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FREEDOM Brilliant winter walks from the top 10 best-selling maps in Britain
THERE’S ONE NEAR YOU! ◆ LAKE DISTRICT ◆ NORTH YORK MOORS ◆ PEAK DISTRICT ◆ YORKSHIRE DALES ◆ BRECON BEACONS ◆ SNOWDONIA & MORE
FREE 24-PAGE HOLIDAY GUIDE: ◆ QUICK GETAWAYS ◆ SHORT BREAKS ◆ TRIPS OF A LIFETIME
NEW YEAR WALKS TO CLEAR YOUR HEAD DISCOVER ANGLESEY’S BEST-KEPT SECRETS INSULATED JACKETS TO KEEP YOU WARM & COSY
L A I C E P S S P A M tep oors adventure on your d ad you uWhy trig points le s to Britain’s best view maps in 3-D uLearn how to see
uFind
D E S TI N ATI O N S Th e Pe ntlan d Hills
CLEAR YOUR HEAD If you’re welcoming the New Year in one of our great urban sprawls, you may just need an escape route afterwards. And you might be surprised how easy it is to find one… WORDS: NICK HALLISSEY
q THE BIG REBOOT
The Pentland Hills begin less than a mile from Edinburgh’s city limits, and are the perfect tonic after a heavy Hogmanay. PHOTO: © KEITH FERGUS
JANUARY 2015 COUNTRY WALKING 15
D E S TI N ATI O N S B ritain’s f avo urite ma ps q ALL HAIL SWALEDALE
Criss-crossed by lines of drystone walls and dotted with barns and farmhouses, the quietly beautiful Swaledale has a pleasant ‘lived-in’ look. PHOTO: SUPERSTOCK
Walk Britain’s
BEST MAPS Ordnance Survey Explorer maps are a treasure trove for walkers, charting every inch of Britain's beautiful landscape. Here we reveal the nation’s 10 bestsellers and the incredible places they take you. Plus, top outdoor experts reveal the map they love the most...
10Up hill and down dale... YORKSHIRE DALES: NORTHERN & CENTRAL AREAS
It takes just seconds with this map to see why people buy it – and walk it – in droves. Wide rivers of blue course across the paper, marking out the magnificent valleys of Swaledale, Wensleydale and Upper Wharfedale. Drystone walls lattice the lower slopes into fields, which are also dotted with the oblongs of stone barns, and as the contours stack high the green-sprig symbol of wild heath takes over. Best of all, large swathes are tinted yellow to indicate your right to roam free and the whole sheet is criss-crossed with the dashed green lines of footpaths.
Two of the nation’s favourite long-distance trails cross here – the Pennine Way and the Coast to Coast (which despite its popularity isn’t marked on the map). But a single walk at Semer Water showcases the beauty of this map's landscape. From the shore of Yorkshire’s largest natural lake, a place carved by glacier and coiled in myth, you’ll strike up onto Stake Pass and the high land that separates Wharfedale and Wensleydale, for glittering winter views across the hills and dales of Explorer OL30. WALK THE MAP Turn to Walk 17 this month for an 8-mile route at Semer Water and Stake Pass. JANUARY 2015 COUNTRY WALKING 31
u MOUNTAIN
LABOR ATORY
The handsome standalone cone of Schiehallion; this isolated peak proved ideal for scientiďŹ c experiments to test the theory of gravity. PHOTO: ISTOCK
D E S TI N ATI O N S S chie hallion
THE
MAP-MAKER’S MOUNTAIN Schiehallion is beloved by walkers and scientists, a strikingly symmetrical peak where gravity was tested, the world got weighed and the contour line was invented. WORDS: RALPH STORER
E X P E R I E N C E Walk eve r y path
DO try this at home You don’t have to travel to the world’s end to find adventure: all you need is your walking boots and a map with your house at its heart… W O R D S : J E N N Y WA LT E R S
E
u LOCAL GUIDE
The Ordnance Survey can custom-make a map for you to explore, with your postcode at its centre. Find out more on page 68. 64 COUNTRY WALKING JANUARY 2015
PHOTO: © DAVE PORTER/ALAMY
XPLORER. THE WORD conjures up a picture of frostbitten toes on Arctic wastes, of sweaty brows on desert plains, of nervous fingertips clinging to a precipice, but for many of us there is an unknown world right outside our door. I’m guessing – hoping – that I’m not the only walker to have trekked far from home, yet sadly ignored the countryside at my front step. I know more about the routes up Snowdon or New Zealand’s Milford Track than about a footpath a mile from my house. And so the Walk Every Path project was hatched. The idea was simple: to explore every Right of Way on an Ordnance Survey map, a custom-made, aptly-named Explorer with my house at its centre. When the map plonked through my door, I couldn’t wait to unfold it: every centimetre of green-dash path and bridleway on the paper representing 250m of ground I would explore. I’d walked some already – almost worn a groove on a four-mile loop through my local woods – but the fields, forests, villages and rivers beyond were a world unknown. u
“As the nights drew in... I was loath to spend the day driving a hundred miles to my nearest national park in time for dusk.�
p UNCOVER HISTORY
Find scenes of momentous events right on your doorstep, like the hamlet of Fotheringhay where Richard III was born and Mary Queen of Scots was executed.
THE WALKER’S GUIDE TO…
BRINGING MAPS TO LIFE
Ordnance Survey mapping ©Crown Copyright Bauer Media’s Media Licence number 073/13
N AV I GATI O N Re a ding th e la n dsc ap e
p LINE ON A MAP
The majestic sweep of the Pen y Fan horseshoe from Bwlch Duwynt and (below) the two-dimensional representation of the same view. PHOTO: DAN SANTILLO
It is not the map that should make sense of the land, but the land that will make a map for us. Natural Navigator Tristan Gooley explains how to understand a 3D landscape from a 2D map.
JANUARY 2015 COUNTRY WALKING 71
GEAR
OUR TESTERS Gear editor Nick Hallissey and writer Rachel Broomhead have notched up thousands of miles on foot, and know the value of good gear at the right price. This review took them to some of our highest, wildest, coldest places, including the Cairngorms, Galloway, and the Coniston and Helvellyn ranges in the Lakes.
No-nonsense reviews for real walkers
YOUR COMPLETE BUYING GUIDE TO
W
ARM, BREATHABLE and – increasingly – water-resistant, insulated jackets are the very best option for the deep-cold days of winter. Whether you choose natural down or synthetic fill, a good insulated jacket should be the warmest outer
INSULATED JACKETS layer in your walking wardrobe. But it also needs to be versatile. It needs to control heat, not simply seal it in. It also needs to be packable. This has often been a challenge for these big, rather billowy jackets in the past, but they are getting lighter and more compact all
FEATURES TO LOOK FOR INSULATION The basic choice is between natural down (i.e feathers, usually from goose or duck) and synthetic fibres. We are now also seeing hybrid styles incorporating blends of each.
BAFFLES These are the chambers containing the filling. Depending on the type of filling, they may be large and shallow, giving your insulated jacket the appearance of a soft shell; or smaller and more compact, which gives the more usual ‘puffy’ look.
WATERPROOFING Many brands are now producing water-resistant down. But although they may fend off drizzle and squalls, a hydrophobic insulator isn’t really a replacement for a full waterproof hard-shell in heavy or persistent rain.
PROVENANCE If you opt for natural down, ethicallysensitive consumers will be wise to check how the down was obtained. See page 78 for more on this.
NB: In all reviews we specify the Recommended Retail Price (RRP) for consistency. Discounts may be available online and in stores.
the time. In this test we will look at a range of insulated jackets for men and women from across the price brackets, showing a range of styles and features that will keep you cosy on the short, sharp, roaring days of January, February and March.
HOOD The need for a hood is debatable. These jackets are not fully waterproof, so if the heavens open, you will need a proper hard-shell, with hood, over the top. If it’s just really cold, a warm hat works better than a hood. If you do want a hood, ensure it is fully adjustable and that any drawcords can be secured: you don’t want them whipping around in the wind.
PACKABILITY Recent textile advances mean that insulated jackets are a lot slimmer than they used to be. In general, they are less likely to make you look like the Michelin Man. But when trying one on, always check how packable it is; if it still feels like you’re wrestling with a cloud, that’s not ideal.
‘WARM WHEN WET’ Not to be confused with waterproofing. Many jackets (mostly synthetic ones) will claim that their filling stays warm when wet. It means that even if water does get into the baffles and the filling gets damp, it retains enough integrity to keep you warm. Down is less good at staying warm when wet, unless it is hydrophobic.
TURN OVER TO READ THE TESTS...
25 ROUTES WITH ORDNANCE SURVEY MAPS
Britain’s best
ON
E TH E NE R AR E Õ S YO U
WALKS
SOUTH WEST SOUTH EAST
MIDLANDS
EAST
NORTH WEST NORTH EAST
JANUARY 2015
WALES
SCOTLAND
IRELAND
I N SI DE TH I S MONTH . . . u Britain’s favourite Yorkshire mountain u The Lake District’s quiet valleys u On new ground in the Brecon Beacons u Routes Index 2014 - all 342 walks listed
Ingleborough seen from Twisleton Scars. PHOTO: © DARRYL GILL/ALAMY
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 SOUTH WEST
FIND A GREAT WALK NEAR YOU... 01 Cornwall Rock and Polzeath
SOUTH EAST MIDLANDS EAST NORTH WEST NORTH EAST
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02 Dorset Powerstock
WALES
03 Wiltshire Great Bedwyn 04 East Sussex Harrison’s Rocks
SCOTLAND
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IRELAND
05 Bedfordshire Greensand Ridge 06 Essex Earls Colne
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07 Herefordshire Storridge 08 Staffordshire Highgate Common
15 16 17 25
09 Nottinghamshire Dunham-on-Trent 10 Derbyshire Lathkill Dale 11 Derbyshire Stanage Edge
14 CHALLENGE WALK
12 Cambridgeshire Ely
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13 Lincolnshire Burgh le Marsh
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14 Lancashire Beacon Hill 15 Cumbria Dunnerdale Horseshoe
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FAMILY WALK
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16 Cumbria Longsleddale
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17 North Yorkshire Semer Water
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18 North Yorkshire Westerdale Moor 19 Northumberland Whitley Bay
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20 Powys Fan Gyhirych 21 Powys New Radnor
ROUTE UPDATES
22 Gwynedd Pen Yr Helgi Du 23 Edinburgh/Midlothian Scald Law 24 Highland Cow Hill & Glen Nevis 25 North Yorkshire Ingleborough
How to use your routes... 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. 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. ABBREVIATIONS We have abbreviated left to L and right to R.
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.
92 COUNTRY WALKING JANUARY 2015
CLASSIC ROUTE
uUlverston, Cumbria, July 2014, Walk 14 The footbridge is currently flooded and might not be passable again until the rivers are dredged. No alternative route available. uNidderdale Round, North Yorkshire, October 2014, Walk 18 Point 5: ‘turn immediately R and go through a kissing gate.’
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.
CORNWALL AND POLZEATH 01 ROCK
1
Heading along the dunes towards Daymer Bay.
Start Turn L from Polzeath beach. Turn R into a driveway signed ‘Valley Caravan Park’. Pass the caravan park and continue along a No Through Road. This road becomes a track, crosses a stream and eventually reaches a golf course. Turn L and go through gap in the hedge. Follow path ahead and ignore any side turnings. Cross fairways carefully. Upon reaching housing, turn R up a tarmac driveway and keep R at junctions.
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1.9km/1¼ miles When the driveway turns R towards clubhouse, continue ahead along the track. Cross another part of the golf course and continue south along a
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GRADIENT PROFILE
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Launc
Bude
PLAN YOUR WALK
Boscastle Tintagel
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Looe
Wadebridge Bodmin CORNWALL
St Austell
Padstow
Newquay
ROUTE
nes
Start/parking Polzeath beach, grid ref SX937789 Is it for me? Coast path, footpaths, country lanes and quiet streets. No steep slopes Stiles 3
PLANNING Nearest town Padstow Refreshments Pubs at Polzeath, Pityme and Rock. CafŽs and restaurants at Polzeath and Rock Public toilets Polzeath, Rock and Daymer Bay Public transport 584 bus Camelford/ Wadebridge daily route (0871 200 2233 www.travelinesw.com) Maps OS Explorer 106; Landranger 200
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field with fence on your left-hand side. Go through the field gate. Continue ahead to Pityme Inn.
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POWERSTOCK 02 DORSET
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3km/2 miles Turn R at bridleway post and hunting gate. Head across field to gate. Turn R to field corner. Turn L up broad farm track into farmyard. Turn R as signed past Barrowland farmhouse along track. When
1.7km/1 mile As lane curves R, take ‘Bridleway Stones Common’ across courtyard, through gate and across field into Powerstock Common. Path follows edge of marshy ground into mixed woodland. Follow path sign uphill into more open ground with views westwards.
King’s Lane, this leads out of Powerstock and over Whetley Bridge. Follow lane for 250m.
The rolling countryside circling Eggardon Hill.
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Bridport
P
Shaftesbur
Bl
Sherborne
l nd Bill
Fortune
Weymout
Wimbor DO Dorchester W
Crewkerne
Yeovil
SOMERSET
Lyme Regis
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track bends sharp L, cut diagonally across field to gate in top L corner. Turn R. Follow R field edge to top R corner. Turn L. Follow field edge to gateway. Go through, turn L. Follow field edge to lane.
Nearest town Bridport Refreshments Three Horseshoes, Powerstock and Marquis of Lorne, Nettlecombe Public toilets None Public transport 73 Bridport/Maiden Newton, Monday-Friday Maps OS Explorer 117; Landranger 194
PLANNING
Start/parking Roadside parking by Powerstock church, grid ref SY517962 Is it for me? Footpath, bridlepaths and quiet lanes. No arduous slopes Stiles 4
ROUTE
aton
Axminster
Chard
Ilminster
on
PLAN YOUR WALK
uDistance: 10.3km/6½ miles uTime: 3¼ hours uGrade: Moderate
CHOSEN BYÉ ROBERT HESKETH Eggardon HillÕs Iron Age fort is a superb viewpoint; the highlight of this walk through a quiet and timeless corner of west Dorset. At 252m (831ft), it offers panoramic views in all directions: inland, across Lyme Bay and on into Devon. En route is Powerstock Common Nature Reserve, the relic of a vast medieval forest where Saxon and later Norman kings hunted. The walk begins at Powerstock, a charming village set among knolls and trees.
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Start Take the lane below Powerstock church, signed ‘Whetley Eggardon Hill’. As
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uDistance: 12km/7½ miles uTime: 3¾ hours uGrade: Moderate
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CHOSEN BYÉ ROBERT HESKETH This surprisingly gentle north Cornish coastal walk includes fine views of the Camel estuary and of the gorgeous Padstow Bay. It also offers a chance for a paddle at the lovely sandy beaches of Polzeath, Rock and Daymer Bay. En route you will find St Enodoc church where the poet John Betjeman is laid to rest within the churchyard. Although he described himself as Ôa posh CockneyÕ, he particularly loved this stunning part of Cornwall, making many return trips to the area throughout his life and even celebrating all this area has to offer in many of the famous poems he penned.
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PHOTO: ROBERT HESKETH
PHOTO: ROBERT HESKETH
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