Wild Bowland Walks

Those spontaneous ‘who fancies a bit of a walk’ trips between Christmas and New Year are an ideal way to kick-start a healthy walking habit

This space between Christmas and New Year (I’m not going to use that cringey word that sounds like a well-known chocolate bar) is the perfect chance for millions of people to explore local walks right on their doorstep.

However tempting a trip to the Lakes or the Dales may be, the roads are busy with sales shoppers and parking in the popular walking spots can be a bit of a nightmare, so it makes sense just to step outside the front door and try a few easy car-free walks on your ‘patch.

Personally, I love the spontaneity of those ad hoc holiday hikes. No planning needed – just grab a coat, pull on some wellies, lassoo the dog and you’re good to go. Sometimes you’ll be able to rope in family or friends you don’t often walk with and these random hikes will often throw up some lively conversations.

An impromptu detour to a friendly local pub after you’ve got a few miles under your belt is entirely acceptable during the festive season and without a car to worry about, you can have that second pint with impunity.

Once you’re back at work, it always seems harder to find the time to get out for a quick local amble, but with a bit of commitment, these easy holiday hikes can become a healthy new habit as your knowledge of the local footpath network improves. After a few weeks exploring your patch on foot, you might start connecting parts of your locality together to create longer walks and maybe even discovering routes in well-lit areas which you can do in the evenings after work.

A brilliant way to embed this healthy new habit is to buy an OS Explorer Map that covers your neighbourhood and commit to walking all the footpaths that start within a mile of your house. You might be surprised how many options exist – even in relatively urban areas – where rivers, canals and parks can create connections between footpaths to link town and country without the need to drive anywhere. You can even order a personalised map centred on your house!

You can find and buy a paper OS Explorer Map from the OS Map Shop and then start ticking off the routes you’ve completed with a Sharpie Pen. It’s surprising how quickly it gets addictive as your personal footpath network radiates out before your eyes.

Combine this with your fitness app to log your steps and you’ve got the beginnings of healthy New Year’s walking habit. And if you’re looking for inspiration and accountability to stay on track, it’s also worth checking out Country Walking magazine’s fantastic #Walk1000miles community.

But if that sounds a bit too technical and you just want to go for an easy local walk that’s been tried and tested by professional walking guides, look out for one of Cicerone Press’s ‘Short Walks’ series that covers your area. These handy pocket-sized guidebooks contain a carefully curated selection of easy local walks with detailed route descriptions, images and mapping.

And here’s a link to an easy circular walk around my hometown for you to try. If you complete the entire circular route, it’s a pretty demanding walk of around 8.5 miles, but the idea is to join the route wherever is convenient and just do as much or as little as you want. Let me know how you get via Insta?