Gilly Pickup shares her top destinations for immersing yourself in nature.
ENCOMPASSING Areas of Natural Beauty, World Heritage Sites, vast tracts of moorland and far-flung islands, it is fortunate there are still plenty of corners in our crowded country that are off the beaten track.
These are becoming fewer and further between, but you can still find a true wilderness if you know where to look.
The tracts of wild, bleak Dartmoor are a landscape of heaths, woodland and blanket bog.
Its other-worldly mystique is enhanced by a wealth of Bronze Age features.
At the other end of the country, Foula, one of the Shetland Islands, is the UK’s most remote inhabited island.
Also in Scotland, the Knoydart peninsula on the west coast is accessible only by a 15-mile hike across serious walking territory or by boat from Mallaig to Inverie.
To the south is Loch Nevis – the “Loch of Heaven” – and to the north, Loch Hourn – the “Loch of Hell”.
In its midst are four majestic Munros, Scottish mountains over 3,000 feet.
Bryher is a mere 1.2 miles long and half a mile wide, lying around 30 miles off the Cornish coast.
It’s whacked by the Atlantic sea on one side, with calm beaches on the other.
Exploring Britain’s most far-flung outposts is well worth the effort.
Just don’t forget your compass!
Lizard, Cornwall
Out of the way and scenically dramatic, the Lizard peninsula is the most southerly part of the British mainland.
Almost an island but hemmed in on three sides by the sea, it offers dramatic cliff walks and Sites of Special Scientific Interest. The National Coastal Path gives access to hundreds of miles of walks, many overlooking inaccessible beaches.
Marconi’s historic wireless experiments are celebrated at the Marconi Centre at Poldhu and at the Lizard Wireless Station, restored by the National Trust.
North Pennines
Expect epic spaces peppered with herb-strewn meadows in this designated Area of Natural Beauty. Once a mining centre, traces of abandoned lead mines can still be seen.
The circular walk “Isaac’s Tea Trail” is named after 19th-century miner, Methodist preacher and tea seller Isaac Holden.
Cambrian Mountains, Wales
Raw, natural beauty defines this region. It is the source of several rivers, including the Wye and Severn.
Sheep graze on uninhabited uplands, while in the valleys deciduous woodlands dating back to the Middle A
