Six of the best
Kate Green proposes more paths
North Coast 500
There are numerous diversions on this round trip from Inverness to John O’groats of some 500 miles, which follows the north highlands coastal road—seabird colonies, seals, white sandy beaches, distilleries, heritage museums, weavers, Pictish stones, golf courses, Loch Ness, Cape Wrath, Campbell’s of Beauly—but the sense of having reached some outer, edge-of-the-world limit of geography is what makes it exhilarating.
Pick your time of year, however, or you’ll just be part of a trail of crawling motorhomes. Visit www.northcoast500.com for accommodation ideas, cycling itineraries and car-hire information.
The Ridgeway
The joy of this chalk-downs walk is that it’s far enough and high up enough to feel like an adventure, but so accessible from places such as Tring, Princes risborough, Goring (also part of the Thames Path), Wantage, Lambourn and Marlborough that it’s easily practicable and has plenty of watering holes. The snag is, however, that at weekends, the skylarks can be drowned out by family outings and cyclists.
The 87-mile National Trail, used since prehistoric times as a route for armies, livestock farmers and travellers, runs from Ivinghoe Beacon in the Chilterns south-west to the World heritage Site of Avebury in Wiltshire.
Landmarks include Chequers, the Uffington White horse ( pictured) and Ashdown house—built for Charles I’s sister, elizabeth of Bohemia, to take refuge in from the Plague—plus numerous ancient barrows, forts, burial grounds and stone circles and the Blowing Stone from which Alfred the Great summoned his army.
The Welsh Coastal Path
AS england toils to complete its expensive and, in many places unnecessary, officially joined-up coastal path, the Welsh, in the nick of time, applied for some £4 million from the eu and raced ahead with their own 882-mile walking trail, which opened in 2012.
It’s split into eight areas, including the already well-established Pembrokeshire Coast Path National Trail and the Isle of Anglesey Coastal Path, plus the famed flower-strewn, golden beaches of the Gower Peninsula. Inevitably, it’s punctuated by industrial landscapes, but, for some, they have their own striking beauty. V is itwww. wales coast path. gov.uk for luggage-transporting services.
The Oxford Canal
LONG before HS2 was conceived, the delightful 77-mile oxford Canal from the Thames at oxford to Coventry in Warwickshire served as the link between the south of England and the Midlands. It starts against the mellow backdrop of oxford colleges and pastures and, until you get to the straighter section towards Rugby, is more like a winding river than a canal, as it was built in the older canal style of following the contours of the countryside.
It will take you about a week and involves 43 locks, which seem tricky at first, but are eminently logical and satisfying to operate. The oxford intersects with the Grand Union (London–birmingham) Canal at Braunston in Warwickshire. V is itwww.canalj unction. com for information on holidays.
South West Coast Path
THE 630-mile route from Minehead, west Somerset, to Poole Harbour in Dorset (or vice versa, of course), which was originally created by coastguards checking for smugglers, has long been on many people’s to-do lists—the official path celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2018—especially as it’s a goal that works well being ticked off on a weekendby-weekend basis.
It’s generally beautifully maintained and feels authentic—which is why it should be protected, at all costs, from crazy ideas about spreading room—but parts are seriously hard work: the many steep coves mean that the relatively flat bits of grassland yomping feel absolutely joyous and you can see where you’ve been, which is incredibly satisfying. The website www.southwestcoastpath.org.uk usefully splits the route into sections.
Three Peaks Challenge
THIS hearty ‘because it’s there’ exercise involves walking 23 miles, driving 462 miles and ascending a total of 10,052ft—the highest peaks in Scotland (Ben Nevis, above), Wales (Snowdon) and England (Scafell Pike). At least Snowdon has a train! If you want the certificate, you need to register with www.threepeakschallenge.uk. The code of practice emphasises that participants must not be a nuisance to locals and that ‘toilet provisions’ are very limited.
There are also running and cycling challenges and the annual Three Peaks Yacht Race, 389 miles of coastal sailing from Barmouth on the West Wales coast to Fort William in the west Highlands, with three sailors and two runners per team.
The race, which attracts some of the world’s best sailors and fell runners (who often have to overcome seasickness to take part), was inspired by climber and sailor Bill Tilman, who lived in Barmouth; his doctor, Rob Haworth, who called the route ‘doing a Tilman’, and his surgery partner, Merfyn Jones, came up with the idea.