Walking and Outdoors books on the Kindle

The times are a-changing and the rise of e-readers - and in particular the Amazon Kindle - has brought a new way of reading books.

In contrast to some other genres, the walking and outdoor publishing community has been a bit slow on taking up making books available on the Kindle - or across devices like the iPad and Android tablets - but that is changing, and I've got a few of the best ones I've found here on our blog.



An area of England with an amazing amount of walks - and sadly very much overlooked is Warwickshire & West Midlands - was is why Richard Sale's book 100 Walks in Warwickshire & West Midlands is included here.  The walking territory in these two central counties remains largely undiscovered, better known, as they are for their towns and cities such as Stratford and Leamington.  Those willing to find out, however, will discover some wonderful countryside, and some surprisingly varied routes.

It's quite an old book - originally printed in 1996 - but the walks contained within are among the best in the area.  The maps are line drawings, not OS ones - but they are very clear and easy to read, with plenty of places of interest noted on each walk.

As our good friend Tanya Oliver pointed out in the sixth edition of the Walks Around Britain podcast, Sussex is a great country to walk around - and Richard Williamson's book 52 Favourite West Sussex Walks has a great selection in it.  Richard Williamson’s weekly walking column has long been one of the most popular features in the Chichester Observer, Worthing Observer and West Sussex Gazette, and for the first time he has compiled his favourite walks – one for every week of the year – with hand-drawn route maps.

Many here to to tempt you out onto the unspoiled nature of the timeless South Downs landscape and its varied flora, fauna and stories – from bat-birds and the Devil’s Jumps to beloved pubs and famous poets – combine with practical notes on routes that can be covered easily in an afternoon.



Although it's not a walking route book, but Tristan Gooley's latest book The Natural Explorer: Understanding Your Landscape: In Search of the Extraordinary Journey is certainly worth a mention here.  You wont find a map in this book, but you will learn how to read, understand and connect with the landscape.  I've got a review on this book on this blog soon, so I'm not revealing too much here, but I can tell you it's a cracking read.  And the best bit is that the Kindle edition is onnly £4.99 - saving nearly a massive £6 of the hardback price!

Tristan was on the Walks Around Britain podcast in May - here's the podcast along with the Show Notes on this blog.

Tripping North of the Border to the fabulous Isle of Skye, and the famous outdoor author Terry Marsh has written possibly the definitive book on walking and hiking on the island - The Isle of Skye: A Walker's Guide.

Most people are drawn to the island for the Cuillin, but there is more to Skye - and this book has 87 walks and scrambles.  The Isle of Skye has some of the most awe-inspiring scenery of Scotland's many islands. The walks are widely varied, and provide something for all abilities to enjoy.

The guide is one of the famous Cicerone walking books, who are more than half way through converting their epic collection of titles to electronic formats - and this is an e-book which benefits from using a Kindle app on a smartphone or on a computer, as it is in full colour.

And lastly, this very blog is available on the Kindle as well on a monthly subscription.

10 Ways To Walk More

We all know that walking isn't just great at the weekend through the Lake District but also something we should be doing more of all the time - it keeps us healthy in body, mind and soul.

So here's a few ways the team here at Walks Around Britain have introduced more walking into our week...


1. Take Your Lunch

Photo - MyUrbanLife

On average, us Brits only take 22 minutes a day of our lunch hour we're entitled to.

Strike a blow for the workers - take the whole one hour and find a place to eat that's a 30 minute round trip walking from your office - 30 minutes eating and 30 minutes walking - excellent.



2.  Listen to your Reading

If you're a bit of a bookworm, why not combine your love of books with your walking?  Lots of books are now released as audio books too - which you could loan from the library or from websites like Audible - which you can listen to on your walks.  If you're happy about to listening to a computer-style voice, certain versions of the Kindle e-book reader from Amazon - like the Kindle Touch - will read aloud most e-books, albeit sometimes with some distinctly odd pronouncation in some instances.

You can always listen to our monthly walking and outdoor podcast whilst out walking - download them from iTunes here. :)


3. Raise some money

For a more long term goal, there are plenty of sponsored walks you can sign up to which raise money for some great good causes.  Two very interesting ones are the Shine walks - which are night time walking marathons taking place in London (September 29th) and Manchester (September 8th) at night, passing well known landmarks along the route.  The organisers are expecting to have 15,000 participants this year and hope to raise £3.5m for Cancer Research UK.  To find out more info, visit the Shine website.


4. Walk to Work - at least once a week

Photo - Living Streets

If you're within walking distance from your work, how about doing just that - at least once a week.

You'll soon see the benefit to your health.

To find out more about walking to work, visit the Living Streets website.



5. Park a Little Bit Away

If you need to drive to work, how about parking 10 minutes away from your office - that way you've got another 20 minutes of walking exercise every day.  And if you pay for your parking, the chances are car parking further away from your office might well be cheaper than where you are parking now.


6. Use the Stairs

Seems an easy suggestion, but if you avoid the lift and use the stairs for a long period, you can greatly increase your lung capacity, blood pressure and cholesterol measurements.

7. Pack up your baby


If you're a new parent, leave the buggy or push-chair behind and take your little one out in a baby carrier harness.  This gives you both unbelievable closeness to your child as well as the ability to go for walks which aren't accessible to buggies.

It's a great way to get your child feeling the wonder of the fresh air whilst at the same time.





8. Get a Dog

According to a Canadian study, urban dog owners are more likely to walk on average almost double the amount non-dog owners did.  There's also many other health benefits now recognised in dog ownership, including the lowering of blood pressure, an increase in mood and others.

But obviously, a dog is for life and should be well considered before taking a puppy on.


9. Take a walking City Break

A long weekend in often takes the form of a trip to the countryside or the coast, but how about an urban minibreak?  There are some great towns and cities across Britain which have great history and stories to tell if you just do a little research.  Link together a couple days of urban walking with a trip to the theatre, great restaurants and museums, and you've got a great break away.

Take a look at our walk around Newcastle-Upon-Tyne's city centre for some inspiration.

10. Use technology to get out walking more

With modern technology as it is now, you often don't have to be in the office to do work, or communicate with people.  Use technology such as smartphones with Twitter and Skype to keep in touch whilst walking and try to schedule television programmes on personal video recorders, such as Sky + or Freeview +.  And don't forget, there's always the BBC's iPlayer and the commercial equiviants to catch up with tv you've missed whilst out walking.