Features

The Features section is an ever so exciting collection of thoughts and stuff on long distance walking.

Alternatively, it is where we shove all the stuff that simply doesn't fit anywhere else, like some sort of horrible leaking bucket.

Take your pick.

Living on OL1

Published 25 February 2018

It was incredibly exciting to realise that my house is on OL1, the Ordnance Survey’s first Outdoor Leisure map.

At the end of the East Highland Way. And the start of the Speyside Way.

Published 11 February 2018

To Aviemore, where you’ll find a simple sign and a toilet block.

The problems with long distance walking when you have young children

Published 4 February 2018

Is there a reason I haven’t walked a particular trail? Yes, absolutely. But that’s no indication on the quality of the the trail.

At the end of the West Highland Way, and the start of the East Highland Way

Published 28 January 2018

The point at Fort William where two walking trails with similar names, meet and say hello to each other.

Up a hill with nowhere to go

Published 21 January 2018

Get to the top, and launch yourself off into the wind.

Pointless Wainwright bagging numbers

Published 7 January 2018

Random numbers put on a page, about Wainwrights, and all for no particularly good reason.

Wainwrights in Numbers, 2017

Published 27 December 2017

Let’s all look at graphs that show how well I’ve been doing with my fellbagging in the Lakes!

Patterdale Village Store

Published 19 November 2017

There’s a shop that is an important one in the world of Wainwright bagging. It’s not a massively flashy shop, nor is it one that is particularly large in size. But size and image aren’t everything.

Bowden Bridge Car Park (or the absurdity of high car parking prices)

Published 22 October 2017

At least you won’t be bothered by cars when you pay homage to the Kinder Tresspassers.

Busing around the Lake District

Published 16 August 2017

If you’re a walker and in the Lakes, the bus is a great way to get to your fell of choice. Unless you want to get to Kentmere anyway.

An chapel with a view

Published 21 July 2017

A small chapel on a hill in Brittany. Just what you want at the end of a holiday.

You’re going the wrong way

Published 18 July 2017

France’s walking routes offer simple technique for telling people they’re going the wrong way.

A Grande Randonnée on your doorstep

Published 12 July 2017

Unexpectedly finding a major walking trail going right past your holiday home.

To Walk Is To Live

Published 7 June 2017

Put your best foot forward, and enjoy your journey once more.

Less than three hours to Patterdale

Published 10 May 2017

When you live not far away, better make the most of it.

Is the YHA still a friend to walkers?

Published 8 March 2017

With YHA deciding to withdraw a number of rural bunkhouses and camping barns from its network recently, does it still want to be somewhere supporting the great outdoors?

Which walking trail is the least direct one you can walk?

Published 1 March 2017

We’ve done the calculations, so if you want to know which the most, or indeed least walking route is, you can find out.

How far would the crow have to fly to get from one end of the Thames Path, to the other?

Published 22 February 2017

Finding out just how direct – or not – the Thames Path actually is.

When is a walking trail “done”?

Published 15 February 2017

When do you class walking route as “done”? It’s a question that was firmly on my mind as I sat on a train heading home a few hours after arriving at the western end of the Thames Path,

Welcome to 2017

Published 1 January 2017

One can only hope that ‘After Clouds, Sunshine’ stands true for 2017.

2016: A Year In Walking

Published 21 December 2016

It’s December and that can only mean one thing: a walking related review of the year.

A bad year for Wainwrights?

Published 14 December 2016

By pointlessly plotting the number of Wainwrights I have walked per year, I have spotted a link in the years I have bagged the least,

Updating the Planning a Walk section for 2016

Published 19 October 2016

Links, buses, pubs, shops and more; everything gets a full check in the annual review of the Rambling Man ‘Planning a Walk’ section.

The Coast to Coast National Trail

Published 12 October 2016

There’s a campaign to upgrade the Coast to Coast to National Trail status, and it probably can’t come too soon.

Is it safe to walk alone? (The answer is yes!)

Published 21 September 2016

It’s a question that gets asked a lot. Is it safe to go walking on your own? The answer is an absolute emphatic yes!

Who would sit on a bench like this?

Published 14 September 2016

Sometimes you just want to rest on a bench. But are all benches actually designed for sitting on?

At the start of the Pennine Way

Published 7 September 2016

What will greet you when you arrive at the start of the Pennine Way in Edale.

The Rambling Man Summer Break

Published 20 July 2016

There’s not going to be much happening here over the summer of 2016, and this is why…

Aching feet

Published 1 June 2016

If you see someone hobbling down the street, it might be be after a recent trip on the Trespass Trail.

Beware the flying sausage

Published 18 May 2016

A walk on the London LOOP gives an excuse to pay homage to Grange Hill.

Another 15 Things You’ll Never Forget About Walking the Pennine Way

Published 27 April 2016

Because the Pennine Way is an amazing walk, and this is a list of reasons why.

The mysterious tale of Kallebu

Published 24 February 2016

Or, when going on a walk allows you to randomly discover something utterly magical that you wouldn’t otherwise have seen.

15 Things You’ll Never Forget About Walking the Pennine Way

Published 17 February 2016

It’s easy to think of the Pennine Way as 268 miles of drudgery, yet there are some fine moments on the walk and some great memories. Memories such as these…