Field Notes

maps · rivers · long walks
Note · 14 August

Reading a river from its bends

A meandering river tells you its age. Tight, regular loops mean an old channel on a shallow gradient, where the water has had centuries to wander sideways instead of down. Straight reaches usually mean someone dug them. Once you know this, half the lowland maps in Europe start reading like history books rather than geography.

Note · 2 July

Contour intervals lie to you

Two maps of the same hill at different intervals produce completely different impressions of steepness. Always check the legend before believing a slope looks gentle.

Note · 19 May

The forty-minute rule

Any walk under forty minutes is transport. Past that, something in the pacing changes and it becomes thinking time. I have no evidence for this beyond a decade of anecdote.

Log

Recent routes

  • Ridge track, north loop18.4 km
  • Canal towpath to the locks11.0 km
  • Old quarry and back7.2 km
  • Coastal path, southern half23.6 km