A shortish walk on the Erddig Estate, Clwyd. 5 miles, flat

Extensive woodland on the National Trust land associated with Erddig House. Pleasant well signposted and unchallenging trail. 4*

Easedale Tarn, Grasmere and Coniston Water, Cumbria. 12 miles over 3 days, 350m climb

3 days in the Lake District in very autumnal weather -- part sun, lots of rain and wonderful treescapes. We managed some climbing to reach Easedale Tarn, which was surprisingly busy, considering the obscure week in November and the unsettled weather.  Lots of Wordsworth (Rydal Mount and Lancrigg) and great accommodation at The Yan, Grasmere. 5* 

At last, London Docklands Walk #1. 5.6 miles, flat

Almost left London without doing one of the most interesting, and most local, walks.  Takes in the Tower of London, St. Katherine’s Docks, the original commercial London dock of 1828, as distinct from the miscellaneous docking points and wharves that existed along the Thames before 1800. It was built on the site of the St. Katherine’s Monastery and Hospital, founded in 1273. The new docks encouraged the import of luxury goods like ivory, spices and marble. Now the dock buildings, as elsewhere are converted into waterside apartments, with no notable architectural skill, but providing a pleasant place to live in the centre of London. 

Exiting the docks takes one to the long Wapping High Street that runs parallel to the river, with a number of access points with stairs down to the water. Along the way there are a number of other filled-in basins, with one of them, Hermitage Basin still providing a separate residential water park.  The street and that whole area is lined with old pubs and drinking places, originally providing for the massive number of dock workers who lived there.  It was a densely populated area, with schools and churches, many of the original buildings still surviving. There are some fine Georgian terraces that were built for the dock owners and managers. One of the pubs, Turner’s Old Star was owned by the painter JMW Turner, whose mistress served as the landlady. 4*

A day out in Greenwich. 6 miles, 100m climb

With a need to keep cool at 30 degrees, we head for water: an easy trip from Farringdon to Greenwich on the Elizabeth Line and Docklands Light Railway, with a change at Canary Wharf.  Busy Sunday afternoon in Greenwich Park, but it’s big enough to hold the crowds.  A walk along quieter streets reveals some fine architecture: the original railway station and the superb Art Deco former Town Hall. We viewed the famous sights — the Observatory, the Queen’s House and the Naval College — from both sides of the river and returned on the Thames in an air-conditioned Uber water taxi. 4*

Two 6-milers in Langdale, South Lake District. About 300m climb each.

Firstly along Great Langdale Beck and Elterwater, then climb to High Park below Great How; back down via the very nice pub at Little Langdale for lunch. 

Next one, next day, was a direct walk from Langdale via Huntingstile Crag to Grasmere. Escape (after a couple of hundred meters) from the busloads of tourists to return via East bank of Grasmere and High Close. 5*

Ibstone and Turville, Buckinghamshire, an 8-mile circular walk in the Chilterns. About 200m climb.

A very quiet well researched walk, with pastoral views of the rolling Chiltern hills, country churches, bluebell-carpeted forest paths and red kites circling above. 4*

St. Albans city centre, Hertfordshire

Rather than spend my 75th birthday at home alone, I took a train to St. Albans, simply because I had never been there before.  It gets into the Boots blog because I managed to cover 5 miles walking round the city. 

Of obvious interest was the cathedral, which has turned itself into an interesting model of how a historic cathedral can be put to use both as a well used community hub and as a conserved monument.  A number of fairly tasteful commercial activities take place inside the building, which means that it does not have to charge entry and this in itself encourages visitors in quite large numbers.  

St. Albans, superficially at least, doesn’t seem to suffer as much as some equivalent small cities from shop closures and business failures and has an exceptionally good twice-weekly street market selling high quality produce.  There is a fine park in the centre, with a lake and leisure activities. Worth a visit. 3*

The Coleridge Way, 52 miles over 6 consecutive days, 465m maximum height

One of the best of our long-distance paths, rivalling St. Cuthbert’s Way for scenery, interest and organisation. We used Encounter Holidays to transport our stuff seamlessly to each night’s accommodation and they provided excellent guidance notes and enlarged maps with the route clearly marked, although it would have been perfectly easy to follow the well signposted route with standard OS maps and GPS. (https://www.visit-exmoor.co.uk/coleridge-way)

The route starts in the National Trust cottage where poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge lived, in Nether Stowey, still a relatively unspoilt rural community despite a 750-house new build estate having recently appeared half a mile away. The route is allegedly one taken by the poet regularly in his walks to Porlock on the coast, although it’s more probable he would have taken a more direct path. It passes through the villages of Sampford Brett (overnight at close-by Williton), Monksilver, Roadwater, Brendon, Porlock (overnight at Porlock Weir) and ending on the coast at Lynmouth. 

These are all lovely places and the paths between take you through a rich variety of woodland, river banks, open moorland (Exmoor) and pasture, with occasional views en route of the Bristol Channel until reaching it properly at Lynmouth. The most strenuous day involved 12 miles of walking — the first day, unfortunately, but we acclimatised fairly quickly.  Rhiannon’s fear that she would be too exhausted to continue without calling a taxi, and mine that I would fall and break something (there were a good number of fords to cross on stepping stones) turned out to be unfounded.  

If you’re thinking of doing a walking holiday of this length, the Coleridge Way is definitely recommended. 5*

A brief walk through Hampstead, 8 miles, some hills

Intended as a training exercise for the anticipated long-distance Coleridge Way the following week, this followed a touristy, but interesting, circular route through Hampstead Village and up on to Hampstead Heath.  Busy, of course, on a Sunday, but always a pleasure to be up above the City, probably in slightly fresher air. But we felt more unfit than we had hoped. 4* 

Completing the Norfolk Coastal Path, 19 miles, mainly flat

Long Walkers completed the first stretch a year previously by walking from Hunstanton to Wells-next-the-Sea. A lack of both communication and common sense led us to think that we should start this section from Wells-next-the-Sea in order to walk to the end of the path at Cromer.  In fact, we had previously walked northwards to Wells and so should have started at Morston this time.  But eventually, after much delay and exchange of opinions, we got going and spent two half-days and one whole day on the relatively straightforward route. 

Much of it was pleasant coastline in good early Spring weather.  If any reservation is required, it would be to avoid spending too much time, if possible, walking on the shingle beach north of Sheringham; it is very hard-going.  But the high points were the pleasant villages of Cley and Wells, along with the adjacent villages inland, in particular Holt, where we had excellent accommodation in The Feathers Inn. 4*

Pen y Cloddiau, Clwyd, 5 miles, 200m climb

A favourite walk revived to get a bit of training before the next ‘long’ one. It’s easy to mis-remember that after the first long climb to the hill fort on the Offa’s Dyke path and then the descent on the Clwydian Way is not the last of the climbs.  In fact, the re-ascent to the car park is equally steep.  But only a little occasional drizzle and great to get out into the fresh Welsh air.  4*

Paddington and Marylebone via Bayswater, 6.4 miles, flat

The walk starts and ends at Warwick Avenue and ends at Paddington. Immediately we get down to the towpath of the Grand Union Canal at Little Venice with some nice recent developments of leisure facilities next to the water.  We skirt the intrusive Westway flyover several times, passing by one of the few Welsh-speaking churches in London. At the centre of the old Paddington district is the fine St. Mary’s church with a statue of the actress Sarah Siddons in the grounds.  

The walk continues to Edgware Road, with its multiple multicultural shops and restaurants and the unchanged facade of the Robertson’s pawnbrokers shop. Side streets contain artisan houses, one of which is famous as the site of the Cato Conspiracy of 1820, an attempt by Marylebone men, led by Thomas Spence to assassinate the whole cabinet as a revolutionary gesture. Farther into Bayswater, passing some very chic boutiques we come to another St. Mary’s church, another ‘Waterloo’ church, built to discourage secularity in the wake of the Napoleonic Wars. Then, past Marble Arch, we pass through the strangely formal 1950s architecture of the Hyde Park Estate to reach Sussex Gardens, where Rhiannon lived as a young mother, acting as caretaker to the flat rented by the group Procul Harem. return to the Paddington Basin in its fully re-developed form. 5*

New Brighton to Meols, Wirral. 5.3 miles, flat

First walk of the year: a familiar one along the concrete promenade at New Brighton, then via beach and shore edge, with a burger lunch outdoors — pleasant January weather — at the Green Hut at Meols.  Our intention was to return to New Brighton by train but we foolishly forgot that there was a train strike and so had to find a taxi to take us back to the car. 2* 

Lambeth North to Borough, 6 miles, flat

Very interesting part of London with some intriguing history and very fine buildings, interspersed with examples of social housing of every style and from every period. 

We started at Waterloo Station. Opposite is St. John the Evangelist Church, dating from 1824, that houses the St. Mungo Trust, with a beautiful garden hidden behind the church, used as a rehabilitation scheme for homeless people. The church has a cryptic motto on the wall: "All May Have if they Dare Try a Glorious Life or Grave".

The narrow streets behind here (you would never see them unless looking for them) contain terraces of workers’ cottages, many of which remain unchanged in external appearance since they were built.  This is clearly a magnet for historic film sets — one film was being shot while we were there — with horse-drawn rag and bone carts, chandler’s shops and vintage cars. 

The walk passes the Young Vic Theatre and then on past Morley College, an adult education establishment from the 1930s that still houses some fine murals by Edward Bawden in the 1960s, replacing some earlier ones of his that were destroyed during the war. On the other side of the road is the impressive St. George’s Catholic Cathedral by A.W. Pugin — one of his last major buildings. 

Further on we pass the Imperial War Museum, built on the site of the Bethlem Hospital (the original ‘Bedlam’ and enter the elegant 18th century West Square, where Charlie Chaplin lived as a child before surviving on the streets when his mother moved to the workhouse.  We then pass the allegedly good Bhuddist café and courtyard garden (but closed this time) to reach Elephant and Castle which, despite much redevelopment and removal of some iconic Brutalist architecture, remains primarily a large roundabout that takes a long time to navigate as a pedestrian. Along Newington Causeway you can stop for a food break at the recent Mercato Metropolitano, a converted garage with international food stalls and seating. 

After that, more fine architecture from the 18th century at Trinity Church Square that also contains the Henry Wood Hall music venue.  This area is associated with Henry Chaucer, who embarked from here on his pilgrimage to Canterbury, formulating the Canterbury Tales on the way. 

London’s Hidden Walks, volume 3, gives more detail of this fine walking route. 5*