BOOK REVIEWS / ROLY SMITH
beautiful chalk stream of the
Itchen, Jane Austen’s home at
Chawton, and meeting the North
Downs Way at Farnham before
going on to Rochester, Guildford
and Box Hill, and paralleling the
M25 and M20 to Ashford and on to
Canterbury.
It’s a 136-mile route packed
with interest and history, and
Leigh Hatts, creator of the Thames
Path, is an entertaining and
knowledgeable guide.
WALKING THE PILGRIMS’ WAY
Leigh Hatts
Cicerone Press, £12.95 (pb)
P
ilgrims of one kind or another
– from Chaucer’s motley crew
of 15th century storytellers
to modern ramblers following
the escarpment of the North
Downs – have been walking from
London to Canterbury for over
eight centuries.
The reason for the original
pilgrims’ trek was to pay penance
at the tomb of the martyred
St Thomas Becket, who was
murdered by six knights apparently
encouraged by King Henry II, a
former close friend and confidant,
in the north transept of Canterbury
Cathedral in December, 1170.
...such attractions as a
stretch of the beautiful
chalk stream of the Itchen
Although Chaucer’s original
pilgrims traditionally started
their journey from the Tabard Inn
in Southwark, the author starts
his in Winchester, claiming that
Southwark was anciently part of
the vast diocese of Winchester
south of the Thames.
A good enough excuse,
you might say, to include such
attractions as a stretch of the
12 Outdoor focus | summer 2017
Idris, the wild summits of the
Glyderau and Carneddau, Moel
Siabod, Cnicht and Snowdon
itself, which is reached via
Bethania and the relatively little-
used route which takes you past
the slate mines of Cwm Llan.
An interesting introduction
to the highest land south
of Scotland
The low-level route starts from the
lush Vale of Ffestiniog and takes
in the spectacular Aber Falls, the
Ogwen Valley and the Iron Age
hillfort of Dina Emrys. It is well
served by public transport links,
which make it easy to do the route
in day-long stages, returning you
to your starting point.
Claimed to be the only long-
distance low-level route which
passes through the entirety of
Snowdonia, this is an interesting
introduction to the highest land
south of Scotland, and a timely
reminder that there’s much more
to the area than mere summit-
bagging.
WALKING THE SNOWDONIA WAY
Alex Kendall
Cicerone Press, £14.95 (pb)
N
ot another ‘Way’, I hear the
purists complain. But this
is an unwaymarked 97-
mile low-level route linking
Machynlleth and Conwy and it
threads through some of the finest
scenery in the Snowdonia National
Park. More mountainous loops are
provided for peak-baggers along
the way, which take the mileage up
to 122.
Written by a mountain leader
with 10 years’ experience in
the hills of Snowdonia and
backed by Cicerone’s usual clear
1:50,000 OS mapping, it is an
excellent introduction to Wales’s
mountainous north.
Among the summits included
in the high-level route are Cadair
WALKING THE SONG
Hamish Brown
Sandstone Press, £8.99 (pb)
summer 2017 | Outdoor focus 15