About a month ago, The Times newspapers approached me for help with running a special series of guided country walks for their readers.

So far we’ve been out four times, to four very different destinations all over the country: the Chiltern Hills, Hampstead Heath, Loch Ordie in Scotland, and most recently the Mendip Hills near Bristol.

Here’s some coverage of last weekend’s walk. Clicking the screenshot below will take you to the Times article.

You can see photos from this day out on my Flickr stream here.

At the moment, there are still two more Times Walks open to sign up for:

a) Sunday July 12th: an expedition to Pistyll Rhaeadr, the highest waterfall in Wales, with myself and Paul Sanders, the Times Picture Editor, and
b) Saturday July 25th: a walk near Aylesford Priory in Kent, with myself and Times correspondent Ruth Gledhill

If you’re interested, visit the sign-up page for Times Walks.

More updates to follow soon. Please keep in touch -

David

Just back from the first walk of the year, a test run of a new route for me. Ben, Felipe, and I walked from Canterbury to Whitstable in Kent, along the course of the Crab & Winkle Line, one of the world’s first passenger railways.

Too whipped to do much more than post a couple of snaps from the day. I’ll get around to posting the full photo stream later.

Felipe and Ben in blizzard conditions, standing on the path of the old railway line in Clowes Wood.

More snow squalls ahead. Here we are on the track into Whitstable.

WALK REPORT These are some photos from a trip we took back in February – a visit to Benington Lordship gardens in Hertfordshire. This was at the tail end of winter, with spring imminent. 31 shots. With friends Aleks, Anneli, and Tobi.

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WALK REPORT This was the second trial of my Tiptree cream tea walk. Still needs work to improve the route. Parts of Kelvedon are pretty, but the section from there to Tiptree lacks interest. Also, it’s a real shame that the old church at Inworth is kept locked – most of the country churches I pass on my other walks are open to the public, but not this one. Thanks to Anne and Cristina for help with trailblazing.

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WALK REPORT Photos from a walk we did on a crisp winter’s day in late January. Destination: Leeds Castle. There were six of us on the train out from London Victoria that morning: Sara, Ross, Liz, Miranda, Joe, and myself. The low sun and crystal clear skies made for some nice photography. 24 pics in this set.

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WALK REPORT These photos give you a good impression of what the Stonehenge and Salisbury walk feels like when attempted in wet conditions. Despite the mud and rain, Lassona and I had a grand day out, and I came home with a new and improved route for this walk. 12 miles, 20 pics:

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WALK REPORT Trial run of a walk I’m considering adding to the schedule, to Winkworth Arboretum, although it will probably be better to offer it in autumn, when the fall foliage is out. Route was Godalming – Tuesley – Busbridge Woods – Winkworth. Date: Sunday January 6th. With Ed & Sarah. 17 pics in this set.

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WALK REPORT Photos from a circuit we did at New Years on the Seven Sisters cliffs. It was a cold, drab day but it felt good to be out nonetheless. A big group this time: myself, Londoners Anne and Ross, Sally and Simon from Brighton, Si’s brother Martin from Tokyo, and Yoshi and Yuka from Orange County, California. Very few photos today – it wasn’t the best weather for it, and anyway we didn’t make it out to the cliffs until the sun had set. 16 pics in this set. [back to the walk profile]

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WALK REPORT Still lots of catching up to do on the walk reports. These photos were taken late last year on my second trial run of the Chilterns route. Joining me on this walk were some of my Hertfordshire friends – David, Graham, Dale and Dominica – who met me at Tring station on a beautiful, crisp November morning. Add a comment …

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WALK REPORT Rafi, Brad, Nadine – I bet you thought I’d never get around to posting these photos. Well, at long last here they are! They’re from a walk we did way back on October 27th, 2007 – our first attempt to put together a decent route between Stonehenge and Salisbury, following the course of the River Avon. Comments welcome.

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