The Coast Path of Wales and Anglesey
September (middles of) 2023. We have just got back from the first part of the Lynn Peninsula section of the walk, so this should give you an idea of where we are up to. The trails below are, I think, in chronological order, but this one is in progress. The first section was completed before moving to Wales and actually wasn’t a walk at all. We were in Preston and I was frustrated with living there, so one day I suggested we cycle to Wales from our house. First leg, Penwortham to Liverpool, second leg Liverpool to Chester and then on to Wales.
Isle of Man : Raad Ny Foilan
The first one of these I did was the Raad Ny Foilan which means the Way of the Gull and is a coastal walk around the Isle of Man. I used to go here for holidays in the late 1970’s so it was a bit of a reminiscence doing the walk. It’s just short of 100 miles, I think. Not easy doing one of these hikes day after day, especially with a decent sized pack, but you do get a sense of freedom and, of course, achievement when completed.
Hadrian’s Wall
Similar distance to the IOM about 100 miles give or take a percentage for getting lost. Great countryside seeped in history, you can’t help imagining what it would have been like, Roman times and all that. Newcastle was great, lot’s of bridges, got lost on the underground – didn’t even know it had one.
South West Coast Path
Long one this, lots of climbing, equivalent to four Everest’s apparently. It took me five years on and off but what an experience. 660 miles.
The Cotswold Way
Middle of England, starting with a day in Bath. Got snowed in around Stroud but made it to the end in Chipping Norton without too much trouble. Again about 100 miles so just over a weeks walking.
Lancashire to Cumbria Coastal Path
As a Preston lad, and living as I did then in a place called Freckleton, which is the start of the trail, it seemed a good idea to do this one. Actually they are two separate hikes but it’s all one big one anyway. Flat as a pancake till you get to the Bay and then it’s the Lakes Peninsular. Depends what you are looking for but I think it’s all great, Lytham, Blackpool, Fleetwood, Millom…all of the places you might not read about in a fancy walking magazine but good enough for me.
The Cumbria Way
Starting in Ulverston, supposed to get a card stamped in a shop before you start but I bought an ice cream instead. Camped for most of it and, as you would expect glorious scenery for the most part, and then the finish is in Carlisle. About a weeks walking if I can remember rightly.
Leeds and Liverpool Canal
Doesn’t sound particularly glamorous or even that hilly, but this walk is a history book of the industrial landscape of England. This is where it all started, cotton coming in, moving up the waterway, being made into goods, moved back down, exported, sold, and some other stuff as well. The countryside is beautiful in parts but always interesting. I know someone who did it on a bike, in a day!
Michael Leo Parker 