Blogs

We were sad to hear of the hikers who were injured or killed by the Mount Ontake volcano. Our President Kate Ashbrook, who has visited Japan to talk about our path network, shares her thoughts on the role walking plays in Japanese culture.

80 years ago, people wanting to escape the city and climb mountains, or explore wild moorland risked threats, harassment, and even arrest. Now, all open country (mountains, moor, heath, down and common land) in England and Wales is open for us to roam freely. In Scotland, you can walk (and camp) almost anywhere.

With the referendum on Scottish independence imminent, we re-post an original blog from Ramblers Scotland campaigner Helen on the impacts a yes vote could have on walkers.

Dominic Bates tries his hand (and feet) at scrambling and wonders if this is the start of his transformation from jelly-legged to celebrated mountaineer...

Helen explains that in Scotland, unlike in England and Wales, there is simply no need to campaign for a complete coast path.

Mark Rowe on how he - or more accurately his wife and her lifelong cuddly penguin - survived an unexpected adventure in the Lake District.

To go into the outdoors is to challenge yourself and leave behind the trappings of your comfortable, daily routine. Helen's latest blog is on how to enjoy planned adventures and survuve unintended ones!

Moira Dobson, from the Dundee Ramblers, talks about her group's experience of taking part in an episode of the BBC series of 'Trust Me I'm a Doctor'.

Helen Todd wonders if mobilising walkers via social media is the best way to resolve access issues in Scotland. What do you think?

So here I am, roped, harnessed and helmeted, clinging on to a narrow, rocky, vertical ridge, which juts out like a 50-metre high shark’s fin from the mountain below. I’m inching along its spine, and I daren’t risk looking down at the sheer drops on either side...