Short Walks to Curious Places

Roly Smith is a freelance writer, editor and media consultant, and the author of over 90 books on walking and the countryside. He is vice president and an honorary life member of the Outdoor Writers’ and Photographers’ Guild, a member of the British Guild of Travel Writers and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. Dubbed 'Mr Peak District' by the local media, he regularly features on national and local TV and radio, including BBC1 Breakfast, Countryfile, Flog it, Great British Train Journeys, Walking through History, Channel 5, ITV Central and Look North, and he regularly contributes to Derbyshire Life, BBC Countryfile and various outdoor magazines.

Foreword by Dame Fiona Reynolds
Introduction: ‘Curiouser and curiouser’

The Walks

South & West of England
1. Acorn Antiques: Wistman’s Wood, Dartmoor, Devon 3 miles (4.8km)
2. The death of a king: Rufus Stone, New Forest, Hampshire 1.5 miles (2.4km)
3. An ode to autumn: Keats’ walk, Winchester, Hampshire 2 miles (3.2km)
4. There’ll never be another yew: Kingley Vale, West Sussex 5 miles (8km)
5. Cromwell’s ‘small execution’ of the Clubmen: Hambledon Hill, Wiltshire 6 miles (9.7km)
6. Gilbert White’s Zig-Zag path: Selborne, Hampshire 3.5 miles (5.6km)
7. The church in the circle: Knowlton Henge, Dorset 2.5 miles (4km)
8. Jarman’s garden of delights: Dungeness, Kent 3 miles (4.8km)
9. Darwin’s ‘Thinking Path’: Down House, Kent 1 mile (1.6km)
10. The city that fell into the sea: Dunwich, Suffolk 2 miles (3.2km)
11. Secrets of the shingle: Orford Ness, Suffolk 5 miles (8km)
12. Ring of ritual: Chanctonbury Ring, West Sussex up to 8 miles (12.9km)

Midlands
13. Green Knight pilgrimage: Lud’s Church, Staffordshire 7 miles (11.3km)
14. All round The Wrekin: The Wrekin, Shropshire 5 miles (8km)
15. A little bit of Old England: Laxton, Nottinghamshire 4 miles (6.4km)
16. One man went to Mow: Mow Cop, Cheshire 5.5 miles (8.9km)
17. The oldest castle in England? Richard’s Castle, Herefordshire 1 mile (1.6km)
18. Rock of Ages: Bradgate Park, Leicestershire 4 miles (6.4km)
19. The hills are alive with the sound of music: Malvern Hills, Worcestershire 2 miles (3.2km)
20. Appointment with the Devil: The Stiperstones, Shropshire 3.5 miles (5.6km)
21. ‘Sistine Chapel of the Ice Age’: Creswell Crags, Derbyshire/Nottinghamshire 1 mile (1.6km)
22. Yorkshire’s ghost village: Wharram Percy, Yorkshire Wolds 1 mile (1.6km)
23. The Lair of the White Worm: Thor’s Cave, Staffordshire 3.5 miles (5.6km)

North of England
24. Rock idols: Brimham Rocks, Nidderdale, Yorkshire as far as you want
25. Crossing the ‘Wet Sahara’: Morecambe Bay, Lancashire 8 miles (12.9km)
26. ‘Out on the wily, windy moors’: Brontë Moors, West Yorkshire 7.5 miles (12km)
27. The bloodiest battle: Towton, Yorkshire 3 miles (4.8km)
28. Chasing the Lambton Worm: Penshaw Monument, Tyne & Wear 2.5 miles (4km)
29. Kinder surprise: Kinder Scout, Derbyshire 5.5 miles (8.9km)
30. Castles in the air: Alport Castles, Derbyshire 7 miles (11.3km)
31. First settlers in Settle: Attermire Caves, Yorkshire Dales 4 miles (6.4km)
32. Cumbria’s Grand Canyon: High Cup Nick, Cumbria 8 miles (12.9km)
33. A curious encounter with Wainwright: Cautley Spout, Howgill Fells, Cumbria 3 miles (4.8km)
34. Monolithic maidens: Long Meg and her Daughters, Cumbria 5 miles (8km)
35. Land’s End of Yorkshire: Spurn Head, Humberside 6 miles (9.6km)
36. From industry to tranquillity: Lathkill Dale, Derbyshire 4.5 miles (7.2km)
37. Finding Cuddy’s Cave: St Cuthbert’s Cave, Northumberland 3 miles (4.8km)

Wales
38. Town of Giants: Tre’r Ceiri, Llyn, North Wales 4 miles (6.4km)
39. To the ‘Roman’ Steps: Rhinog Mountains, Snowdonia 4 or 6 miles (6.4 or 9.6km)
40. Skomer’s seabird city: Skomer, Pembrokeshire Coast 4 miles (6.4km)
41. The legend of the Lady of the Lake: Lyn y Fan Fach, Brecon Beacons 2.5 miles (4km)
42. ‘The Cure of all Diseases’: St Govan’s Chapel, Pembrokeshire Coast 1.5 miles (2.4km)
43. Source of Stonehenge’s bluestones: Preseli Hills, Pembrokeshire 15 miles (24km)

Scotland
44. ‘Looking into the abyss of time’: Siccar Point, Berwickshire 4 miles (6.4km)
45. Columba’s tears: St Columba’s Bay, Iona 6 miles (9.7km)
46. Monarch of the glens: Glencoe, Arygll, Highlands 5 miles (8km)
47. The fabled Table of Skye: The Quraing, Isle of Skye 3 miles (4.8km)
48. Birds and brides in the broch: Mousa Broch, Mousa, Shetland Islands 1.5 miles (2.4km)
49. Catching up with the Hogwarts Express: Glenfinnan Viaduct, Highlands 2.5 miles (4km)
50. To the end of the world: Hermaness, Shetland Islands 5 miles (8km)

Further Reading