A Walkers Tale

Today we are out exploring the Coventry Canal - and over two days we will look to complete the stretch of this canal between Coventry and Tamworth. We will then come back at a later date to complete the walk round to the join with the Trent & Mersey Canal near Fradley. We will split this walk up at Nuneaton (here we will stay overnight) - and this means that we will have one fairly urban stretch of canal walking today as we make our way through (and out of) Coventry, before then having a far more rural stretch to enjoy on the following day.

Today we are once again walking in the  North Yorkshire Moors  - and today we are repeating a section of path that we walked when doing the Cleveland Way , but today our focus is on the Coast to Coast  trail (which uses the same path as the  Cleveland Way  through the whole stretch we will walk today). On it's way England, the  Coast to Coast  heads from Richmond across the fields to Ingleby Cross, and then climbs up to meet up with the  Cleveland Way  on the ridge that sits above Mount Grace Priory. And then the two run together, all the way along the northern ridge of the  North Yorkshire Moors  - until the  Cleveland Way  turns north to head up to the sea at Saltburn, whilst the  Coast to Coast  takes a more direct route to the coast (meeting up with the coast just to the north of Robin Hood's Bay).

Today we are back walking another stretch of canal - and these canals will be the main focus between now and April, after which I will head back into the hills for the summer half of the year. The canal of interest today is a new but important one - the Grand Union Canal - which provided a faster route between London and the Midlands (it was the HS2 of it's day).

Today we are heading to the North Yorkshire Moors to complete the Esk Valley Walk - and today we will be walking a section of this trail that focuses on the upper end of the River Esk. We will start this walk in Castleton, and will then walk up Danby Dale until we meet up with the Coast to Coast trail on Farndale Moor.

Today we are out completing another stretch of the Teesdale Way - and the final stretch that I plan to walk (with the final stretch from Middlesbrough to South Gare being very industrial, and unlikely to be very enjoyable). This means that at the end of this walk I will have completed the length of the trail from Dufton to the Transporter Bridge in Middlesbrough - and for me this is significant, as this walk holds additional importance compared to the other walks I have been doing.

Today we are heading out to complete the very last section of the  Thames Path .  I originally started walking bits of the River Thames as a way to make my trips between the north (where I live) and the south (where I have family) a bit more interesting, and from there I have worked my way through various stretches of the trail - and so this trail has been done over quite a long period of time (about two years).