Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2024 i Country Walking

This month I've been… 1. Demonstrating the extraordinary tea-serving rigidity of the 2025 Country Walking calendar when it arrived in the office. Get yours at walk1000miles.co.uk/shop 2. Wondering what Judith Maud Hopkinson, baptised in the Cornish village of Feock in 1872, did to earn this memorial gate in Cambs, among other questions recent walks generated… 3. …like how much a tractor like this costs. Wow. Over half a million quid! AFTER WE'VE FED, clothed and loved those close to us as best we can, and tried to be at least fairly decent to everyone else, it behoves us most as sentient beings to marvel at the world around us. I mean, doesn't it seem just polite? We've fetched up here, in a world physics has spent billions of years preparing…

THE SMALL HISTORIC town of Shipston-onStour serves the villages and countryside in south Warwickshire and developed as a trading centre for sheep and wool. The name is derived from ‘Sheep-wash-Town' and it later became an important overnight post for stagecoaches. Today, the streets lined with fine old inns and honeystoned buildings are reminders of the town's prosperous past. The attractive Market Place displays a range of elegant Georgian frontages. Your weekend will wander over the unspoilt surrounding hills and valleys of the north Cotswolds, where well-signed paths and bridleways criss-cross the borders of Warwickshire, Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire. And, until 1931, you could have added Worcestershire to the list because Shipston was once a bizarre enclave of that distant county. Incidentally, the Bee Gees had a lyric based on some local…

EVERY QUESTION ANSWERED DISCOVER Snowdon ON AN OVERCAST day in August, a group of men huddle in the wind at the summit of Snowdon, eating their lunch, and perhaps raising a toast to King Charles. At least, they think they're at the top. They can't be sure because it's one of those frustrating days where the cloud never lifts. They can't see anything higher, but then… they can't really see anything at all. This is a familiar experience to many who have climbed the mountain over the years. But in the case of these climbers, their time in the dank fog is about to make history. The reason for this is because one of the party, Thomas Johnson, jotted it down. He didn't say much about the climb itself – just…

EVERY QUESTION ANSWERED DISCOVER The Strid ASK AN OUTDOOR lover what the scariest walk in the country is and chances are they'll reach for familiar frighteners like Striding Edge on Helvellyn, the Aonach Eagach in Glencoe or the carnivorous tightrope that is the Cuillin Ridge on Skye. But here's our contention: mere exposure is a cheap form of jeopardy – after all it's one you can obtain from any window ledge or rooftop. Real fearfulness comes from a more singular source – stranger and less obvious; able to work its disquieting effect even after you turn away. There isn't a source stranger or more singular than the object of this walk. I've come to a part of Yorkshire where foreboding words gather in a strange cluster on the map – the southern tip of…

Best can mean many things: mileage, sandiness, remoteness, cliffiness, waviness. The nation's longest beach is Chesil, an 18-mile shingle barrier between the Dorset sea and the Fleet Lagoon. In Scotland, Balmedie Beach stretches 14 sandy miles north of Aberdeen, with 12-mile Rattray just beyond, while Wales' Pendine and England's Bournemouth both run seven golden miles. The Isles of Scilly and the Hebrides are fringed with paradise beaches of white sand, cliffs stack to a national high of 1411 feet on the far-flung St Kilda archipelago, and the biggest surf can curl 40-foot waves into Cornwall's Fistral Bay. But we think Rhossili on Wales' Gower Peninsula clinches the top spot. We're not alone. It's a fixture in national and international best beach charts and it's a golden highlight of Britain's first…

EVERY QUESTION ANSWERED DISCOVER Waterfalls & winds There are many contenders, some easy to get to (like Hardraw Force in the Yorkshire Dales; it's in the back yard of a pub), or Cautley Spout in the Howgills, which is right by a road. Or Steall Falls in Glen Nevis: just follow the glen. And we'd have to give a nod to Sgwd yr Eira in the Brecon Beacons, which is the one you can walk behind. But our winner is a smidge further-flung, although it's still within easy reach of a parking area. It's the nottechnically-named waterfall on the Allt Chránaidh, a stream disgorging from Loch na Gainmhich, in the far north-west Highlands. It may not have an official name, but its nickname is the Wailing Widow, apparently in memory of…

For 5000 years, locals and travellers have walked the Ridgeway through south-east England. Surfing 87 miles along a chalky chain of hills from Avebury to Ivinghoe Beacon, the path – now a national trail – offered well-drained footing above the swamps and forests where footpads and wild beasts once lurked. It's known as Britain's oldest road but even older tracks have been found buried in the Somerset Levels – wooden walkways built across the wetlands and then preserved in the peaty depths. First to be found was the Sweet Track, its 1¼ miles engineered from stakes and planks in 3806 BC to link the higher, drier land of Westhay and the Polden ridge. Then, tracing the same line, a second timber causeway dubbed the Post Track was discovered, which tree-ring…

Email your picture, along with a few words about the walk and your contact details to cwroutes@bauermedia.co.uk STOCKTON & BROADWELL, Route 12, June 2024 Four weeks after radical surgery I thought it was time to dust off the boots and try a bit of walking therapy. I chose a local route through the relatively flat Warwickshire countryside and at 6 miles I wondered whether it was too much too soon. THIS MONTH'S PRIZE WINNER I needn't have worried; I'd chosen the perfect walk to ease myself back into the walking saddle. I smashed it, and returned four days later to do the same walk again, only this time in the opposite direction. What a joy to be out and about in the gorgeous outdoors and I've learnt one major lesson: yes,…

The jump from day walk to long-distance trek can look formidable, but Britain is spaghettied with trails to bridge the gap – and this is what we think makes the perfect starter. It should be a whole path, not part of a bigger one, to relish the achievement of walking it all. Twenty to 40 miles, over three or four days, is the ideal distance to get a feel for the joys – and challenges – of going long. The route should be circular to minimise end-to-end faff, waymarked on the ground and shown on Ordnance Survey maps to simplify route finding, and be peppered with good feeding and sleeping options. And, of course, it must be scenically varied and utterly gorgeous. Dorset's Purbeck Way ticks all the boxes. Setting…

EVERY QUESTION ANSWERED DISCOVER Wistman's Wood AS THE RAIN finally breaks through the membrane of my jacket and I feel it soaking into my neck, I'm comforted by Guy Shrubsole's advice that Britain's rainforests are at their best when it's raining. That's good, because I'm in the middle of a January monsoon which won't end for another two days. As far as Mr Shrubsole is concerned, I've got lucky. And in fact, I am genuinely glad. To answer this question of whether Britain has rainforests, photographer Tom and I had planned a hearty seven-mile walk with the nation's best-known rainforest fragment at the heart of it. The rain has torpedoed that. Not because we're wusses, of course. Just like you, we'll happily traipse for miles in the rain when it's just…

Flow country Named from the Old Norse word floi meaning wet or marshy, Flow is the rather more appealing name for blanket bog. It's precious, Britain is home to a significant portion of the world's scant supply, and northern-most Scotland its most beautiful setting – a fact just recognised by the elevation of The Flow Country to World Heritage Site status. This 200,000 hectare bank of biodiversity and bulwark against climate change is the most intact and extensive blanket bog system in the world, stretching across Caithness and Sutherland in a mottled patchwork of pond and peaty bog punctuated by the occasional standalone peak. It's wildly charismatic, its peat 10,000 years in the making and up to 10 metres deep; both a time capsule of the deep past, and a…

Miles walked this month: 87 The other day my 18-year-old son announced his intention to climb Snowdon on Thursday. Capital idea I thought, except for the fact you're working until 10pm on Wednesday. How very naïve and can't-do of me. Because you can drive through the night and be up and down and having a cooked breakfast in Pen-y-Pass by 9am, of course you can. So in the time I had a sleep and brushed my teeth twice, he had a sunrise on Yr Wyddfa to add to his stock of memories, which struck me as a salutary lesson. Things might be several hours away, but that doesn't have to turn into several weeks or months unless you allow that to become your habit. Seize the day (or the night)…

HI-TEC Rainier Hiker WP £80 With their in-house Dri-Tec Waterproof membrane and moulded EVA midsole, Hi-Tec promise a boot that will keep you both dry and comfortable. The brand have added a new carbon rubber outsole that improves traction on the steep stuff, and is more durable too. A great option at the budget end of the scale. hi-tec.co.uk COLUMBIA Konos TRS OutDry Mid £115 Lightweight, with great shock absorption and grip over a range of terrains, the Konos TRS is good for speedy hikes. The boots keep water out with Columbia's in-house OutDry membrane, and the upper is made of tough material to withstand a battering or two. columbiasportswear.co.uk INOV8 Roclite Mid GTX £150 You might not have realised it, but Inov8 have thought about your feet very carefully.…

The View M ID-FLOW, MEGAN McCubbin loses her chain of thought. “I think people who like wildlife can sometimes feel pressured to know what everything is,” she was telling me. “Like they aren't clever or worthy enough if they can't identify that bird call or that tree, but really… wait, hold on…” (I hold on.) “Sorry, there's the most gorgeous red squirrel bobbing along right outside my window. I'm going to have to watch him for a minute.” I'm very happy to give Megan her minute, because even over a screen, her reaction is as much a joy to watch as the red squirrel is for her. How many red squirrels must Megan McCubbin have seen over her three decades on earth? And yet she is still utterly giddy at…

WRITE TO US AT: Country Walking, Media House, Lynch Wood, Peterborough PE2 6EA EMAIL: editorial@countrywalking.co.uk ● FACEBOOK: facebook.com/countrywalking ● TWITTER/X: x.com/countrywalking Seeing the photo in Nick Hallissey's Footnote (CW Oct 24) made me smile as I thought ‘I know that place'. It surprises me how many times I think that, when I read my latest Country Walking. This time it was a memory of walking the coastal leg of the Cleveland Way with my friend in 2013 – we sat on the very same stone as in Nick's photo. LETTER OF THE MONTH Here I go again, and again I began walking when I retired 21 years ago (I'm now 81). I've walked with a companion, with a group and more recently solo, as life's challenges have inevitably changed what I…

Cat Bells (451m/1480ft) Chosen by Nick Hallissey, Deputy Editor Cat Bells appears in so many photos, wall hangings, route guides, family albums and Instagram stories that we can almost become inured to it. The starter mountain, the friendly peak, the overcrowded one. The appeal is obvious: the distinctive outline, the accessibility from Keswick, the modest height (1480ft) that offers a panorama that blows the mind of veteran and newcomer alike. Not to mention the thrill of using the launch across Derwent Water as the bookends of the day (far more fun than tussling for the few parking spots at the bottom of the hill). I first climbed Cat Bells in 1984 and it has never lost its shine. I love it when it's busy: the friendliness, the joy of seeing…

When 4-foot concrete obelisks started appearing in Britain's countryside in the 1930s, many people wondered this. Were they sundials, searchlights, oil wells or monuments to commemorate George V's silver jubilee? The clue is the three-pronged metal circle that crowns each pillar: it's a ‘spider' for surveyors to secure a theodolite (a telescopeprotractor used to measure angles). In 1935, the Ordnance Survey announced a plan to improve the accuracy of their maps by surveying the nation again. Brigadier Martin Hotine was appointed to direct the Retriangulation of Great Britain (the Principal Triangulation had been completed back in 1853) and he designed the trig point as a sturdy base for measurements. Also known as Hotine Pillars, the first to be used was at Cold Ashby in Northamptonshire on April 18th 1936; the…

EVERY QUESTION ANSWERED DISCOVER The Rhinns of Kells THE RHINNS OF Kells. Ring any bells? I'm guessing maybe not, but I think these may be the best hills you've never heard of. Before I start waxing lyrical, I should tell you where they are. Many of you will know of the Southern Uplands, which stretch coast to coast across the bottom bit of Scotland. Some of you will have heard of the Galloway Forest in its western reaches, and its guardian peak The Merrick. Walkers come, they climb it, they go. I know. I've done it many times. But standing a little further east, you'll find the Rhinns of Kells. They're not quite as big, and their feet are hidden deep in conifer plantations, but having spent time on both ranges…

Walking wordsearch Ten unusual landscape features and a bonus one! JUST FOR FUN ● ERRATIC ● GRYKE ● HOLLOWAY ● AIT ● MEOL ● ZAWN ● STOR ● OOZE ● BLOWHOLE ● INSELBERG JUST FOR FUN WHERE IS THIS? Country: __________________________ (Apprentice) National Park/County: _________________ (Master) Specifically it's: _______________________________ ____________________________________ (Maestro) Last month's answers WHERE IS THIS? The Ribble Valley, with Pendle Hill beyond, Lancashire, England PRIZE CROSSWORD OCTOBER ANSWERS SEPTEMBER WINNERS Kevin Basey, Hexham; Amanda Hodson, Haslemere; Brian Bottomley, Chippenham Oct issue winners will be published next month. Full terms and conditions can be found at greatcompetitions.co.uk Win Cicerone guidebooks Three lucky winners will each get to select two guidebooks from Cicerone's range, including The National Trails of England, Scotland and Wales and Walking in Arran. For more details, Tel.…

Have you ever tried to eat soup with a fork? It's messy, frustrating and disheartening. If a fork were the only tool available for soup consumption, we'd probably regard soup as a food that's not worth bothering with. I think winter walking has the same issue - “It's cold, it's wet, let's not bother” - when in fact, the only reason you'll get cold and wet is because you haven't got the right tools for the job. We wear sunhats in July so we can enjoy all the delights of midsummer walking without the discomfort. In the same way, we might put on an insulated jacket and a thick pair of socks so we're comfortable in the chill. It's only then that we can really enjoy the delights of winter…