SMART TRAVELLER


NEW ROUTES


WALK THIS WAY


Slow Ways is poised to get Brits discovering the country in a new way. We talk to founder Daniel Raven-Ellison about the ambitious new initiative


Tell us about Slow Ways Our islands are rich with paths, but they haven’t been pulled together into a single network that clearly shows people how they can get between places on foot. Slow Ways aims to create a web of walking routes connecting all of Great Britain’s towns and cities, as well as thousands of villages. Most of the project has been completed in lockdown, with 700 volunteers draſting 7,000 Slow Ways routes that collectively stretch for over 62,000 miles. That’s the equivalent of two-and-a-half laps of the equator.


What inspired the project? I’ve walked around Great Britain a lot, and I’ve noticed things that could be done to support people walking more. For example, rural walks that start and finish in the countryside can feel inaccessible. However, as Slow Ways’ routes oſten start and finish in urban areas, where there’s a greater choice of restaurants and accommodation, the project will hopefully encourage more people to go hiking.


Could this be an alternative to taking transport? Many of us are used to walking a few miles for the sheer pleasure of it. I think Slow Ways will help to remind and inspire us to make walks of that kind of length to see friends, family or for work. Slowing down can be so good for us. If we all walked more, it would be good for our health and the environment and would give us more time together — and it could potentially save us money, too.


What’s next, and how do people get involved as volunteers? Now that we’ve draſted the network, the next challenge is to get outside, to explore and test it. All going well, I hope we’ll be putting out a call to recruit 10,000 volunteers from across Great Britain to help with that at the end of this summer. To volunteer, and to get involved, people should sign up for the newsletter on my website. INTERVIEW: AMELIA DUGGAN


DANIEL RAVEN-ELLISON


is a National Geographic Emerging Explorer and the founder of Slow Ways.


ravenellison.com


CITIZEN SCIENCE: THREE PROJECTS TO GET YOU OUTSIDE


BIG SEAWEED SEARCH Strolling along the British shoreline? Download the contributors’ guide from the Natural History Museum’s website and submit photos to help scientists monitor the effects on environmental change of Britain’s sealife. nhm.ac.uk


GARDEN BIRDWATCH Learn about the birds in your garden and contribute to an ongoing scientific study by logging your avian sightings with the British Trust for Ornithology. Now in its 25th year, the scheme relies on the public to better understand the importance of garden habitats. bto.org


ISPY A HEDGEHOG The Wildlife Trusts runs a number of regional surveys, but its two hedgehog-spotting programmes — for Cumbria and Wiltshire — are particularly worthy as numbers have fallen 30% in the past decade. Report your sightings at wildlifetrusts.org/citizen-science


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IMAGE: GETTY


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