The magic of WALKING & TALKING

What’s the most memorable conversation you’ve ever had on awalk?

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IT’S ONE OF walking’s greatest gifts – its ability to kindle conversation, unlock difficult subjects, foster unexpected encounters, and make us feel shoulder to shoulder solidarity with our fellow humans. As a 1000 miler you’ll probably have scope for a lot of conversation this year. We hope some of them are as meaningful, memorable or enjoyable as these ones...

Don’t talk to strangers? I’m glad I did!

‘In May 1988 I was solo-walking the West Highland Way. I’d reached Drymen after the first day and my next stop was to be the YHA at Rowardennan, on the banks of Loch Lomond. I hadn’t met a soul so far. It had rained the previous few days and some of the track through a forest was a bit muddy. After a while I noticed some fresh, small footprints in the mud and began to muse who they might belong to. Maybe a female, maybe 5ft 2in tall and so on. The prints came and went, and I felt comfort in knowing somewhere ahead I might meet their owner and we could possibly walk a bit of the Way together. But once I hit a road the prints were gone.

‘After lunch at Balmaha, the track turned off the road and into some woods. After a few metres it turned left, and there, sitting on a small moss-covered boulder was the owner of the small footprints – and she was 5ft 2in tall.

“Hello,” I said, “Are you walking the West Highland Way?” “Yes,” she replied. “Great,” I thought. She was very lovely. “Would you like a cup of tea and a muesli bar?” I asked. “Oh, yes please,” she said.

‘To cut a long story short, she was from New Zealand, we finished the walk together, she came to live with me in Norfolk for nine months. Then the day I was going to quit my job, I got made redundant – so I sold up everything, moved to NZ, bought a small farm, we married, put in a vineyard and olives, made and sold wine and olive oil, and raised two amazing sons. All because of a conversation one day on the banks of Loch Lomond, on May 4th 1988. So you can see what can happen when you talk to strangers!’

Grand plan hatched on the hoof

‘Dad loved walking and one day coming down Thorpe Cloud told me he’d love to visit every county top in the UK. Various ones we’d already walked before, but he was dreaming up a plan to visit the rest. Little did we know that this would be his last time in the Peak District. The following year he was diagno