A Walkers Tale

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).

Today is the second of two days spent walking the Thames Path , having walked from Newbridge to Oxford on the previous day. By this point we are now deep into the most rural stretch of the River Thames - and by the end of the day we will have almost walked the full navigable stretch of the river.

Today we are back following the Thames Path  - and over the next two days we are aiming to complete the stretch between Oxford and Lechlade (which approximately marks the end of the Thames as a navigable river). In general the  Thames Path  is one of the easier paths to walk, with much of the trail having both frequent train stations and frequent places to stay that will not break the budget.

Today is our second day walking the Oxford Canal , having walked from Oxford to Kidlington on the previous day. One of the unplanned benefits of having stayed overnight in the Premier Inn by the Technology Centre is that I can stop off at the Greggs on my way back to the canal to get a bacon roll - and from here we turn to head north, and leave behind everyone heading off to work, and start to focus on the quiet canal that lies ahead.