Walking
The horror that emerges from the columns of Domesday Book
William the Conqueror’s Great Inquest codified one of the most ruthless land grabs in history, with the obliteration of 5,000 Saxon noblemen and the collective punishment of England’s native peoples
Let teenage boys discover the English countryside
When I was four, the progressive teachers at my primary school thought it would be wise to teach us how…
My sitcom-worthy walking holiday
I’ve just returned from a walking holiday in Northumberland with Caroline and my mother-in-law. I say ‘walking’ but that makes…
A little Eden
I’m not one of life’s early risers but an exception had to be made on Wednesday last week. In an…
On the edge
After falling in love with Italy as a young woman, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri broke with English and…
And did those feet
Writers like walking. When people ask us why, we say it’s what writers do. ‘Just popping out to buy a…
The highs – and occasional lows – of long-distance walking
Long-distance walking is all the rage these days. There are all-nighters staged by charities, for instance the annual MoonWalk in…
In today’s brave new world, fat is a high-tech issue
I have a confession to make: I’m a yo-yo dieter. For the past ten years, I’ve lost a bit of…
The 280-mile walk that made Bach who he was
It was in his organ loft at Arnstadt that I began my acquaintance with Johann Sebastian Bach — with JSB,…
The Long view
William Cook explores the elemental art and Olympian walks of Richard Long
Diary
There’s nothing quite like a First Night — and last Friday we launched the Proms, the most celebrated classical music…
Funny things happen on the way to the Scillies
It’s a real skill, writing about a journey where nothing ever happens. We shouldn’t be surprised that Simon Armitage is…
An expert castle-squatter
When Nick Hunt first read Patrick Leigh Fermor’s account of his youthful trudge across Europe in A Time of Gifts…
The last hurrah
Sound the trumpets. Let rip the Byzantine chorus of clattering bells and gongs, the thunder of cannons, drums and flashing…
