Country Walking Magazine shows you the best of British walks: the biggest views, the hidden gems, the sea cliffs and the mountain summits. All our features come complete with superb writing, inspiring photography and step-by-step instructions so you can follow every footpath yourself. In every issue, you’ll find: - In-depth stories of amazing walks - A booklet of 25 pull-out walks every issue - with OS maps! - Information about hotels, pubs, cafes, tearooms. - Clear, jargon-free tests of walking kit And... every issue our readers tell their walking stories, help us devise new walks and shape the places we go to. If you love walking, this is the magazine for you.

Welcome

IN THIS ISSUE…

Find a great walk near you! • Highlights from the 27 fantastic walks in this issue…

JUST LISTEN… • First ever ‘forest soundmap’ reveals the most listenable woodlands on the planet…

It’s a funny old game • Walking as a video game? It’ll never catch on…

WINTER WARMERS

THE BEST JOB IN BRITAIN?

THE LAST TREE ON PLANET EARTH

…AND WINTER WANDERS

YORKSHIRE’S DARK WORLDS

‘The countryside is for everyone’ • JLS star turned farmer and walker JB Gill says there’s a welcome for everyone on Britain’s footpaths, where friendliness and curiosity rule.

STAR WALKER: JB GILL

Great reads this month

CRICKHOWELL • Snuggling between rolling ridges and dramatic crags, the Usk Valley’s friendliest town makes a great base for exploring the Brecon Beacons National Park.

The word is…

Up, up and away! • That’s our hopes, our health and our happiness in 2021, with the wellbeing-fostering, horizon-widening, immunity-boosting programme that is #walk1000miles on our side! And there’s a fun new way to earn your medal….

Maps, music and magical memories

Your view

Views in brief

WHERE’S KES? • Every month our favourite spaniel Kes goes walkies somewhere in the issue, and we want him back! Can you help find Kes?

Tea break

MEET THE WINNERS! • A big hand to to our 2020 winners – and a chance to learn more about their winning images.

Stuart Maconie • Myths, wizards, Kevin De Bruise and Armani in the charity shop: welcome to the strange neighbourhood of Alder ley Edge...

Walk this way! • So many places to walk and so many ways to do it! But one thing’s always the same: it’s the best way to see the world – and feel on top of it.

‘A physical and mental delight which can be obtained in no other way’ • Discover the world’s best reward-to-investment ratio with a ramble – or hike – in the countryside.

How to ramble right... • Top tips from Southern Rambles (1931) by S.P.B. Mais.

Lights in the DARKNESS • Want to see the world in a completely different way? Walk it at night.

Full CIRCLE • Can walking around a mountain be even better than going up it? A tour of Lakeland, legend, Great Gable, says yes. Hell, yes.

Round and round

Plan your trip

Tales of the Riverbank • Like hopping on a magic carpet, a walk along the tidal Thames. can transport you back in time and to faraway lands.

Treasures of the tide

BEFORE YOU GO

Walking it out • Our urge to walk far and think deep is as old as the hills – and interest in pilgrimage as an answer to life’s big questions is soaring.

5 things you might not know about pilgrimage…

‘A remarkable feat’ • Guns, gambling and grit collide in the world of extreme pedestrianism.

Walking for a change • Stuart Maconie hits the road to pay tribute to the most powerful and political form of walking: the march.

Marching into history • Three other famous marches from around the world and what they accomplished...

Plan...