The start of something big

In 2003, anticipating a long wait in a hospital outpatients department, I bought a magazine, choosing

instead of my usual choice of a generic food magazine. When finished, I passed it over to my husband and suggested we should start getting out more. My parents were enthusiastic walkers who had been visiting, and extolling the virtues of, the Lake District for years, and our children were 18 and 21 so were no longer in need of our supervision.

So, we kitted ourselves out, taking your advice to buy the best waterproofs and boots we could afford, and booked a week in a selfcatering cottage near Keswick.

Thousands of miles, a box full of routes and 80 OS Explorer maps later, we are still loving every moment spent with our boots and rucksacks on, enjoying the outdoors. We keep going back to the Lakes – the photo is of me up near Eel Crag in 2008. But mostly we stick a pin in a map of Britain, see if we have any walks for that area, book a cottage and set off to find some of those amazing hidden places you can only get to by walking far from roads and car parks.

Now in our 60s, last year we spent a week hiking village-to-village in the Pyrenees and this year have signed up for the #walk1000miles challenge. We are fitter and healthier than we were 14 years ago, and have found some stunningly beautiful places in Britain where you can still walk all day and not see another soul.

Thank you it’s all down to you.

Yours very gratefully,