Portreath and Tehidy Country Park

Date: Monday 18th March 2013
Route: Circular route from Portreath
Distance: 4 miles

Another walk from the AA's 1001 Walks, starting and ending in the village of Portreath on the north coast of Cornwall, complete with large sandy beach, rock pools and caves to poke around in.

This walk offers a nice combination of coastal path and woodland walking and proved to be a good short walk for a day of sunshine and showers. The walk begins by following the coastal path around the headland, past some pretty luxurious properties (extreme garden furniture envy!), then up onto the wild and woolly weather of the cliff tops.

After the usual combination of heart-stoppingly steep cliffs, a well-trodden and easy path, bright blue seas and wheeling seabirds, the path heads inland and into the car park of Tehidy Country Park, with many woodland paths and a particularly high Labrador count. I suspect that later in spring the forest trails will be accompanied by carpets of bluebells and rhododendra but the for the time being it's more about daffodils and wild garlic.

The final stretch of the walk sees the wood thinning out alongside a busy golf course, then passing a farm before entering more woodland above Portreath before coming back down to sea level. Recommended, if not the most remarkable of walks.   

Kynance Cove, Lizard Point and Church Cove

Date: Sunday 17th March 2013
Route: Circular walk from The Lizard Village
Distance: 6.5 miles

A quick visit to Cornwall - and after torrential rain and grey skies in London, it is a relief to find blue skies and sunshine on the most southerly part of Britain.

This is a favourite walk from the AA's 1001 Walks - a handy ring binder containing (as its name suggests!) 1001 Walks from across the UK - you just pull out the page you want, rather than having to carry a heavy book around with you.

There are a few reasons we keep coming back to this particular walk - the scenery is fantastic, the path is relatively easy, there are a couple of great tea stops en route and the Lizard Peninsula really does feel as far away from day-to-day life as it is possible to get.

The walk starts in the Lizard Village, before heading down to the exceptionally beautiful Kynance Cove. From Kynance, the coastal path makes its way along the cliff-tops, past Shetland ponies, to the  opportunity to stop for the most southerly slice of cake in the UK and onward past lighthouses, a radio station, the coastguard's lookout point and finally to the new lifeboat station at Church Cove, from where it is a short stroll back inland, past picture-book thatched cottages. One of the best walks in one of the most beautiful areas of the country.

Thames Path 3: Hammersmith to Kingston

Date: Saturday 2nd February 2013
Route: Hammersmith Bridge to Kingston Bridge along the Thames Path
Distance: 11.5 miles

After a couple of weeks off from walking, a bright sunny day seemed like a good reason to walk one of the stretches of the path that we are most familiar with. This section of the Thames Path is one of the first that we walked regularly when we first moved to London - and have walked regularly ever since - and is highly recommended.

Whilst the path is very popular with walkers, runners and cyclists, it definitely feels as if you are leaving the city behind as you leave Hammersmith and head through the trees. You're always aware of the fact that this is Boat Race territory, passing multiple boat-houses, hard-pulling rowers and no-nonsense coaches (complete with loud-hailers) encouraging them to row even harder.

The walk also passes a number of grand and impressive houses, from George III's unpretentious palace at Kew Gardens, to the imposing silhouette of Syon House and onwards past Marble Hill House and Ham House, where the recent film of Anna Karenina was filmed. Henry VIII's Richmond Palace is also hidden from view behind a wall on the outskirts of Richmond.

We have often combined a section of this walk with a boat trip from Central London in the summer - you can catch a boat from the Embankment out to Kew, Richmond, Teddington or even all the way to Hampton Court (although if you opt for the latter, you do spend rather a lot of the day waiting to get through the locks at Richmond and Teddington, so your walking time is pretty restricted!).

Richmond's Tide Tables cafe makes a great lunch/ cake stop but if you get hungry before then, you can always stop off in Barnes (erstwhile home of Gustav Holst!) or near Kew Bridge. Richmond also boasts a number of great riverside pubs (though probably best avoided when there is a rugby match on!) and a Saturday Farmer's Market not far from the Thames Path.

The path alternates from tarmac and gravel to more muddy stretches and it is worth keeping an eye on the tide, as the path can get flooded at certain times (there are more than a few "diversion in case of flood" signs!). Having waded through a very cold flooded section near Petersham in the winter twilight a few years ago, I would not wish that experience on anyone. At this time of year, the fields alongside the path also are often flooded or providing drainage for the river's overflow.

The amount of birds along the river increases dramatically on this stretch - with the usual ducks and moorhens being joined by the herons that nest near Kew Bridge and the parakeets that you often hear before you see the flash of green overhead.

No matter how many times we walk this section of path, there is always something new to see, great places to stop off en route, beautiful views to appreciate and riverside dwellers to envy. The next section will take us past the familiar territory of Kingston to Hampton Court and further out into the countryside - really looking forward to it.

Thames Path 2: Tower Bridge to Hammersmith

Date: Saturday, 5th January 2013

Route: Tower Bridge to Hammersmith Bridge via Thames Path

Distance: 11.5 miles

The second stage of the Thames Path starts on the pavements of the City of London and ends on a gravelly towpath amidst greenery, passing some of the most iconic London landmarks and bridges en route.

The first 45 minutes cover the area from Tower Bridge to Westminster, passing HMS Belfast, the Golden Hinde, the Globe Theatre, the Tate Modern, Southwark Cathedral, the South Bank Centre, the London Eye and many other historic buildings and places of interest. You could quite easily spend a lot more time meandering along this section of the walk and stopping to see the sights, but we were keen to press on today before this busy and tourist-friendly section of the Thames Path became too busy.

Once on the far side of Westminster bridge, the path runs in front of St Thomas' Hospital, Lambeth Palace and (rather surprisingly) the MI5 Building before hitting the slightly less picturesque surroundings of Vauxhall and the stretch that leads to Battersea Power Station.

As with the first section of the walk, there are a few diversions around building sites and in front of riverside developments, but there is more greenery too, particularly in Battersea Park and Wandsworth Park. Once past Putney Bridge, the river becomes the domain of rowers and sailors, the path becomes more rough and ready and the roads become more distant, giving you the feeling that you are leaving the city behind, albeit only until the distinctive Harrods Furniture Depository (now converted into flats) and the Hammersmith Bridge come into view.

As you walk from Tower Bridge to Hammersmith Bridge you walk over, under or alongside a variety of road and rail bridges, including London Bridge, Waterloo Bridge, Blackfriars Bridge, the Millennium ("wibbly-wobbly") Bridge and the delicate Albert Bridge, as well as the ghosts of bridges past, columns sunk into the Thames that once supported bridges but now stand alongside their more robust replacements.

If we only walked the first two sections of the Thames Path, we would have seen a big slice of riverside London, from sights and flats to industry and wastelands - now it feels as though we are about to leave the bustle of the city behind us and get out into the countryside, although the source of the river is still a long way away!

First steps on the Thames Path

Date: 1st January 2013
Route: Thames Path - Thames Barrier to Tower Bridge
Distance: 9 miles on Thames Path + 1 mile to and from path to stations

The start of a new year is always a good opportunity for setting some new walking challenges and the chance to test out some new routes. It's also usually the time of year when we are most motivated to dust off the cobwebs and walk off some of those Christmas calories!

Whilst we have walked various sections of the Thames Path over the course of the past few years, there are quite a few bits that we haven't walked, so when we received book vouchers for Christmas, the Cicerone Guide to the Thames Path, From the Sea to the Source, seemed like an obvious investment.

The path is 180 miles long in total, so it's a nice meaty distance to cover, and since the path runs alongside the Thames it's very easy to follow (the guidebook stayed in my bag for most of the day today). It's also a good walking surface (although we did encounter one big puddle today, as per the photo above, which we had to scramble up a muddy bank to avoid!). And of course, it's relatively flat, so not too strenuous.

The path officially begins at the Thames Barrier, which is a few minutes away from Charlton station (well served by trains from London Bridge). Whilst this section of the walk does go through a fair amount of industrial land, building sites and residential areas, it also passes a number of "sights", making a circuit around the O2 Arena (the building formerly known as the Millennium Dome), passing through Greenwich alongside the Royal Naval Academy and the restored Cutty Sark and finishing at Tower Bridge.

Along the way, the towers of Canary Wharf are a constant feature of the opposite bank for much of the route and there are quirkier sights to encounter, such as the colourful yarn-bombing on various railings, the Emirates-sponsored cable car across the river, the glass-topped buildings at either side of the foot tunnels under the river and the slightly odd statue of Peter The Great (accompanied by dwarf!), who lived in Deptford for a few months at the end of the 17th century.

Whilst circling around many riverside developments may feel a little repetitive at times, there is always something interesting around the corner, with plenty of reminders of the history of the working river. 9 miles down, 171 to go!

Autumnal Chilterns

 

 

Date: Sunday 18th November

Route: Hambleden to Henley via the Great Wood and Fawley then back along the Thames

Distance: 9.3 miles

 

One of the benefits of writing this blog is that it is a good way of measuring how much (or how little) walking we are doing - it does make it pretty clear that, despite our good intentions, Autumn tends to be a time when other things take priority and it's more difficult to get motivated into leaving the warm house to brave the chilly countryside.

 

On a day like today, however, there is no excuse to stay inside - clear blue skies and bright sunshine, combined with green hillsides and all the colours of autumn leaves make this one of the most visually stunning walks of the year.

 

This is a walk that I have blogged about many times, but never at this time of year, when all the paths are flooded with fallen leaves - whilst the path is muddy at times, the extra effort is rewarded by some great views through sun-dappled woodland and across the Thames. The highlight of today's walk, however, is the sudden sight of a herd of deer crossing the path in leaps and bounds ahead of us. Whilst its always difficult to find the time and energy to go out walking on these dark days, today's experience means that we will try harder to get out again before Christmas (weather permitting!). 



 

 

Wandering around Whitby

Date: Sunday 26th August
Route: Whitby Circular via the Cleveland Way and Whitby Abbey
Distance: 4.5 miles

If you are looking for an undemanding walk on a sunny day, this walk around Whitby from the Pathfinder North York Moors walking book is a great option.

The walk starts off in the centre of the goth-friendly, historic and picturesque town of Whitby, crossing the bridge and walking along the river, before heading up the hillside. Before long you are walking beside fields, with the sea visible in the distance, following the path through farmland to Hornblower Cottage (easily spotted due to the giant foghorn on its roof!) and on to the lighthouse, where you cross a stile to join the Cleveland Way coastal path along the cliff tops.

It's then an undemanding stroll along the cliff-top path back to Whitby, towards the Abbey (which you can visit en route), past the pretty churchyard with weather-beaten gravestones and down the 199 steps back to the town centre. Highly recommended.