Walks
Hill walking along with mountaineering has long been a hobby of mine, rarely venture out to do any actually mountaineering or climbing these days, but I still get out for some hill walking. My first long distance walk was the Everest Base Camp trek, many years ago, though I had done some walking before that, since then I have done a fair bit of walking around south Wales, the Lakes and things like the North Downs Way. During the 2020/21 Covid pandemic I walked both the Capital Ring and the London Loop and really got back into walking again.
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Read more about Folkestone to Eastbourne
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I decided on a walk from Folkestone to Eastbourne after planning an extended walking trip for the summer of 2021, my idea was combine to the South Downs Way, the St Swithins Ways and then the North Downs Way as one walk starts as the other finishes. For some reason I thought I could make it a large circular walk by creating a walk from Folkestone to Eastbourne, it seems like quite a good idea when I thought of it but now I am not so sure. I could have just started the South Downs Way in Eastbourne and combined the walks which would have been just as good. A little bit of search found one other person who’d done the same walk though not as the same sequence ie one after the other.
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Read more about 1066 Country Walk
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The 1066 Country Walk is a 31 mile walk from Pevensey Bay to Rye, through the Sussex countryside, as the name suggests it follows the route that William The Conqueror took from Pevensey to Battle and thence on to Rye. There are a number of route variations such as from Hastings to Doleham and the route can also be extended from the Pevensey Bay end of the route to the South Downs Way. Jason MaDonald’s blog includes an account of all the main variations and is worth a read if you are thinking of doing them all
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Read more about South Downs Way
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The South Downs Way is a 100 mile National Trail along the chalk escarpment it is entirely within the South Downs National Park. The walk starts in Eastbourne and finishes in Winchester, or the other way round, following old drove ways and paths. Much of the path is a bridleway and can be used by riders of both cycles and horses, though there are occasionally different routes for these users. The path generally involves walking along the ridge formed by the Chalk, there are occasional descents and ascents but the ridges are relatively flat, and there are often spectacular views, though these will depend on the weather. The walking can be quite hard as you are often walking on hard surfaces with flints in them and on the tops of the Downs you are subject to whatever the weather can throw at you, wind, rain or sun, there is no escape from it.
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Read more about St Swithins Way
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The St Swithins Way is a 55km rural walk from the old Saxon Capital of England Winchester to Farnham where is links up with the start of the North Downs Way National Trail. Combined together these two routes roughly follow the old Pilgrims Way, the theory being medieval pilgrims would follow the route from the shrine of St Swithin at Winchester to the shrine of Becket at Canterbury. However the concept of an actual Pilgrims Way seems have been largely debunked as more of a Victorian idea than having actually existed. What is more likely is that the route reflects an ancient trackway generally taking the chalk ridge, following the contours to avoid the clay on the valley floors. Whatever the actuality of this there was a road or pathway called the Pilgrims Way, which still exists in parts, occasionally there are road signs for it. The logo and route marker for the St Swithins Way reflects its links with pilgrimage being comprised of two bishops croziers.
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Read more about North Downs Way
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The North Downs Way is a 153 mile or 246 kilometre route from Farnham in Surrey to Dover in Kent. This distance is for the whole of the route as the trail is odd in having two alternative legs to Dover the route splitting at a place called Boughton Lees. The southern leg takes you past Folkestone and the total distance from Farnham is 131 miles or 211 kilometres. The northern route takes you to Dover via Canterbury and the total distance from Farnham is 125 miles or 201 kilometres. Which ever route you take you are going to be able to see great views of over the landscape of Surrey and Kent
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Read more about The Ridgeway
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The Ridgeway National Trail is said to be the oldest path in the UK, following an ancient route that has been used for over 5000 years. The Ridgeway itself is only a small part of this ancient route but there are extensions at either end of it that make up The Greater Ridgeway. The Greater Ridgeway itself is make up of four long distance footpaths, The Wessex Ridgeway, The Ridgeway National Trail, the Icknield Way Path and the Peddars Way, it starts at Lyme Regis in Dorset and finishes in Hunstanton on the Norfolk coast.
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Read more about Icknield Way
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The Icknield Way is an ancient path and quite a confusing one as there are 3 paths that seem to share the name. The actual Icknield Way Trail starts somewhere near Chinnor in Hampshire and generally follows the route of The Ridgeway. From Ivanhoe Beacon the walkers route called The Icknield Way Path starts. It is quite confusing as most the signs just say Ickneild Way and at some places there are multiple directions indicated depending on whether you are walking or riding. The Icknield Way Trail is the organisation that maintains the various routes and the Long Distance Walkers Association page is worth looking at. I have used the term Icknield Way through out this blog for ease of use. I was following the walkers route but occasionally strayed off it. The walkers route can be used to link The Ridgeway and another national trail The Peddars Way all of which are part of the Greater Ridgeway Trail. The route starts at Ivanhoe Beacon and finishes at Knettishall Heath, crossing six counties on the way.
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Read more about Lejog
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My attempt at walking from one end of the UK to the other, I have been thinking and planning it for years but finally the time has come to give it a go. I will be walking it during the summer of 2022, I will be attempting to update this blog as I do the walk but will probably be a few days behind. I am feeling excited and a little nervous but I have all the kit I can really buy, my over night sleeper to Penzance has been booked, so there are no more excuses not to go.
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Read more about South Bucks Way
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The South Bucks Way is a 37km or 23 mile walk starting at Coombe Hill in Buckinghamshire and finishing at or around Denham Lock on the Grand Union Canal, near the small town of Denham, Buckinghamshire which itself is near Uxbridge. The walk is marked on OS Maps with a logo comprised of a swan and the routes name and is generally on easy ground. There are very few hills and even those that exist are minor, the route is often in valley bottoms and is never really hard. The way-markers and signage is generally good but not comprehensive so a map or some digital assistance is required, I used the OS maps app which worked pretty well (technical issues aside).
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Read more about Medway Valley Walk
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The Medway valley Walk is 49 km or 29 mile walk from Rochester to Tonbridge in Kent (officially the other way round). As the name suggests it follows the valley of the River Medway and for the most part the route is alongside the River and rarely strays far from it. The walking is very easy, being very level and with no hills to worry about, it passes though a variety of landscapes such as downloads, woodlands and farmlands. It also passes though a number of towns and villages or passes a number of cafes and pubs so it is easy to do the walk without carry too much if you’re willing to buy lunch. There are many old villages with ancient churches, a number of castle to be seen along the route, making it historically interesting if you have the time to visit these sites.
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Read more about Vanguard Way
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The Vanguard Way is a 106 km or 66 mile way from East Croydon Station to Newhaven via the Seven Sisters, it passes over the North Downs, though the Ashdown Forest and then finishes on the South Downs. It passes near to many towns such as Oxted, East Grinstead and Uckfield before finishing in Newhaven. The route connects with many other routes such as the London Loop, North Downs Way, Wealdway and the South Downs Way.