Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2025 i Country Walking

AS I WAS preparing to chat to Bill Bailey, I tried to work out if there was one common element that unites all the myriad things we love him for. A phenomenally talented musician. An enduringly loveable stand-up comedian. The winner of Strictly Come Dancing 2020. A devoted birdwatcher. And a man who likes to relax by paddleboarding and (here's the rub) walking. Then I realised what it was. Rhythm. From the ebb and flow of making an audience howl with laughter to the simple swish of footsteps; from the sound of birdsong to a top-scoring samba: Bill Bailey is a creature of rhythm. “I think – hope – most of us are, in some way,” he says when I suggest it. “I think it's probably down to our connection…

MAGIC HANGS IN the air on the Avalon Marshes, but not because of Arthurian legend or the mystical ley lines that are said to run through its peat-rich soil. It's all down to the alchemic power of water in the landscape. The winter sun hangs low today, stretching shadows across the lake, light glistening on perfectly formed wavelets. Nestled between the Mendips and the Polden Hills, we can see the abbey-topped mound of Glastonbury Tor, as dusk begins to darken the sky. There's a rustle of reeds as we set out along the boardwalk and into this low-lying wetland. Step off the wooden walkway and the ground feels so sponge-like in places that it's hard to tell where land ends and water begins. A flock of starlings career into view,…

I'M TRYING TO work out what the best thing is about this beach. The golden sand is quite glorious, but it's not that. The waves gently kneading the shore have me in a trance, but it's not those either. Neither is it the stream that drops into a pool, then spills out across the bay. For me, it's the fact that no one else is here. This might make me sound like an antisocial grouch, but on an island that's home to Newquay, Blackpool and Skegness, the prospect of securing a beach all to myself seems improbable. Just finding a parking spot within sight of the ocean in summertime can feel like uncovering lost treasure. But away from the candy floss and mini golf lie mile after mile of coastal…

Email your picture, along with a few words about the walk and your contact details to cwroutes@bauermedia.co.uk THIS MONTH'S PRIZE WINNER CLOUGHA PIKE, Route 14, March 2024 I had an operation to my right knee in August and my recovery has been very slow, but I have recently been able to resume short walks. Every year, between our birthdays, a mate and I meet up to celebrate. I live near Manchester and he lives near Kirkby Stephen, so I was looking for a short walk halfway between us and found this one, and what a little gem it is. The highlight is the exceptional view from the summit area. You can see Blackpool Tower, Heysham Power Station, Morecambe Bay, the Lake District fells, and two of the Yorkshire Three Peaks.…

94% agree It makes a big difference to how you feel Prepare to meet the more robust, sunnier, smilier, problem-solving new you. 99% agree It's better than joining a gym Cheaper, more enjoyable, longer lasting, memory-building, free-roaming… 70% surprised themselves It shows you things about you you never suspected The things you're capable of, the qualities you never knew you possessed. 94% agree You'll be happier More than 9/10 people say they're more contented thanks to doing Walk 1000 Miles; 98% that it's changed life for the better. 96% agree It takes you to new places Places you never suspected near to home; adventurous new horizons you never saw yourself reaching. 73% agree It gives you body confidence The best version of you awaits (and 69% say they've been getting…

Scarpa has been a world leader in footwear for over 80 years, continually innovating and striving for extraordinary comfort and resilience. We are passionate about the outdoors and have an extensive collection of boots and shoes to ensure people have the best fit, performance and comfort at all times. We're pleased to partner the challenge to encourage more people to get walking and enjoying the outdoors. Whether you're looking for a lightweight go-anywhere shoe or a technical boot for the mountains, we have everything you need. You can find our full collection at scarpa.co.uk FOOTWEAR PARTNER At Bridgedale we believe it's the little things that make the biggest difference to our lives and our socks are one of the little things that will transform your #walk1000miles journey every day. We've…

SEALS RESTING ON sandbanks, dolphins jumping from the waves, medieval colleges, clifftop cafés, botanic gardens… these aren't the images that come to most people's minds when they think of Aberdeen, but they're all here. Scotland's third biggest city grew up partly around the cobbled lanes of Old Aberdeen, where St Machar's cathedral still towers over flowering Seaton Park. This area is packed with things to see so our first walk is a winding exploration through some of the city's oldest treasures to the long, sandy beach. Next day, we head over to Greyhope Bay, where a new project aims to connect visitors with the area's marine wildlife. You can stroll past historic lighthouses, defensive towers and jetties while watching huge gannets plummeting beak-first into the North Sea. The new glass-walled…

THERE ARE PROBABLY a thousand pairs of eyes watching me. There's a flock of rooks and jackdaws circling above the ash copse, below which maybe 50 fallow deer are hiding between the tree trunks, every head turned my way. A fox, roused from its daytime slumberings, keeps one eye alert. Then there are the small mammals, songbirds, pigeons, pheasants, raptors, insects, reptiles, amphibians…oh, and a scarecrow. Walking through the middle of a field in the English Midlands, I am the untouchable focus of all attention. Utilised agricultural areas – or as I like to call them, fields – cover around 70% of the UK's landmass. That's more than 17 million hectares. But you don't need me to tell you fields are everywhere: stretching the horizons of East Anglia, scaling the…

THE LAST TIME I wrote a piece about walking round a city, a friend of mine raised an eyebrow. “You do know the name of the magazine you work for, right?” he asked with scorn. “So why are you writing about Liverpool?” Well, yes, I do know that the word ‘country’ appears in the name of this magazine. But I also know three other things. 1) That walking is walking, and wherever it happens, we love it. 2) Towns and cities are where most of us live, so while we might relish those blessed escapes into the countryside, the daily walk of the average Briton is usually, in some way, urban. 3) Some of Country Walking's most successful issues and warmly received stories have come from the exploration of towns…

SKYLARKS ARE SINGING overhead as I walk between yellow, coconut-scented banks of gorse. The sandy track ahead winds through wiry miles of heather with scattered birch and pine trees. The UK is home to one fifth of the planet's lowland heath. These open areas with poor soil and low-growing plants are one of the world's most unusual and embattled habitats, supporting unique species of wildlife: mammals, birds, plants, Nreptiles and insects. Early butterflies are flickering through the spring sunlight. I spot a brown speckled wood and several cheerful orange tips. A melodic fluting sound nearby turns out to be a rare woodlark (thanks Merlin app!) and an orange-breasted stonechat calls from the top of a gorse bush. Heath looks quintessentially wild and natural, but is actually a manmade landscape. From…

NEW HORIZONS ‘This challenge takes you places’ ‘I started the #walk1000miles challenge on 1st January and managed to hit 2000 miles of walking last week! Two things I've learned: ‘No. 1: This challenge takes you places. This year alone, I've visited six different countries and practically made the Peak District my backyard. New places, new trails, and new paths every time. My husband might not be thrilled with my searches for ‘the most difficult hikes,’ but hey, a girl needs a hobby! ‘No. 2: This challenge is as much psychological as it is physical. Netflix and a sofa? A rainy day and a blanket? Doing absolutely nothing all day? Nope. I opted for hikes instead. Rain or shine, with boots and waterproofs on. Walking was never the problem – getting…

1 The woods are wild England's forests are home to over 5000 species of fungi and 1000 species of invertebrates, new research reveals. Forestry England used cutting-edge DNA testing on soil, water and air over four months, discovering more species than in the last century of traditional sampling. Rare finds include the glistening waxcap, and the data will be a baseline for assessing nature restoration work. Meanwhile, the Woodland Trust has revealed a list of weird and wonderful species living in our temperate rainforests, a precious habitat that now covers just 1% of Britain. The stinky sticta lichen whiffs of fish, the hazel gloves fungus looks like intestines, and the ash-black slug can grow to 20cm long and swings in the treetops to mate. 2 There's a word for it… The clumps…

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 LETTER OF THE MONTH The next challenge? Having finished the Wainwrights a few years ago my wife, Jane, and I were looking for a new challenge. So when we saw the article in the June 2021 Country Walking magazine about the Ethels, our curiosity was aroused. ‘Looking for a new tick-list?’ the article asked. ‘Try the Ethels, 95 distinct Peak District summits’. We had moved from Cambridgeshire to West Yorkshire in 2014, and live right on the northern boundary of the national park. So the challenge was ideal for us. The Ethels, named after Ethel Haythornthwaite who lobbied for the Peak to become our first National Park in 1951, are peaks…

A PRE-DAWN START is something I'll always associate with big mountain days. It's how Alpine peaks have traditionally been tackled – the 4am stumble out of your rifugio to reach a snowbound summit before sunrise. It's the signature approach of peak baggers, as they labour to squeeze as many summit ticks as possible into a single outing. And, sometimes, it's a thing you do simply for the joy of watching day break from a high and lonely place. There's a feeling that comes alongside those early starts. It's part adrenaline, part childlike anticipation, part excitement and just a dash of controlled panic – because no long day in the mountains comes without a small element of risk. Much as I love woodland wanders, the ups and downs of coastal paths…

I FIRST KNEW MOORLAND as a sort of longing as I spied it from the back seat of the car. As we drove about the country as an RAF family, we'd pass through these long stretches of lonely-looking high ground, en route to somewhere more interesting or more pressing, and I'd think, why can't we stop here? Or better yet, why don't you let me out here and I'll find my way over the course of what might be days or months? Living for a few years in Carlisle, the family got into fell-walking and dad prided himself on being able to name every Lake District peak within a 360-degree radius. But he was never able to recite the names of the great, leaden moors on the wrong side of…

STEPPING INTO A woodland is like diving into an ocean. This isn't a landscape you walk on; it's one you walk in. Roots twist into the earth beneath you, trunks grow beside you, branches stretch above you, all thrumming with ever-changing life that plays on every sense. Just think of the sweet scent of bluebells, the garlicky taste of young ramson leaves, the cackling yaffle of a green woodpecker, the eye-catching red and white polka dot toadstool of a fly agaric and the velvet touch of a mossy branch. You could spend a year visiting a single square metre of forest and never get bored; scientist David George Haskell proved it in his fascinating book The Forest Unseen. The woodland I'm walking today is 30 million times that size. West…

JANUARY ANSWERS DECEMBER WINNERS Fiona Hunt, Shropshire, Dave Spershott, W Sussex Claire Bolam, Ruthin January 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. 01539 562069 or visit www.cicerone.co.uk EMAIL COMPLETED PUZZLES TO: cwcrossword@bauermedia.co.uk Closing date: 31 January 2025 WIN! Bauer Media Group (the publishers of Country Walking) have other great offers and promotions that we think you'll like, but if you'd rather not hear about these offers, please tick this box □ For our privacy policy visit bauerdatapromise.co.uk Bauer Media Group consists of Bauer Consumer Media Ltd, Bauer Radio Ltd…