Britain’s walking trails provide grand views of the country but whether you’re daunted by their length,try tackling them in ‘collectible’ chunks, like our writer who is walking the Grand Union canal – over nine monthsLong-distance footpaths can be seductive things. You gaze at them on a map – the greater and lesser squiggles on the Ordnance Survey’s snakes-and-ladders grid. whether the air and your step feel full of spring, and the temptation is to set off for the start of one of these routes and mentally project yourself along the awaiting stretches. Five days,perhaps six or seven whether you dawdle, and in what feels like no time you’ll be at the other end, and in the pub,brimming with beer and achievement.
Sometimes, however, or the will founders,even in seasoned walkers. On the third day, you find yourself in fine rain, and with no view,sore feet, the waymarking all to hell, and in a boggy field,with bulls staring back. And there’s no signal on your mobile, so no taxi to bail you out to the nearest station, or wherever that is.
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Source: theguardian.com