'Countrystride Live: The Lost Paths' with Jack Cornish and Dave Felton
Event Details
Paths are an often-overlooked part of our country’s history. Over 140,000 miles of public footpaths, bridleways and byways spider across the country, paths which describe how our
Event Details
Paths are an often-overlooked part of our country’s history. Over 140,000 miles of public footpaths, bridleways and byways spider across the country, paths which describe how our ancestors interacted with and shaped their landscapes in the pursuit of commerce, salvation, escape, war, and leisure.
In this Countrystride Live event Dave Felton chats with Jack Cornish, Director of England at the Ramblers (Britain’s walking charity), about his book The Lost Paths.
This book is a personal journey and exploration of the deep history of English and Welsh paths and how this millennia-old network was created, has evolved, and been transformed. It’s a story which takes in corpse roads through the Lakeland fells, prehistoric holloways, Saxon salt paths and ancient pilgrimage routes.
Our extensive path network connects communities across England and Wales, but thousands more miles have been lost over time. Paths, tracks and trails have been lost to the sea on an ever-eroding coastline, in the defence of Britain in World War Two and through the enclosure of the land.
Many men and women have fought to protect and preserve our paths – including Wordsworth, with his passionate defence of ancient ways, and the people of Keswick, who undertook one of the country’s earliest mass trespasses on Latrigg.
This talk celebrates the ordinary and the extraordinary in our paths and serves as a call to arms to save this vital part of our collective heritage for future generations.
The event will end with an audience Q&A.
Time
18 June 2025 7:00 pm(GMT+01:00)
Location
Verey Books
Pooley Bridge
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