Make any walk GREAT

Some walks are born great, others achieve it through luck or fine weather – but we think every walk can have greatness thrust upon it.

Subtract uncertainty

Discovery is wonderful – nagging doubts the opposite. A trusted guide like a CW route removes the risk of missing out or misjudging a visit to a new area. And in remote or upland terrain, detailed mountain forecasts at the Met Office (metoffice.gov.uk/weather/specialistforecasts/mountain) and the Mountain Weather Information Service (mwis.org. uk) let you prepare for any weather.

Add company

Walking is great on your own! But a second person to explore conversational byways with alongside the literal ones, adds multiple dimensions to the experience. And there is a well-worn evolutionary groove which sees humans naturally fall into synchrony beautifully while walking – and chats held side by side are often the most fertile kind.

Multiply the interest

Having things to look for stops your eyes skating over the surroundings and helps you remember more. Make a short spotting list from a few birds, butterflies, fungi and plants which are in season where you’re walking, and feel the thrill of the hunt and the natural historian. There are some great resources at wildlifewatch.org.uk/activities and plantlife.org.uk/uk/discover-wild-plantsnature/spotter-sheets or try the app ‘Seek by iNaturalist’ to find things to spot (and ID automatically) near your location.

Have things to say

Use the Places icon on your Wikipedia app to reveal fascinating articles linked to locations all around where you’re headed (or try wiki-map.com online); find 1000s of archaeological locations (and browse old maps and Time Team ‘Geo-phiz’-style LiDAR maps) at archiuk.com. Look for the blue symbols of buildings of historic interest on the map, and pop into any church – they’re often good sources of local history.

Make it their walk

If you LOVE walking and are dying to share it, planning a walk that’ll stretch and satisfy you might be the worst way to go about it. Because believe it or not, it can take a while for a love of wind in the face, burning thighs and outdoor wees to take root. Piggy back on things with roots already. Cake? Real ale? Skimming stones? Shops? Spooky stories? Make that thing a feature in your walk – and everything else will follow.

Have punctuation points

Just as the driver is never the one made car sick, what’ll seem like one continual high to you might feel an endless trudge to your companions, if you’re the driving force of your walk. It’s important they know what to look forward to – and often it’s the bits between the legs of the walk (the snack, the rest, the top, the halfway-point, the I-Spy game, the search for a stone to paint) that contribute the most to mood and momentum.

Pack surprises

You can wrap it up grandly (‘An army marches on its stomach’) or sexistly (‘The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach’), but it’s true: food is vital in forming strong bonds and fighting the enemy – in this case, fatigue and the dread phrase ‘Why don’t you do this on your own next time?’. Make it a feature of every walk that you bring a surprise treat (Christmas sweets? Artisan sausage roll? Bombay mix? Chocolate bar the size of a shoe box?) and be amazed at the rewards you reap.

Stop talking about the view

An appreciation for views is built up not built in, and they’re prompts for happy memories as much as anything else. Until you’ve got the happy associations to summon, they’re just so much Laura Ashley wallpaper. Remember, in the early days of laying down a love of landscape, a patch of snow is far more exciting than Snowdon; edible plants are more enticing than any distant peak; an unexpected packet of Minstrels more fun than having all the tops you can see pointed out.

Play games

Walking makes you feel younger in body but also in spirit: and it gives you a chance do things that everyday life rather edges out, like silly games – which you never really lost interest in, so much as the opportunity for. Form a scavenger hunt list (something shiny; something round; a face in a tree; a fragrant leaf…); make how-many-pacesto-that-tree bets; play 20 Questions; come up with the most fiendish wouldyou-rather (have hands for feet or feet for hands?); try to link random things (like Sherman tanks and sponge cake) in the fewest steps possible, or host an impromptu walking Olympics, with classic events like walking pole javelin and who can hit the big stone with the little pebble.

Fill your scrapbook

Walks repay your body right away, but the biggest rewards in life are your memories. Feed them by collecting tokens of your day – parking tickets, beer mats, a shapely leaf... Keeping them alongside your photos (and whatever fragmentary notes and crummy doodles you can muster) ensures what will become some of your fondest moments remain rich, fresh and ready to inspire. Keep them close! You see and feel so much more on a walk – remember them!

“An unexpected packet of Minstrels is more fun than having all the tops you can see pointed out.”