Rambling Man: 11 books

All good journeys start somewhere. There is always a beginning. There is always the place where it all starts. The place where the journey starts may be amazing. It may be mundane. It may be glamorous. It may be dour. It may be exciting and adventurous. Or it may be besides a road a few miles...

The River Thames is the longest river completely in England (the Severn is the longest in the UK but spends part of its time in Wales), and one which has had the biggest impact on the country. The waters of the Thames flow through the United Kingdom's capital; a city which probably would never have...

Andrew Bowden was unemployed and getting tired. Tired of looking for jobs. Tired of thinking about what to say for interviews. Tired of visiting the Job Centre to justify why they should give him some money. Tired of sitting in front of the computer all day waiting for that elusive offer of gainful...

A long distance walking trail around the edges of Greater London? That's not going to be very good, is it? I mean, it will all be houses and industrial estates. Burnt out cars and flytipped old kitchen units? And let's not forget the litter that will be absolutely everywhere. No, dear friend, better...

Scotland. It's beautiful. Something about the trees, the lochs and, of course, the wide range of single malt whiskys as well. Oh and there's some lovely walking up there as well. Such as the East Highland Way. It's a nice walk. It has trees, lochs and, of course, places where you can purchase from...

The Yorkshire Wolds Way. A 79 mile walking route that starts near the Humber Bridge, and ends with fish and chips in sight at the Victorian seaside resort of Filey. It's a walk that takes you through a secret part of Yorkshire. One rather overshadowed by those famous Yorkshire Dales, and the...

Take one person and a rucksack, put them in a market town in West Yorkshire, and point them towards Windermere. If they've not instantly leaped in a car, hailed a cab or run to the train station, then chances are that they're doing the Dales Way. Andrew Bowden was one such person. And...

There are ways to begin walking Wainwright's Coast to Coast. Things that must be done. It's compulsory. It's written in the rules. First you must stride purposefully to the starting point. You must fill your lungs with a deep breath. You must have a photograph taken next to the sign, monument...

April 2011 and the United Kingdom was in royal wedding fever. Wills and Kate were getting married and to a substantial number of people, this seemed an extremely exciting thing to happen. But for Andrew Bowden the idea of getting out of London and heading off on a good long walk was a much...

The Pennine Way. The grandfather of walking trails in the UK. For over 60 years walkers have been drawn to its journey across wild and empty moorland, murky bogs, cloud covered summits and endless rain. Yet somehow it has a hypnotic charm that persuades people to walk it, even if they never intended...

Tell someone you're going off to Scotland to walk the Southern Upland Way and they'll probably look at you rather blankly before starting to tell you about Great Aunt Mabel's recent hip operation. Even in walking circles, it's not exactly a well known trail. Which is why, when Andrew Bowden...