Footloose in Devon

My new Devon book  is now out in paperback and on Kindle…      Here’s the blurb… “The novelist John Bainbridge has walked in the Devon countryside for over fifty years, and is well known as a writer and broadcaster on the county. In this miscellany of country essays, he explores many of the quiet

A Walk from Woodbury Castle

In my Devon days I often used to lead rambles from Woodbury Castle around the heathlands of East Devon – a good walk through very open country and woodland. The commons of east Devon are excellent examples of important lowland heath, vast open spaces set above a most attractive pastoral landscape, with far vistas of

A Walk in the Westmorland Dales

A fantastic karst landscape, terrific views and a Neolithic stone circle made this a wonderful morning walk from the little village of Orton. Although this ramble is in the county of Cumbria, this landscape has recently been added to the Yorkshire Dales National Park – and deservedly so. Perhaps one day we’ll get our old

Wainwright’s Forbidden Fell

For many years The Nab, at the heart of the Martindale Deer Forest, was the Wainwright you weren’t supposed to visit, lest you disturbed the hunting preserves of the Martindale Deer Forest owners. The myth was put about that it was the deer they were all keen to save from disturbance. It was never true.

Walking to Castle Folds – A Romano-British Settlement

Sometimes we walk in the footsteps of people who trod the hills thousands of years ago. The other day – a blazing hot morning – we walked up from the Cumbrian village of Orton to seek out the Castle Folds Romano-British settlement – a rare defended position set out amidst the limestone pavement of Great