What's so good about using paths?
England and Wales are a great places to go walking. Both offer an immense variety of landscapes and environments in a relatively small space. Without travelling far you can find rolling green hills, low flat fens, rugged mountains, dramatic chalk ridges, verdant river valleys, tranquil canalsides, parkland vistas, secluded woodlands, atmospheric alleyways and a coastline that ranges from vast golden sands to dramatic vertiginous clifftops. From the Thames Path through the centre of London to the remote wilderness of Snowdonia , there is something for everyone. And it's the intricate web of footpaths that bring all this and more within every walker's reach.
Regular physical activity is essential for good health, but most of us don't do enough of it. Guess what - walking is the nearest activity to perfect exercise. So forget about the gym get out walking our glorious footpaths. A brisk one-mile walk in 20 minutes burns around 100 calories - as much as swimming for 10 minutes, playing football for 12 minutes or doing aerobics for 16 minutes. And if you need any more persuading remember you can walk for free!
Walking is the most sustainable means of transport. It's the most natural mode of transport and the one that has the least impact on the environment. Walking need not require any special equipment, does not produce any additional polluting waste and the only fuel you will need is a healthy meal.
Many of our footpaths are hundreds of years old and they mostly came into being as a way to link one community to another. The path network developed to allow people to trade goods and services, attend church services and visit family and friends. You can do the self same things (and more) in the 21st century and you will be exercising a right that has also been enshrined in law for hundreds of years.
Why not experience the footpaths of England & Wales up close by taking part in the Use Your Paths Challenge?
Walking for recreation is enormously popular
- 77% of UK adults (about 38 million people) walk for pleasure at least once a month
- 62% of these walk more than 2 miles and say that walking is their main form of exercise
- 8% of all visits to towns, 27% of visits to the seaside/coast and 34% of all visits to the countryside include walking
- 65% of all visits to woods or forests are people going for a walk
