It’s distinctive shape from the south-west has earned The Cnicht the title of ‘The Welsh Matterhorn’.

It is an interesting steep ascent, with some scrambling at the end, followed by a gentle walk along the more wilder ridge beyond to the disused Rhosydd and Croesor slate quarries before descending back into Croesor.

It was a beautiful sunny day, the day after climing the Nantlle Ridge, that a group of friends and I arrived in Croesor, ready to climb The Cnicht.

On the route from Beddgelert (Croesor is about 15 minutes drive), you don’t really get to see much of the Cnicht. Not until the final approach to Croesor on the tiny single track road, off the A4085, do you get a glimpse of it’s profile.

The mountain gets its name from the old English word ‘knight’, the silent ‘k’ being pronounced at that time. It is said that the shape of the mountain bears a similarity with a knight’s helmet.
Source – Wikipedia

I have to admit having just spent a happy hour or so flicking through ‘The History of Chivalry and Armor’ (translated from the original 19th century French edition) – looking at the gorgeous colourful illustrations, trying to find a picture of a helmet in the shape of The Cnicht. I presume it is named after some kind of conical Anglo-Saxon helmet?

So, armed with a downloadable Viewranger guided walk, we set off. The free carpark was full, but there we managed to find some on road parking nearby. The climb is progressively steady, only becoming very strenous towards the peak. The views as you ascend quickly become fantastic, especially across to Porthmadog and Tremadog Bay.

There is a sheltered plateau, just below the peak, which makes a lovely resting point before tackling the final ascent, which requires some enjoyable hands on scrabbling. The views from the summit are spectacular – rather than my slightly inferior photos, I have found this wonderful 360 degree panorama on the BBC website.

From the summit, there is a gentle, easy to follow, route along the ridge to a pair of lakes – Llynnau Diffwys. From here, the route we were following continues to the disused Rhosydd and Croesor slates quarries. However at this point the troops were restless, and the pub was calling (well it was a hot day!) So rather than exploring the quarries, we took the more direct footpath past the resevoir and down to what was presumably originally the quarry supply road.

It was a shame not to have had the time to explore the quarries – slate mining has played such an important part in the history and geography of this part of Britain. I did intend to write about both quarries, but it just doesn’t seem right without having at least looked around them (well the parts that are accessible anyway)! So I guess that I will have to come back, not just to visit the quarries, but to also tackle the neighouring peaks of Moelwyn Mamw and Moelwyn Back. I am already looking forward to it!

Often described as a classic ridge walk, The Nantlle Ridge has a fairly strenous climb, some great views (especially across to Snowdon), some exciting scrabling (Grade 1 apparantly), and a ridge with some dramatic sheer drops.

The Nantlle Ridge, well at least the part including the peaks of Y Garn, Drws-y-Coed and Trum y Ddysgl, has been my nemisis. The walk isn’t too difficult (I think it is classed as “Moderate”), but the last two attempts I have made I have been forced back by the weather.

This part of the Nantlle Ridge is accessible from Rhyd-Ddu, off the A4085 (just North of Beddgelert). The route map and guide are available from go4awalk.com, or is available to download as a guided walk direct to your phone with Viewranger. I also stumbled across a free walk description on the Walking Britain website.

The first time I attempted this climb was in August 2008. It was a rainy week of camping on the Lleyn Pennisular, and in my infinite wisdom, I decided to undertake my first mountain climb by attempting the Nantlle Ridge. By the time I had got to the first peak of Y Garn, I could barely see my hand in front of my face. Fortunately a friendly fellow walker on his way down from Drws-y-Coed, recommended that as a novice it would not be sensible to attempt to go further, so I abandoned the climb and headed back to the pub in Rhyd-Ddu. With hindsight, after seeing some of the drops and the scrabling, this was a very sensible decision!

The second attempt at The Nantlle Ridge was in December 2008. It was a surprisingly nice day for December – sunny, clear skys, and not too cold once you got started. I was with a group of friends – we made it to Y Garn with no problems, but as we started the scrable up to Drws-y-Coed, the moss on the rocks higher up became icy and slippy. This was causing problems to both the dog and a friend with no grip on her walking boots, so we decided to turn back rather than having any mishaps – with hindsight we had actually reached the final boulder with an easier path to follow behind, but better to be safe than sorry.

So on a hot May afternoon, Alex and I decided to tackle the ridge from the other side. Rather than taking the direct steep ascent upto Y Garn, we continued to follow the path from Rhyd Ddu into Beddgelert Forest.

I have to admit that I am not very fond of Beddgelert Forest, a Forestry Commission forest mainly planted with conifers and broadleaves – my experience of it has been either trudging along wide and dull roads, or, after a decent from Moel Lefn, following a footpath that was more swamp than path (and associated biting insects).

The forest path climbs slowly but steadily – but once through the forest, you begin the ascent to Trum y Ddysgl in anger. The final quarter of a mile is a killer walking up an extremely steep grass slope – but once on the ridge, the views are amazing, especially across the ridge to Drws-y-Coed. After a well earned rest, we followed the ridge – trying not to think about the jaw dropping cliff to our left – to Drws-y-Coed and then scrambled down to Y Garn. After enjoying the spectacular 360 degree views, especially across to Snowdon, we dropped steeply down to Rhyd-Ddu and a well earning pint (or two) in the pub!

I am really glad to have finally managed to beat (at least this part) of the Natille Ridge. My inability to successfully complete the walk was really starting to knock my confidence in my, and my dog’s ability, to climb mountains. She incidentally absolutely loved the walk – she is like a mountain goat leaping from stone to stone, and was completely unphased by the sheer drops!

Throughout the walk, Alex (who is joining me on Offa’s Dyke for MS next year) and I discussed how this walk is only half of what is expected in just one day of the forteen day Offa’s Dyke walk. To quote Alex, we are going to have to “man up”!

Due to individual availability, the planned time of year when we plan to embark on our charity Offa’s Dyke challenge is early to mid April. As this is during the lambing season, it has been bothering me what impact we, and especially my dog, will have during this important time of year for sheep farmers.

In this post I will cover a few of the issues relating to sheep worrying (although it also applies to other livestock), what the problem is, what damage can be done, where the law stands, the consequences to farmers, and what can be done by dog walkers to reduce the impact on sheep during lambing season.

My dog is a German Shepherd – generally, unless she feels threatened or thinks I am being threatened, she is an absolute softie. My mother, who is scared of German Shepherds, adores her. To other dogs, again unless she feels threatened, she is playful – overally playful to be honest (perhaps a subject of another blog post).

Whilst out and about in the countryside, she is often off the lead – her recall is brilliant and she doesn’t run through crops or dive in and out of hedgerows. She is quite happy sniffing the path in front – presumably to make sure all is safe for me to proceed. However, if I am in or near a field containing sheep (and other livestock), she goes on her lead immediately. Despite how harmless or obedient I think she is, the bottom line is she has animal instincts.

A dog’s instinct

It is now widely acknowledged that even though our dogs have been domesticated for a long time they have not lost their basic instincts.

Angela Stockdale – Dog Aggression Specialist

Instinctively a dog will want to chase anything running away. It only takes some sudden movement or a scent of an animal, and no matter how well behaved they may be, your dog’s instinct will kick in and off it goes, completely oblivious to any commands to come back.

(I am obviously mainly talking household dogs here – working dogs and other extremely well trained dogs have had their instinct controlled by training)

My dog is no exception – she will chase rabbits, squirrels, even cats given half a chance. Although she is quite calm on the lead whilst walking through a sheep field – I am sure she wouldn’t think twice about chasing them as they run away if she could.

Most dogs are unlikely to actually have the aim of killing sheep – most will simple chase until they catch up and then get bored (although in their excitement they may nip the animal). Only certain dogs have a born or learnt urge to kill, however damage to sheep, especially during the lambing season, may have already occurred by simply disturbing the sheep.

Damage caused by sheep worrying

The most obvious damage caused by sheep worrying, that we are all probably aware of, is serious injury or death to the sheep:

“The worst attack was at Four Marks last April – a ewe which was in lamb with twins had her throat ripped out. The suffering of this sheep was terrible – she was still breathing when she was found, but we had to have her humanely destroyed and the twin lambs died too,” explained Mr Wyeth.

Two of his ewes were then killed in a dog attack two days after Christmas at Blacklands Farm near Basingstoke. An eye witness reported seeing three boys with a small black dog but no one was brought to account for the deaths.

www.nfuonline.com

However it is not just injury or death that can cause problems to sheep:

Movement away from grazing

Good grazing is really important for a sheep leading up and during lambing. Especially when roaming across open land, sheep will drift towards areas with the best grazing. When disturbed by walkers, the sheep will move away a short distance and resume grazing. However, if the sheep are chased, they will be chased much further away from the good grazing, and it will take some time for them to settle and return. If this is repeated, then the sheep may be excluded from the grazing for a long time.

Restriction of grazing on top of constant movement will eventually affect the sheep’s condition which could result in difficult births and underweight, weak lambs.

Northumberland National Park

Disturbance during lambing

As the birth approaches the ewe will move away from the flock to a quiet sheltered place. If the ewe is flushed out by an overexcited dog, then it is possible the ewe may abort. Immediately after the birth, is the ewe is chased away, the lamb’s survival is threatened and the development of maternal bonding vital to the lambs’ survial may be broken.

Lamb seperation from their mothers

When sheep are afraid it is their natual instinct to flock together. However if the lambs are seperated from their mothers they may follow the wrong ewe. When the flock settles, and the ewe realised it is not her lamb, it gets pushed away. If very young, the lamb will soon get cold from hunger and become too frail to suckle even if their mother finds them before they die.

Sheep worrying and the law

Firstly a slight disclaimer – I am not a lawyer. Any information that follows is based on my personal understanding of the law and what I have read elsewhere. I have included links to each of the acts so you can make your own judgement.

A dog owner (or person in charge of the dog) has committed an offence under the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953 (the act was added to by The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981) if their dog worries livestock on agricultural land.

Worrying livestock means:

• attacking livestock
• chasing livestock where it may be reasonably expected to cause injury or suffering to livestock, in cause abortion, or cause loss or problems with their produce
• being at large (i.e. not on a lead or otherwise under close control) in a field or enclosure in which there are sheep

That last point is particularly interesting – it suggests that legally your dog is worrying sheep just by being in a sheep field not under close control (although I wonder what the legal definition, if any, is for “close control”).

Livestock includes cattle, sheep, goats, swine, horses, asses, mules, poultry (including domestic fowls, turkeys, geese or ducks). It does not seem to cover game birds.

The offence is punishable by a fine of upto £1000.

So what about the legal right for farmers to shoot dogs?

Well, and this could well just be semantics, but the act usually quoted as granting a “legal right” for shooting dogs is the Animals Act 1971. I am not so sure it gives a legal right, but it does give a legal defence – in other words (and remember I am not a lawyer!), the farmer has to prove he acted within the act (whereas a legal right implies proving he didn’t). Here is the relevant part of the act:

9. (1) In any civil proceedings against a person (… referred to as the defendant) for killing or causing injury to a dog it shall be a defence to prove:
(a) that the defendant acted for the protection of any livestock and was a person entitled to act for the protection of that livestock
(b) that within forty-eight hours of the killing or injury notice thereof was given by the defendant to the officer in charge of a police station.
(2) (this clause explains who is entitled to act for the protection of any livestock)
(3) Subject to subsection (4) of this section, a person killing or causing injury to a dog shall be deemed for the purposes of this section to act for the protection of any livestock if, and only if, either:
(a) the dog is worrying or is about to worry the livestock and there are no other reasonable means of ending or preventing the worrying; or
(b) the dog has been worrying livestock, has not left the vicinity and is not under the control of any person and there are no practical means of ascertaining to whom it belongs.

Extract from the Animals Act 1971

Note the words defendant!

Ultimately it doesn’t matter if it is a legal right or a legal defense – the bottom line is that a farmer will not be prosecuted for shooting your dog – provided “there are no other reasonable means of ending or preventing the worrying”.

The same act also states that if your dog causes damage by killing or injuring livestock, the owner (or keeper) is liable for the damage.

Consequences to farmers

NFU Mutual insurers have said that the estimated cost of attacks on sheep was £900,000 a year – this is likely to be higher as some farmers do not have cover for livestock worrying or attacks. Personally I would be surprised if these figures include costs of abortions and lambs dying prematurely indirectly caused by dogs worrying sheep. Lambing is the main harvest for a sheep farmer, and the lambing season influences on average two-thirds of the farm’s annual income.

Dog owners may view their pet chasing sheep as a minor incident – but it has major consequences for animal welfare and farmers’ livelihoods.

www.nfuonline.com

The Southern Daily Echo reported last year that dog attacks cost the industry more than £2m a year (again I doubt this includes indirect losses) and as dog worrying seems to on the increase, things are only going to get worse for farmers unless dog owners take action to prevent it from happening.

So what can dog owners do?

The RSPCA are collaborating with the National Sheep Association and National Farmers’ Union to distribute signs and posters to help educate dog owners to keep their dogs on leads near livestock.

Keeping your dog on a lead will clearly stop your dog from chasing sheep, and is definately a must for any dog owner near livestock, but I am still concerned about the impact of walking through lambing fields (and land) with my dog.

A few people have said to me: “well if the farmers are so worried about sheep worrying during lambing, they shouldn’t put sheep in fields with footpaths”. I have no sympathy for this argument – firstly as a lot of footpaths originated from the routes farm hands walked to work from villages, most farms are a hub of footpaths out to the surrounding villages. It wouldn’t surprise me if there are farms where every single field has at least one footpath in. Secondly this argument is not practical for open grazing spaces like most of our National Parks.

Likewise I don’t think the argument “dog owners should stay clear of lambing fields” is practical either, especially when trying to follow a National Trail, unless you want to let dog walkers wander freely across farmland trying to find an alternative route!

I would like to thank Sally, who has an excellent blog “Rural Diaries – live the country life, love the countryside and learn about rural issues”, who finally put me at ease with the following advice:

Keeping the dog on a short lead is fine but try to also keep it calm, a dog panting, barking and straining at the lead can be stressful for sheep, particularly when they are lambing or have lambs at foot.

Like any animal that has a flight instinct in the presence of danger, if you are walking toward a sheep or lambs slow down and give them time and room to flee.

Be aware of clumps of reeds, small dips in the landscape, beside walls or fence posts, as young lambs will often be left in or near shelter while the mother grazes, so it’s easy to walk through a clump of reeds to suddnly come across two little trembling bodies. Just try to walk around anything that could be hiding lambs.

That is really all you need to do to be a thoughtful dog owner and minimise the impact on livestock.

I followed this advice on my last walk when I went through quite a few sheep fields in Northamptonshire. Although the lambs are a little older, I am pleased to report that, by keeping the dog calm and giving the sheep and lambs a chance to move away, there was very little disturbance to the sheep. In fact in one field, the sheep actually started coming up to us!

If you have any comments about sheep worrying, any corrections of my dodgy legal interpretations, or want to share your experiences, please feel free to comment below.

I have broken down the trail into the same legs used in The National Trail Guides (in reverse from North to South) – these will probably not be how we walk the route – but is a good starting point.

You can download the GPS data for each leg from the table below. I have also given the length, height gain / loss and maximum height for each leg.

If you find the GPS files useful, it would be brilliant if you could donate to our OffasDyke4MS challenge – http://www.justgiving.com/offasdyke4ms

(slight disclaimer – I have tried to make the routes follow Offa’s Dyke trail as accurately as possible, however there may be some inaccuracies. If you spot any problems with the files, please let me know)

* This route uses the alternative permissive route through the grounds of Chirk Castle (April to September)

** This route follows the Wye (rather than St. Briavels Common)

If you find the GPS files useful, it would be brilliant if you could donate to our OffasDyke4MS challenge – http://www.justgiving.com/offasdyke4ms

The next plan is to put these routes into Google Earth, along with other key points of interest, like castles, campsites etc.

As it was such a beautiful day on Sunday, I decided to walk the Woodpecker Trail in Salcey Forest – a 6 (ish) mile walk that circles the whole forest.

Salcey Forest is a remnant of a medieval royal hunting forest situated near the village of Hartwell in Northamptonshire, between Northampton and Milton Keynes.

The walk was less of a training walk for the Offa’s Dyke 4 MS challenge and more a chance to give the dog a nice long walk. That said I tried to keep up a good pace to build up some stamina on what is a fairly unchallenging walk. I also wanted to play around more with Viewranger – especially with the integration with my phone’s camera (most of these photos were taken on my N95 phone via Viewranger).

Walk Summary

Download the Salcey Forest Woodpecker Trail’s GPS data exported from Viewranger (you can use this GPS utility to convert the data for use with your GPS unit)

Walk Details

There are three main areas of the forest you walk through: the southern area (trapped between the road that joins the B526, and the road to Hartwell), the popular area (the area around the cafe, main car park and walkway), and the northern area (to the north and east of Salcey Lawn).

The Southern Area

This is by the far my favourite part of the forest – there is a free car park, large enough for horse boxes, with direct access onto the Woodpecker Trail, the cycle and horse routes.

The Woodpecker Trail quickly leaves the cycle and horse route and disappears into the forest. Most of the trail in this section follows fairly narrow (and sometimes muddy) tracks which meander through the forest with small bridges crossing over tiny streams.

On such a glorious day – it was brilliant to hear the sound of woodpeckers tapping away (presumably where the path gets it’s name?) and the call of birds of prey above (I just about spotted one, but lack the knowledge to identify it – it sounded like an eagle but probably wasn’t!). There was also plenty of squirrels, rabbits and a surprising number of bees, especially bumble bees!

One of the great things about this part of the forest is that it is quiet – I only came across a horse rider, a family of walkers, and a pair of cylists!

As the trail came out onto a larger track (about here on an OS map) which is the scene of carnage after logging activites last year, I found a small path to follow through Organ’s Hill that brings you out onto the cycle path and you have to cut back down a footpath to rejoin the trail – this slightly extends the official trail but is worth it to avoid the ruts created by the loggers!

Eventually the Woodpecker Trail joins the cycle path for a short while ready to cross the road and enter the next area of the forest.

The Popular Area

The Forestry Commission have undertaken a large amount of work over the years – improving the car park, building a cafe, developing the cycle and horse routes and making some of the paths accessible to wheelchairs and pushchairs. All good stuff – however recently they received funding to build a treetop walk.

To me the treetop walk is a gimmick – it is in an unexciting part of the forest which lacks the charm found elsewhere. To reach the treetop walk, I think you are supposed to follow the short Elephant Trail (although it is not far off the other two trails), however as it isn’t well signposted, most visitors walk straight up a main track completely missing the chance to enjoy other areas of the forest, which is a real shame.

There is no doubt the treetop walk is popular, and on a nice weekend or a bank holiday, this part of the forest is absolutely heaving with people, but for every family looking for woodlice under stones, you have another family telling off their children for getting dirt on their white trainers. This popularity has also lead to something else I struggle to agree with – forest car park charges.

Each to their own I guess – irrespective of what you think about the treetop walk, the Woodpecker Trail joins the other trails and goes right through this popular area. On quiet days don’t forget to pop into the Forest Cafe for a cup of tea and a bite to eat!

This is my least favourite area of the forest and I am always grateful to leave the treetop walk behind me as the Woodpecker Trail heads into the northern area of the forest.

The Northern Area

To be honest I don’t really have much to say about this area of the forest. With a couple of exceptions, the Woodpecker Trail mainly follows either the horse route or the cycle route through this area. Although you are mainly following gravel paths through the forst, this area is nice enough – in some ways it reminded me of some of the forest areas on Cannock Chase.

There are couple of sections of the route where the trail leaves the gravel paths and heads down some rarely trod tracks – again the forest feels tranquil and quiet with the noice and hustle of the popular area a distant memory.

Finally the Woodpecker Trail rejoins the cycle and horse routes, crosses the road again and you end up back at the car park.

Conclusion

I can definately recommend the Woodpecker trail for anyone that wants to enjoy all the different parts of Salcey Forest. It is, despite being busy in the middle, a real nice forest walk. Definately bring walking boots, as it can get muddy, and you are walking on some of the quieter non-gravel paths in the forest. I would also recommend starting the walk in the free car park – you can then stop for lunch at the cafe halfway around!

I would to hear your views on Salcey Forest, especially on the treetop walk and the parking charges – so please leave your comments!

Alex is certainly up for the challenge:

I love being outdoors – be it walking, running or cycling, although I’m always game to try a new activity. I’ve also been heavily involved in charity work and fundraising so this is a great chance to marry up two of my favourite things for a great cause.

This is a real endurance challenge, taking in some beautiful scenery and, with a bit of luck, some fine local real ales along the way!

Follow the journey and feel free to support us as we walk, blog, tweet and fundraise are way along this amazing 1200 year old frontier.

The idea of doing the walk with other people had occured to me – but to be honest, and quite selfishly, I did think about keeping it as my own personal challenge. However this isn’t about me, but about raising money for charity, and the more people involved then the more money we can raise!

There are also quite a few benefits to having walking companions – it will certainly be more fun and it means I will have someone to look after the dog when I need a shower! Of course it adds a few extra challenges – more people to motivate and organise, and there is definately a higher probability that more ale will be drunk!

Secondly the fundraising has got off to a great start – thank you to @annabolic2000, @delboydare and @AndrewTerry – your donations are very much appreciated.

The response from people on twitter has been fantastic. I have created a seperate twitter account for http://twitter.com/offasdyke4ms – so please do follow us. You can also follow Phil (@daylightgambler) and Alex (@winkysmileyface). There is also an Offa’s Dyke for MS facebook group.

I am also pleased to announced our first corporate sponsor – ViewRanger.

Viewranger is a unique mapping, navigation, tracking, and information tool for mobile phones. I have been a fan of Viewranger for several years, and I am really thrilled that they have agreed to support us during our challenge!

This will be a massive physical challenge for me – 12 days walking carrying full kit and camping every night!

I committed to this plan about week ago on twitter (view the tweet), but it has been an idea building for quite a few years.

Offa’s Dyke path is a 177-mile walk that weaves in and out of the England – Wales border, from Chepstow on the Severn Estuary to Prestatyn on the North Wales coast. When I first read about Offa’s Dyke a few years ago, I was captivated by the story of Britian’s largest man-made monument – built by Offa, King of Mercia from 757 to 796 A.D to try and create a boundry between his kingdom and the independant Welsh kingdoms. The route today is lined with impressive castles and abbeys – and as I am a big fan of castles, I decided that “one day” I would walk it.

When I renewed my interest in hiking last year, I started thinking about the idea of walking one of the national trails, perhaps The Ridgeway, which is a fairly local 87 mile walk along the Chilterns. Like with all such ideas, I kept on putting it off.

The finally straw was an article in English Heritage’s Heritage Today (March 2009 – “Beauty on all sides”) about Offa’s Dyke and all my previous plans and ideas came flooding back. This was coupled with a desire to do something to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis, so before I changed my mind – a quick tweet commited me!

The Challenges Ahead

There are a number of challenges (in no particular order) that I will need to overcome:

• Equipment – Unless you count my huge impractical pop-up tent, I really don’t have the right kind of equipment for a trip like this.
• Raising Money – My target is to raise at least £1k for MS.
• Fitness – Judging on how sore I am two days after a 15 mile walk, I have a lot of work to do to bring myself up to a suitable level of fitness, and the last time I carried a full pack was when I was a kid before I discovered beer! I also had key hole surgery on my back a few years ago which still haunts me, and a pair of dodgy knees!
• Logistics – I need to work out how to split up the route, which campsites to stay out, how to carry 12 days worth of dog food etc.
• The Dog – It isn’t just me that needs to be fit. My dog’s welfare is paramount, and I need to make sure she is fit and healthy to complete the walk. She is also “overly playful” when she encounters other dogs, something I need to work on.
• Technology – I hope to blog, tweat and facebook (is that a verb yet?) throughout the walk, so somehow I have to work out how to keep my N95 and netbook battery going for 12 days…..
• Finances - I want to donate 100% of the money raised to MS, so all my costs will be coming out of my pocket. Hopefully I can convince some relevant businesses to offer discounts to help reduce the burden!

Get Involved

I intend to blog the whole process from start to finish – from the planning & preparation, the training walks, and the equipment, through to the walk itself: the rain, the campsites, the blisters and the aching limbs! Any helpful comments and advice throughout would be much appreciated!

For the technologically minded, you can follow me on twitter. I will also be using the twitter hash tag #offasdyke4ms for all relevant tweets. There is also a facebook group. I would love to hear your advice, support and comments!

Finally you can donate money on my Justgiving webpage:

During today’s BBC Countryfile programme, there was an interesting feature on Edgar Brown – a man who enjoys walking in the countryside with no shoes and socks on.

Now this captured my imagination – as a child I loved nothing better than walking through the fields around our house barefoot, taking in all the sensations and feelings. Even to this day, I enjoy walking barefoot through dry grass and across sandy beaches.

I also am currently suffering from athletes foot after the last couple of wet walks – a problem solved by not wearing shoes and socks. According to Adam Goldman on the Ramblers Forum:

About a year ago I took up barefoot hiking. Not only do I no longer suffer from blisters, sweaty feet, fungal infections and so on, I do not suffer from the pain in my knees or lower back which previously would affect me after a couple of miles in any kind of footwear.

Now your first thought would be that perhaps walking barefoot would be painful and that you would suffer injuries – well shaggy from the USA (again on the Ramblers Forum) adds that he as not suffered anything worse than a stubbed toe or minor scrape. Your next thought might be that perhaps barefoot walking is only suitable for short distances – well Adam has hiked 13 miles in Sussex, on a mix of roads, rough paths, grass, and mud (although obviously you need to toughen up your feet over shorter distances first), and knows a fellow barefoot walker who has hiked around New Zealand’s South Island.

“100% perfect ‘fit’, very comfortable, durable, self-repairing, highly flexible yet stable, waterproof, lifetime guarantee, reduced damage to footpaths”: If this was an advertisement for walking boots, how much would you be prepared to pay!

Edgar highlighted a number of advantages to barefoot walking including:

• Less impact on the environment – in a physical sense rather than a whimsical sense. Walking barefoot leaves less of a footprint than walking boots.
• You can walk quietly and be stealthy – Edgar has crept up behind a fox
• It is good for your feet.
• It feels great on you feet.
• It is a wonderful feeling, and you don’t get smelly socks!

As the article, “You Walk Wrong” from the NY Magazine goes through in detail, shoes are not good for our feet:

“Natural gait is biomechanically impossible for any shoe-wearing person,” wrote Dr. William A. Rossi in a 1999 article in Podiatry Management. “It took 4 million years to develop our unique human foot and our consequent distinctive form of gait, a remarkable feat of bioengineering. Yet, in only a few thousand years, and with one carelessly designed instrument, our shoes, we have warped the pure anatomical form of human gait, obstructing its engineering efficiency, afflicting it with strains and stresses and denying it its natural grace of form and ease of movement head to foot.” In other words: Feet good. Shoes bad.

There are also medical benefits – According to Herbs Hands Healing, walking barefoot helps to discharge static electricity from the body, calming the nervous system. There is also evidence that walking barefoot can help strengthen leg and foot muscles, here is an except from “Barefoot walking/running and the use of shoe inserts” by Damien Howell:

The theory behind barefoot walking/running is that the nerve endings on the bottom – when stimulated cause reflex muscle contraction to avoid the irritation. Stepping on something sharp or rough is painful – the muscles in the foot and leg contract in order to get off the irritation. This constant cycle of sensory stimulation and reflex muscle contraction is thought to improve the strength of the foot and leg muscles.

So I thought I would give barefoot walking a go for today’s dog walk….

and do you know what…. I really enjoyed it!

Here are a few photos of my feet in action:

The freedom and sensation of walking barefoot was brilliant – the ground was damp, as it had rained fairly recently, and I have to admit that it took about 10mins before the feeling of slimy, squelchy mud between your toes stopping feeling horrid! You definately need to watch where you are stepping, mainly to avoid dog poo, cow pats, stinging nettles, large thistles and stones. Very quickly my feet started buzzing, and I was happy to walk through all the muddy puddles!

When I got home, I hosed down, washed and dried my feet, just like I do for the dogs. The soles of the my feet just feels amazing – the top of both feet have reacted slightly to the pollen as I have hayfever, however after a suitable anti-inflammatory pill this quickly died down.

Would I do it again? Yes almost certainly – provided no one was looking. Fortunately I didn’t bump into anyone, but I did feel very self conscious wondering around without shoes and socks on!

For the less adventurous trialists, try the Barefoot Walk at Trentham Estate (see related press release):

A delightful sensory stroll across 24 terrains, from springy grass to squelchy mud, this unique “DIY reflexology” experience is guaranteed to get all the family’s toes tingling and faces smiling.

There is an excellent review of the Trentham Estate Barefoot Walk on the Guardian website.

For other sources of information on barefoot walking:

• An excellent video from the Barefoot Chef
  
• The Society for Barefoot Living
• Barefoot entry in Wikipedia
• “Feet First – One Step at a Time” by Kasha Stoll from Capital-Journal

This was a filler walk, so I won’t go into too much detail. The walk goes from Hartwell, via Salcey Forest and the tip of Long Street Hanslope to Grafton Regis – with a slight detour to make sure we didn’t get to the pub before opening!

After a lovely lunch at The White Hart, we followed the canal, up the locks, to Stoke Bruerne. After another pint, we visited the entrance to Blisworth tunnel (since when did it become a tourist attraction?) and then made our way, across the fields, back to Hartwell via Roade – ending in the Rose and Crown in Hartwell for a final pint!

Route Details

Click here to view the route on the OS Explorer website

Click here to view all the photos

Firstly it is important to make sure that the insoles sit in the right place in your boots – even slightly out of place, and they will feel uncomfortable (and potentially blistering) as you walk. I stopped a couple of times to adjust the position, but once everything was aligned up the insoles felt great!

The insoles definitely affect the way that I walk – my ankles in particular seemed to be working harder, and today I have more aches and pains than usual, although I am not sure whether this is due to the slightly tougher terrain than usual or to the insoles – probably both. Either way, this is something my body will get used to over time!

Towards the end of the walk a blister started to form on my little toe, and the underneath of my feet were beginning to get very uncomfortable – at the time I was coming to the conclusion that the insoles have only succeeded in taking the edge off my feet pain – maybe adding up to another 5-7 miles (considering the amount of road-work on this walk) before becoming painful.

However my views changed when I got home and removed my boots. There was a lot tall wet vegetation on the walk and, as I don’t have any gaiters, this water, unbeknown to me, had run down my leg and into my boots. My feet had obviously been wet almost all day as they were extremely wrinkly – a lot of the foot pain had been caused by the compression of the wrinkles (pinching the skin) and wet feet of course blister easier.

So in conclusion, although I won’t know for sure until the next walk, I am pretty sure that the insoles are doing their job of reducing the impact pain occurring on the ball and heel parts of my foot – certainly enough to allow me to complete a 20 mile walk without being in pain.

I have also learnt that I need to get some gaiters (yes Alex – you can do the “I told you so” dance!), and take clean dry socks with me on walks!