Author: Rob Ainsley

I cycled the handful of miles from Holy Island to Berwick, with its characteristic rust-coloured ancient bridge over the Tweed (picture), at dawn. The ancient walled city changed hands over a dozen times between England and Scotland over the last few centuries, presumably as both sides were trying to get rid of it. I didn’t…

The riverside campsite in Haydon Bridge (picture) had been the best of the trip so far. I just had to remember not to step too far out the tent when going for a wee in the night. I spent the next eight hours hacking northwest through lumpy and muddy bits of Northumberland. The whole county…

I like Kendal. Every time I pass through I see something interesting I hadn’t seen before. And I don’t mean on the Wetherspoons menu. I mean things such as this signpost (picture) in the Market Square pointing to both Scafell Pike and Everest, for climbers who have limbered up in the Lakes and fancy something…

After a convivial night with Si, Sue and company, in which certain single malts may have been involved, I took the morning train back to Warrington Bank Quay to pick up the pieces. Er, I mean, from where I left off last night. Warrington Bank Quay (picture) is one of only two UK stations to…

The name ‘Ironbridge‘ means, literally, ‘iron bridge’, and is named for an iron bridge (picture), which is a bridge made of iron, the world’s first. It was bashed up in 1779 by Abraham Darby, son of Abraham Darby, and grandson of Abraham Darby. They didn’t have a way with words: the Industrial Revolution was born…

What could be more English – on an English End to End – than a visit to Worcester (picture), home of the quintessential English composer, Edward Elgar? Well, lots of things I suppose, such as rail replacement buses or bad kebabs, but this scored very highly on the English scale. Elgar was, of course, a…

Another long and lovely day of cycling across England’s patchwork nation. Up the pleasant canal towpath from Taunton to Bridgwater this morning (picture). The route – part of NCN3, Bristol to Land’s End – has a scale model of the planets, rather like York’s. This is the sun, as if dumped at Maunsel Locks by…

From Plymouth I went up the first bit of Sustrans’s lovely Devon Coast to Coast route. I did this with Nigel last July. It chucked it down with rain. This May morning it chucked it down too. I must come back to Plymouth in summer one day. If someone knows when the one summer day…

Heavy rain is no problem with decent waterproofs, which will keep you dry all day. Unfortunately I only have half-decent waterproofs, so I was only dry for the first half of today. It bucketed down with rain incessantly, so by one o’clock I was soaking wet. Still, I got the authentic Cornish experience – fishing-village…