Black Sail Youth Hostel
Some of you may know it. Possibly the most isolated place you can pay to stay in England. 2000 feet up in the middle of Black Sail pass in the Lake district, 5 miles from the nearest tarmac road. You used to have to write to them to book (no phone obviously), no electricity, yada yada, only has space for 16 people.

I stayed there in the middle of some epic 400 mile mountain biking trek when I was about 18 or 19. Middle of August but the cloud was at about 1000 feet, absolute pitch dark, you can't see more than a foot in front of your face. A few beers meant a piss in the middle of the night, and the toilet is outside, some 25 yards away. Not a problem, but that level of silence, isolation and dark is a bit disconcerting.

As I'm just about to climb down from my bunk, I hear a hushed whisper from the next bunk across, my mate Rob

"fuck me ... is that the stealthy footfall of a crazed axe-murderer I just heard?"

Cunt.

I'd have pissed in his bag, but there were other people in the room.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Sun 26 Jul 2009, 17:21, 2 replies)

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you get a click for the 'Epic 400 mile treck' you fuken adverterer.
(Gru being trolled since 1998, Sun 26 Jul 2009, 17:34, closed)

clicked!
Black Sail is legendary. I've never yet built up the confidence to plan a stay there, but one day I will. I understand it still retains most of it's isolationist charms; but all small and high-level hostels can be a bit creepy when they get socked in by cloud.

YHA Honister Hause is a little similar - not too far away, at the top of Honister Pass; it used to be accomodation for a slate mine, which is the main reason for it's location high up, along a quiet single track road, through a quiet mountain* pass. Some electricity; but you sure notice the silence more, once the genny is shut off for the night - nothing but battery backup until morning!

YHA Coniston Copper Mines is another candidate, in an old copper mine management building; all the mains electricity in the world doens't mean jack when it's a long dark night, at the end of a long dark dead-end road, the outside visiblity is measured in feet, and it's so very very *quiet*, apart from that crunch of gravel or creak of metal you thought you just heard outside the window... There's a lot of old mine workings, holes in the ground, rusting machinery nearby; are there lost souls still clinging to the area, maybe still hoping for revenge for some old wrongdoing? Ah, the relief when you hear voices you recognise; it's that group who were here last night, just a little late back. You practically hug them as they enter, and together await the next creepy sound from the blackness and the mist; all of you feeling a little safer in numbers, no-one admitting they're glad to be indoors. (Damn, what is it about old mines?)

Or is it just me? After all, I've enjoyed these less-busy locations better than some of the better-frequented, better-equipped places I've stayed. I urge you all to try hostelling, I'm sure most of you will enjoy it; they're all a little bit different, and there's bound to be some you'll fall in love with.

* yes, technically a hill pass, but meh.

Clarification: When I say confidence, I'm referring to trust in my navigation skills and physical fitness; rather than a fear of the dark.
(The Incredible Sulk Finally remembered his password on, Sun 26 Jul 2009, 23:36, closed)