The compact between writing and walking is almost as old as literature - a walk is only a step away from a story, and every path tells.
(Robert Macfarlane)
Enjoy our ramblings about walking and the great outdoors. From accounts of our adventures to interesting notes and stories about the special places and things we discover on our walks, plus a few tips to help you enjoy your time outdoors.
Meet me at the kissing gate, I know that's where you want to be…
Romantic Ramblings! The amorous-sounding ‘kissing gate’ is one of many much loved curiosities to be found in the English countryside, and it’s perfect for stealing a kiss on the Feast of Saint Valentine (14th February).
Read MoreMistletoe (Viscum album), the magical sacred plant of the Druids, has become embedded within our folklore, tradition and mythology, particularly at Christmas and New Year. On this festive themed walk we set off to discover more about this special sacred plant and to hopefully find a sprig for ourselves!
Read MoreThe Poetry is in the Pity
Walking is a great way to contemplate and remember and in November each year it is ‘sweet and fitting’ to take a Literary Hitchhike with a Remembrance theme. For this Remembrance walk in the south Oxfordshire Chilterns, we have chosen as our principal literary subject one of our most celebrated Great War Poets, Wilfred Owen. Owen witnessed firsthand the harsh reality and carnage of war - his ‘poetry of witness’ is uncompromising work, steeped in pity and fury, the pen exploding with purpose as it is pushed across the paper.
Read MoreSpontaneous Berkshire Days
We had planned to bring you some exciting walks as part of the North Wessex Downs Walking Festival programme but sadly the Festival was stopped in its tracks by the covid-19 virus pandemic! All is not lost, however, as the chalk hills where we love to walk are still here and our inspiring guided walks can be rescheduled for you to enjoy at a later date. In the meantime, it’s time to make your shoes happy with an amble through some of our festival walks ‘Up on the Downs’.
Read MoreJoin our Perambulations from the Sofa to celebrate the Chilterns Walking Festival and World Nordic Walking Day. Sit back and enjoy this amazing walk as we take our Nordic walking poles to explore the Ridgeway National Trail and the Chilterns escarpment in Oxfordshire. It’s one of our favourites and you can expect butterflies, orchids and awesome views!
Read MoreStroll away, this sweet month of May
May is National Walking Month and a time when many walking festivals would have been held across the UK, including here in the Chilterns. We are proud to have been part of the Chilterns Walking Festival since it began and it saddens us that, in today’s climate of social distancing, the Festival has had to be stopped in its tracks. But all is not lost... Join us for an amble down Memory Lane of our past festival walks.!
Read MoreTalk the Walk… for England and St. George!
23rd April... St George’s Day, the National Day of England! It is also the date of the UN English Language Day, a celebration of our national language. So, let’s join the party with a leisurely stroll through the myriad of words that we have for something that is at the very heart of Pipsticks Walks - the simple act of taking a walk! Walking, rambling, trekking, hiking, etc... Why do we have so many words?
Read MoreIrresistible and Intriguing
There is something irresistibly intriguing about old paths and byways and none more so than the old sunken lanes or ‘holloways’ which are so characteristic of the soft sand and chalk hills of southern England. The Chilterns Hills are rich in deep Holloways; they are an integral part of our landscape heritage, inscribed into the chalk bedrock over centuries and on many of our walks you may become immersed in their cavernous shade, captured in awe by their mystique.
Read MoreFair Maids of February
Late January into February is the time of year when tiny humble snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis or ‘Milkflower of the snow’), symbols of hope and purity, burst in clusters of white blooms from the frozen winter soil. Some of our favourite Snowdrops walks take us to the tiny Norman church of St Botolph, by the Ridgeway National Trail at Swyncombe and famed for its snowdrops and teas!
Read MoreAs we walked through Harpsden Wood one autumn morning the sunlight chanced upon this beautiful Amethyst Deceiver (Laccaria amethystea). Pummelling upward through the leaf litter, this stunning deep violet mushroom makes a magical sight. Poetry to the eyes, and as we crunched down among the leaves for a closer look this mysterious pretty-in-purple got us musing...
Read MoreA perfect walk for Remembrance weekend. Along the way we discovered mediaeval fresco paintings, an unfinished sculpture by the renowned war artist Eric Kennington, stunning glass windows by Laurence Whistler and John Hayward, and a haunting sculpture by John Buckley. There were also our usual nature notes and other discoveries along the way, and of course some yummy refreshment at the Blue Tin Farm Shop!
Read MoreNobody can’t stop ‘ee. It’s a footpath right enough - Edward Thomas
There are many literary connections with the North Wessex Downs - poets and writers all united by their deep love of nature and the English countryside. We often tread the same paths walking in their footsteps and our North Wessex Downs Walking Festival walk up on the Berkshire Downs around the historic village of Aldworth was no exception.
Read MoreFour Seasons fill the measure of the year (Keats)
Walking is one of the best ways to explore a country and as the changing seasons unfold across the English countryside each brings its own unique beauty showcasing the land in a different way. The changing seasons also ensure there is plenty of interest on our walks throughout the year.
Read MoreWe all need space; unless we have it we cannot reach that sense of quiet in which whispers of better things come to us - Octavia Hill
Octavia Hill was a remarkable woman and has to be one of my heroines. Her final resting place is Crockham Hill, Kent where I spent my childhood and went to school. Here, I learnt about her work and to understand and appreciate the wonders of our open space and countryside.
Read MoreI recently came across The Rather Cheeky Map of Great British Bottoms (published by Strumpshaw, Tincleton & Giggleswick). It features nearly 300 Great British place names all involving the word 'Bottom'.
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