I'm planning to walk from Lands End in Cornwall to Glastonbury.
I've never done a long walk before. I plan to just sleep in fields and under church awnings and stuff. What's the minimum equipment I need? I'm thinking just boots, bivvy bag, raincoat, and rucksack? It will be in the peak of summer so temperature probably wont be an issue. I expect it to be safe since its rural southern England. The intention is for it to be a wholesome semi-spiritual experience so I intend to avoid just walking along the big roads, I want to be in an adventure/pilgrimage in nature. Im not quite sure how to find a route that avoids the big roads, any tips on that? Google says its 166 miles but that's going direct along the A roads, I expect the realistic route will be longer.
What do I need to know before I do this considering I'm a complete beginner?
You'll be safe. Glastonbury especially is hippie central. Not to say it doesn't have its charms. I didn't much like the potheads that hang around near the wells, but I've been there multiple times and loved it for its own charms.
Download a hiking app and plan your route in it, ahead of time. The British have their right of way, which has you cross or walk along the edge of fields more often than not. Don't know where you're from, but Britain being Britain there's lot of interesting little landmarks outside of villages as well. I've always liked the Roman remnants, old little roads and even forgotten bridges - 'bridge' being generous, they're tiny but still very charming.
Enjoy, anon. It'll be a blast. But yeah, pack yourself a raincoat.
I'm from England, just an aesthetically impoverished urbanite who has lived among nothing but concrete and knife crime my entire life. I want to just walk in nature for a bit and be among the trees and the hills.
I took a look at some hiking apps, I'm not sure they will be too useful since the trails recorded on them wont often be going in the direction I'm walking in and dont last very long.
I think we have public right of way idk, if someone antagonizes me I plan to just apologise and leave.
Buy a detailed paper map of the area. Then just look for small backroads and hiking paths leading to tour destination. Online and app maps usually suck for finding a random small route through nowhere. You can use your phone to figure out where you are, if you have trouble with that on paper.
I'm not a bong, but on the continent, it is good manners to ask the landowner if you want to camp on farmland.
Setting up late and leaving early lets you sleep in a ton of places without anyone noticing though.
Buy the orange ordnance survey maps for your route. Footpaths will be marked in green and the maps can’t run out of charge nor lose signal. And you can walk along most roads too.
Finding a site for the night can be a pain. If this is your first time I’d strongly suggest doing it on easy mode and using actual commercial camp sites. Wild camping occasionally results in being ordered to leave. But you can usually find some brush or woods and use camo net to conceal yourself. Church grounds can be used too (no graveyards). People don’t generally care about discreet wild campers but some landowners will tell you to get orf moi laaaaaaahhhnd just because.
For route planning, bing maps has the OS maps for free.
Yeah, as long as you don't sit around camping for ages before its getting dark, and leave early, you'll be mostly fine. Unlikely to be spotted with a bivvy and maybe tarp unless you're an idiot.
Is it legal to walk through private property in England? What about camp there for a night? Would a farmer or whatever landowner be pissed if they caught you on their land? Are there much if any public lands along your route?
Trespassing isn’t a crime by itself, it only becomes a crime if you refuse a request to do so. No trespassing signs mean absolutely nothing, it has to come from the landowner in person. The only exceptions are ministry of defence land etc.
If a landowner is immediately aggressive or tries to block your exit without a request to leave they will be the one in trouble. Make sure to get a video.
>What's the minimum equipment I need?
Food (a way to prepare, sore, and eat it)
Water (water bottles)
A headlamp or flashlight (don’t rely on your phone)
A map of some kind
A small first aid kit (including insect repellent if that’s an issue)
Shelter and sleep system (a ground pad or mattress)
Insulation (from rain and sun, maybe wind)
Extra clothing (Sleep clothes, extra socks and underwear, maybe warm clothes depending on local climate, but no “clean” hiking clothes)
Definitely do some research if this isn’t a popular path. Carrying 10 days of food is tricky; it takes a ton of space. But with some planning you might be able to resupply in a town somewhere.
Dude, its the UK. He'll be within 5km of a supermarket most of the time.
You can do a lot of that route on the beautiful South West Coast Path, then cut across Exmoor and over the Quantocks to get to Glastonbury.
I use the free version of Komoot to start planning my routes. You can tell it to work out a hiking path, which will keep you off the roads, and it will tell you your rough walking distance.
Oh, and make sure you wear in your boots before starting unless you want vicious blisters. That's a lot of walking and a lot of up and down if you're taking the cliff paths which you might not be used to if you're an urbanite.
Use os maps online to plan your route if you wanna minimize roads. Get a decent Garmin and the right OSmap
https://explore.osmaps.com/?lat=51.776100&lon=-1.894300&zoom=7.0000&style=Standard&type=2d
In the nicest possible way anon, you should do one or two smaller expeditions before jumping to this just to get your setup sorted. Exeter to Plymouth through Dartmoor is a great one
Secondly don't go in a straight line, There is so much to see in Cornwall and Devon from Bodmin Jail to Tintagel Castle
Seconding this. When I was 25-27 I would run 9km every day and walk/ cycle 20+km every day on top. I took a desk job for three years. I tried to run 10km and walk 60km last thursday. My right knee gave out. I'm just getting over it now. I'm not the athlete I once was. Always build up over a few days.
i walked from Norfolk to Lands end, then back up to Bristol last year. You've got got two choices for routes, inland or by the sea. By the sea you'll follow the South West Coast Path, which is beautiful, but probably quite tough for someone with little walking experience. Little chance of getting lost though, as long as your by the sea you'll be okay.Inland might be a bit more tricky, having to join up marked paths or make up your own route. But will probably be quieter if your after solitude. Google a guy called rambling tales, he walked from norfolk to lands end. He posted his routes on his site, the end bit goes through central devon & cornwall & you could probably use some of his routes . For maps use the OS maps. They give you the best topographic features & show you paths.
Gear wise bivvy will be fine. i went with bivvy & tarp and was comfy & dry when it rains. much more subtle when your wild camping too. weirdly feels safer than a tent too coz you can see out. If you don't have boots yet go for trail runners instead, so much more comfy than boots, dry quicker, better in the summer heat. Decathlon do some which are apparently pretty good for the price.
People have mentioned food, realistically you"ll never need to carry more than 3 days food. Water is the bigger issue tbh. Most natural sources are fricked from pollution at the moment,. Even if you filter you wont be alright if a stream is full of agricultural chemicals / sewage. So you'll need to find taps, stop off at pubs / cafes and ask people for water. I'd definitely get some practice walking in too. Your body needs time to adjust , carrying a pack is tiring if your not used to it.
All that said, don't let this scare you off. Long distance walking is amazing . I felt totally renewed after 10 years of urbanite wageslaving, completely transformed. Good luck on your adventure anon.
Make sure you pack an extra Qur'an and abprayer mat, youbnever know when you'll bump into some hostile Islamics in England now. They could be anywhere, behind any tree or bush in the field. Use your eyes, stay alive.
Don't follow google maps directions it will just take you along roads use https://maps.the-hug.net/ to plan a better route
I too am planning to do a first time trip walking. I did a trip bikepacking before so im not a complete newbie but walking and deceiding what to carry is new.
Planning a 300km hike in parts of Netherlands and Germany.
Starting in a month or so.
Been walking longer and longer distances to prep my body.
Fricking google has me doing this 300km hike in 3 days.. bro, what?
Im thinking 40-50 a day from what im gathering from my practice walks.
Im glad you made this thread OP.
Hope i can learn from anons advice too to be as prepped as i can be.
Happy days