PRIMETIME TV WALKS
Because CW doesn’t do armchair walking
VANITY FAIR Deal, Kent
ITV’s adaptation of Thackeray’s Napoleonic saga proved a big hit with audiences, and some of the location shooting was as sumptuous as Becky Sharp’s costuming. Syon Park near Brentford served as the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, the Battle of Waterloo was filmed at Mapledurham near Reading, the mobilisation was filmed at Chatham in Kent, and the seaside scenes were on Kent’s eastern coast at Deal. WALK HERE:: Download Deal to Richborough at www.lfto.com/ bonusroutes
THE CROWN Slains Castle, Aberdeenshire
Netflix’s era-spanning Royal drama has touched down at hundreds of locations around the UK (and South Africa). But we’ve picked this evocative site on the Aberdeenshire coast, which doubled as Castle Mey in the first series. The real Castle Mey is in Caithness, and was bought by the Queen Mother in 1952. Slains Castle was built in the 16th century, and occupies a stunning spot on a headland overlooking the North Sea. WALK HERE: Download Bullers of Buchan at www.lfto.com/ bonusroutes
THE GREAT BRITISH BAKE OFF Welford, Berkshire
On your marks, get set… walk! Ever wondered where the tent is, with all those beautiful gardens around it? The answer is Welford Park ( www.welfordpark. co.uk), a private estate just north of the M4 near Newbury. The grounds are only open to non-baking visitors for ‘snowdrop season’, late January to early March. BUT the Lambourn Valley Way goes right past the estate to the west and is open year-round (being a right of way), giving a tantalising view down into the world of Paul and Prue. Bring your own soggy bottom. WALK HERE: Start in Boxford and follow the LVW north past Welford Park, then branch R on Elton Lane, then R on Hangman’s Stone Lane to Rowbury Farm, then R across the fields back to Boxford. 8 ½ miles.
THE MIGHTY REDCAR Redcar and Saltburn, Yorkshire Coast
The BBC’s acclaimed ‘real-life soap opera’ has shown the humanity behind an area perhaps thought of as bleak in aspect and prospects. And if there’s an area that deserves investment from curious walkers (rather than all the pretty places whose economies are quite healthy, thank you), it’s this one. WALK HERE: From Redcar Central station you can follow the England Coast Path southwards along the windswept shoreline, past Marske and down to Saltburn, whose twin wooded valleys of Skelton Beck and Saltburn Gill are well worth exploring. Then catch the train from Saltburn back to Redcar.
DOCTOR WHO Sky Edge, Sheffield
Since its relaunch in 2005, Doctor Who has mostly been filmed in Wales (top location: Southerndown near Bridgend, which served as Bad Wolf Bay for David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor). But the latest series, starring Thirteenth Doctor Jodie Whittaker, has gone further afield. A key location is the Park Hill estate in Sheffield, along with the neighbouring hillside of Sky Edge. The latter’s fine views over the city and the surrounding hills previously featured in The Full Monty, including the unlikely strippers’ wheezy football match. WALK HERE: The Transpennine Trail goes right past the iconic Park Hill flats; Sky Edge is a short detour to the south. For Southerndown, download Ogmoreby-Sea at www.lfto.com/bonusroutes