Country Walking

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 …

The golden ceiling

5 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS MONTH

UPPER SWALEDALE • Step back in time to a world of flower-rich meadows, drystone walls and unspoilt villages… then pinch yourself to remember you’re still in 2026.

Tales of the unexpected • Your daily walk is far from an everyday event. It lifts you, welcomes you to the outdoors, and changes with the seasons, the weather and the time of day. And sometimes it can throw up the most unlikely surprises, as these Walk1000Miles challengers found…

Challenges: ACCEPTED! • Spice up your miles by doing something silly or specific for the chance to win a money-can’t-buy Golden Badge.

There be gold right here

Your View

Views in brief

Where’s Kes? • Every month (erm, ish) our spaniel Kes goes walkies in the issue, and we want him back! Can you help find Kes?

Wildlife for Walkers • Three remarkable species to spot in September.

Stuart Maconie • Stuart returns to one of Britain’s most prosperous spots, and discovers that the hills and the views are just as glam as the Mercs and the Moët.

‘Walking can give us gratitude for the good things… and hope for what comes next.’ • Going for a walk is our best and simplest way of connecting with nature. And as GP and broadcaster Dr Radha Modgil explains, that can be enough to fix us - mind, body and soul.

‘We evolved as bipeds for a reason’ • Dr Courtney Conley explains why your feet are possibly the most incredible mechanisms ever assembled – and how to look after them.

Tempus sistit (TIME STOPS) • Is it still possible to go truly off-grid and seek refuge from the digital age? The answer is a hearty yes, with a bit of planning, a degree of bravery… and a stone hut in the middle of nowhere.

The story of the bothy

Next steps

Where next? Three more remarkable bothies to consider

‘Walking didn’t take grief away. It simply gave it somewhere to go.’ • After losing the man who inspired her love of the outdoors, Amy Bassinder found hope again by following the trails they walked together.

What if walking was our default setting? • Can we make walking the primary form of human transport again? Geographer Dan Raven-Ellison says we can - and that doing so could help to fix our communities and our planet… as well as ourselves.

John’s journey

Mary’s mission

How to go slow

When the sky falls • Comets, meteors and asteroids have captivated the human imagination across the millennia. Jade Angeles Fitton has turned night-walking into a lifelong exploration of shooting stars… and what they mean to us.

THE POWER OF MOUNTAINS • Tom Bailey has spent 30 years walking and working in Britain’s mountains as a photographer and writer. He believes being among these high, wild places has given him a strength that transcends the act of walking… and follows him through life.

Warm up, cool down • Six easy exercises to give every walker better balance, happier joints and fewer of those ghastly muscle niggles that take forever to heal.

Flip-flops, laughs, despair, love...