Not all who wander are lost.

This weekend saw a couple of epic walks that didn’t exactly go to plan.  It started with a text from a neighbour inviting me on a socially distanced dog walk across the fields to explore the world around our village.  I obviously couldn’t pass up the opportunity to speak to real people even if it was at a safe distance, so I jumped at the chance and before long we were on our way to who knew where.

I have been on many walks around the UK, up hills and down dales and all that, and usually I have either a map or a little GPS gadget, but this time being so close to home and not alone I decided maps weren’t necessary.  We set off through familiar fields on a route we all roughly knew with a vague plan of circling around to the next village and coming back through the forest.  Walking shouldn’t follow a plan, right? you should just go where the mood takes you.  So that’s just what we did.  A couple of fields later and the inevitable question is raised, ‘I wonder where this goes’. 

“I wonder where this goes”

Well being the intrepid explorer that I am, obviously we set off to find out, I mean it was still roughly in the right direction and I was reliably informed by my friends that it probably goes somewhere near where we wanted to go. Before long we found ourselves on a flat straight path cutting through the countryside as a railway track would do, which is exactly where we were.  Who knew there was a dismantled railway track right on our doorstep, and where did it go, and why isn’t it there anymore?  I am fascinated by local history and how things used to be so walking along an old, dismantled railway cutting was like being in Disneyland and Santa’s grotto at the same time for me. 

Eventually we figured out whereabouts we were and found the edge of the forest although we may very well have been somewhere we shouldn’t have been at some point, but we were respectful of the land and kept the dogs on leads just in case.  Coming into the forest from that direction brought us close to a geocaching site so we spend a while poking around in the undergrowth looking for an old jam jar (if you aren’t familiar with geocaching you can look it up, or I’ll write about it another time, so pay attention, and follow my blog!)

On returning home I headed to Google to see where we had been and what this old railway was all about.  Turns out not only is there an old railway but a little further would have taken us to the remains of an old railway station on the edge of the forest. A project for the future most definitely. 

“I wonder where this goes”….again

Inspired by this little jaunt without a proper map or any planning, the following day we set out again in a different direction following the age-old question, ‘I wonder where this goes’ once more.  Now this part of the story is where we realise that maps are our friends after all and we should have them attached to us at all times because, I’m not going to lie, we got lost.  Well I say lost, we knew roughly where we were, and the vague direction of home and if the worst came to the worst we could always double back and retrace our steps, so it wasn’t all bad.  But this was my first lesson in how terrible footpath signposts are in Britain and why its important to take a map or at least plan your route beforehand. 

In my various trips around the country in my trusty campervan I often rely on signposts rather than maps to work out where to go next, because lets face it, they are pretty good in general and there is a lot of public money spend on maintaining them and making sure they are up to date.  This unfortunately isn’t true of public footpaths.  Whilst the Highway Authority is responsible for the maintenance of footpaths, sometimes when paths go across private land the landowner is responsible for the upkeep, and as you can imagine that is the last thing on a farmers mind when working on his farm so often the signposts either disappear or are damaged and its no longer obvious which way to go.  So, second law of walking club, always take a map! 

Having said that whilst we were meandering around Northamptonshire searching for more signposts, we discovered some incredible sights hidden away in the undergrowth.  We met some horses, found an orchard with lovely paths through it, some old buildings that could have been anything once, inspiring the history buff in me once more, as well as some bizarre looking standing stones and what looked like a burial mound.  I won’t include pictures just in case we weren’t supposed to be there!  However, we once again respected the land, closed all the gates, and kept the dogs under control.

OS Maps, a walkers best friend

Fortunately, with the help of a little common sense and some guesswork we eventually found ourselves back on a track we knew and made it back home in one piece without being shot at by an angry farmer.  My first job once I got home?  Download the OS Maps app for my phone and subscribe.  As I am also a subscriber to the awesome Country Walking magazine, I got a discount code too, so I was more than happy.  I have also worked out where we took a wrong turn and roughly how to get to the disused railway platform, a trip for the future for sure.

So, my weekend was full of adventure and the unknown as well as discovery and wonder.  If you have been keeping up with my travels through life you will remember I wrote previously about how sometimes there are amazing things right on your doorstep but how we generally walk passed without paying attention, well this weekend highlighted that even more.  Don’t be afraid to wander off your usual routes to discover what is around you, although try to stick to footpaths and don’t wander around someone’s garden, that’s generally frowned upon.

Life Lessons

I can’t help feeling that there is a metaphor for life in amongst all that wandering around in the mud.  When I started out in the world, I had a plan, a map of where I wanted to go, but did I follow it?  Sometimes. Mostly not though and my wanderings from the path gave me some incredible experiences.  So, my advice is follow your path for sure, but don’t be afraid to take a different one when the mood takes you.  The world is full of wonder and a lot of it isn’t on the map.  If, however, you are walking through the countryside, take a map!

Until next time….

S ?

PS in case you are interested here’s a link to the OS website, its quite incredible. https://osmaps.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/