Features

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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.

Wayfarer – the rover ticket for Manchester and the Peak District, and beyond!

Published 25 August 2019

Wayfarer is the bus/train/tram ticket that many people in the North of England didn’t know they needed, but actually do. Especially walkers.

The Rambling Man guide to getting a holiday company to book your long distance walk

Published 21 July 2019

What are walking holiday companies? What to they do? And is it worth using one?

Which walk should I do?

Published 7 July 2019

Every now and then, someone emails me to ask which walk they should do. Now there’s an open ended question, I think, because it totally depends on who you are and what you like. And if you fall into one these categories, you’ll find your answer here! And if you don’t fall into one of these categories, you might not.

Will the real length of the Pennine Way, please stand up?

Published 2 June 2019

When is a 268 mile long walk, not actually 268 miles long? When it’s the Pennine Way!

The 700th post on Rambling Man

Published 31 March 2019

When I celebrate a milestone, it’s usually walking related. But the other day I spotted that I was about to hit a moment in history of this site. The 700th post on Rambling Man.

Wainwright in Numbers, 2018

Published 30 December 2018

You like fell bagging stats, don’t you?

The Rambling Man Review of 2018

Published 23 December 2018

Tis the time when we look back. To think what was. And what perhaps should have been. And what a roller coaster of a year it was. And there was some walking done too.

The Mam Tor bus stop

Published 16 December 2018

A hill that has its own bus stop. Although don’t go waiting for any buses to serve it.

The new and improved Planning a Walk section!

Published 20 October 2018

What’s new in the Planning a Walk section, I hear you ask? As well as "where have you been then?" And no, it can’t be both new and improved…

Pointless National Trail bagging stats!

Published 29 July 2018

Collecting National Trails like you would a Pog? Or a Pokemon? No? Oh well.

Driving to the Lake District and back in a day

Published 24 June 2018

Proving to myself that I can visit the Lakes for a day and be back for bed time.

If you love green signposts, you’ll love the Peak and Northern Footpaths Society

Published 6 May 2018

Dotted around the North West and North Midlands, the Peak and Northern have been helping walkers find their way for over a century.

At the end of the Southern Upland Way

Published 25 March 2018

What will you find at the end of the Southern Upland Way when you get there?

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,

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…