YOUR SUMMER CALENDAR

‘Gilpin 2020’ is a threemonth celebration of William Gilpin, who in June 1770 took a tour along the Wye from Ross to Chepstow, and wrote what is thought to be the UK’s first tourist guide: Observations on the River Wye and Several

Parts of South Wales,

Relative Chiefly to Picturesque Beauty.

For a full list of events and walks marking 250 years since his journey, visit gilpin2020.org

The longest day! It’s the Summer Solstice, when we can expect just over 16 hours of daylight (maybe even sunlight!) between 4.42am and 9.21pm. Need a cracking walk to make the most of it? Try our 19-mile Stretton Skyline* epic through the Shropshire Hills. They look like this.

The 2020 Summer Olympics get under way in Japan. But did you know there’s an English forerunner to the Olympics? The

Cotswold Olimpick Games began in 1612, died out in 1852, were revived in 1963 and continue today. The 2020 Olimpicks will take place at Dover’s Hill near Chipping Campden*, on May 29th, featuring tug-ofwar, shin-kicking, dwile-flonking (Google it), piano smashing and morris dancing.

Born 300 years ago today, in 1720, Gilbert White was a Hampshire parson who pioneered the field of nature writing with his 1789 work The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne.

He understood and promoted ecology long before the term was widely used, and influenced everyone from Charles Darwin to Richard Mabey. Look out for a ‘White Walk’ in our July issue! 150 years since the passing of

Charles

Dickens in 1870.

Dickens has loads of landscape connections, particularly in Kent, from his country home of Gads Hill near Higham, to the Thames Marshes where Pip meets Magwitch in Great Expectations (pictured) to his seaside retreat of Broadstairs. Look out for a series of events across Kent – and a special Dickens-themed Walking Weekend in the June issue of Country Walking.

Naked Hiking Day. An extremely unofficial idea that has caught on in the USA. We’re leaving this one entirely to you.

World

Chocolate

Day.

Chocolate is one of the many treats that a) tastes even better on a walk and b) has its calories offset by walking. We suggest the Lickey Hills*, south-west of Birmingham, whose highest point was given to the city in 1907 by the Cadbury family, whose factory is just up the road in Bournville.

Another great wanderer, writer Hilaire Belloc, was born on this day 150 years ago in 1870. He was a great chronicler of the Sussex countryside; see The Four Men, which narrates a walk across Sussex against the upheaval of the 20th century. 375 years since the Battle of Naseby*, a decisive battle of the English Civil War in which Parliamentary forces routed the army of King Charles I. The battle site, in Northamptonshire (above), is a great place for a commemorative wander.

On this day in 1809, Captain Robert Barclay Allardice completed the astonishing feat of walking 1000 miles in 1000 hours (42 days) for the prize of 1000 guineas. He became known as ‘the

Celebrated Pedestrian’ and perhaps a founding father of #walk1000miles, although he did all his miles in Newmarket,

Suffolk. You, we trust, will travel more widely.

The World Bog Snorkelling Championships take place in Llanwrtyd Wells, Powys. An incredible event to witness, although a wet day’s walk on Bleaklow in the Peak District gives you a taste of what it might be like.