Country Walking

Country Walking Magazine shows you the best of British walks: the biggest views, the hidden gems, the sea cliffs and the mountain summits. All our features come complete with superb writing, inspiring photography and step-by-step instructions so you can follow every footpath yourself. In every issue, you’ll find: - In-depth stories of amazing walks - A booklet of 25 pull-out walks every issue - with OS maps! - Information about hotels, pubs, cafes, tearooms. - Clear, jargon-free tests of walking kit And... every issue our readers tell their walking stories, help us devise new walks and shape the places we go to. If you love walking, this is the magazine for you.

Welcome

IN THIS ISSUE…

The View • SIGHTS | SOUNDS | WONDERS | IDEAS | COOL STUFF

5 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS MONTH

INTERVIEW The rebel on the road • Aged 60, Siobhan Daniels traded all mod cons for life on the road and a walk at every stop. Five years later, she's still out there.

KNIGHTON • Sitting on three long-distance paths, snuggled among evergreen hills, and wearing its Walkers Are Welcome badge with pride, this border town is a happy hiker's home from home.

Destination: a higher, healthier, happier you! • However far you travel there's one place you'll always be – in your head and your heart. How has walking 1000 miles made that a much nicer place to be?

IT'S HAPPENED A letter from America! • The Proclaimers famously foretold the challenge when they pledged to walk 500 miles and 500 more - now ANOTHER prophecy has come true. We've received a letter from America!

‘I'm struggling with this horrible fear' • An anonymous 1000-miler makes a brave post - and the community reaches out with some great advice…

#MINICHALLENGES Break out the Golden Badgers! • Minichallenges are here to add zing to your mile-munching. Here are the latest winners - next time it could be you!

Your View • EMAIL: editorial@countrywalking.co.uk • FACEBOOK: facebook.com/countrywalking • TWITTER/X: x.com/countrywalking

Views in brief

A Sussex primer

Stuart Maconie • The Hellfire Club scandalised 18th century Middle England. But I suspect it was more about dormitory pranks than actual satanism.

GUEST COLUMN Guy Shrubsole • Custodians, stewards, guardians: who is looking after our countryside – and how can we make sure they're doing it properly?

The OLD MASTERS • Finding the art with the deepest roots in the country is one heck of a treasure hunt.

In the PICTURE • Before landscape painting the countryside barely seemed worthy of attention at all; after, we've never stopped looking at it – a work of art into which we can't wait to walk.

The eyes of the beholder • Some love it, some hate it, some are just baffled. Whatever you make of landscape art, there's no better place to explore it than Kielder Forest…

Freya's Cabin & Robin's Hut

WHO PUT THAT THERE? • 3 more hotspots for fans of interesting land art

Plan your trip

Call of THE WILD • After landscapes come the creatures and flora that populate them – and pose challenges to the adventurous artist.

NEW GROUND • After 1900 painters took landscape art in beautiful new directions that can seem truer than mere photography.

THE WRITING ON THE WALL • A walk round the greatest free art show in the world shows it needn't be stuck in a gallery.

Plan your trip

Not for the privileged, but for all. • 75 year ago this month, our national parks were born. And in part it was thanks to one man, strolling the meadows of the Yorkshire Dales. CW goes in search of The Man with the Plan.

The gift that kept on giving • The National Park Act was a Trojan horse of conservation boons –...