Walking 280 miles across England

The route (all links open in a new window) Start point: Nutfield South w3w: ///chose.across.laying Accompanying video Distance: 18 miles As day 8 started I could almost immediately sense it was going to be a far better day than the previous one. Within a mile I was in countryside with the promise of rolling hills stretching out in front of me. As I headed up the first of what would be many hills I stopped and took a moment to look back. It is still troubling me why yesterday had felt so... wrong. I swept the thought to one side and started to concentrate on this new day. It was due to be around 18 miles of walking and on the day of filming (17th June 2022) it was the hottest day of the year in the UK up to that point. I had 1.5lt of water with me but I expected to get through that and refill along the way. This is the beauty of hiking trails like this - you are never far from civilisation yet you can feel quite detached from society. It's the best of both worlds. I had taken a loo...

The route (all links open in a new window) Start point: Nutfield South w3w: ///words.wacky.badly Accompanying video Distance: 13 miles I knew the day was going to start by going through a town and a lot of town at that. I'd psyched myself up to be pounding the tarmac and concrete but I must admit I wasn't feeling the love! Within a mile I'd hit a busy stretch of road which was full of twists and turns. Seemingly boy racers tried their skills out on this road as a few times I had to frantically wave to show I existed in the road. I wasn't a figment of their imagination. Mercifully I had rerouted away from the road on purpose so I was now following the well signposted Greensand Way as it snaked its way through the various housing estates that made up Reigate. What with a busy railway line, the Gatwick flight path, and a plethora of busy roads to contend with, I can safely say my mood was not improving. I even thought of abandoning the day but honestly where would that ha...

The route (all links open in a new window) Start point: Sevenoaks w3w: ///cuts.economies.salsa Distance: 20 miles (22 miles with route alterations) NOTE: Day 6 is Sevenoaks to Nutfield. Details for the whole day are shown above. If you decide to do this in 2 parts, the Oxted break is described in the accompanying video for this day I was continuing this walk from Sevenoaks so I was a little fatigued at this point but still in high spirits. Although the walk took me through the center of Oxted I can say it never felt like I was actually in a built-up area. The trail ducked and dived past old buildings, fields and woodland. I took the opportunity to reflect on life, the universe, and everything. As explained in the video, I should be, and I am, thankful to my parents for ensuring I had an outdoorsy upbringing. Even though I likely put up much resistance to excursions back in the day, I think that has put me in good stead for life and I really do appreciate what my parents did. The gift ...

The route (all links open in a new window) Start point: Sevenoaks w3w: ///cuts.economies.salsa Distance: 20 miles (22 miles with route alterations) Accompanying video NOTE: Day 6 is Sevenoaks to Nutfield. Details for the whole day are shown above. If you decide to do this day in 2 parts, the Oxted break is described below. I set out with gusto today! The sun was shining, the breeze was low, the bugs were at bay. I had left it a few days before attempting this day because I knew it would be a very long day. Having mapped the route I knew I could either do 2 short days or crash on and do one long day. In past adventures I would have accepted a 22 mile day without consideration but walking this 280 mile trip with breaks between the days means my fitness levels aren't what they could be so I needed to keep this in mind. The first few miles were due to be along a road. It is always a bit hit and miss when plotting a route that incorporates a road. You never know how busy the road will ...

The route (all links open in a new window) Start point: Headcorn w3w: ///ambient.belief.guilty Distance: 13 miles Accompanying video I had a look at the maps for the next few days and, whichever way I looked at it, Yalding to Sevenoaks was going to be a relatively short day. I predicted around 13 miles (it ended up being 13.6 miles including the filming 'miles'). Yalding is a quaint village which is worth a visit if you like canoeing, Alpaca, and Teapots! I'm sure there is much more to do in Yalding but those are a few of the highlights as seen on Tripadvisor. Yalding is still fairly close to home so this maintained the feel it was a walk in my backyard so to speak but by the end of the day I would have ventured into not necessarily new territory but it would certainly be far enough away to no longer consider it my home town. The adventure is starting to feel a bit more like an adventure now. Yalding is also right on the Greensand Way (the trail I have been following for t...

The route (all links open in a new window) Start point: Headcorn w3w: ///mermaids.contain.munched Distance: 14 miles Accompanying video My first objective today was to get back on the Greensand Way trail. I knew the path was a good one and more importantly was taking me in the right direction, passing right next to Yalding station, my finish point for the day. Weather-wise it was a strange day. I recorded an introduction which took just a few short minutes (see  Day 4 video ) and it went from bright sunshine to overcast and windy in those minutes. As long as the rain stayed away, I was fine. I hadn't taken any wet weather gear. Luckily my gamble paid off and I stayed dry! I was setting off from my back garden, almost literally, since I had planned the route on Day 3 to finish at my home in Headcorn. This meant the start of the route was all very familiar to me since I've done many short walks across these fields. It felt a bit wrong to say I was on a 280 mile journey given I w...

The route (all links open in a new window) Start point: Ashford International w3w: ///loops.noting.toast Distance: 15 miles Accompanying video Ashford International isn't a place I'd describe as "in the countryside". It's a sprawling, soon to be, city but for todays walk it served the purpose as the starting point. I loaded up my trusty map on my Garmin watch and set off due west towards Headcorn which was my chosen finishing point for the day. My perception of walking through Ashford was that it was not going to be great. I thought the route I had chosen was going to take me along a particularly busy road but within a few miles I was pleasantly surprised as my watch beeped at me to tell me there was a turning coming up. The route peeled away from the busy hubbub and took me toa much quieter street which meandered past  Repton Park  (not Repton Park estate which is something vastly different). This Repton Park is a nature reserve that was purposely sectioned off ...

The route (all links open in a new window) Start point: Sandling w3w: ///openly.novel.dunk Distance: 16 miles Accompanying video Day 2 started off in Sandling. Sandling station is a small station with, as it turns out, a bit of a history when it comes to train lines as I found out in the first 5 minutes of the walk. A tunnel had caught my eye on the previous day which gave me cause to research why this piece of infrastructure was abandoned and why it was built in the first place. The abandoned infrastructure was a train line known as the Sandgate branch and it looks like the Sandgate branch actually created the necessity for a station at Sandling. In 1874 the Sandgate branch was built and the Sandling station opened 1 January 1888. The Sandgate branch struggled to attract use and was eventually closed, likely as part of the Beeching cuts in 1951. It is quite extraordinary what history can be right underneath our feet sometimes. Pedlinge Chapel-of-ease. Another piece of history along ...

The route (all links open in a new window) Starting point: Dover seafront w3w: ///allowable.bleaching.sits Distance: 14 miles Accompanying video Dipping my feet here in Dover signalled the start The day started well. I got up, saw to my ablutions and headed to Dover via train. Leaving the station at Dover I didn't have a sense of anything other than "get me to the starting line!" In this case the starting line was me dipping my foot in the sea off the coast of Dover because I knew I'd be wanting to close that 'start' off with a 'finish' in Weston-super-mare some 280 miles west of my starting position. A nice easy start with Samphire Hoe in the distance to the left. As you can imagine the coastal path at any sea port is flat and Dover is no exception. Stretching out ahead of me was lots of sunny coastline but there is a small hill which has a bit of a sting in its tail at only a couple of kilometers in. However, once on top of the hill you are blessed...