Philip Thomas,

Features Writer

Miles walked this month: 112

Last month I came across one of the distinctive milestones that line the North Downs Way. I have always thought they look uncannily like headstones and half expect to read ‘here lieth’ epitaphs inscribed upon them, instead of the distances to Dover, Canterbury and Farnham. It got me reminiscing about all the inventive and quirky waymarks I’ve seen in my travels on foot. There are many variations on the standard-issue wooden fingerposts and colour-coded arrows, ranging from the charmingly makeshift to the fabulously decorative. Among my favourites are the wyvern’s tails that point the way along parts of the 137mile Wessex Ridgeway from Marlborough to Lyme Regis. There’s even one depicting a frothy pint of beer, which directs thirsty walkers to The White Horse at Stourpaine. I love seeing the stern cast iron ‘notices’ erected by the Peak & Northern Footpaths Society too (the earliest ones were put up in 1905). Going by the #FingerpostFriday and #FootpathFriday hashtags on Twitter, I’m clearly not alone in appreciating aesthetically pleasing ‘path furniture’ (the collective term for gates, signs, bridges and stiles).

Note to readers: Get in touch if you’ve come across any eye-catching waymarks: country. walking@lfto.com