A 2-day circuit of the south Pennine moors and reservoirs around the Calderbrook valley north of Littleborough.

The outward eastern section traverses the flank of Clegg Moor to join the line of the old Roman road ascending to Blackstone Edge and descending an old packhorse trail to the Warland group of reservoirs. Good tracks and trails around the eastern edges and moors of this region give miles of very easy walking with no ascent.

The return leg descends to cross the valley at Walsden and ascends the western section to its highest point at Freeholds Top above Ramsden Clough. The route ascends around Rough Hill and traverses Crook Moor to the western outskirts of Littleborough.

We had suffered for a week or two from something with flu-like symptoms but we felt sufficiently recovered to try this modest route, a very slow business when coupled with the heat but an enjoyable walk.

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A 2-day linear trek to the Black Hill massif with a long eastern approach via the Don valley and Winscar reservoir.

The outward line follows the westernmost section of the Upper Don Trail (UDT), coincident here with the Transpennine Trail, to Winscar reservoir and ascends to follow Snailsden Edge to the group of deeply incised ravines around Ramsden Clough. The ascent to Black Hill from the Holme Moss mast is via Heyden Head. This approach is new territory for us, one of the very few pockets of the Dark Peak unexplored in our many years of walking here.

The return initially follows the Pennine Way towards Laddow Rocks and diverges to Black Chew Head. This time we continued on another new line to its sister top Featherbed Moss, sporting a trig point just 1m lower, and descended another new route via Millstone Rocks to Tintwistle Knarr and its impressive rock faces, finally joining the Longdendale Trail to Hadfield.

On one of the strangest weather forecasts we’ve seen for ages, containing a varying mix of dense mist down to valley level and warm sunshine depending on location and timing, the Peak District gave the most favourable odds overall. The conditions were quite good: sunny periods, a lot of cloud but no clag and very humid.

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A 2-day traverse of the Stainton fells in the far south-west of the Lake District.

The outward line climbs Black Combe by the usual well worn path from the south-west, continues to Whitecombe Head and crosses Black Dub to ascend to the first of the Stainton summits and Whitfell.

The return line is firstly through the remaining summits to Woodend Height and down to Devoke Water, then crosses a saddle in the hills to Brantrake Crags and descends to the Esk valley. The Esk trail is followed to Muncaster Tarn for an easy return and final descent to Ravenglass.

The weather forecast suggested the north-west as the best bet for a couple of days of fine hiking in the mediocre general weather stream, an opportunity for a short visit to one of the very few parts of the Lake District we still felt any inclination to backpack. The views turned out to be thick and hazy but this was a highly enjoyable trek.

Silecroft and Ravenglass are obvious choices for a short linear trip by public transport and a few variations of this route have been on our books for years. Apart from the initial ascent to Black Combe and, in this variation, the Esk Trail finish, the route was deserted and is excellent backpacking for those prepared for some wild terrain combined with excellent pitching ground.

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A 2-day solo circuit of the Shropshire hills around Church Stretton.

The outward line traverses the hill fort of Caer Caradoc and crosses the valley to ascend to to the heath/moorlaand plateau of The Long Mynd.

The return descends the ridge of Minton Hill and Packetstone Hill to Little Stretton to recross the valley for a traverse of Ragleth Hill.

The first day was unbroken sunshine with fantastic views, the second was misty and murky with dull local views but still enjoyable walking with plenty of interest.

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A 2-day circuit of Cwm Eigiau and the northernmost Carneddau hills, from Dolgarrog on the west side of the Conwy valley to Llandudno Junction station.

The outward line starts at the Dolgarrog Dam memorial walk and climbs through the Coed Dolgarrog nature reserve to a low-level route around the Cwm Eigiau valley flank. The return ascends Tal y Fan and follows good paths and tracks through the hills around the Sychnant Pass, traversing Mynydd y Dref (Conwy Mountain) to Conwy.

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A curtailed hike of the western ridge of the Tarren hills, culminating at Tarrenhendre, descending via the Dolgoch Falls and climbing around Craig yr Aderyn to Llanllwyda.

This is the first section of our longer planned route of three to four days that was effectively cut short by a dramatic mishap at the Dolgoch Falls on day two, a serious situation but one that could have been a lot worse – details in the full report.

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A few photos from a 2-day walk of the Mersey Valley Timberland Trail (MVTT), a route of ~21m (~34km) from Runcorn Hill to Oughtrington near Lymm, extended to start at Runcorn station and continue from Oughtrington to Altrincham.

The trail is very sparsely waymarked as such in the eastern half and not at all in the west, as far as we could tell, though some faded illegible waymarks might have done so. The actual route sometimes varies in minor detail from the line shown on OS mapping, our map shows these small deviations as accurately as we can remember them.

With a mixed weather forecast of sunshine and occasional showers, we dusted off this local trail from our bottom drawer of factory seconds, a route of variable character that starts at a small green high oasis in urban Runcorn and passes through town parks to more rural Cheshire countryside and ending near Lymm, the highlights being the fine woodlands, some managed by the Woodland Trust. The weather was much better than expected with no rain and quite hot on the second day.

Pitching on this type of low level trail is often hit and miss, the possibilities appearing very grim for a while in the evening, but we eventually found an excellent woodland pitch, albeit a dark one – this was the first time we needed head torches to pitch with the sun still shining.

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Some photos from a single day walk of the Goyt Way (GW), a route of ~10m (16km) from Etherow visitor centre in Compstall to Whaley Bridge, extended to start at Godley station with an ascent of Werneth Low with its War Memorial and viewpoint. The extension also includes the western part of Etherow Country Park.

This was a walk of scenic variety with the highlights of Werneth Low with its extensive clear views, Torrs gorge with its elevated walkway, viaducts and rock faces, canal towpaths and much excellent woodland to enjoy along the way.

The GW is an old route of the far western Peak District and is not generally waymarked as such except in a few spots, we saw only a handful of finger posts bearing the above logo but it is easy enough to follow on the map from the route file. It is coincident with a section of the Midshires Way.

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A 3-day central route through the Pumlumon hills of mid Wales, traversing the mountain summits of Y Garn and Pumlumon, exploring Cwm Rheidol and the remote valley of Hyddgen and finally picking up Glyndwr's Way through the northern hills for a descent to Machynlleth. A large proportion of the route is on good paths and tracks with only a very brief amount of rough terrain.

The route starts close to the little visited Llywernog Pond, east of the Bwlch Nant Yr Arian orienteering facility, and quickly enters the deserted heartland. After the mountains of Y Garn and Pumlumon it crosses the Afon Hengwm and enters the Hyddgen valley with a splendid feeling of remoteness before ascending to the little known and tamer northern hills of the region.

The recent long spell of dry sunny weather was holding save for one very brief thundery evening and this was route an excellent choice, the modest ambitions and long daylight hours allowing plenty of time to walk slowly and relax in the heat of the afternoons to enjoy the area. We saw only one other person in the three days and that was from a distance very early in the morning, surprisingly descending from Pumlumon on the Eisteddfa Gurig path.

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A few photos from a single day walk of the Wetlands and Waterways Loop (WWL) route that, according to Visit Sefton, takes you around some of the flattest land in west Lancashire. Pretty cottages, nature reserves and quaint waterside pubs are just some of the things you can see along the way.

The route passes Martin Mere, a site of the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, where a visit makes a delightful addition to the route.

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