Michael Tilley

This is a circular tour, starting and finishing near Priory Farm, Langstone. The start of the hike here is not easy to spot. It is to the right of, and, down from the large white farm building. There is a very small yellow arrow on a rounded and I think a small sign saying dogs must be one a lead. Once you've found the path, it is quite straightforward, though there are one or two fallen trees to provide a challenge. Eventually it comes to a T-junction where you turn right to reach the seventh hole of one of the Golf courses at the Celtic Manor. From there you can see a white building and the exit from the golf course on to Catsash Road is here. It is about half a mile's walk along the road before you can turn off right. There is a surprising amount of traffic along this road and I didn't enjoy walking along here. The route then went around a lake and followed some paths of another Celtic Manor golf course. You have to look out for a wooden post with a yellow top for this indicates where you will soon enter the wood. The entrance is marked, but the path through the wood is not that easy to negotiate, since there are brambles both on the ground and at head height. I guess it doesn't get used too much. My going here was really slow. Eventually I came to a road where I turned right and then immediately left along Uskvale. The route crosses a field and then a small beck where there are stones to help with the crossing. It is then upward through the wood and I found this the nicest part of the tour. The path crosses a field to reach a cemetery and then goes over a bridge spanning the M4 motorway. At Christchurch, I got a bit lost trying to find the footpath. It was just a short way down the road and on the right. It led downhill and crossed the motorway on a bridge. In the housing estate, the route continues to reach the Chepstow Road by a series of alleys. After Chepstow Road, it is a matter of taking sufficient caution to negotiate the Coldra Roundabout, though there are pedestrian crossings to help you. I was very disappointed with the tour: there is nothing much to see, part of the route is difficult to traverse with the overgrown vegetation and finally it ends with a boring walk along Chepstow Road: not to be recommended!

This is a circular tour of West Newport, with an emphasis on the Sirhowy Valley Trail. I started and finished at the bus station. There is a lot of walking along pavements on this tour. I started by making my way from the bus station to Commercial Street, where I wanted to see the Chartist Commemerotive Sculpture. After viewing it, I walked towards the station and crossed the footbridge overthe railway tracks to make my way up to Allt-yr-yn Nature Reserve. The path in the woods gently drops down to the Brecon Canal. This Canal is a sorry site nowadays as it has lost its water and has been thoroughly abandoned. It would be quite relaxing walking along the towpath here, were it not for sounds of traffic on the M4 motorway, which here is running parallel to the Canal, At on old bridge, I turned left and climbed the slope of a field. An unexpected diversion made my change my route, but it was only a very minor detour. I was already on the Sirhowy Valley Trail and to continue it to greener areas required walking through some more roads. Walking on the tarmac path, which skirted an ancient hill fort was very pleasant. Unfortunately it came to an end and I had to walk along roads until I came to the next green space of Belle Vue Park, which is set on a hill and has an old-fashioned bandstand. After the park, I came to Newport Cathedral, which unfortunately was closed. I then continued down Stow Hill towards the bus station, noticing the markers set in the pavement recognising the struggle for Universal Suffrage. There was one stile, and a high one at that, on the route. I think this is a reasonable tour to find some green space in West Newport.

This is a linear tour from Sowerby Bridge to Halifax. There are several buses that run between Halifax and Sowerby Bridge: I caught the #586. The tour actually begins at the Canal Basin in Sowerby Bridge, but I missed the stop and so had to walk back to the start of the tour. At the road leading to the Canal Basin there is a statue of a man and boy pushing on a lock-gate, The tour initially starts on the north bank of the canal, but later crosses to the south bank. I found that I had inadvertently paused my SatNav and had merrily followed the canal omitting to turn off it. Fortunately, I was able to rectify my mistake without too much backtracking. This involved walking along Hollas Lane, under the railway bridge and then up Hollas Lane on the other side of the bridge. It was a climb up the lane. Almost at the top of the lane, there is a turn off to the left through some woods, which is a bit of a shortcut to reach Pickwood Lane. From the lane you can look back to the Wainhouse Tower in Halifax and also see the Copley Railway Viaduct in the valley. Pickwood Lane becomes Dry House Lane which soon turns into a track. I had planned to turn off to the left to go down through the woods and cross a small beck; apparently, there are some small waterfalls here. However, I decided that the track down was too steep for me and was fortunately able to continue up Dry House Lane to its end where I turned left and was able to pick up a track that ran at the edge of North Dean Wood at the top of the valley. Eventually, I turned right to go along the narrow path of Collin Moor Lane, which led me to a housing estate and down to Stainland Road, which leads into Halifax. Just after a big roundabout I was able to leave the noise of the traffic behind as I took a path to follow the route of the canal, joining it at Salterhebble Lock. After this, the path follows Hebble Brook and is known as the Hebble Trail. Along the trail are a few places where you can exercise since they are provided with some basic machines. At Sedburgh Road, I had to abandon the trail as it was simply too muddy and I had a schedule to meet, so I followed the road to Church Street, where I could see the spire of the Square Church. I was then able to continue to the bus station passing through the Piece Hall. This tour provided a good deal of variety from city streets to canal paths and simple earth footpaths. I only encountered one muddy stretch the whole way. The climb up Hollas Lane provides good exercise. Along the route are three plank stiles that are quite high and they need to be treated with respect.

This is a circular tour to the south-east of Dalby Forest. I parked near Givendale Head Farm, having driven up the single-track road from Ebberston; there are passing-places on this road. There is a large parking area on the left before the farm and the tour starts there. In fact, there is a farm track and I started walking along it until I came to a notice saying "Private". I discovered the path I needed is adjacent to this track and is clearly signposted. I walked along this narrow path in the grass that later became a hard-core path and reached the road coming up from Stainton, where I turned left. I followed the road downhill, going past a road off to the right at the bottom of the hill and continued on past Keeper's Cottage. The road dropped down a bit more, went past another building on the right and became a Bridleway. There was a sign advising of Exmoor ponies, but I was not lucky enough to see any. The track then climbed up around Broad Head to reach Broad Head Farm. After the farm, the bridleway goes straight with a track going off to the left. The path I wanted was just after this track. It was signposted and led downhill through gorse bushes. (Later in the year, bracken will be growing over the path.) There was a signpost where the descent finished and I went in the direction of the sign, following what I took to be tracks of previous hikers, although the path was not totally clear. After 100 feet or so, my GPS told me I was not on the correct path. I retraced my steps and walked more towards the wood, though I did not seem to be following any obvious path. I was obviously on the correct way since I found footbridge that I needed to cross a small beck. The path skirted the edge of a wood and brought me to an open field, which I crossed going in the direction of High Scamridge. The path skirted the farm and crossed another open field to bring me to where I had parked the car. The only stile on the tour is here. Although December has been a wet month to date, there were no muddy stretches on the tour. Generally, navigation was straightforward, but finding the bridge over the beck is not as easy as it could be. It might be better to do the tour clockwise to have a better chance of finding the bridge. Another benefit would be that the tour would then end walking on a flat path.

This is a circular tour to visit the most important tourist sites in Winchester. I started and finished recording at the bus station in the city, which is at the bottom of the High Street. Opposite the bus station is the Town Hall, with its imposing tower; inside the building is the Tourist Information Office. To the south of the building is a small park, with free toilets. I walked down towards the bridge, but turned left just before the bridge to follow the river Itchen. Opposite the bridge is an old mill that is in the care of the National Trust. I branched off the Itchen Way in order to visit Wolvesey castle. This was a former Bishop's palace, but today only ruins remain. I walked back to College Walk, turned right and left to walk on a path beside a small stream. Whe I reached a road bridge I turned right and then right again to walk towards Winchester College. Past the College I went through Kingsgate, turned right and through Prior Gate to reach the grounds of the cathedral, where a Christmas market was in progress. I made a mistake at St Cross Road, so I had to retrace my footsteps to reach Peninsula Square, where there is a very attractive fountain. At the top of the High Street is an attractive Gate House building that houses a museum today. Down the High Street I passed a statue of Horse and Rider by the sculptor Elisabeth Frink. Just past the Butter Cross I turned right and passed another museum heading towards the cathedral. I walked down Market Street and at the end turned right to walk down the High Street to the bus station.

This is a circular tour in the south-eastern part of Dalby Forest. I reached the parking place from Ebberston and parked south of Givendale Head Farm, where the space would allow about six cars to be parked. I later found that there was space for one car to park just where the forest begins. You can make a hike here as long or as short as you like, provided you have an Ordnance Survey map that shows all the paths in the forest. Some of the paths are intended for mountain biking. The paths I used were all hard-core and easy to hike. When I was there it was the annual 10km run for Help The Heroes. I think it's run on the Sunday nearest November 11. I think Dalby Forest provides good hiking in winter months with paths that are not too muddy and are easy to negotiate. However, apart from the trees, there is not a lot to see.

This is a linear tour from the northern end of Cleopatra beach in Alanya to the Ataturk monument Alanya. I started near the bus station and made my way slowly along the promenade with Cleopatra Beach all the time on my right. At the end of the promenade I took Sultan Alaadin Caddesi uphill and then climbed steps to reach Malimiar Sokak where I turned left and then immediately left up Bekariar Sokak. At a crossroads, I turned left and followed the road until it became a track, which passed under the cable car and gave access to views up the coast, inland to the mountains and then to the castle. From here I went back to the road and eventually descended the cobbled Kirazlar Sokak. At the end, I turned left and used steps to reach Rihtim Caddesi, which led me past many pleasure boats at anchor to the Ataturk monument, where I finished my tour. The views on the headland are what make this tour worthwhile. There are also remains of old fortifications. The whole area is ostensibly a national monument, but since it was only of Greek or Roman origin you can wander freely here.

This is an out-and-back tour from Kargicak to the ruins of ancient Syedra. I reached Karikak from Alanya using the local bus and going to the end of its route. From here, I had to walk back along the road until I reached the starting point I had planned. From here the route climbed up the hill and several more others, along a tarmac road and passing small banana plantations as I went. After climbing a road, whose surface was block-paved I turned right on a dirt path close to an empty apartment block that was being completed. I was now at the start of a pine forest and walking along the wide forest paths here was far better than the roads. There was still more climbing to be done, but I had completed the bulk of the climbing by the apartment block. After a rise, I turned left on a ridge to join a dirt track, which I followed until it bent round to the right. I had difficulty finding the footpath here. There is a metal upright in the ground and climbing around a bit to the left of it, I was able to find the path. It's an earthen path and once you are on it, it is easy to follow. Eventually, it brought me to a road leading to the site, but before then I had had glimpses of people on the hill above me. I followed the road a short distance to uphill and then turned left to enter the site at a car park. I walked all around the site before stopping recording at the signpost for the site. It is a huge site and is still being worked on. I think you can easily spend an hour here. More by luck than judgment, I found I had made a circular tour of it.

This is a circular tour in the hills behind Alanya. Its purpose was to visit St. George's chapel. I started recording and finished recording at the Otogar in Alanya. To avoid my problems in crossing a major road with a fence in the middle, turn left after walking through the Otogar and then take the first road on the right; there is a supermarket on the corner. Walk up the road, which rises gradually. At the top there's an underpass on the left, opposite a Shell garage. Once you've crossed this major road with the underpass, turn right and then take the first road on the left. Climb up this road, at the end turn left and then take the first road on the right. From there you can follow my recorded track. You start climbing and climbing, and do some more climbing and don't really stop until you reach St. George's chapel. On the way I passed the remains of what I think was a chapel, though only some walls are still standing. From the chapel the route is downhill and leads you back to the Otogar. The terrain is either tarmac or dirt road, so there should be no problems going up or down, though going anti-clockwise as I did has some steeper ascents. There are superb views over the hills behind Alanya and in the other direction looking out to sea. St. George's chapel itself disappointed me somewhat, though it is a nice place to relax after all the climbing. This tour is going to burn off the calories and get the thigh muscles working. There is no shade, so take a hat, if necessary, along with water and suncream.

This is a circular tour of the promontory at Alanya. I started recording and finished recording at the photographic display of old Alanya. First, I looked at the Red Tower (admission fee) and then walked on to the old shipyard (entrance fee). From there, I retraced my footsteps back to the Red Tower and started making my way uphill to the citadel. The cobbles or stones along this path can be slippery and need to be treated with care. I reached a point where there were wooden steps and at the top of these steps I turned left following the route I had plotted. This was a mistake as that path really led nowhere that I wanted to go. Eventually I abandoned it, retraced my footsteps and turned right at the top of the wooden steps. I was then able to find a signposted route to the citadel. There are many remains in the citadel and I found my way to the castle. However, entry was 12 euro and they wanted it in cash in Turkish Lira, so I didn't bother. Entry to the Suleyman mosque was free, so all I had to do was take my boots off. Following paths I came to the top of the cable car and then took the path to the right of it down the hill. Again caution is needed negotiating the cobbles and stones of the path. Eventually, it reached a road where I was able to increase my speed. Finally, I reached level ground and made my way back to where I had started. There are fantastic views to be had along this route. You could well spend more time than I did here checking out the various paths. However, it is worth saying that not all the remains are worth photographing.