YOUR WINTER CALENDAR
JAN 17
Alfred Wainwright, the author who brought the Lake District to a national audience and redefined what a guidebook could be, was born on this day in 1907. He fell in love with the Lakes after a climb up the tiny hill of Orrest Head* on 7th June 1930, and went on to write the definitive guide to 214 Lakeland mountains.
JAN 29
Happy birthday Clare Balding!
The presenter of Radio 4’s wonderful walking programme Ramblings is 49 today.
FEB 25
Shrove Tuesday. Maybe walk somewhere that’s as flat as a pancake? Cheshire and the Fens of Cambridgeshire are your best bets for a certified hill-free stroll; try our route at Ely* (below).
DEC 21
The winter solstice.
Every day from this point until
June will be longer and brighter than the last. Plus, there’s also a rare conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn (the last one was in 2000), when the two giant planets appear to merge into one bright light, in the western sky just after sunset.
JAN 23
On this day in 2003, the Land Reform Act was passed into law by the Scottish Parliament. Often seen as the Scottish version of the Countryside Rights of Way Act 2000, this act established statutory public rights of access to land across Scotland. Walking in Scotland is essentially simpler than England and Wales – we have free right of access in open countryside – but slightly trickier as footpaths may not be marked on the OS map.
FEB 6
85 years ago today, the game of Monopoly was first sold by Parker Brothers. We can recommend the Monopoly Walk: a trans-London adventure tracking down each of the real-life squares from the board. London Walks will be running a guided version on Feb 29th (£10, walks.com).
DEC 5
The poet
Christina
Rossetti was born today in 1830. As well as having a profound interest in the sublime (the artistic idea that landscapes can be simultaneously spectacular and terrifying), she was also the author of one of our most famous Christmas carols, In the Bleak Midwinter – although the tune came later, courtesy of composer Gustav Holst.
DEC 30
Rudyard
Kipling, author of The
Jungle Book,
The Man Who Would be
King and a man with a keen appreciation of landscape, was born on this day in 1865. He was named after Rudyard
Lake* in Staffordshire, which his parents loved, and lived in many pleasant places around the country, including Rottingdean in the South Downs, which is where he penned The Just So Stories.
JAN 25
The feast day of St Dwynwen, the Welsh answer to St Valentine. After an ill-starred love affair, Dwynwen retreated to the beautiful islet of Llanddwyn* off Anglesey to pray for the happiness of all lovers. Her chapel on the islet has been a place of pilgrimage for centuries.
FEB 14
St Valentine’s Day. For romantic walk suggestions, see Take a Big Leap, opposite.
DEC 13
Look to the skies, because this is when we get treated to the best meteor shower of the year: the Geminids. They occur as the Earth passes through the debris left by an asteroid. The nearly new moon will ensure dark skies; they can appear anywhere but will cluster towards the constellation Gemini (hence the name).
DEC 31
Hogmanay! Very few places do a new year like Scotland, and Edinburgh in particular. Perhaps climb Arthur’s Seat* to watch the city beneath you erupt in fireworks? Chances are you won’t be alone – and the atmosphere tends to be fabulous.