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Kite-flying on the Heath; constructing stone castles and discovering the curious world of crabs
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X marks the spot for adventure
Where to go and what to pack? Two north London mums have it all planned out in a guide to summer outings, writes Gerald Isaaman
Adventure Walks for Families.
By Becky Jones and Clare Lewis. Frances Lincoln £8.99 click here to buy
HOW do you stop your kids becoming couch potatoes, stuck on the sofa watching the telly or glued to their PlayStation?
And how do you get them to love the great outdoors and learn about nature, be able to identify bugs, birds and wild plants, learn how to whittle a stick, build a shelter, make a catapult – and have real fun doing it?
Two Islington mothers, who met six years ago at the pre-school gates, have produced a wizard answer in a handy little book – you just pop it into your pocket and roar off to the country, by car of course, to sample some 25 exciting adventure walks.
All the walks are within two hours or so of London, and all have a fascinating story to tell.
Some are about famous people like Jane Austen, Charles Darwin and John Constable, or fictional creations such as Winnie the Pooh and Chitty, Chitty Bang Bang plus the romantic white horses carved into the hills of The Ridgeway, where you can go in search of St George and the Dragon.
Equally enthralling is that each walk is packed with ideas ranging from rainy-day options and songs to sing to what to listen to en route and foraging for food.
The two mums each have three children, and they know the problems faced by families trapped in an urban setting.
“So many parents want to do things with their kids that don’t cost lots of money like going to Leggoland,” explains Becky Jones, who has co-authored the book with Clare Lewis.
“We want our children to learn how to play, get muddy, run wild and climb hills. And the best thing about our book is that all the walks are free and can provide a wonderful picnic day out for the family. They’re healthy too.
“And they can end up with surprising things to do, like enjoying fish and chips on the beach after a visit to the ruins of Hadleigh Castle, high above the wild marshes of Canvey Island where Tudor queens once lived.”
Becky, once a TV arts and science producer, who lives in Huntingdon Street in Barnsbury, and Clare, a former Times and magazine journalist from Northampton Park, set out to create their mini adventures a year ago, after spending time researching guide books and the internet.
They tried and tested each walk on their own children and ended up rejecting many – especially those their youngsters deemed boring – before bringing the final selection together in an inspiring book, animated with delightful maps, pictures and drawings, along with the arcane secrets of semaphore signals, instructions for making a bow and arrow and how to fish for crabs with bacon as bait.
Inside London, there’s a trip to Pudding Lane where the Great Fire began in 1666, and you can find the once famous prison known as The Clink and go mudlarking on the Thames.
Another suggests you go see the Changing of the Guard and, naturally, to fly a kite on Hampstead Heath. (The only error I noticed was that it was Shelley, not HG Wells, who sailed his paper boats on the Vale of Health pond.)
Beyond the metropolis, you can enjoy walking with raptors on Christmas Common, Oxfordshire, discover the haunts of Richard Adams’ rabbits Hazel, Fiver and Bigwig on Watership Down, or walk up the estuary of the River Orwell to Pin Mill, the setting for some of the Swallows and Amazons thrilling adventures of Arthur Ransome.
Information as to what to stuff into your Essential Walking Pack is also provided for your rambles, together with a recipe for Scroggin, a high energy snack from New Zealand.
Virtually all the vital information required is on hand but you – and your children – have to produce the natural enthusiasm and determination needed to make each adventure walk a success and not a plod, no matter whether it snows or rains in the summer holidays ahead.
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