[EDIT: you can now read the book I wrote about exploring my local map for a whole year (UK and Worldwide). And you can read the original blog stories from my progress across my map here.]
“There is in fact a sort of harmony discoverable between the capabilities of the landscape within a circle of ten miles’ radius, or the limits of an afternoon walk, and the threescore years and ten of human life. It will never become quite familiar to you.” –Thoreau, ‘Walking’
The winter evening settles down, the burnt-out ends of smoky days at the ebbing end of a bizarre year. Things are not what they were; are unlikely to be the same again. And this, of course, is an opportunity to get tremendously excited about what might lie ahead, and to dream about what adventures we may be able to carve from so much newness and uncertainty!
I have been encouraging local exploration, microadventures, for many years. But 2020 has forced us all to remain closer to home than ever before. During the months of lockdown I tried running every street in my neighbourhood. I climbed trees. I went for walks. I read books.
On top of this, amidst all 2020’s madness, there has become a growing feeling that the world of adventure needs to change. That it’s simply not appropriate to go jetting off all over the planet, selfishly spewing carbon in exchange for selfies in exotic lands. That perhaps the world of adventure is not as accessible/welcoming to all, as harmless, or as un-materialistic as we think it is or want it to be (I made these issues the focus of Season 2 of my podcast [begin at episode 44]). That whilst this year has seen a wonderful increase in the numbers of people wanting to explore Britain’s wild places, it is also creating many new problems.
All of this stuff whirring around in my tiny little brain led me to ask a few questions:
- How can I help put nearby nature into everyday lives? To make everyone an equal participant in the outdoors, enjoying the quest for wildness, the mental and physical benefits of getting out, moving more, noticing more, and living more simply. This should not just be for people with the time to travel a long way, the money to buy hardcore equipment, or the privileged ease of knowledge, gender, race or ability.
- If I love wild places so much, am I willing to not visit them in order to help protect them? To be frank, the thought of repeating 2020’s lack of wild places depresses me. But we all need to change our behaviour. And people like me (“influencers” 🤮) need to do so more than anyone.
- Is a single map enough exploration for an entire lifetime? In one of my favourite little films, runner Rickey Gates says something that has stuck with me for years, “in the end I think that a single mountain range is enough exploration for an entire lifetime.” I love that concept. My experiences through years of microadventures and months of lockdown got me mulling over the possibilities.
And so I have decided to explore a single map. To search closer to my front door than ever before for the things that matter to me: adventure, nature, weather, wildness, exercise, surprises, silence, new people, wanderlust, and curiosity.
Now let me be frank: there are many, many places that I would prefer to try this experiment rather than where I happen to live. One of my favourite things about going away from here to have adventures is simply the act of going away from here. I live in the glow of city sodium lights amid the hum of motorway traffic, and far too far from the cascades of contour lines, miles of moorland, roaring waves or invigorating river swims that I love. I would go so far as to argue that out of the 403 OS Explorer Maps that cover the entire UK, my map is right down in the relegation zone of rubbish adventure boredom!
But this also makes my experiment a far fairer and more interesting one that if I lived –say– on Map 402 in Scotland or Map 24 in the Peak District.
I don’t yet know what is the highest point on my map, the most remote, or the most beautiful bathing spot but I do know two things: firstly that they won’t be as impressive as on other maps and, secondly, that I will nonetheless enjoy finding them.
I confess that I begin this idea with trepidation. I hope it is not too boring. I hope it is not too claustrophobic and repetitive. I am certainly withholding the right to abandon the experiment! But I have, at least, committed to begin. My first little step was ordering my very own adventure map. Ordnance Survey has a fantastic feature where you can buy a custom map of the area where you live, either with your home bang in the middle, or a little more strategically, as I opted to do.
My map arrived today. Opening it outside my shed, I got quite excited as I scanned its area, roughly 20km x 20km. Far from feeling constrained, I immediately began seeing interesting looking routes, possibilities for circular runs, secluded sites for overnight bivvies. In fact, I can’t wait to begin, to get outside and get exploring!
Watch this space…
[EDIT: you can read the stories from my progress across my map here.]
I love this idea but did you consider moving house before starting? Out of interest how long were you out for on your first trip?
Haha!
I was out for about 4 hours.
I have doubts about rewinding and other such initiatives. So often they include provisions to exclude the public. How fragile is Nature really? Obviously somewhere like the Galapagos is but that is more pollution than footfall.
Rewilding!
Public access limitations following rewilding etc. are unnecessary in most cases but Nature protection does often provide an excuse.
I don’t think exclusion is necessary for rewilding, just stop building access infrastructure(trails/trailheads) and ban off road vehicles and hunting. That will do the job, with out having to tell anybody they aren’t welcome.
It might take some effort to stop other people from building trails, but even in Colorado, if you go a mile from any trails(as long as it’s quiet, no hunting, no ORVs), it’s remarkably different with more wildlife.
Having said that, I think your feeling of responsibility is really respectable, because instagram fame does quickly annihilate a wild place.
I love this idea. I’m also very jealous of the Ordnance Survey Custom maps… How cool is that! Sadly we don’t have anything like that out here in NZ.
Ordered my custom map today in 1:25,000. Ive been cycling the same area for years using 1:50,000 but it’s time to seek out the detail.
Thanks for the idea.
A few years ago I bought a map of my local area (Leicestershire) and started exploring from the centre by drawing a clock face with 12 as north etc. around the edge with spokes radiating out. Researched every village, monument and river along the line and off you go. The amount of local history and hidden beauty spots you can find on a day trip is incredible.
I like the new mission!
We’ve had many of the same thoughts (the guilty ones too). Humans, just by breathing create a negative impact on the planet. We’re always going to be in the red but how far is up to us. Much to ponder, much to change.
On the off chance anyone from Tasmania is reading this, there’s a free government website you can use to generate your own custom map (downloadable/printable), including multiple layering options etc: https://maps.thelist.tas.gov.au/listmap/app/list/map
That’s cool!
Have you tried veloviewer square bagging? Similar principle.
http://www.veloviewer.com
Ooh, interesting.
This is a great idea…and not just for me but as Christmas pressie ideas..THANKS!!! You should have posed that as a Marketing idea in March as the “OS Lockdown Series”, might have had a gold rush with people exploring nearer to home!
As an add on for anyone near Dartmoor, have a look at the book “Dartmoor 365” by John Hayward. He divided the moors into 365 squares and found something “interesting” in each one. You get a map to tick off which ones you have been too (good for people with kids I imagine). Could adapt the idea to make your own version with your bespoke map..endless possibilities!
That’s a cool idea.
I’ve had a custom map of my area for a few years now, and on and off I’ve been trying to walk and mark off every footpath. I’m fortunate in that it’s all villages and fields by me. I’ve found stunning places that I’d never have come across, and also found out that there are an awful lot of footpaths in my area.
Spot on! This is exactly what Henry David Thoreau advocated: it will take a lifetime to thoroughly explore the area stretching 10 miles in every direction from your front porch. (I wish I would remember where he wrote about this.) In the book “Walking” Thoreau writes: “Two or three hours’ walking will carry me to as strange a country as I expect ever to see. A single farmhouse which I had not seen before is sometimes as good as the dominions of the King of Dahomey.”
And you, Alastair, state the project so well it becomes very attractive and interesting.
Ooh, I’d like to know that quote.
“There is in fact a sort of harmony discoverable between the capabilities of the landscape within a circle of ten miles’ radius, or the limits of an afternoon walk, and the threescore years and ten of human life. It will never become quite familiar to you.”
This series makes my day.
This is such a wonderful concept. There’s a tiny stream out the back of my house and I’ve always wondered where it started. So last weekend I jumped on my bike and cycled to the source. It was as uninspiring as I was expecting but still worth the effort because I learnt something new about my local neighbourhood.
Next question: where does the stream end…?