My challenge this year has been to Walk 1000 miles and with doing mostly 2 walks a day I need to keep things interesting and find new places to walk. In my last update and progress report I have been storming ahead with my walking after a health setback in February.
First we discovered this great website called Northamptonshire Walks where we can download and follow walks all over Northamptonshire and beyond. With my walking pack ( 4 adults and 3 dogs) we have done walk 1 – Castle Ashby which was our first foray out, walk 2 – Collingtree and a couple of other walks too. These work well if you download the walk from the blog and save it on your phone just in case you have a limited phone connection and there are handy pictures and pointers to keep you on the straight and narrow. There are loads to choose from on the website and you can download an excel file of walks too which tell you distance, terrain, dog friendly and if there are loo stops of pubs en route.
There is another local option in Northants too – Adventure Geek has walks on their website and runs guided walks both locally and longer adventures further afield if you really take to this walking lark. Julia Doherty, who I vaguely knew through business networking over the years, has been able to make her passion her business through starting Adventure Geek. My sister had been going on the local walks for a while but I was always busy – but this week I finally took the plunge and went on a new walk which included a walk through Kellmarsh Tunnel along the old Northampton to Market Harborough disused railway line.
Adventure Geek allows you to go on two walks free of charge so you can try before you buy, or you can then pay as you go £4 per walk or pay £10 a month if you plan to join them regularly. If you are at all shy or worried about joining ‘strangers’ for a walk then really don’t be – they made us very welcome, were mindful of covid protocols, and kept to a pace which meant it felt inclusive and fun for all. You can clearly see on the website the length of the walk and the terrain and also dogs and children are welcome if the walk is suitable. You can also download the walk routes as GPX files or PDFs to follow yourself if you don’t fancy a group walk.
I definitely enjoyed chatting to a few different people as we walked along, including Julia the Adventure Geek herself. It was interesting hearing about the adventures they have had walking the Camino Pyrenees and the West Highland Way which are some of the further afield trips Julia organises. I hear she has big plans to walk right across America too.
So if you want to break out and get walking but don’t feel confident exploring the countryside alone then joining with Adventure Geek walks is both cost effective and highly recommended as a way to explore new areas in Northamptonshire.
Just keep walking!
Silicon Bullet Forever 