WALK THIS WAY

Slow Ways is poised to get Brits discovering the country in a new way. We talk to founder Daniel Raven-Ellison about the ambitious new initiative

Tell us about Slow Ways

Our islands are rich with paths, but they haven’t been pulled together into a single network that clearly shows people how they can get between places on foot. Slow Ways aims to create a web of walking routes connecting all of Great Britain’s towns and cities, as well as thousands of villages. Most of the project has been completed in lockdown, with 700 volunteers drafting 7,000 Slow Ways routes that collectively stretch for over 62,000 miles.

That’s the equivalent of two-and-a-half laps of the equator.

What inspired the project?

I’ve walked around Great Britain a lot, and I’ve noticed things that could be done to support people walking more. For example, rural walks that start and finish in the countryside can feel inaccessible. However, as Slow Ways’ routes often start and finish in urban areas, where there’s a greater choice of restaurants and accommodation, the project will hopefully encourage more people to go hiking.

Could this be an alternative to taking transport?

Many of us are used to walking a few miles for the sheer pleasure of it. I think Slow Ways will help to remind and inspire us to make walks of that kind of length to see friends, family or for work. Slowing down can be so good for us. If we all walked more, it would be good for our health and the environment and would give us more time together — and it could potentially save us money, too.

What’s next, and how do people get involved as volunteers?

Now that we’ve drafted the network, the next challenge is to get outside, to explore and test it. All going well, I hope we’ll be putting out a call to recruit 10,000 volunteers from across Great Britain to help with that at the end of this summer. To volunteer, and to get involved, people should sign up for the newsletter on my website. INTERVIEW: AMELIA DUGGAN