The entire North Downs way has been walked with Google’s street camera equipment and will be the first long distance footpath to be covered this way. “We’re putting the best of the British countryside where it’s never been before – on Google maps,” said Peter Morris, the North Downs Way trail manager. From 17 March, when the North Downs Way goes live, the national trails will start appearing on Google Street View. The Cleveland Way will be next. This means that you will be able to
Read more →[singlepic id=527 w=320 h=240 float=left] Tuesday was the only day in this week of a mild October when the weather forecast was good, so I cleared the diary and drove southward under grey skies, negotiating some deep puddles. An hour later, there was intermittent sun as I parked at Burford Bridge, near Dorking. Here, beneath Box Hill, are the stepping stones over the River Mole, which are now 17 concrete steps at regular intervals across the stream that have gained some local notoriety. They form a
Read more →Ancient castles, churches and settlements rub shoulders with high-tech modern architecture: people have lived in this gentle countryside along the River Wey for a very long time. Roaming through this Downs landscape, you encounter living history and remnants of the past at every turn, whilst high tech businesses and fast roads point into the future. So far in my exploration of the North Downs, I have covered most of the northern section, from Guildford in the west to Rochester in the east. I now realise that
Read more →I was camping in my little light-weight tent overnight under an oak tree behind The Vigo Inn and slept reasonably well till 6am when I decided to get up: the sun was sparkling through the dewy grass, the birds were singing, and the pub wasn’t offering breakfast. I struck camp and packed my gear, and was striding through the gate and on my way within the hour. The North Downs Way (NDW) continued just a few yards from the pub, passing down through a wood that
Read more →Day 1 of this latest exploration of The North Downs, collecting photographs and researching for a new book,, North Downs Landscapes. I walked 22 Kms through some beautiful countryside, starting at the magnificent Rochester Cathedral and Castle. The route follows the Medway, and in the afternoon is a stroll through some lovely woods and flower meadows up on the Downs ridge. The walk ends at a music pub where I camped and enjoyed a few pints.
Read more →Following my recent blog about the wind turbine proposal near Ford, there is an excellent article in the CPRE’s magazine this month that states the case from both sides. It is also to be found at http://www.cpre.org.uk/magazine/opinion/item/2802-getting-wind-energy-right I think that the most useful point made is by Rachel Coxcoon, who is broadly in favour of more turbines because of our need to produce our own energy without large carbon emissions. She says that the problem is more one of people feeling disempowered, and having infrastructure thrust
Read more →The owner of Lower Waldridge Farm (Mr Jeremy Elgin) in the county of Buckinghamshire, Near Aylesbury, is proposing to put a wind turbine on his land that will generate electricity for the National Grid. This has stirred up highly organised and vocal opposition that is passionate, and fixed in it’s view. For the protestors, it is instantly a question of right and wrong, a gut reaction, and emotional. We have lived with power pylons striding for hundreds of miles across the countryside through beautiful areas,
Read more →Ancient woodland has been continually wooded since at least 1600AD, and some may even link back to the original wildwood that covered the UK around 10,000 years ago, after the last Ice Age. There are ancient beech woods in the Chiltern Hills which I explore at all times of the year. They are particularly lovely in the spring and autumn when the colours are vibrant with the changing season. Beech trees are very stately, their smooth grey trunks, like cathedral columns rising from the leafy forest
Read more →It is an August Sunday in Cuddington, in rural South Buckinghamshire. The air is a mild 20 degrees centigrade and an occasional breeze wafts the ripe wheat, and the sun has a pleasant intensity when it moves out from behind the broken cloud. I set off for a walk through the local countryside for exercise, enjoyment of the scenery and to try to get some good wildlife photographs. Down Spickett’s Lane there are several wild plum trees festooned with fruit and I stretch up, standing on
Read more →I was sent an article from which the following is an extract: from Population and Development Review, Vol. 20, no. 1 (March 1994) Action is needed now Humanity is approaching a crisis point with respect to the interlocking issues of population, environment, and development. With each year’s delay the problems become more acute. Let 1994 be remembered as the year when the people of the world decided to act together for the benefit of future generations.” Well, that was 1994 and the same lack of action
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