Get your heart thumping
CORNWALL
It might be a bit chillier than
Bondi, but if you want to learn to
surf in Britain, the best place to
do it is the string of beaches
around Newquay (pictured
right), on the north coast of
Cornwall, which receive some
of the UK’s most reliable swells.
Fistral is the prima donna of the
town’s surfing beaches, and
there are lots more, including
Lusty Glaze, Watergate Bay,
Mawgan Porth, Crantock and
Holywell Bay. Don’t even think
about trying it without a wetsuit.
F Newquay has good bus,
train and air connections.
Numerous surf schools offer
lessons for novices, as well
as skills and tuning sessions for
more established surfers
(visitcornwall.com). The Escape
Surf School in Newquay offers
half-day (two-hour) lessons (£35;
escapesurfschool.co.uk).
MID-WALES
How do we love the Brecon
Beacons? Let us count the ways...
Whether it’s the gold-green
moorlands, illuminated by
a sudden shaft of light between
scudding clouds, the startling
screech of a red kite as you crest
a fin-shaped peak, or finding a
cosy, timber-beamed pub with
local ales on tap at the end of
that drizzle-soaked walk, there’s
no denying the stark allure of this
520-square-mile national park.
Hikers, climbers, kayakers,
cavers, cyclists, stargazers and
lovers of solitude will all be in
their element here. The best way
to explore the park’s sheer-sided
heights and heather-clad
mountains, which bear the scars
of glacial erosion, is to get out
and stride. If you don’t have time
for the 99-mile Beacons Way,
opt for a day hike. One option is
the 10-mile horseshoe ridge trail,
ticking off the four peaks of Corn
and Crickhowell in the south,
Talgarth in the west and
Hay-on-Wye in the north) are
as close as most people get to
this formidable England-Wales
frontier. Some might make it
out to Wales’ oldest pub, the
Skirrid Mountain Inn, or to
Llanthony Priory, with its lonely
tavern secreted nearby. Some
may even climb one of the
mountains’ better-known peaks,
such as Sugar Loaf at the
southern end of the range.
But to really acquaint yourself
with this rugged ridge you have
to hike the length of it, from
Abergavenny to Hay-on-Wye:
25-odd miles of savagely
beautiful tramping on the roof
of Britain, with a different
country to either side, and an
exposed brown plateau
descending into a luxuriant
palette of valley greens all
around. Bisected by trails from
the Offa’s Dyke path to the
Beacons Way and the Marches
Way, this is terrain to leave
everyone from fairweather hikers
to serious hillwalkers dewy-eyed.
F South to north, the range
roughly follows the Offa’s Dyke
Path, from the village of Pandy
near Abergavenny to Hay-on-
Wye (nationaltrail.co.uk/
offas-dyke-path).CUMBRIA
A forest of nine and a half miles,
straddling the hills between
Coniston Water and Esthwaite
Water, Grizedale’s carpet of
conifers is home to walking and
cycling trails. This is a modern
edition of an ancient forest,
replanted over the past hundred
years or so, after major
deforestation in the 19th century
due to logging and mining.
Still, as you walk or bike your
way through the trees, it feels
as though you’re following
well-worn tracks through a dale
whose Old Norse name meansDu, Pen y Fan (the highest at
886m), Cribyn and Fan y Big.
Return by night for the telescope-
twitching magic of glimpsing the
Milky Way in the unpolluted
skies of this Dark Sky Reserve.
F Abergavenny, on the park’s
eastern edge, has frequent trains
to London. The A40 is the national
park’s main artery
(breconbeacons.org).HAMPSHIRE
Two important facts about the
New Forest: one, it’s not new
(it was established as a royal
hunting reserve in 1079); and
two, it’s not a forest – more like
an open heath dotted with trees
and copses. But that doesn’t
mean the New Forest isn’t worth
visiting. A national park since
2005, it’s a bewitching place.
With a largely flat landscape
and a 100-mile network of
signposted trails, it’s ideal for
exploring by bike; hire the right
one for you from a wide
selection in Brockenhurst or at
the New Forest Centre in
Lymington and as you pedal
between sleepy, traditional
villages such as Brockenhurst,
Burley, Beaulieu and Lymington,
keep your eyes peeled for wild
deer and ponies wandering
through the foliage, not to
mention all manner of birdlife.
F The New Forest’s gateway is
Brockenhurst, which has a railway
station with connections to London
via Winchester. Bicycles can be
hired in Beaulieu (newforest
activities.co.uk), Brockenhurst
(cyclex.co.uk), Burley (forestleisure
cycling.co.uk), and Fordingbridge
(Hockey’s Bike Hire, 01425
652542; and Sandy Balls
Holiday Village, 01442 508850).MONMOUTHSHIRE
The famously charming towns
and villages along the Black
Mountains’ base (Abergavenny’valley with pigs’. The nine
walking trails and seven cycling
tracks cater to different levels of
expertise; all of them offer
encounters with more than 40
outdoor sculptures designed
and created by a series of
international artists.
F Grizedale Mountain Bikes rents
out bikes and supplies trail maps;
for more information visit the
Forestry England website
(forestryengland.uk).NOTTINGHAMSHIRE
Sherwood Forest, as we all
know, was Robin Hood’s
stomping ground, and if ever you
want to emulate the outlaw andMountain heights and forest depths, city parks and surf-tossed beaches
- Britain’s varied landscapes reveal themselves most abundantly to
those who are ready to raise their adrenaline