30 country walks within easy reach of London

The acclaimed Time Out Country Walks has been fully revised and updated. It features 52 walks within easy reach of London, all starting and ending at railway stations. They take you through glorious countryside, all on scenic footpaths with a minimum of road walking.The walks are graded by difficulty as well. Highlights along the way are reviewed as well. There are easy to use maps for each walks and cut-off suggestions if you want to shorten the walk. There are recommendations for the best pubs and cafes along the way. Full color photographs are included throughout the text.

This second volume of country walks contains 30 completely new walks in deep and beautiful countryside. The walks go through woods, along streams and through parks, always avoiding tarmac roads wherever possible. Each of them starts and ends at a railway station about an hour's journey from London, though car parking details are also given for those preferring to drive. The walks range from seven to thirteen miles in length - with several options for shortening given - and are graded for toughness. There are also highlighted features on particular sites of historical interest which occur on individual walks. Building on the huge success of the original book, and created by the walking club which grew out of it, these walks are guaranteed to breathe life into the most jaded Londoner, and to provide the perfect way to both escape the hurly-burly of city life and discover some of England's finest countryside.

The famous swimming Ladies of Hampstead ponds bring us their favourite walks with a dip in London and south east England, all accessible by train. Featuring secret lakes, river meadows and sandy seaside beaches, this is the perfect way to escape the city and leave the car at home this summer.

This guidebook details the Pilgrims' Way, an historic pilgrimage route to Canterbury Cathedral in Kent, home of the shrine of the martyred archbishop, St Thomas Becket. The route is described both from Winchester in Hampshire (138 miles) and London's Southwark Cathedral (90¼ miles), with an optional spur to Rochester Cathedral. With relatively easy walking on ancient byways, the route from Winchester is presented in 15 stages of 5-14 miles: it can be comfortably completed in under a fortnight. It follows a major chalk ridge through scenic countryside, taking in characterful towns and villages and historic churches. The route from Southwark is described in 10 stages and includes a visit to the ruined Lesnes Abbey. Detailed route description is accompanied by 1:50,000 OS mapping, advice on making the most of a trip and information on the historical background to the pilgrimage, key historical figures and local points of interest. Accommodation listings and details of facilities and transport links can be found in the appendices. Pilgrimages to Becket's shrine began within a few years of the his death in 1170, although Canterbury was a popular destination even before this time due to the nearby shrine of St Augustine. The route has featured in literature, drama and film, and forms the setting for Geoffrey Chaucer's famous Middle English work, The Canterbury Tales.