#643: The Path More Travelled

A cross posting from my Geo Library blog project - what do you mean you haven't visited? There's over 700 books that would be of interest to geographers.

'Absorbing and exhilarating . . . This book will literally expand your horizons' MICHAEL PALIN
'A panoptic, deeply researched and compelling history of our nation' PATRICK BARKHAM

This was the book I finished at the beginning of the summer break.

It's a chunky tome from Nicholas Crane which sits alongside his earlier book on the making of the landscape of Britain.

It explores the origin of the paths and tracks that run through England, from their first makings as the landscape was populated with the first arrivals. 

The paths firmed up with foot traffic and created a network of paths connecting settlements as they developed. Horses expanded the network, and trade turned them into roads. They were joined by trains and canals and then the car changed everything.

It's scholarly and accessible and full of incident and detail, taking you through the thickets of ancient woodland and out to the development of motorways and the current issues we face travelling through the countryside, including past struggles to gain access to open access land.

Details from the publisher:

In The Path More Travelled, acclaimed geographer and travel writer Nicholas Crane explores the hidden history of Britain's coast-to-coast web of footpaths, from the icy Cairngorms to the banks of the Severn (where he discovers footprints left over 7,000 years ago). 

Witty, wide-ranging and passionate, this is an enchanting call to rediscover and protect the lifeblood of our landscapes.

My copy was published by W&N in 2026

Hardback, 432pp

ISBN:  978-1399605816

If you want to hear more about the book, Nicholas Crane is doing a series of events around the country, including a talk in King's Lynn at the Town Hall.

Your best option if you live in the East of England is to come along to our Christmas social event on Tuesday the 8th of December.

It will be hosted by Norwich School.

Nick will have a focus on the ancient footpaths of East Anglia as well, given the location of the talk, and the fact he was born in Cringleford - a few miles from where my daughter lives - and grew up in the area.

My ticket is booked, so I will see you there and may even help you get some sausage rolls and brownies once the talk is over. We usually have mulled wine on arrival as well...

#576: The path more travelled

 I'm currently reading Nicholas Crane's new book on the history of Britain's footpaths: how they came about originally following the drowning of Doggerland, and were then refined by successive waves of change: horses, the Roman invasion etc. It's a dense and scholarly work, with plenty of points of interest and relevance to geographers exploring the connections between people and the landscape.

He's taking his book on the road in a series of talks, with three confirmed so far. Here's the description for his talk at Stanford's book shop at the end of the month. He's also speaking in Exeter and Stamford.

Walking is a cornerstone of British identity and the most popular form of exercise in the UK. But how much do we know about the paths that we walk? What is their history? Why do they follow the routes that they do? Are they permanent? Can we designate more of them?​

The Path More Travelled is a coast-to-coast history of footpaths from the stone age paths walked by migrants 12,000 years to the industrial revolution and the birth of map and walking apps – from beloved writer and broadcaster Nicholas Crane.​

In The Path More Travelled, acclaimed geographer and writer Nicholas Crane explores this coast-to-coast web that is both ancient and futuristic. Starting with the stone age paths walked by European migrants 12,000 years ago, he traces their development - from early pilgrim paths and coffin tracks, through to the industrial revolution and the birth of the bicycle and car, sat-nav and walking apps. We discover how land-grabbing Norman barons set a precedent for the enclosure of our countryside, and how out of the ashes of World War Two came our beloved national parks. 

Along the way, Crane takes the reader on some of his most memorable walks, including the Hadrian's Wall Path, the outer reaches of the Cairngorms, and the banks of the Severn where he discovers footprints from over 7,000 years ago.​
​
From one of our most beloved travel writers, The Path More Travelled is a passionate ode to footpaths and a call to rediscover this most fundamental part of our landscape.

Book a ticket here.

#115: Unequal access to the countryside

My local news magazine programme featured this report last week, which was also in the Guardian newspaper in a piece written by Patrick Barkham (who will feature a number of times on this blog)

It reports on work by The Ramblers to explore the variations in access to the countryside.

It seems that there is substantial variation in access to the countryside which varies in areas with greater ethnicity or lower income levels.

The path network adds over 3,000 healthy years of life to the nation, worth an estimated £2 billion – more than £33 for every person in England and Wales. That’s the cost of 8.5 million ambulance call outs or 10 million outpatient procedures.

But our access to paths is not equal. There is significant imbalance between the number of paths available to the most and least deprived communities. And the health and wellbeing impact of this inequality is stark.

Our path network has the potential to help transform Britain’s declining health and wellbeing, but right now the benefits are primarily being felt by the old, the wealthy, the healthy and the white.

Residents of the wealthiest areas in England and Wales have 80% more paths in their local area than the residents of the most deprived areas.

The most white-dominated areas have 144% more local paths than the most ethnically diverse.

Where health is the worst, the number of paths is the lowest.

Doubling the average length of paths in a neighbourhood would result in an additional annual 78.5 million walks in nature across England and Wales. And help harness the potential of our path network to transform Britain’s health.

This is also a reminder that all the resources that are going to be used to teach the GCSE Natural History also need to reflect the diversity of the UK: its landscape, communities, people and cultures.