During 2011 we walked another extremely enjoyable leg of the South West Coast Path, from Falmouth to Plymouth, thereby completing the section of the path that goes round Cornwall. The photograph was taken in Mevagissey.
Later in the summer we rented a cottage near Harbottle in Northumberland. I spent each morning working (with no internet or mobile access, so nothing to disturb me - bliss!), sitting in the cottage's little conservatory admiring the wonderful scenery. Each afternoon we got out walking amongst the forementioned wonderful scenery. We used to live in the North East of England and have always loved Northumberland, but we didn't know this area well. Its beauty is a well kept secret - shhhh....
We've met up with several friends who we hadn't seen for 20-30 years and have combined visits to family members with short breaks to the Cotswolds (the photograph shows Arlington Row, Bibury) and the Isle of Wight.
For all that, my memory of 2011 is of a year spent exploring East Anglia, our own 'back yard'. Early in the year a funeral took us to Waldringfield (left) on the beautiful Deben Estuary and we visited many of our favourite spots (e.g. the North Norfolk Coast) and local stately homes (e.g. Oxburgh Hall) several times with a succession of visitors. I also went on a couple of OU geology fieldrips, to Walton-on-the-Naze and back to the North Norfolk Coast). However it was our adventures along the Angles Way (along the Norfolk/Suffolk border from Great Yarmouth to Knettishall Heath) and then along the Icknield Way Path (from Knettishall Heath to Ivinghoe Beacon) that brought the whole thing together. We have walked along paths that are quite close to home (for example, skirting Newmarket and Cambridge) and sometimes within a mile or two of built up areas not known for their attractiveness (e.g. Luton) but yet the routes have almost all been new to us and the countryside has been surprisingly unspoilt.
We have now completed a circuit of Norfolk (by way of the Peddars Way and Norfolk Coast Path, the Weavers' Way and the Angles Way), started to 'walk home' by way of the Angles Way link path, and progressed along the route of the ancient Icknield Way (which can be regarded as including the Peddars Way and the Ridgeway Path and a further extension to the south coast at Lyme Regis, as well as the 110 miles known as the 'Icknield Way Path' that we walked this year).
In the middle of the year, we tried a new experiment - staying overnight in a B&B but carrying our own stuff. This was a great success and, armed with two new (bigger!) rucksacks, we have now walked for up to four days (three nights) carrying our own luggage. We have always enjoyed walking long-distance paths, but doing so completely 'under our own steam' (especially because we live close enough to a station to allow us to do the whole thing by public transport) has added to the sense of achievement. We hope to do more of this sort of walking in 2012.