We’re almost at the end of February and time is running out for me to make this month’s purchase, in preparation for backpacking the Ridgeway long-distance footpath.
In January, I upgraded to a pair of walking poles. Now, I’m looking for my nightly shelter. A one-person tent that’s lightweight, packs away well and is something I would be comfortable to sleep and cook within.
Sometime last year, I developed an interest in walking some of Britain’s National Trails and long-distance paths.
Initially, I felt inspired to walk the Camino de Santiago but that interest has since waned… Partly because of its ever-increasing popularity; partly because of my own feelings of intimidation towards the idea of a foreign adventure.
Taking time to complete a long walk in Britain should be cheaper, easier to access, less likely to encounter language barrier issues and it may even be good for the economy. I’ve decided to kick it off by walking The Ridgeway.
It’s been a week now, since my most recent long-distance walking event.
It was only through Facebook – and, perhaps, a week in advance – that I learned of the annual Stonehenge Stomp. With the option to walk thirty-kilometres (about twenty-miles), I felt ready to give it a go.
This was a walk that I had hoped to do a fortnight earlier, but for a surge in heavy rainfall and extreme flooding in some parts of North Somerset and BaNES.
In completing a walk between Pensford and Keynsham, I would then be able to say that I had walked the entire duration of the 2 Rivers Way long-distance footpath.
Another weekend and yet another November walk, with the route taken directly from one of the Walk West eBooks.
This one lead me to a non-Cotswold corner of Gloucestershire, in the village of Apperley… No, I’d not heard of it either but, the village hall was easy to find and offered plenty of parking spaces.
This was the very beginning of a long-distance coastal walk a friend and I have committed to tackling together.
Our inspiration comes from a book titled, the Somerset Coast Path
