Spring! The Perfect Time Of Year For Walking In The UK
After a few false starts, it really is Spring in the UK. It’s a beautiful time of year to get out and about walking.
Here’s a bit of inspiration – the Brecon Beacons offer wonderful walking for everyone from leisure strollers to all-day-in-the-wild wanderers. Here’s a pic to whet your appetite, taken on route ‘Crib y Garth’ researched, recorded and photographed by author Bob Greaves who knows this area like the back of his hand.
This route climbs steadily up the Olchon Valley and returns along the narrow, most easterly, of the Black Mountain ridges which is popularly known as The Cat’s Back. The pic was taken half way along this ridge. It could be you in that landscape!
More info at http://www.dwgwalking.co.uk/brecon%20beacons.htm
La Gomera – thanks to ‘Inspire Our Trip’
La Gomera – on Walk 31 (from Walk! La Gomera by Charles Davis). Image courtesy of ‘Inspire Our Trip’.
‘Inspire Our Trip’ on twitter said:-
“Brilliant hike and a great day walk. Thank you Charles Davis for Walk 31.”
Charles Davis is the author of Walk! La Gomera:- see http://www.dwgwalking.co.uk/walkla.htm
https://twitter.com/InspireOurTrip/status/455766577577988096/photo/1
Mallorca: Update on the GR221 – thanks Eryk Grant
These notes were sent by Eryk Grant re the GR221, while using Charles Davis’ book ‘The GR221 – Mallorca’s Drystone Way’
http://www.dwgwalking.co.uk/mallGR221Spec.htm , notably the stretch between Esporles and Valldemossa.
“Hi Charles
Walked this section last Sunday (6th April) without any problem.
The Mallorcan town of Valldemossa
There were five other walkers on the route and it looks like the obstructions placed by the landowner (notices and fence) are largely ignored. I saw no attempt to ‘repair’ the fence and it was easy to negotiate-there are cairns galore and helpful green/yellow spots on rocks. The track has not become overgrown suggesting it is really well used. There is also a shiny new GR route map in Esporles town centre showing the route going through and all the subsequent wayposts except one refer to it. I guess there may be some tacit acceptance that walking will continue and I would not hesitate to walk this part again.
Up by the Tossals refuge there is a fair amount of building material but not much sign that anything is happening! Last time we stayed there in 2012 we had a conversation with a Dutch couple who were using your DWG guide, and making their way based on “what does Charles say?” – your directions and supporting commentary have never let us down either and in fact have really added to the enjoyment in places.”
Thanks Erik – feedback from walkers who’ve been there is valuable both for those who come after you, as well as providing us with valuable information for new editions.
Madeira: Good news – PR1 high altitude route re-opens
The route to Pico Ruivo
Madeira’s majestic high-level mountain route, the PR1 – Vereda do Areeiro to Pico Ruivo, has re-opened to walkers.
Landslides that had damaged the route have been cleared and fencing replaced.
This is the BIG one for high altitude afficionades!
(Image, thanks to Shirley Whitehead, walking researcher and author) – see http://www.dwgwalking.co.uk/mad.htm
Lanzarote Report (and what’s a thingy?) – thanks, John and José
Manrique’s Monument to the Campesino Thingy
John and Jose sent this great email after their walking holiday on Lanzarote. Their comments about the Lanzarote ‘Thingys’ raised a smile!
5 April 2014
Hi there,
We just like to say how helpful the walking guide for Lanzarote (Walk! Lanzarote) has been to us.
We’re just back from this gorgeous island and `did lots of walks from the guide.
Lobster Traffic Island Thingy
At times that we lost our way or got confused, it was always our own fault, misreading or misinterpreting the directions. In hindside we’d say: “it was actually in the guide!” and “Yes, they did warn us it might be confusing”.
We also enjoyed the humour in the guide. It was like having the writers winking at us, giving us encouragement.
We had some trouble with the name ‘Thingy’ for all the sculptural-roundabout-objects, but could not come up with a better name either, so
Lanzarote Toast Rack Thingy
Thingy it will be now for us too 😉
Best of luck with future guides, we will definitely look for one again on our next walking
holiday.
Kind regards, John and José (Wicklow, Ireland)
Spain’s Costa Del Sol: Sierra Almijara + Sierra Tejeda = La Axarquia
Dramatic coastlines on the Torre Caleta walk.
Author/researcher Charles Davis sums up this beautiful, unspoilt region thus:
Map segment for the Torre Caleta walk.
“The Axarquía is one of Spain’s great places, and among the greatest places within it are the Sierras Tejeda and Almijara, which form the backbone both of the region and the present publication. Blessed with high summits, dizzying pinnacles, dramatic crags, deep ravines, dozens of springs, delightful rivers and the best coves on the Costa del Sol, this is an area that has something for everyone. And the only prerequisites for benefitting from all this are a desire to get off the beaten track and a set of relatively, sometimes very, sturdy legs.
If you’ve not seen them already, you can get an idea of how dramatic these mountains are from one simple fact, that the high peaks, including Lucero (1775 metres), Navachica (1832 metres) and La Maroma (2070 metres), are all within ten kilometres of the coast, rising out of the sea like a succession of immense pedestals, just waiting for humankind to enthrone whoever or whatever we find most sacred or simply most lacking in our quotidian lives.”
Axarquia; Las Cuadrillas, Walk 24.
You can see a sample walk here:- http://www.dwgwalking.co.uk/axarquiasamplewalk25.pdf
There’s information about the book Walk! The Axarquia (available as a printed book or as a pdf download book in A4 format) and the maps available for the region (printed, on paper and on Super-Durable material); there are also Custom Maps for Garmins for GPS users.
Walking the Yorkshire Dales – Just the Thing for Spring
Wharfedale – following Walk 5
The village of Gayle, visited on Walk 25
The Yorkshire Dales is deservedly well-loved for its history, the beauty of its landscapes and its many unspoilt little stone villages, most with tempting pubs.
The best way to appreciate the Dales is on foot – and one of the very best times of year to do so is Springtime – right now!
If you have a Garmin GPS you can download Yorkshire Dales Custom Maps (there are two to cover the area) and get going on the trails.
For more information about the digital mapping for the Yorkshire Dales, see:- http://www.dwgwalking.co.uk/garminydalesnecustommap.htm
– and http://www.dwgwalking.co.uk/garminydalesnwcustommap.htm
The spectacular River Strid (Walk 1)
We recommend the book Walk! The Yorkshire Dales (North and Central) for the best walks (and the best pubs on route too)
See:- http://www.dwgwalking.co.uk/yorkshire%20dales%20N&C.htm
The Other South of France – The Cathar Way
On the Peyrepertuse Ridge, Cathar Way
“Threading its way through dramatic gorges carved out by tumbling mountain torrents and traversing a patchwork of oak mantled hills, Alpine pastures, dense pine forests, lush meadows, rocky plateaux, and regimented vineland, the Sentier Cathare stitches together drovers’ trails, logging tracks, smugglers’ paths, and winding country lanes to link some of the principal sites associated with the dissident Christian movement from which it takes its name.
Roquefixade Castle, Cathar Way
Above all, we visit a succession of castles, each perched more improbably than the last on craggy peaks, castles whose evocative ruins have proved so compelling that they have conspired with history to stimulate our collective appetite for quests, mysteries and quixotic exploits.
This is a protean path, offering something for everybody, from the lover of wild
places to the aficionado of old stones, from the hearty athlete looking for a challenge to the New Age mystic seeking enlightenment, but whatever your motive for embarking on such an adventure, walking the Sentier Cathare is a hugely rewarding experience, in the course of which petty cares slip away, replaced by a headful of mountains, meetings, and vistas, and walking becomes a way of being, so that come the end there is every chance that you will want only one thing, to turn round and do it all over again.”
Rue Principale, Ginoles, Cathar Way
~ these are the inspiring words of Charles Davis, author and researcher of wonderful walking, including The Cathar Way, a 250 kilometre trail crossing the Languedoc region of southern France from the foothills of the Pyrenees to the shores of the Mediterranean.
Want to know more? Take a look here: http://www.dwgwalking.co.uk/catharway.htm
The Garden Isle of Madeira – Beautiful in Spring
Aloe aborescens
Springtime! The northern hemisphere’s Spring is well under way now. For those interested in flora, there’s nowhere quite like Madeira in the Springtime.
Echium candicans – popular with bees
Madeira is always green – now it bursts into colour and perfume. Many of the plants you’ll come across while walking its levadas and country paths are endemic and exclusive to the island.
Two of the many beauties to look out for are orchids and the rare Yellow Foxglove. If you enjoy seeing wonderful plants growing strong and free, Madeira is the place to visit.
For information about the Garden Island, including books and maps, see http://www.dwgwalking.co.uk/mad.htm
(The plant images here were taken by Shirley & Mike Whitehead, authors and researchers resident on the island of Madeira.)
Yellow foxglove (Isoplexus sceptrum)
Orchis maderensis
Worth A Read – article on the Isle of Wight in the Weekend Telegraph
Expansive views on Week Down (walk 27, Walk! The Isle of Wight)
There’s a good article on the Isle Of Wight in ‘Coastal England’, a supplement with yesterday’s (15 March 2014) Weekend Telegraph.
Looking towards Whitecliff Bay from the clifftop path (Walk 40, Walk! The Isle of Wight)
The article homes in on the rich history of the island and offers plenty of ideas of things to do. For such a small place it has a wealth of festivals, including the Isle of Wight Walking Festival.
Find it here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/travel/visit-england/10676115/things-to-do-on-the-isle-of-wight.html
For details of walking there see http://www.dwgwalking.co.uk/isleofwight.htm
For information on mapping look here: http://www.dwgwalking.co.uk/garminisleofwightcustommap.htm
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