Britain's Favourite Family Walks by Trail magazine

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

FAMILY WALKS BRITAIN’S FAVOURITE

Outdoor adventures for active families

Go wild with the kids this summer Hill-walking Wildlife watching Waterfall walks Geocaching Camping Stargazing

TURN KIDS INTO EXPLORERS Expert advice from Bear Grylls and Chris Packham

BE READY FOR ANYTHING Great kit to keep kids warm, dry and safe

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BRITAIN’S BEST-SELLING WALKING MAGAZINE

FAMILY-FRIENDLY WALKS WITH STEP-BY-STEP DIRECTIONS AND ORDNANCE SURVEY MAPS

LAKE DISTRICT ◆ YORKSHIRE DALES ◆ SNOWDONIA ◆ NEW FOREST ◆ SHROPSHIRE ◆ THE HIGHLANDS

FA M IKLY A DV E ING G ET I DS WAI C LK

LITTLE STEPS

PHOTOS: TOM BAILEY

Hunting bears, chasing fairies, amazing sights and viewing Mum and Dad as friends rather than the Fun Police; that’s what an outdoor adventure can mean to a young mind. Here’s how to sow those seeds in the next generation.

MAGIC TIME A bit of good kit, some good friends and an imagination: that’s all you need to turn a walk into an adventure. 6 BRITAIN’S FAVOURITE FAMILY WALKS

TO SUCCESS 1BE YOUNG AT HEART

There’s no point droning on about the pleasures of fresh air and exercise: kids don’t have your time-constraint issues so they don’t see the big deal. And they run a lot anyway. So think as they do: it’s not a walk, it’s an adventure: adventure a story with them as the hero.

2AIM HIGH

Kids love the idea of climbing big hills, but making a beeline for Snowdon (3,561ft) is more likely to exhaust than inspire them. Head for little mountains ﬁrst (see our suggestions 10). on page 10

THEM 3SHOW THE PLAN

Show the children where you’re going and let them follow the route. Let them use the GPS if you have one, or draw them their own simpliﬁed ‘treasure map’, which includes things to look out for along the way.

BIG ON THE 4GO SMALL THINGS

Ban boredom by making sure there’s plenty to look at. Grown-ups love massive views but kids aren’t as impressed by them.. Think small-scale: climbable trees, paddleable streams, stoneskimming lakes, minibeasts… or delight the dinosaur junkies with the fossil-rich coasts of Dorset or Yorkshire.

5CELEBRATE SUCCESS

Make it special afterwards by handing out semi-official looking certiﬁcates. Even basic desktop esktop publishing skills should be able to create an impressivelooking document, which kids will love. Take hero pictures on summits or up trees, and stick them on the fridge door to remind them of the fun they had.

And remember to praise their efforts throughout the journey and heap it on when they ﬁnish.

6INVEST IN KIT

Proper boots and decent waterproofs are a small price to pay for hours of happy family fun, and cold, wet kids are inﬁnitely harder to motivate than warm, dry ones. Most big brands make brilliant kids’ gear at very reasonable prices. Minirucksacks, ﬂeeces and boots all give children the sense that they ‘belong’ to this bunch of walkers, and that a walk is something special. See page 50 for some great gear advice.

7DON’T GO CRAZY!

In the early days, keep walks short and don’t stretch their little legs too far. Three miles is the upper limit initially. They’ll soon build up stamina to tackle longer walks.

AT A 8END REWARD

Walk to an ice cream! Plan ahead for the bribe: make sure there’s a shop at the end of the walk – and that you reach it before closing time! Trails that end at an adventure playground also work well – we love the one on the Chatsworth estate in Derbyshire. For older children, the Go Ape treetop challenges across the UK’s forests are a thrilling reward. Or maybe just seek out a simple pub with a climbing frame frame. It all works!

9SEND THEM PACKING

Forget rucksack efficiency and minimising weight… let children pack their own Turn over rucksack with a few bits

for more tips...

BRITAIN’S FAVOURITE FAMILY WALKS 7

FA M I LY A DV C E LK S WATE R FA LL IWA

MAKE A SPLASH!

For wet, wild fun, it’s hard to beat a waterfall walk… SGWD YR EIRA, POWYS Whatever else you do on your Sunday/weekend/holiday (delete as appropriate) it’s a near certainty that the single stand-out moment for your children will be the walk behind the crashing curtain of water at Sgwd yr Eira. In a corner of the Brecon Beacons that’s been dubbed ‘Waterfalls Country’ because there are so many eyecatching falls, cascades and rapids in one small area, the ‘Fall of Snow’ is something special. Four rivers, the Mellte, Hepste, Pyrddin and Nedd Fechan, ﬁnd their way through deeply cut gorges before coming together as the Afon Nedd. Along the way they stumble and tumble over falls, many of which would rate as headlining attractions in their own right anywhere else. But there’s no challenge to the crowning glory of Sgwd yr Eira, where a path that’s green with algae leads behind the falls. The cave is bigger than you’d expect and there’s room to stand well back from the thundering water, but the air’s so sodden with ice-cold water droplets that you’ll be swiftly soaked to the skin. It’s an exhilarating experience.

PHOTO:MANOR PHOTOGRAPHY / ALAMY

PHOTO: CHRIS TARLING / ALAMY

WALK HERE: Download the ﬁve-mile Four Falls Trail at www.breconbeacons.org/waterfall-countrywalking-trails

SGWD YR EIR A Its name means ÔFall of SnowÕ and on a day like this, itÕs not hard to see why. And best of all, you can walk behind it!

Turn over for more waterfall walks. BRITAIN’S FAVOURITE FAMILY WALKS 17

WI LD LI F E S P OT TI N G AN I MAL TR AC KS

HOW TO

TRACK MAL ANIMALS

The ability to identify animal prints in mud adds a new dimension to family walks and increases your chance of spotting elusive wildlife.

PHOTO: FLPA / ALAMY

F YOU KNOW what to look for, you can piece together the great adventure of the natural world. And it all starts with tracking. The best time to go footprint-tracking is a dry day after a bit of rain, when the ground is soft and muddy. Look on squelchy paths, near rivers and streams, and in damp sand, for this is where the tracks will stay imprinted for longer. Study the shape and size of the print, the number of toes, the outline of the pad and whether there are any other marks in the ground – mice can leave tail tracks, birds taking of can leave wing impressions in soft ground. The depth of the print hints at the weight of the animal, while the distance between them gives clues to its size. With practice, you can identify not just the animal, but what it was up to. Say the gap between prints suddenly gets bigger; chances are the animal started running – and you might even see bigger footprints in pursuit (like a weasel after a mouse). Here are some of the most common tracks to look for…

BADGER These nocturnal mammals leave wide prints with ﬁve toes, although the imprint of the ﬁfth digit can be faint and lead to confusion with the four-toed print of a dog. Study the pattern of the toes: badgers’ digits tend to line up in a row to the front of the pad, dogs have two at the front and two set further back.

BIRD The basic arrowhead-shaped print of a bird claw is a cinch to spot, but identifying the particular species is near impossible. There are clues, though: the size obviously correlates with the size of the bird, and you can also tell whether it walks or hops along the ground – walkers will have staggered tracks, hoppers will leave two prints side by side.

26 BRITAIN’S FAVOURITE FAMILY WALKS

Haring around PHOTO: BLICKWINKEL / ALAMY

You may only catch a brief ﬂash of a hare as it races away, but its speed will make it a moment to remember.

FOX This is another animal whose tracks are all too easily confused with those of the family dog. Fox prints tend to be slim and oval in shape, in contrast to the wider circular ones of most dogs, and the front claws leave two pinpoint prints very close together.

RABBIT Most easily identiﬁed when you see front and rear prints together – the forefoot prints are slightly staggered, the hind ones leave longer prints side by side and in front of the forefoot tracks. Also, the hind prints tend to be deeper as rabbits power through their rear legs.

OTTER The soft, silty mud of a riverbank is the best place to look for the print of the notoriously shy otter: you’re after five toes around a rounded pad, measuring about 6cm across. In an exceptionally good print you may spot webbing too. Prints can be hard to find, so also look out for spraint – greenish-black droppings that often contain fish bones and scales.

MEGALOSAURUS You won’t spot these on many country walks, but a row of 165-million-year-old fossilised dinosaur footprints has been unearthed at Ardley, Oxon. Each three-toed print is 80cm long – suggesting you really wouldn’t want to bump into one – and they’ve now been covered over to preserve them. But you can see casts of the prints at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. www.oum.ox.ac.uk

nlike the busy warrens of rabbits, hares tend to be solitary and spend their days in shallow depressions in the ground called forms, heading out at dusk to feed. They lie low and still to avoid detection and rely on acute hearing, vision and smell to detect predators like foxes, eagles, and dogs, holding on until the last minute before bolting. Hares can reach speeds of up to 45 mph (72kmh) and it’s their best defence against predators. The position of their eyes on the side of the face ensures a wide range of vision so they can monitor their pursuer as they run and switch direction. They have a small blind spot dead ahead, though, and have been known to run into things. Hares are herbivorous and eat grass, herbs and young cereal crops, particularly where farming has reduced wild grass and hedgerows. In winter they live on twigs, bark and tree buds. Like rabbits they eat their own faeces in a process called refection: they produce a soft dropping which is re-ingested to extract all possible nutrition from the food, then pass the commonly spotted hard pellets. Sparring hares are a fantastic spring spectacle, rearing up on hind legs and boxing each other with their front paws. Once thought to be males battling for supremacy, it’s actually a female ﬁghting off a suitor – either because she’s not ready to mate or she wants to test his resolve. March madness leads to three or four leverets 40-50 days later, born with fur and eyes open to help survive life outside. Each one is put in a separate form and the mother visits once a day at sunset for the ﬁrst month to suckle. Breeding continues into September

G E O CAC H I N G

GO TREASURE HUNTING For a generation weaned on screens and electronic devices, the chance to focus a walk around a GPS-inspired search is a great way to ﬁre up children’s enthusiasm for the outdoors.

ALL PHOTOS: © RICHARD FAULKS

AILED AS THE fastestgrowing pastime on the planet, geocaching is a great way to add interest to any walk. Turning a walk into an adventure is great – turning it into a treasure hunt is even better. Geocaching (say ‘geo-cashing’) involves using your GPS or smartphone to track down one of tens of thousands of secret stashes that have been planted all around the country. Those in the know hide the treasure box (or ‘cache’) and leave clues in the form of mapping coordinates so that anyone with a GPS device or smartphone loaded with the Geocaching app can seek it out. To the ﬁnder’s usual delight, most caches come stuffed with assorted swappable trinkets and goodies. Geocaches are concealed almost

34 BRITAIN’S FAVOURITE FAMILY WALKS

everywhere. It will come as no surprise to discover that they’re widely hidden in woodland, farmland, moorland and along the coast. But we’ve also found them in supermarket car parks, in woods at the fringe of housing estates, and in churchyards. Just download the Geocaching 4 app and ask it to ﬁnd caches near you. Chances are there is at least one within 500m of your current location. Finding caches ﬁrstly gives kids a reason to go for a walk, and also teaches them micro-navigation skills, both digital and traditional. The caches are generally hidden close to a footpath, but they will usually be inside or underneath something – a prominent stone, a hole in a gatepost, or a hollow tree-trunk. If you’re stumped, the app and website

usually include clues to help you out. Caches range in size from large military ammunition boxes to ice cream tubs to ﬁlm canisters from old fashioned cameras (known as microcaches). They need to be waterproof and large enough to hold a log-book where you can record your visit. Over time, the box will ﬁll with trinkets – plastic toys, foreign coins, hair key-rings, bobbles and all sorts. Protocol demands that if you take a trinket, you leave one in its place. Once you try it, you’ll be amazed at how many times you’ve walked past a cache on a familiar walk without ever suspecting its presence. And they’re so plentiful in many parts of the country that it’s easy to plot a walking route that uses several caches as stepping stones, so there’s always a new point of interest for your children to seek and discover.

EUREK A MOMENT With a bit of searching, young explorers Ruby and Elsie discover a geocache hidden among the rocky outcrops of the Peak District. PHOTOS: RICHARD FAULKS

HOW TO DO IT: Turn the page for your complete guide to geocaching. BRITAINâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S FAVOURITE FAMILY WALKS 35

O U TD O O R G E A R G U I D E

GOOD TO GO!

A bit of specialised outdoor kit can turn a young walker into an explorer and ensure they’re ready for anything.

UTDOOR GEAR FOR kids is not just about keeping them warm, cool, dry or clean-ish (although they are all important). It’s about giving them the conﬁdence to go anywhere – and the feeling that they might actually look quite awesome, too. To prove it, we kitted out young explorers Molly (nine), Ben (seven), Rosie (ﬁve) and Henry (four) in functional and funky-looking kit chosen by the experts at Country Walking magazine. It’s reliable, it’s well-made and it will last – and it represents great value for money. Each item can be easily found via the brands' own websites – or just pop into your local branch of Cotswold Outdoor, Go Outdoors, Blacks or Millets. They should all be able to track these items down for you.

BEN’S WEARING… CRAGHOPPERS BEAR GRYLLS T-SHIRT £12 & SOFT SHELL VEST £30 Craghoppers have teamed up with adventurer Bear Grylls (more of him on page 9) to create a junior range that works hard, looks great and comes with stacks of kudos. The T-shirt is cool and breathable, while the vest gives lightweight insulation across the back and torso on breezy days. www.craghoppers.com

THE NORTH FACE MARKHOR HIKE SHORTS £30

ALL PHOTOS: KERRY UNWIN

Tough-but-comfy battle-shorts with QuickDry material that will shake off water and mud easily and last for ages. It’s pretty good camouﬂage for ambushes too! www.thenorthface.co.uk

SCARPA MISTRAL BOOTS £70 Scarpa are an exceptional boot brand trusted by serious mountaineers, and this is the junior version of one of their best-selling adult boots. It has a Gore-Tex lining (the world’s most trusted waterprooﬁng brand) that

50 BRITAIN’S FAVOURITE FAMILY WALKS

keeps Ben’s feet dry, but also has enough ﬂexibility not to slow him down. www.scarpa.co.uk

OSPREY JET 12 RUCKSACK £27 Osprey make terriﬁc rucksacks for adults, so it’s no surprise that they make an equally sleek, light and compact product for kids. The Jet is great for everything from day-hikes to school trips: it has proper belt and chest straps which secure it to the body and take the weight, and a back-system that holds the load ﬁrmly and never gets sweaty. Plus, a built-in whistle. Ben loves the whistle. www.ospreyeurope.com

REGATTA ALLPEAKS JACKET £45 Ben’s wearing this on page 3 of this guidebook. It’s an action-packed, fully waterproof jacket that’s also really light. With Isotex fabric and a durable water-repellent treatment, it keeps the rain out but also ensures that interior moisture doesn’t get trapped close to the skin. www.regatta.com

MOLLY’S WEARING… REGATTA FOXWORTH JACKET £28 A seafaring-inspired waterproof and windproof jacket with classy styling and a soft-lined hood with cool, nautical stripes. Good, deep pockets on the waist make it perfect for woodland foraging and beachcombing. www.regatta.com

KEEN CHANDLER CNX SHOES £50 Molly has lived in these for over a year and they’ve done everything from beach-walks in France to a full-on hike up Snowdon. If your child isn’t keen on heavy boots, these are a perfect softer option – but they’re still extremely robust and water-resistant. www.keenfootwear.com

FJÄLLRÄVEN KÅNKEN RUCKSACK £59 Apparently the deﬁnitive schoolkids’ rucksack in Sweden, the Kånken has become an icon of outdoor fashion and function across Europe. Simple and very robust, it has an extra front pouch and also comes with a removable sit-mat. www.fjallraven.co.uk

SPRAYWAY TREKKING SOCK £8 They have hearts on, which is cool – and don’t worry boys, your version has a cool-looking spider. Both are warm, cozy and breathable, and really take the ache out of a long walk in tough boots or shoes. www.sprayway.com

REGATTA WARLOCK II SHORTS £15 Comfy, cooling and quick to dry out, the Warlocks feature an elasticated waist with button adjuster so the pair can grow with your child. Loads of handy pockets, too. Ideal for summer adventures, from British hills to overseas beaches. www.regatta.com www.

Turn over for more gear ideas! BRITAIN’S FAVOURITE FAMILY WALKS 51

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40 ROUTES with Ordnance Survey Maps

BRITAIN’S FAVOURITE

FAMILY WALKS PHOTO: © CLIVE DOWNES / ALAMY

From mini-mountains to a dragonﬂy ridge; from mystical caves to magical lakes: these 40 walks are guaranteed to turn any young walker into a real adventurer…

Mini-mountain The little peak of Roseberry Topping (above) is the perfect ﬁrst mountain for a young explorer. Discover it for yourself on Walk 27.

Plus… 5

A clifftop hideaway

Robin Hood’s rocks

Harry Potter’s valley

Dragonﬂy heaven

Shakespeare’s home …and dozens more!

NORTH EAST

NORTH YORKSHIRE ROSEBERRY TOPPING

uDistance: 3.8km/2¼ miles uTime: 2 hours uGrade: Moderate

PLAN YOUR WALK

The unmistakable peak of Roseberry Topping.

Hartlepool Redcar Middlesbrough

Guisborough

lington

ch Corner

Stokesley

Northallerton Thirsk

S Pickering

ROUTE Start/parking Newton under Roseberry car park, grid ref NZ570127 Is it for me? Steep sections; careful navigation required Stiles 1 Photo: Tom Bailey

oseberry Topping is Britain’s greatest mini-mountain. Often described as ‘the Yorkshire Matterhorn’, it’s just 320m tall but packed with rocky character – and an easy climb for kids. This route contours around the base of the hill before following a stone wall to the summit. On a clear day, the views from the top extend over the North York Moors, the Cleveland Hills escarpment and all the way to the North Sea at Redcar. Descending south-west, the path reaches an enigmatic Victorian folly (see ‘Don’t Miss’), a perfect perch from which to admire Cleveland’s finest landscape. It’s a fantastic place for a picnic too, especially on a short walk like this one.

Turn R and follow wall all the way to the summit.

2km/1¼ miles From the summit, head south-east to reach fenceline. Turn R and follow the fence south-west, descending to the gate. Go through the gate to reach the beautifully positioned Victorian summer house (or shooting box, depending on who you believe). Once you’ve admired the view over the Cleveland Hills, retrace your steps and turn L onto grassy path which descends to treeline. Follow path to corner and cross stile into woods.

DON’T MISS... It’s not known who built the folly which nestles under the southern face of Roseberry Topping, but it’s a beautiful spot to pause a while.

2.5km/1½ miles Turn R and stay parallel to fenceline, keeping it on your R. Ignore the first gate and the stile to your R and keep straight on, eventually descending to reach the gate at the bottom. Through

PLANNING Nearest town Guisborough Refreshments None on route Public toilets At start Public transport Bus 81 runs regularly between Guisborough and Newton under Roseberry (arrivabus.co.uk) Maps Ordnance Survey Explorer OL26; Landranger 93 Buy maps at: www. ordnance survey.co.uk/ mapshop

the gate and take the gate immediately to your L to rejoin the track which was used on your outward journey. Turn R onto the track and follow it back to the car park. Rachel Broomhead

2 1 START

0.9km/½ mile As path veers to R, take path to L and go through gate. Ignore first R turning but leave the main path on second footpath on the R (if snowcovered, look for the break in fern and trees). Continue to follow path as it contours round base of hill, climbing gradually, until it reaches the fenceline.

Start From car park, walk to L of toilet block and turn R onto lane heading east towards Roseberry Topping and away from the road. At junction, follow lane to L and ignore the path going straight on through woods. Go through gate and at second gate turn R and take L fork, heading uphill.

NORTH EAST

NORTHUMBERLAND HARESHAW LINN

uDistance: 4.8km/3 miles uTime: 2 hours uGrade: Easy Climb to cross another bridge, this time staying on same side of the burn. Head up more steps and cross rustic style bridge (crossing burn again) and curving L past coin tree. Follow path through woodland to climb steps beneath cliffs. Descend steps under cliffs, passing bench and dropping to rock basin and Hareshaw Linn Waterfall.

Photo: Steve Goodier

This waterfall will be a hit with everyone – especially children.

passing bench (R) and descend to cross two bridges – the second over the burn.

1.17km/¾ mile Cross bridge going half R rising up with burn now R passing another bench (R) with waterfall half R. Descend past this waterfall crossing stream

via steps. Curve R to cross another bridge and curve L following burn on other side now. Curve L over another bridge curving R on opposite side. Continue on path over another bridge and go L on opposite side of burn. Continue to another bridge, crossing over burn and climbing steps beyond.

PLAN YOUR WALK

NORTHUMBERLAND

Otterburn

Start Leave car park going R to pass through gate/opening by sign for ‘Hareshaw Linn’. Follow lane signposted ‘Hareshaw Linn 1.5 miles’. Walk along lane with Hareshaw Burn L to go L of fence and stable and through kissing gate. Follow track past caravans R leaving track by yellow arrow L to climb through grass and re-join track further on. Go L descending gradually to gates. Pass through L one staying R at fork near sign for ‘Old Iron Works (L). Climb track (burn L) reaching path junction before picnic benches.

Ashingt h Morpeth Bedlingt Ponteland Gosf ampton

Corbridge Washingt

ROUTE Start/parking Hareshaw Linn car park in Bellingham, grid ref NY840834 Is it for me? Good paths/ tracks throughout. Some steps and 8 bridges. Watch kids near steep drops above burn and near waterfalls. Stiles None

PLANNING 2

0.48km/¼ mile Descend L to see waterfall and return to main track going L past picnic benches climbing steps. Continue after steps to rise gently through woodland passing through gate. Follow path through woods (stoned in places) going up and down with burn always L. A steeper section leads to more steps. Climb

Hexham

START

Nearest town Bellingham Refreshments Bellingham Public toilets Bellingham Public transport For buses to Bellingham try Tourist Information/Heritage Centre on 01434 220616 Maps Ordnance Survey Explorer OL42; Landranger 80 & 87 Buy maps at: www. ordnance survey.co.uk/ mapshop

n old Northumbrian a ‘linn’ is a waterfall and the highlight of this walk is the stunning Hareshaw Linn, which is set in a superb rocky bowl amidst trees. This is a great ‘out and back’ family route that feels totally different as you return – there is actually a short variation at the end. Kids will love the walking as there are lots of bridges and exciting scenery – but watch them if the ground is slippery as there are one or two drops.

2.4km/1½ miles Re-trace your steps to re-climb the steps (past the bench) and descend under cliffs again. Follow the outbound route back over 8 bridges and through gate and descend to picnic tables passing them to cut R at path junction, leaving outbound route to take lower path near burn. Rise to re-join outbound route and pass through gates. Go R staying on higher route (above outbound route) eventually re-joining outbound route. Ignore R turning (outbound route) and stay on track to curve R and L past caravans. Go through kissing gate to R of stables and continue down lane to pass through gate and go L into the car park. Steve Goodier