Newsletter > Newsletter archive > June 2019
June 2019
Over 7000 British walks - definitely!
The total number of live walks on Walkingworld does fluctuate, as new ones come in and others go 'under review' or, very occasionally, have to be removed from the library altogether. But we're now well over the 7000 mark, spread nicely across England, Scotland and Wales. There are a handful in Northern Ireland too, though it's not an area covered with our usual Ordnance Survey maps.
Now that the forecasters have promised some warm and sunny weather, it's a great time to get the Walkingworld app onto your mobile device. We recommend getting the map at least from the website and printing it off, so you have something to fall back on if your battery goes down. It's also a good idea to carry a small portable battery pack to recharge your phone - they can be bought for £20 or less so well worth while.
We're already getting plenty of reports on changes to waymarks through the app, ranging from new gates and landmarks to obstructed paths. We've had some updated pictures too. Thank you very much those who have submitted reports - please keep them coming!
One of our finest northern cities
Leeds, one of the featured cities in Urban Rambles, by Walkingworld co-founder Nicholas Rudd-Jones, is a city of industry and enterprise but also a very human-scaled place. The walk takes you through the old industrial areas, the retail district, the civic centre and the universities.
Leeds 'came of age' as a great city in the second half of the nineteenth century. The new Town Hall, admired throughout the Empire and a model for numerous other civic buildings, was opened by Queen Victoria in 1854. The Arcades are one of Leeds' great joys, bustling and busy with shoppers. They were built around 1900 and designed in ebullient style by the theatre architect Frank Matcham. The exteriors are mainly of faience from the Burmantofts Pottery, and the interiors contain several mosaics and plentiful use of marble.
Urban Rambles explores the very different pleasures of walking through twenty of our English cities, all with very different histories, taking you through the best green spaces and past the most notable buildings.
High-quality hiking from a single base
Spectacular walking routes and first-rate accommodation don't always go hand-in-hand, but self-guided specialists Inntravel ensure their holidays offer both - in addition to tasty local cuisine; detailed route notes; and flexible, at-your-own-pace exploration. This is especially true of their single-centre breaks, where you can choose from a wide range of walking and sightseeing options, all easily accessed from the comfort of your carefully chosen accommodation.
One such base is the Romantik Hotel Wiesenhof, set on the western shores of Lake Achensee in the walker's paradise that is the Austrian Tyrol. Owned by the ever-friendly Entner family, this 4-star Superior hotel is one of those places that it's almost impossible to tear yourself away from, with a state-of-the-art spa, large swimming pool and excellent restaurant.
Once you do step outside, however, myriad possibilities await - inviting footpaths lead around the lake, through the valleys and along panoramic ridges in the mountains high above, while there are also opportunities to explore by mountain bike and to enjoy an introduction to Nordic walking. To ring the changes, you could even pay a visit to nearby Innsbruck, a fairy-tale city with a delightful Old Town and numerous grand monuments, including the Imperial Palace and Golden Roof.
For more details on Inntravel's walking holidays, visit inntravel.co.uk or speak to their expert team on 01653 617034.
Lake Achensee & its Mountains
Single-centre, self-guided walking holiday
Prices from £1080pp, inc 7 nights' full-board accommodation in a large room with balcony, free bus travel, detailed route notes & maps
Flights extra (direct from several UK regional airports)
Available from 11 May-31 Oct 2019
Help make our waterways plastic free
Some fairly shocking new research by the Canal and River Trust, the guardian of many of our canals and rivers, has found that more than half a million items of plastic reach the oceans from their waterways every year. The charity spends over £1 million each year trying to keep its waterways free of plastics and other discarded waste, money that clearly could be better spent elsewhere.
However the charity reckons that if every visitor picked up and recycled just one piece of plastic each time they visited, the canals and rivers could be plastic free in a year. The Trust is calling on every visitor to its waterways to do just that - it seems a small amount of effort to keep them looking beautiful and save the environment. In fact it's a principle that could be applied when walking anywhere.
Other ways of getting involved include joining the Trust's growing band of volunteers, or adopting a short stretch of local canal with friends, neighbours or colleagues. There's more information on the Canal and River Trust website.