Some of my favourite times have been spent walking in the North York Moors. The unique feeling of space and big skies has always attracted me with only birds and grouse as company. What I love about walking in the North York Moors is the variety of scenery within a few miles. It makes for…

News reports would have you believe that the Dales is over crowded, fuelled by the growth in ‘staycations’. The reality is that the vast majority of the Dales are empty, Lets look to capitalise on this empty space. The ‘hotspots’ of Malham, Ingleton and Aysgarth have been heaving, resulting in often poor behaviour, littering and…

The Lake District may be the queen of lakeside walks well but nowhere does pleasant strolls alongside a river or hill stream better than the Dales . There are very few standing areas of water in the Dales but plenty of fast and slow flowing rivers. Each dale has its own river, full of character and history. If you would like…

Visiting the Lake District for many is all about big days on the fells. The area is fortunately blessed with some wonderful and world famous circuits. long but satisfying days on the high mountains. These are my favourite 10, in no particular order. 1. Pillar and the Mosedale Horseshoe 8.5 miles, includes 5 (or 6)…

There is something immensely satisfying in walking a Long Distance footpath. Travelling long distances across the country (or a number of maps) and finishing in a completely different place is always full of interest and satisfies a primeval need in many of us to explore and conquer. All over the world these long distance walks…

I love walking away from the crowds, exploring by myself and finding some ‘Hidden Gems’-Walks. Avoid Malham and Horton, the central spine of the Lakes and the Yorkshire Coast and there are some absolute crackers just waiting for you to discover. You may not see a soul all day on these walks and if you…

Part of the Navigation Courses I hold is a section on how to Plan a Walk and therefore getting the most out of it. It always proves popular and useful. Most visitors to the outdoors never do. They just turn up with a guide book in hand. Any walk is made much more enjoyable if…

The ‘Dales 30’ are the mountains in the Yorkshire Dales National Park over 2,000 feet with a 30 metre drop on all sides (100 foot when all said and done). The full list is here. Buy  the book here Over the past few years increasing numbers of people are taking up the challenge of climbing…

Simple advice for visiting the outdoors which most will follow. The vast majority of people behave well in the outdoors, a small minority do not. It is no different to every area of life. This has not altered with Covid 19, it just has a media spotlight on it. The Government message The government (in…

Opening the countryside could create division amongst local people depending on how its done. I have set out below a strategy for a staged and, I believe, safe way of opening the countryside . At the present time (in lock down) visiting the countryside is off limits for anyone unless they live there. Even for…

I have listed the best walks in the Yorkshire Dales. If you complete all these walks you will, without doubt, have a full and proper knowledge of the Yorkshire Dales (or Dales, a couple sneak in to the Cumbrian Dales). Completing these 20 will make you want to try more, there is another 150 detailed…

There has been a lot written about walking outdoors during the current Coronavirus. Much of it is serious and reliable, some of it sensationalist and unreliable. I do not want to go into the politics too much except to re-iterate the government rules. However I would like to talk a little about what Where2walk are…