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A grey bike leans against a concrete wall covered in multi-coloured graffiti, beyond which lies a narrow stone trail.

The last ride of summer

Late summer bike rides are tinged with urgent sadness; each one might be the last before wet weather sets in.

Camping wild and free on Dartmoor

Camping wild and free on Dartmoor

Exercising our fragile, threatened right to sleep under the stars, we hike high on to the moor before pitching our tent in the fading light.

A child in an orange coat walks along a path by a waterfall, tall trees on either side.

Walking the Simmenfälle

The whitewater channel carrying the river Simme from the mountains is not what it seems.

A narrow stone path weaves along a cloudy mountain ridge with green grass and trees on either side.

Patience and the panorama

We awoke to see low cloud shrouding the mountain. There was nothing to do but sit and wait, refreshing the summit webcam and the weather app.

Viewed from a cable car, a white and black train snakes up a steep track in a lush green Swiss valley.

The slow way to Switzerland

An unhurried journey by train and on foot stretched time and filled our summer with stories.

The grass and stone tracks of a byway stretch into the distance between golden fields.

The impossibility of seasons

This wet summer has me remembering dry days gone by, the sort of days when the sun evaporates the very idea of winter.

A notice in yellow chalk on a square brown stone reads "The Dales Way is this way (left) not that way (right)".

The Dales Way: Burnsall to Kettlewell

Walking upstream along the River Wharfe in the footsteps of Iron Age settlers and an 18th century murderer.

Revelation by Angela Connor, a mechanical sculpture reminiscent of a seed pod made in silver and gold metal

Walking the sculptor’s landscape

A stroll around Canwood Gallery reveals the power of art and nature.

A child in a green coat rides a red sledge down a snowy hill, watched by a Golden Retriever dog.

The first and last of the winter snow

With the late snowfall came a morning of childhood joy, and a chance to use our crazy coracle sledge.

Silhouetted against the sunset, an adult and a child on a bench and a dog sitting next to them.

Hot chocolate on the hill

Following in Celtic footsteps, we welcome spring with our own family ritual.

In grey light, distant figures walk on a large swathe of sandy beach covered in water, industrial chimneys in the distance.

Cynffig: life in the sand

A walk through towering dunes takes us into a story of nature, people and a sand-drowned town.

A black and white view of a flooded landscape dotted with trees, a range of hills in the background.

Riding through a drowned world

As the flood waters peaked again, I set off to ride through a landscape turned largely to liquid – everything seemed to be covered in either water or mud. The monsoon months between July and December had been the wettest on record for the UK as Storms Babet, Ciarán, Debi, Elin,

A black canal viewed from a bridge, with the towers of a city in the distance.

Second city photo stroll

Walking along the canal, we cut through layers of Birmingham’s past – and present.

A black and white photo of a stony track heading over a bare hill with a single windswept tree.

Who are green lanes for?

Off-roaders have a legal right to drive on Byways Open to All Traffic. So ill-feeling towards them is a symptom of a wider problem.

Cycling with Grandpa

Cycling with Grandpa

Spinning along the smooth gravel of the Peak District rail trails, three generations found our flow.

The incident of the curious dog on the Thames Path

The incident of the curious dog on the Thames Path

A two-day family walk with an excitable pup. What could go wrong? We got our answer a couple of kilometres into the walk.

Finding peace in the Galloway Forest Park

Finding peace in the Galloway Forest Park

We left fears, anxieties, work and chores far behind for a week exploring the forest around Glentrool.

Trees and sky reflecting in a puddle on a rural track bordered by lush green undergrowth.

The landscape of private names

Pig Path. Blue Gate. Muddy Path. The prosaic names I gave to my childhood landscape embodied a world that no map could ever properly capture.

A group of children in red, white, blue and brown tops run down a farm track away from the camera.

It’s time to set kids free from cars

We’ve created a society where kids don't travel actively or independently, and it’s affecting their wellbeing.

A woman cycles through a forest pulling a bike trailer with a Golden Retriever puppy onboard.

The dog trailer days

We wanted to get our new puppy used to travelling by bike, so we hired a trailer. Spoiler alert: she loved it.

A small child, just visible, sleeps in a green tent against the green backdrop of Dartmoor.

The right to wild camp on Dartmoor: gone but not forgotten

The outcome last week of a wealthy landowner’s high court case was sadly predictable: he’s stripped people of their legal right to camp on Dartmoor.

Sheep graze on a hill covered by low cloud.

As I walked out one midwinter morning

One January morning I stepped out of my front door and didn’t return until the sun was setting and I’d walked 30km.

Edgelands: neither here nor there

Edgelands: neither here nor there

I’m no lover of cities, yet I'm drawn to edgelands – those transitional spaces that are neither urban nor rural.

White clouds in the Black Mountains

White clouds in the Black Mountains

We drove through thick fog for an hour before turning onto the mountain road. Was this it? Would the weather spoil our view?

Walking has become a radical act

Walking has become a radical act

Choose to walk and you're resisting pressure to conform and embracing a mode of transport that is free – in more ways than one.