Off the Beaten Track: England and Wales

Martin Dorey is a writer, surfer and serial camper van owner. In 2011 he presented the BBC2 television programme ‘One Man and his Camper Van’. He is the author of The Camper Van Cookbook (2010), The Camper Van Coast (2012), The Camper Van Bible (2016), Take the Slow Road: Scotland (2018), Take the Slow Road: England and Wales (2019), Take the Slow Road: Ireland (2020) and Take the Slow Road: France (2021), amongst several others, and he writes regular features for Coast magazine, Camping magazine, Motorhome and Motorcaravan magazine, and the Huffington Post. @campervanliving; www.martindorey.com

Author’s Preface 6
About this book 8
Introducing England 9
Introducing Wales 11
How to get to England and Wales 12
Where and how to stay overnight in England and Wales 14
Your essential kit 17
Travel, climate and the mess we make 20

ENGLAND 22
The South-west
01 Wessex Wandering 25
02 The East Lyn River 39
03 Bude’s Lost Waterway 49
04 The River Avon 61
05 The Jurassic Undercliff 73
06 Devon Coast to Coast 83

The South and South-east
07 The Wight Chines 97
08 The River Test 109
09 Goring to Maidenhead 121
10 Dungeness Desolation 133
11 Kent’s Pilgrims’ Way 147

East Anglia
12 The Suffolk Coast 159

The North
13 Spurn Head and the Humber 171
14 The North York Moors 183
15 Stanhope to Newcastle 197
16 The Northumberland Coast 207
17 The Otterburn Ranges 219

The North-west
18 The Tweed Valley 229
19 The Solway Firth 241
20 The Western Lakes 249
21 The Forest of Bowland 259

WALES 270
22 Cwm Bychan and the Roman Steps 273
23 The Pass of The Cross 283
24 The Teifi 291
25 The Brecon Beacons 303

Index 316
Acknowledgements 320