A Walkers Tale

Recently I have decided that I should focus a bit more on ticking off the National Trails. And whilst completing a selection of the National Trails has been a goal for some time, it has to compete with my desire to explore any bit of countryside that takes my fancy (and all the major canals as well). This does create something of a scheduling problem, but I have adjusted my plans, bumped up the priority for walks along National Trails - and decided that the best way to start ticking off more National Trails is to start a new one. And so today, the new one in question is the Ridgeway - which is fairly short at 87 miles, but also one that looks particularly interesting at it's western end (as it crosses the North Wessex Downs).

On the surface, accessing the northern end of the Pennine Way looks to be a fairly complex endeavor - but whilst planning a walk along Hadrian's Wall , I realised that the combination of train and then bus makes access to (and beyond) the wall possible for a day walk. And so today, the plan is to use one of the train-bus links to get up to Bellingham (via Hexham) - and then walk the Pennine Way towards Hadrian's Wall - before finishing up at Bardon Mill.

Today I am back down in the south of England to finish off the South Downs Way .  Four weeks ago I had set out on the first of four days on the same trail - walking the South Downs Way from Eastbourne to Queen Elizabeth Country Park - and today I am back to complete the length of the trail.

Yesterday I had walked the High Peak Trail (or the Pennine Bridleway ) from Cromford to Buxton , and today the plan is to continue along the Pennine Bridleway  - before finishing up at Edale.

I have recently started ticking off sections of the Pennine Bridleway - and today I was heading off not just to tick off sections of this National Trail, but to also do a walk I had wanted to do for some time - along the High Peak Trail.

I had not planned to be walking today - and instead had planned to be having some rest - but with a bad front of weather coming in next week, it seems best to be out sooner rather than later. And so today I have brought forward my plans to tick off another section of the Pennine Way - walking from Bowes to Middleton-in-Teesdale - which for me is a fairly local affair. Here I am making use of the regular bus service that runs between Darlington and Barnard Castle - and from Barnard Castle I can get a bus out to Bowes, and then a bus back from Middleton-in-Teesdale fairly easily.