I enjoy walking and regularly go on local walks.
I have also started walking various trails, long-distance paths, drovers ways and pilgrim paths.
I like to take my time walking and do not walk particularly quickly. Sometimes I will only walk 6-8 miles a day, others 12-14 miles depending on what I fancy and how I feel. Occasionally I take my portable amateur radio gear with me and if I have time – usually a shorter walk – I will make some radio contacts.
My non-local walks include:
Peddars Way and Norfolk Coastal Path, 2016. The Peddars Way and Norfolk Coastal Path starts just inside Suffolk and follows the route of a Roman road for about 49 miles to Holme-next-the-sea on the Norfolk coast, meeting the Norfolk Coast path which runs from Hunstanton to Mundesley. (When I walked the path it stopped at Cromer). Overall, it is about 92 miles but with diversions i walked 94.5 miles.
The Pymmes Brook Trail, 2018. The 13 mile trail starts in Barnet, Hertfordshire and runs for to Tottenham Hale where the brook runs into the River Lee Navigation and makes a very enjoyable two-day walk through country and urban landscapes (although it is easily possible to walk the route in a day).
The Thames Path, 2017-2021. A long-distance trail following the River Thames from its source near Kemble in southern Gloucestershire to Crayford Ness in the London Borough of Bexley. Nominally 184 miles long, the length varies according to which side of the river one walks in the London area. The path is virtually flat, with almost no steep hills or rises. Apart from the early parts of the walk near Kemble, the path is readily accessible by public transport. With diversions I walked 206 miles.
The London Capital Ring, 2020-2021. An approximately 82 mile trail that encircles inner and central London. The trail crosses the river Thames at Richmond in the West and Woolwich (the usual start and end point) in the East, and takes in many of the city’s open spaces including Crystal Palace Park, Syon Park, Highgate Woods, Finsbury Park and Hackney Marshes.
The St. Birinus Pilgrimage walk, 2020. This is a short walk of 10 miles from Churn Knob, through Blewbury to Dorchester Abbey. It is one of the walks on the The British Pilgrimage Trust website and can be found here. It is quite hilly in places but gives some spectacular views over the English countryside.
Offa’s Dyke, 2022. First 80 miles starting at Sedbury Cliffs and finishing at Knighton. Offa’s Dyke (Welsh: Clawdd Offa) is a large linear earthwork that roughly follows the border between England and Wales. The structure is named after Offa, the Anglo-Saxon king of Mercia from AD 757 until 796, who is traditionally believed to have ordered its construction.
St. James Way, 2021-2022. A 68.5 mile walk from Reading to Southampton. The walk has been designed by The Confraternity of St James and may be found on The British Pilgrimage Trust website here. It is the English section of the Camino Ingles and continues from Ferrol to Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain.
Boudicca Way, 2023. A 36 mile walk from Norwich to Diss. It is named after the legendary warrior Boudicca, the Queen of the Iceni tribe who ruled the southern part of east Anglia in the late Iron Age and early Roman period. The trail runs parallel to the Roman ‘Pye’ road linking the capital of the Iceni at Venta Ocenorum (Caistor St Edmund) to the Roman provincial capital and legionary base at Camulodunum (Colchester).
The Ridgeway, 2023. An 87 mile trail from Overton Hill in Wiltshire (near the Avebury Stone Circle) to Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire. Considered to be one of the oldest paths that connects with the Icknield Way and the Wessex Way.