Country Walking

This month I've been… EVERY DAY WE start something big: there are 22,000 breaths to be drawn in the next 24 hours to begin with, 115,000 beats of the heart; then there's the 1.6 million miles we'll ride through space aboard our speedy blue marble. But bigger than all these things is the rest of our life. And a surprising amount of whatever has steered, channelled or limited us to where we are now needn't remain in charge. It's a banality to say life goes by whether you use it or not, but on the other hand it's the most urgent and electrifying fact we ought to acknowledge. Because momentum will steer the rest of your life just as cruise control will quite happily drive you into a wall. You don't…

CUT-OUT AND-KEEP ROUTES OUR POCKET-SIZED ROUTE CARDS START ON PAGE 91 SOUTH WEST The sand dunes of thel amel Estuary The sand dunes of the Camel Estuary shelter a peaceful church where the ‘posh cockney’ poet laureate is buried. TURN TO WALK 1 EAST Castor Hanglands, Cambs Unspoilt wetlands, woods and tussocky heathlands make up one of Britain's oldest National Nature Reserves. TURN TO WALK 13 WALES Llyswen, Powys Go bridge to bridge up the Wye Valley before climbing to a hill with grandstand views of the Brecon Beacons. TURN TO WALK 22 SOUTH EAST Streatley & Aldworth, Berks Wend your way to an award-winning pub with a time-capsule interior in the North Wessex Downs AONB. TURN TO WALK 6 NORTH WEST Shap, Cumbria Slap bang between the Lake District and Pennines, Crosby Ravensworth Fell boasts splendid views in all directions. TURN TO WALK 16 SCOTLAND Balmacara, Highland…

VIEWFINDER The snow piercer Late winter and trees are bare. Birds are quiet and ground is hard. But something magical is stirring in the frozen soil at your boots. One pioneering plant is scything upwards, to spread drifts of white bells across the countryside. Spotting the year's first snowdrops is a jump-for-joy moment. It's a sign spring is truly on its way. Intellectually we know it's coming, but it's not until we see the delicate petals of galanthus capering in the breeze that we feel it. The snowdrop is brilliantly adapted to hard weather – armour-tips to its leaves to blade through icy ground; anti-freeze proteins to stop ice crystals damaging its cells; flowers that turn down to protect the precious pollen from rain. Snowdrops probably arrived in Britain in the 16th…

1 Wainwright had unfinished business His hand-drawn, hand-lettered Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells made Alfred Wainwright the best-loved guidebook writer in Britain, and a new book Wainwright Memories by Chris Butterfield – features, and recreates, three stories from his life. Based on the reminiscences of AW's publisher and friend, Andrew Nichol, it traces a holiday to Scotland in 1988, a trip to Langdale in 1990, and work on a new book in 1989. The popularity of Wainwright's Coast to Coast walk (turn to p34 for more on that) gave Andrew the idea for ‘a journey that could be completed by car rather than on foot, with all the key locations accessible for people who couldn't walk far’. Wainwright thought it a great idea and they began with a day from…

Keen boot Known for their comfy, fun and generously fitting footwear, Keen have launched the leatherclad Circadia boot (£115) and shoe (£105) as their new ‘entry-level hikers’, although in truth it's hard to know what makes them any less sophisticated than their flagship Targhee (£140/£130). Tough on the outside and nicely cushioned underfoot, they're also grippy over rock and sludge, and waterproof thanks to the Keen. DRY membrane. In the present climate, to find all that in a quality boot/shoe that's so close to the £100 thrift threshold is really impressive, keenfootwear.com FASTFACT There are around 40 distinct native dialects in the UK, but changes in people's accents are detectable every 25 miles. You can listen your way round the country with the British library's fascinating survey of English dialects at tinyurl.com/accentmap THE WALKING…

Cow Hill, Highland Cow Hill is Ben Nevis’ Little Brother. Rising above Fort William, it's a modest 941ft (287m), but it has views out of all proportion to its size. You can access it from multiple points on the southern edge of town and from the Glen Nevis Visitor Centre, then follow a signposted trail (not marked on OS maps) which circles the hill as well as giving access to the summit. The views over Loch Linnhe are superb, the broadside view of Ben Nevis is even better (Cow Hill is a great way to size up the Ben if you're thinking of climbing it), and on the path up from Glen Nevis, look out fora side-trail marked Outlandia, and see where it leads……