elsewhere but mostly because I’d run out of ideas for new features. The Covid outbreaks of 2020-2021 coincided with a number of web technologies being mature enough that I didn’t have to account for someone not having a browser that used them. That time also allowed for the digitisation of the old paper records. The schedule calculator code was appropriated (much easier when you are both donor and recipient 😉) as well as being updated and simplified, and the membership data became publicly accessible.
As a result the Bob Graham Club website is the primary source for the core material which is as it should be.
For this site, all this means that this 2026 rewrite is somewhat leaner. There’s no point in duplicating things nor having simplistic animations where others can do much better. Data no longer has to be gleaned from documents or wherever, it can be retrieved from the main source, but I’ve added some extensions to the calculator at this end that allow the user to fine tune the schedule.
The route itself is basically the same, though time and heavier footfall now mean that the line is becoming more prominent; but projects like the Skiddaw Forest rewilding project may have an effect on the route taken.
There’ll be minor modifications and additions along the way as I realise that something needs stating or clarifying but it’s unlikely to be quirky or a duplication of efforts elsewhere.