The joy of France is the incredible diversity of landscape, scale and mix of flora and fauna. Whenever I am there on family holidays I try to find the nearest walk that offers a little peace and quiet and something new. The Calern Plateau is a Limestone plateau running E to W in the Parc…
‘Black Mountains’ walk – Herefordshire Wales Border
Each year three friends and I take a few days out and find somewhere to stay from which we can take decent days out on the hills. This year we chose the ‘Black Mountains‘ area covering the border between Herefordshire, England and Powys, Wales, with Hay-on-Wye as our base (the most delightful town full of…
‘Grand Luberon’ walk – Vaucluse, France
The Luberon Massif is an undulating ridge in the Vaucluse Dept of France that stretches for about thirty miles East to West, the Petit Luberon to the West and the Grand Luberon to the East, the two divided by a narrow canyon, the ‘Combe de Lourmarin‘. The highest point of the Luberon is the Mourre Nègre, height…
Why walk?
I rediscovered the sheer enjoyment, the benefits (and some of the pain) of walking in valleys, vales, on hills and moors quite late in life. A youthful interest in the countryside and ‘hiking’ as it was then known, morphed into thirty busy years at a desk ensuring I was truly unfit. It hadn’t occurred to…
‘Brecon Beacons’ walk – South Wales
Probably the classic ridge walk in the Southern part of the UK, the Brecon Beacons Horseshoe walk starts with a gradual climb, a couple of tough pulls (made truly worth it for the amazing views if you are lucky with the weather) and a fabulous return to the start point but with a pretty precipitous…
‘Upper Nidderdale’ walk – North Yorkshire
Middlesmoor is a small Village at 300m – just under a 1000 ft at the at the upper end of Nidderdale in The Yorkshire dales. It has a dramatic setting with views down the Dale towards Ramsgill and the Gouthwaite Reservoir. There is a small car park just to the N of the village and…
‘Wavering Down’ walk – Mendips
At 191m – 623 ft, Crook Peak and Wavering Down at 210m – nearly 700ft are dominant hills in the Somerset landscape and two of the most prominent features of the Mendip ridge, the scarp slope rising above the low ground to the South. There are various options for walking here to make your route…
