Country Walking magazine December 2014

GPS SPECIAL: BUY WISELY WITH OUR EXPERT GUIDE www.livefortheoutdoors.com

Britain’s best walks for 14 MAGICAL DAYS OUT

Christmas

AMAZING VIEWS ❆ COSY INNS ❆ LOG FIRES ❆ DELICIOUS FOOD

DISCOVER THE WONDER OF WALKING UNDER THE STARS SECRET CHURCHES YOU CAN ONLY REACH ON FOOT

HOLY ISLAND

Find sanctuary and solitude on the sacred isle of Lindisfarne

BEACONS WAY

Make the pilgrimage to Bethlehem on this epic trail

SOUTH AFRICA High level treks across the mighty Drakensberg

D E S TI N ATI O N S Festive p ub walks

Britain’s best

Christmas walks Crunching across frosty fields to a welcoming country inn for a hearty meal is one of the highlights of the Christmas holidays. Here are some of the best pub walks in Britain...

28 COUNTRY WALKING DECEMBER 2014

q MOUNTAIN REFUGE

Nestling beneath the highest mountain in England, the historic Wasdale Head Inn has always been a magnet for weary walkers.

PHOTO: © GRAHAM BELL

Birthplace of British mountaineering Wasdale Head Inn, Wasdale, Cumbria ARGUABLY THE MOST iconic walkers’ pub in the Lake District, the Wasdale Head Inn has been the haunt of grizzled outdoor types for more than a century. Nestling under the precipitous flanks of the Scafell massif, this remote watering hole has been welcoming walkers since it opened in the early 1800s.

Back then, its clientele would have been a motley assortment of drovers, miners, merchants and smugglers plying their trade between the valleys. But by the end of the century, early exponents of British alpinism often spent their Christmases here, and the 1953 Everest expedition team did much of

their winter training in the encircling hills.

Today, the Wasdale Head is a basecamp for climbing some of the Lake District’s most challenging peaks. Head here this Christmas and you’ll soon be tracing routes on tatty OS Explorer maps in the atmospheric Ritson’s Bar like a seasoned old pro.

❄ WALK: The classic walk is the Scafell Pike

ascent: download it at www.lfto.com/cwroutes

❆ BOOK: Food is served from noon-8.30pm

daily; comfy double rooms from £118 B&B; 019467 26229, www.wasdale.com ❅ EAT: Cumbrian meat antipasti; local cheeses with pear chutney and pickled walnuts.

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D E S TI N ATI O N S H oly Islan d

42 COUNTRY WALKING DECEMBER 2014

q TIME FOR REFLECTION

A thin film of seawater at low tide makes the crossing to Holy Island a shimmering world of mirrors, casting the sky’s light across the sand.

q GOLD RUSH

Afternoon sunshine spills across the vista from Pen y Fan, turning Cribyn and Fan y Big to gold and the Neuadd Reservoirs to silver.

PHOTO: DAN SANTILLO

THE PATH TO The Beacons Way winds 95 miles from the holy mountain of Ysgyryd Fawr to a tiny village called Bethlehem, through some of the ďŹ nest upland scenery in Wales.

W O R D S : J E N N Y WA LT E R S

50 COUNTRY WALKING DECEMBER 2014

LO N G - D I S TA N C E PATH Th e B e a cons Way

B

ETHLEHEM IS ONE of the most famous cities on Earth, the birthplace of Jesus Christ.

That’s the one in Palestine, of course. Rather less famous is Bethlehem, Carmarthenshire, a hamlet deep in the hills of mid Wales. Each December, the few in the know come to post their Christmas cards and get the prized Bethlehem stamp inked on the envelope, but since 2005 it has had an added significance for walkers, marking the terminus of a beautiful 95-mile upland trail through the Brecon Beacons.

The Beacons Way runs right across the national park, linking its four distinct ranges – the Black Mountains (plural) in the east, the high central cluster of six Brecon Beacons that lend the park their name, the hills of Fforest Fawr and the Black Mountain (singular) in the west. The monikers may be confusing but the proposition is simple – an incredible week-long walk. From the ‘holy mountain’ of Ysgyryd Fawr, it courses along swooping ridgelines above deep glacial cwms, dips across sheep-grazed farms, traces canals and lake shores, traverses high, lonely moorlands, and follows Roman Roads to ruined castles.

It’s a good workout for both compass and quad muscles, with some far-from-beaten-track routing, a couple of 15-mile legs and over 5,500m of ascent in eight days on the hoof. It is walkable all year round, except on days of deep snow when you’ll need proficiency with an ice-axe and crampons for the higher ground. Go now and you’ll catch the bracken turning the colour of the old red sandstone beneath, as you crunch over frosty slopes through views that crackle clear – or book in for spring, when the hills glow bright with fresh grass and wildflowers.

And if you don’t have a whole week to spare, turn the page for bite-size sections that taste the best of this trail as it treads through the Welsh hills from the holy mountain to Bethlehem.

FIND OUT MORE For trail info click on www.breconbeaconsparksociety.org, or order the guidebook by John Sansom and Arwel Michael from Blorenge Books (01873 856114, www.blorenge-books.co.uk).

TURN OVER FOR THE BEST 24 HOURS ON THE TRAIL...

E X P E R I E N C E N ight hiking

FOL LOW T H E

STARS

As Three Wise Men discovered 2,000 years ago, following the stars can lead you somewhere extraordinary. This winter, follow their example and embrace the darkness‌ WORDS: NICK HALLISSEY

q HEAVENS ABOVE

This incredible time-lapse image of the night sky above the Stiperstones in Shropshire was taken by photographer Richard Franklin. Why not seek out a similar moment for yourself this winter?

PHOTO: RICHARD FRANKLIN/ALAMY

DECEMBER 2014 COUNTRY WALKING 59

OV E R S E A S S o uth Af ric a

p THE DR AGON STIRS

Sunrise over the sharp, snaggletoothed ridgelines of the Drakensberg.

PHOTO: ŠGALLO IMAGES/ALAMY

HERE BE

D R AG O N S A traverse of South Africa’s Drakensberg is one of the best treks on Earth, an inspiring five-day walk on top of the world…

WORDS: RON SWILLING

DECEMBER 2014 COUNTRY WALKING 65

GEAR

No-nonsense reviews for real walkers

The ultimate buyer’s guide to

DIGITAL MAPPING

T

HE WORLD OF digital mapping can seem complex, even bewildering. GPS, tablets, smartphones, wearables; where should you put your trust (and your money)? But if you strip away all the jargon, digital mapping is simply about helping you. It can make your walks easier, save you time, keep you safe – and make you a better and braver navigator too. In this review, we will show you all the options and weigh up the pros and cons for each format of digital mapping. We’ll also look ahead to the new devices that are poised to join this ever-evolving market in the next 12 months.

No jargon, no technobabble; just a clear, concise guide to finding your way with electronic help.

PHOTOS: TOM BAILEY

PART 1: DEDICATED GPS UNITS PAGE 73

PART 2: SMARTPHONE GPS APPS PAGE 79

PART 3: TABLET NAVIGATION PAGE 80

PART 4: A LOOK INTO THE FUTURE PAGE 82

27 ROUTES WITH ORDNANCE SURVEY MAPS

Britain’s best

ON

E TH E NE R AR E ’ S YO U

WALKS

SOUTH WEST SOUTH EAST

MIDLANDS

EAST

Winter escapes

NORTH WEST NORTH EAST

DECEMBER 2014

WALES

SCOTLAND

IRELAND

I N SI DE TH I S MONTH . . . u Walk in Coleridge’s footsteps in Somerset u Big views in Cumbria’s secret hills u Ancient stones and holy summits in Wales

and more of Britain’s best walks...

Glen Coe’s Blackrock Cottage, run by the Ladies’ Scottish Climbing Club, is passed on Walk 25.

PHOTO: KEITH FERGUS

WE PROMISE MORE WALKS, IN MORE PLACES, THAN ANY OTHER MAGAZIN

READY TO USE!

POCKETSIZED A5 CARDS

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Britain’s Best Walks FIND A GREAT WALK NEAR YOU...

SOUTH WEST SOUTH EAST MIDLANDS

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01 Cornwall St Just

EAST

02 Devon Lustleigh

NORTH WEST

03 Somerset Sampford Brett

CHALLENGE WALK

NORTH EAST

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04 Gloucestershire Bourton-on-the-Hill

WALES

05 Hampshire Warsash

SCOTLAND

06 Surrey Chiddingfold

IRELAND

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07 Buckinghamshire Northend 08 Essex Great Yeldham 09 Northamptonshire Shuckburgh

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10 Staffordshire Milford 11 Derbyshire Litton

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12 Norfolk Overstrand 13 Lincolnshire Tetford 22

15 Cumbria Elterwater 16 Cumbria Sedbergh

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17 West Yorkshire White Holme Moss 19 County Durham Witton-le-Wear

25 Highland Glen Coe 26 Sutherland Golspie

TRAILZILLA ID (on reverse of card) We upload all our walks to Trailzilla.com so subscribers can use the unique code displayed on the back of each route card to download and print the route.

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ROUTE UPDATES

24 Ayrshire Ayr

ABBREVIATIONS We have abbreviated left to L and right to R.

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02 FAMILY WALK

23 Denbighshire Llangollen

OUR EXPERTS All our routes are written by experienced and knowledgeable walkers who are experts at finding the best walks in their area and describing them clearly.

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21 Powys Knighton

WALK INFORMATION An estimate of how long the route will take, based on a pace of about two miles per hour, with allowances made for slower, hilly routes.

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20 Northumberland Holy Island

How to use your routes...

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18 North Yorkshire Harome

27 Pembrokeshire Newport

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14 Lancashire The Hodder Valley

22 Gwynedd Rhaeadr Du

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CLASSIC ROUTE

uDunham-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, November 2014, Walk 10 The wrong map was printed with this walk. We will run it again with the correct map in the next issue. Apologies for the error. uMorville, Shropshire, October 2014, Walk 8 Please go to www.lfto.com/cwroutes for updated directions.

GRADE Our routes are graded easy, moderate, challenging or occasionally extreme, depending on distance, terrain, elevation and ease of navigation. Easy walks are usually short and flat. For an explanation of the tougher grades, see page 7.

DOUBLE-SIDED FORMAT One route on one card, front and back.

Find all the planning information on the front and the map on the back.

GRADIENT PROFILE Check the ascent and descent (hilliness) of the route with a quick glance at this profile.

MAPS (on reverse of route card) Follow the red route marked clearly on the map. Maps are based on Ordnance Survey Landranger (1:50,000) and Explorer (1:25,000) maps, where each square represents 1km x 1km.

It’s essential to take the relevant Ordnance Survey map with you in case you get lost and inadvertently leave the area covered by our map.

SOUTH WEST

CORNWALL JUST 01 ST

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PHOTO: FIONA BARLTROP

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GRADIENT PROFILE

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Start Turn L out of the car park (where the bus stop is situated), passing the library on your R, then go R at the T-junction (along West Place) and keep ahead at the next junction to another T-junction.

Here turn L past the primary school (on L) and Cape Cornwall School (on R). Keep ahead where a road forks L and ignore the lane on the R. Further on you pass a

the development of Land’s End. This linear walk starts in the vibrant arts hub of St Just, a mile inland of Cape Cornwall.

The town’s Star Inn is an atmospheric place to toast your walk after a bus ride back from Land’s End to the start.

The view from Mayon Cliff with Cape Cornwall in the distance.

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Newquay St Agnes

Lizard

Redrut Camborne Falmouth Helston

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Nearest town St Just Refreshments Wellington Hotel, St Just. Kiosk in Cape Cornwall car park.

Old Success Inn, Sennen Cove. Land’s End Hotel Public toilets St Just, Cape Cornwall, Sennen Cove and Land’s End Public transport West Penwith Community Bus 7 runs several times a day between Land’s End and St Just (www.community bus.co.uk). First Buses run from Penzance to St Just and Land’s End to Penzance.

Trains to Penzance Maps OS Explorer 102; Landranger 203

PLANNING

Start/parking St Just car park/bus stop, grid ref SW369313 Is it for me? Initial stretch along roads, then footpath across fields and tracks.

Easy clambering required Stiles 7

ROUTE

St Just Penzance Sennen Land's End

St Ives

PLAN YOUR WALK

uDistance: 12km/7½ miles uTime: 4 hours uGrade: Moderate

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E E SE TUR E 32 A G FE PA ON

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DEVON 02 LUSTLEIGH

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GRADIENT PROFILE

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1.5km/1 mile Continue ahead through ÔHeavenÕs GateÕ and follow path downhill for 100m to path fork.

Bear R. At next junction, follow the bridlepath ahead signed Manaton via Water. Bear R and uphill when the path forks at a V-shaped birch marked with a

Start From the Cleave pub, circle the church, turn L along lane signed Rudge and cross bridge.

Keep R when the lane forks.

Turn first R at chapel. Walk uphill and turn L by ÔOakhurstÕ onto a bridlepath. Follow this uphill past houses to a group of three stone and thatch houses.

Turn L, then R at T-junction.

After 50m, turn L onto path for Lustleigh Cleave.

The view from HunterÕs Tor is particularly stunning in winter.

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Kingsbridge

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red spot. Continue uphill for ÔHammerslakeÕ at the next fingerpost. Turn L at next post,

Nearest town Bovey Tracey Refreshments Primrose Cottage Tearooms and the Cleave pub in Lustleigh Public toilets Lustleigh Public transport 178 service Newton Abbot to Moretonhampstead via Bovey Tracey (Mon to Sat only). Details at www. countrybusdevon.co.uk Maps OS Explorer OL28, Landranger 191

PLANNING

Start/parking Roadside parking in Lustleigh, grid ref SX785813 Is it for me? Footpaths, bridlepaths and lanes.

Some short but steep ascents and descents.

Attention to map and directions needed Stiles None

ROUTE

Salcombe

Plymouth Plympton

Ex Dawl Teignm Newton Abbot Ashburton Buckfastleigh Torquay Paignton Totnes Brixham Dartmouth

PLAN YOUR WALK

uDistance: 9.5km/6 miles uTime: 3 hours uGrade: Moderate

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CHOSEN BYÉ ROBERT HESKETH Beginning and ending at Lustleigh, one of Dartmoor’s prettiest villages, this exploration of the deep and sequestered Lustleigh Cleave offers ample scope for a winter’s day, with plenty of interest and beauty.

Combining the benefits of both woodland and riverside, it includes the lovely boulderstrewn waterfall at Horsham Steps and the ridge walk from Hunter’s Tor to Harton Chest.

The views are superb, taking in a great panorama of eastern Dartmoor. And the historic Cleave pub is waiting to scoop you up at the finish – you can usually rely on a roaring log fire here in wintertime.

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CHOSEN BYÉ FIONA BARLTROP What makes the exposed, Atlanticbattered granite plateau of Land’s End peninsula so special? The interplay between sea and rock, moor and sky – enhanced by a particular quality of light that artists adore – is fascinating. It’s a land of great antiquity too, with a wealth of ancient sites.

The ideal time to arrive here is late in the day. The sunsets can be beautiful, and with the day-trippers gone you can savour the views and soak up the atmosphere in peace.

Several miles north of Land’s End is another superb headland, Cape Cornwall. This is a much quieter place, spared

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SOUTH WEST

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PHOTO: ROBERT HESKETH