Who are we and what are we doing here?

By The Rambler - January 9 2009
Who are we and what are we doing here?
Getting the victuals
Thousands of books, videos, websites and DVDs have been produced extolling the joys of waking in the British countryside. The reason is simple – it’s a great experience for young and old, rich and poor, men and women. On this site, we aim to bring you walks with a little extra.

Many of the walks featured on this site have appeared in magazines, books and websites in one form or another.
But there is a major difference in this guide.
It has been put together by people who like their walks to feature more than just fresh air, green fields, hills, moors, rivers, streams and cow or sheep poo. They want to add a little extra enjoyment to blowing away the cobwebs or getting some valuable exercise.
They like to stop off at a pub or two and enjoy a beer or two … or three. They also like other non-healthy things like pork scratchings, pies, pasties and those cheap sweets you get at Aldi or Julian Graves.
In short, they are blokes (mostly) who on their walks occasionally swear, spit, break wind, scratch their private parts and generally enjoy a break from the domestic restraints with which they are often bound.
Know what we mean?
A few ground rules before we start:

• Beer, pies (both on the right), scratchings, sweets etc are NOT compulsory. However, they are strongly recommended.
• The same applies to swearing, spitting, etc, etc.
• The walks feature many pubs that sell good beer and mention some that don’t. Those which feature piped music, red patterned carpets and keg beer are generally avoided, except in dire emergencies.
• Because the walks are punctuated – one might even say decorated – by visits to pubs, we strongly recommend driver restraint while in licensed premises, the use of public transport after the walk, or a rota system for driving.
• The average distance covered is between eight and ten miles – this allows for lengthy pub visits, all-year walking and the slow progress of old fogeys (some of us are pensioners you know).
• Other ground rules will be added as and when we feel like it.

All the walks featured have been tested by our team of experts and are recommended by them. However, no responsibility can be taken by the publishers for pubs that have gone down the nick, closed down or decided to stop selling proper men’s beer. Neither can we be held responsible for changes in rights of way since we tested routes or for divvies who get themselves lost because they can’t follow instructions or read maps. That sort of thing never happens to us, of course.
It should also be noted that sources of victuals taken on these walks will vary depending on locations etc. However, we recommend walkers visit http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/piesrule
We also strongly recommend the use of OS maps on these walks. We will give you the right numbers where possible.
Just as the people who go on these walks drink beer in pints rather than litres, so they also measure their walks in miles and yards rather than that metric stuff.

●Elsewhere on this site you'll find lots of suggested walk routes (see top left), together with a dramatis personae (that's foreign for a cast in order of alphabeticalisation), and other essential facts (see  About RWC, top left).

We don't mind you using the walks, free of charge, because no matter how hard you try, you can't copyright footpaths, rivers, hills and fields.