Eight Ancient Walks: Photos from the Beltaine Walk

Sizing up the Beacon as I get packed up ready to begin.

Grateful that the sun is drying my icy tarp.

At the top of the beacon.....Overhead sun making shots tricky.

Just one of many huge vistas.

And the trail begins........

There are 15 National Trails in the UK of which The Ridgeway is one. If you are bad at map reading these acorn signposts really help as they are every half mile or so.

Winding through some beech woods.

Cyclists, horse riders, motorbikes and even cars can use some sections of the route at certain times of year. It changes form winding paths to wide trails. Where vehicles had churned up the soil was where I got frustrated as its really hard to walk on.

Beautiful views, not sure about the woodland clearance. But if you love butterflies then walk the first section from Ivinghoe Beacon as there are several specially cleared reserves to encourage wild flowers and butterflies.

Woodland den. Evidence of other wild folk....

Kid's natural play area. The side on the left has a wooden carved dragon face.

Flowers, flowers everywhere

Never found out if the witch was in.

Yes its me

Hatched blackbird. Fly free little one.

The best name for a hill ever.

My set up. Walking poles double as rigging.

Cameron's place. Wonder if I had buzzed if they'd have filled up my water bottle?

Heading up over another chalky field to the ridge.

The path crosses an old green lane.

Gently sloping fields and ridges make up many sections of the walk.

Hillbilly crossed with alpine skier. A hard look to rock.

Huge arable fields characterise much of the walk. If you look at the far end of the path you get an idea. I took it at the wrong angle to justify it. Wheat, rapeseed........Miles of it. And a bit of a wildlife desert to be honest. I saw two deer and of course some birds over the course of the walk. But nowhere near as much living as I expected in these rural areas.

Stretching and eating. Stopping for lunch meant muscles tightening. The only solution was eating and stretching at the same time, as I was too hungry to wait and couldn't leave my muscles to contract. I became pretty good at it. I also only ever stopped for about 30 mins for lunch otherwise I lost momentum.

Flowers and bulbs bedeck a hawthorn and grow beneath it. A sacred spot for someone.

I was hot. Then this appeared. Several hundred metres away down a cliff. The injustice! (It's a quarry although it looks like the Isles of Scilly).

Four horses seem to observe the absurdity of the M4. They are living right beside it and I felt sorry for them. You can hear the noise on the approach and retreat from it for at least 40 minutes walking either side, depending on the wind direction.

A tree laden outcrop.

Let's go under the M4. The only times where I felt disorientated were when I hit roads or tarmaced areas.

Post Industrial Minimalist graffiti. Actually a great opportunity for any aspiring graff artisits out there. Both sides are begging for a mural and you are unlikely to get disturbed.