mycountryside.org.uk - exploring and enjoying the British countryside

Often described as a classic ridge walk, The Nantlle Ridge has a fairly strenous climb, some great views (especially across to Snowdon), some exciting scrabling (Grade 1 apparantly), and a ridge with some dramatic sheer drops. The Nantlle Ridge, well at least the part including the peaks of Y Garn, Drws-y-Coed and Trum y Ddysgl, has been my nemisis. The walk isn't too difficult (I think it is classed as "Moderate"), but the last two attempts I have made I have been forced back by the weather.…

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Having just received all the Viewranger OS (Ordnance Survey) maps for the Offa's Dyke National Trail on my N95 mobile phone, I decided to make a start creating the GPS routes in Viewranger to get a better feel for the trail. I have broken down the trail into the same legs used in The National Trail Guides (in reverse from North to South) - these will probably not be how we walk the route - but is a good starting point. You can download the GPS data for each leg from the table below. I have also given the length, height gain / loss and maximum height for each leg. If you find the GPS files useful, it would be brilliant if you could donate to our OffasDyke4MS challenge - http://www.justgiving.com/offasdyke4ms

As it was such a beautiful day on Sunday, I decided to walk the Woodpecker Trail in Salcey Forest - a 6 (ish) mile walk that circles the whole forest. Salcey Forest is a remnant of a medieval royal hunting forest situated near the village of Hartwell in Northamptonshire, between Northampton and Milton Keynes. The walk was less of a training walk for the Offa's Dyke 4 MS challenge and more a chance to give the dog a nice long walk. That said I tried to keep up a good pace to build up some stamina on what is a fairly unchallenging walk. I also wanted to play around more with Viewranger - especially with the integration with my phone's camera (most of these photos were taken on my N95 phone via Viewranger).…

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This was a filler walk, so I won't go into too much detail. The walk goes from Hartwell, via Salcey Forest and the tip of Long Street Hanslope to Grafton Regis - with a slight detour to make sure we didn't get to the pub before opening! After a lovely lunch at The White Hart, we followed the canal, up the locks, to Stoke Bruerne. After another pint, we visited the entrance to Blisworth tunnel (since when did it become a tourist attraction?) and then made our way, across the fields, back to Hartwell via Roade - ending in the Rose and Crown in Hartwell for a final pint!…

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A business meeting in Cannock gave me the opportunity to fit in the walk around Cannock Chase I have been wanting to do. The meeting was on Monday, so the plan was to come up on Saturday, stay at the Camping and Caravanning Cannock Chase camp site Saturday and Sunday nights, and do a full day walk on the Sunday. The walk has the following highlights: Castle Ring, RAF Hednesford, Katyn Memorial, Glacial Boulder, Sherbrook Valley, Shugborough Park, Essex Bridge, and Wolseley Arms.…

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A very pleasant 19 mile walk through the East Warwickshire and West Northamptonshire hills - The walk starts at Napton-on-the-Hill, and goes through Marston Doles, Priors Hardwick, Byfield and Hellidon. Pub stops were at The Cross Tree at Byfield and The Bridge at Napton. Other features include Shuckburgh Park and the watershed!…

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Unfortunately, since my first post, I haven't managed to spare the time for a long walk (much to the disgust of the dogs) - however last weekend we were visiting friends in Cannock, and I took the opportunity to have a little explore of Cannock Chase.…

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A 15 mile walk mainly through Northamptonshire. The walk starts at Lavendon (actually in Buckinghamshire), and passes through Bozeat, Wollaston, Strixton, and Easton Maudit. Other areas of interest include the proposed site of the Nun Wood Wind Farm.…

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