Missing walking escapes under lockdown. A minor glitch. Last tours of Britain & Eire in no particular order
Mam Tor in Derbyshire. An old friend. Appalling site info billboarded, but necessary evil. Paleo to Neolithic to Iron Age to today. Avoid weekends if you’re animistically inclined. From north western routes, there’s the majestic Snake Pass & option of a detour to Nine Ladies. From the south, Matlock & Buxton’s period spa haunts. Sheffield & Nottingham are close. Easy going if you want a few miles a day.
Elan Valley - reservoir scheme nr Rhayader & Builth, more than enough options & grades. Wow. Fit adults can push off trail, it’s wild, open & unforgiving. Masses of rewards, go prepared, spring & autumn are kindest. ¥International Dark Skies¥ nights. You can go up across moorland or spiral the lakeside woodlands. Never get tired of the views. Nature reserves south for family groups, Aberystwyth is west. Summer turns into orthodox Jewish primo holiday territory, great food. Travel sw to Cardigan, Mwnt beach down to the Preseli hills. Ridgeways have Neolithic strangeness. St David’s beach in spring & autumn, all manner of routes to & from the ecclesiastical palace.
Wild Atlantic Way. Highly recommended, fuck knows when that could be next. Not competed. Different counties have varied terrain that define evocative. Incorporate your range into pit-stops & budget, or extend your speed limit & try & fit in the Aran islands & Rathlin Island. Seafood heaven when you’re done in at the end of a long day.
Bridgewater Bay. Cheap as chips legs between Weston, Burnham & Cheddar. Start at the Iron Age hillfort above Weston that Dione Fortune loved, past chateau Coil, along the seafront through Breen & Berrow, then hug the tide line to Burnham. The latter has one of the best chippies in Britain. Fact. Offers a bus to Cheddar, stay away Glastonbury weekend obviously.
Box Hill. Dorking isn’t the first place you could riff on, but had a blast here. Spiral the hill itself, but some of the rippled woodland in that part of Surrey is enchanting. Soul-less town full of cunts though, unfortunately.
Leek Hills. Not done, not from Eno so much as the shapes of the rock itself & its Green Knight shivers.
Surely that’s enough for now.