Podcast Edition 018 - Show Notes

listen to ‘Edition 018 - Walking along the Caledonian Canal, 100 years of HF Holidays and Jim Dixon on the Peak District National Park’ on Audioboo

Edition 18 of the Walks Around Britain features the great walking along the Caledonian Canal in Scotland; we talk to Steve Backhouse about the centenary of HF Holidays and the Chief Executive of the Peak District National Park Jim Dixon talks about the Monsal Trail and the challenges for the park in the future.

Presented by Andrew White - @AndrewRWhite

Walking along the Caledonian Canal

In May 2013, the Walks Around Britain team spent a week filming some video Scottish Waterways Trust.  Ahead of all the videos being completed, Andrew discovers more about the history of the canal and the area of the Great Glen from the Scottish Waterways Trust's Heritage Office for the Caledonian Canal, Stephen Wiseman.
walks along the majestic Caledonian Canal in Scotland, in association with the

Here's the first walk completed from the series...

To find out more, visit the Scottish Waterways Trust website.



100 years of HF Holidays

2013 saw the centenary of the walking and activity holiday provider HF Holidays. Andrew chatted to Steve Backhouse (right), the company's Head of Holidays (what a title!) about the history and the future of HF Holidays.

For more details about HF Holidays, visit their website - www.hfholidays.co.uk.



Jim Dixon and the Peak District National Park

Andrew travelled to Buxton to talk to the Chief Executive of the Peak District National Park, Jim Dixon (left), outside the headquarters on the authority.  Jim talks about the history of the park, the successful Monsal Trail and the challenges facing the National Park in the future.

If you'd like to sample some of the Monsal Trail, you can see what it is like on our video walk.  Andrew walked from Hassop Station with local born skier Ellie Koyander.

That's another podcast finished - we do hope you are enjoying them,  Remember you can also find them on iTunes, on AudioBoo, on our YouTube channel and on our website.

Please let us know what you think about our podcasts - what do you like, and what would you like to hear? Leave us a comment below, or send us a voice message on our blog.

Dog Poo Bags for Snowdonia National Park

Dog Poo Bags for Snowdonia National Park

SNPA Warden Gethin Corps demonstrating how to dispose of dog mess responsibly.

If you are a dog-walker in North Wales, did you know dog mess bags are available from Snowdonia National Park’s Wardens and Tourist Information Centres' staff?

During last summer, the National Park Authority appealed to dog owners to dispose of their dogs’ mess in a responsible manner and some improvement were been made following the appeal.  However, the concern persists and the main problem areas are to be found in the most populous places - from Llyn Tegid, Traeth Benar and Llyn Mair in the southern area of the Park to Cwm Idwal, Pen y Pass, Abergwyngregyn Woods and Sychnant in the north.

The National Park's Head of Wardens and Access, Mair Huws, said "We want people to enjoy themselves when they come to walk. But seeing and smelling dog mess affects people's enjoyment of the area, and creates an unpleasant experience for everyone. Not only that, but the mess can cause serious infections such as toxocariasis and can cause damage to the environment as well.

Unfortunately, it is not uncommon to see dog owners allowing their animals to foul and then do nothing about it. Our hope, in introducing these bags, is that owners use them to clear the mess and then dispose the bags in a responsible manner. "


Failure to dispose of dog waste increases the risk of causing serious infection, especially among young children between the ages of 18 months and 5 years through the disease toxocariasis, which can lead to nausea, asthma and in severe cases, eye disorder that can lead to blindness.  The most common form is to catch the disease through hand contact but also through the soles of shoes and other objects such as bicycle wheels.  The eggs of the toxacora parasite can be found in soil or sand that’s contaminated with dog faeces.


The little blue bags, which are biodegradable and odourless, are available from the National Park Warden Offices at Pen y Pass, Betws y Coed, Penrhyndeudraeth, Dolgellau and Llyn Tegid, Bala. They are also available from the Authority's Tourist Information Centres in Betws y Coed, Beddgelert, Harlech, Dolgellau and Aberdyfi. Some are also available at Plas Tan y Bwlch in Maentwrog and the Authority’s Headquarters in Penrhyndeudraeth.

Podcast Edition 007 - Show Notes

listen to ‘Edition 007 - Tanya Oliver's Ashdown Walk, National Park Week, Flying over the Peaks and Christopher Somerville’ on Audioboo

Edition 7 of the Walks Around Britain podcast features a walk around Ashdown Forest in Sussex with Tanya Oliver and a look at National Parks Week. Andrew takes a flight over the Dark Peak reservoirs with Central Helicopters and walking writer Christopher Somerville tell us about his latest walks and his new book.

Ashdown Forest

Ashdown Forest - photo (c) Ashdown Forest

The walk through Ashdown Forest gives us a great taste of the rich walking available in the county of Sussex.

The Forest was originally a deer hunting forest in Norman times, Ashdown Forest is now the largest free public access space in the South East. It is a great place for walking and enjoying spectacular views over the Sussex countryside and is known the world over as the 'home' of Winnie-the-Pooh.

To find out more, visit the Ashdown Forest website here, and Visit Sussex has more information about walking in the county.  You can find Tanya Oliver's blog here and also follow her on Twitter.


National Park Week

This year's National Parks Week is a celebration of our beautiful winning landscapes which have inspired mountaineers, sailors, cyclists, runners and Olympic athletes to aim higher and train harder - sometimes to record-breaking effect.  And there's many events to interest both children and adults across the 15 National Parks in Britain.

To find out more information, visit the National Parks portal here.

Central Helicopters

Andrew took a flight with the team from Central Helicopters from Owler Bar just outside Sheffield, over the moors of the Dark Peaks to the 3 reservoirs of Ladybower, Derwent and Howden.


The footage Andrew shot will be including in several walking videos we're making about walks around the Dark Peak area of the Peak District.

The shot on the left is from our forthcoming walking video around part of the Ladybower Reservoir with Andrew's dog Merlin - which will be exclusively available on the Bob Martin website and Facebook page.

To find out more about Central Helicopters' range of pleasure flights, visit their website.


Christopher Somerville

Christopher is one of Britain's most prolific walking writers, with a weekly column in The Times newspaper and a collection of over 40 walking and travel books to his name.

August sees another book added to that tally - "Walks in the Country Near London" features 25 walks within 1 hours train ride from the centre of London.

It is available from Amazon here.