As we launch our Green Traveller's Guide to the North York Moors National Park, Paul Bloomfield gets a taste of North Yorkshire’s foreshore life and history (and seaweed) on a coastal safari from the fishing village of Staithes in the North York Moors National Park. The small fishing village of Staithes, crammed into the crevice where Roxby Beck feeds the North Sea, is proper chocolate-box cute. Teapots and lobster pots. Art galleries and ye olde pubs. The kind of pastel-hued, higgledy-piggledy, cobbled, smelling slightly of seaweed and fish place that swarms with tourists in high summer. But there’s still grit in this town’s oyster. He’s called Sean, and he’s a lifelong fisherman and lifeboat crew member who now also runs Real Staithes, which takes landlubbers like me out on coastal walking safaris to discover the wonders of the foreshore. Some of the wonders are, like Sean Baxter, perhaps earthier than you might expect. “See these fossils embedded in the rock?” says Sean, pointing at swirling, rope-like formations. “What do you think they are?” “Crinoids?” I guess, doubtfully, based on the illustrations he’d shown me a few moments earlier. “Nope – prawn poo!” Sean guffaws, handing me a piece that’s lying free on the shale. You don’t get that kind of insight on most tours. But then this isn’t like most tours. I’ve joined Sean, aided and abetted today by sons Luke and Thomas and collie Tiff, to experience the condensed highlights of the two courses run by him and his partner Tricia Hutchinson. I hope to glean just a smattering of Sean’s diverse knowledge about this patch of the foreshore running from Staithes to the ghost harbour of Port Mulgrave, a mile or so to the south. It’s a fascinating blend of geology, local and natural history, palaeontology – and a healthy dose of fishermen’s lore. As we amble away from Staithes’ enclosed harbour, Sean’s brightly painted fishing boat All My Sons bobbing at anchor, we start with a short wild food foraging session. “These seaweeds are edible,” Sean observes. “This laver is baked in laverbread, while you’ve tasted carrageenan plenty of times – that’s where your beer froth comes from.” He hands me a small piece of green, urging me to try it. “Pepper dulse,” he smiles. I can’t say I’m sold – it tastes like I’d expect seaweed to taste – but I’m told Tricia’s kelp crisps are much more toothsome. Winkles (or ‘chequers’, as they’re locally known) could make a snack, while limpets, or ‘flithers’, aren’t on the menu. “They’re edible,” Sean tells me, “but much more valuable as bait on longline hooks.” Next there’s a handful of dog whelks – locally reputed to be poisonous. More interestingly, they also produce the dye tyrian purple, worth hundreds or even thousands of pounds per gram (“Though we get our purple from sea slugs,” Sean tells me). Then it’s onto wildlife. Sean gestures back at the kittiwake colony around the cliff to the north, and points out a fulmar nesting in the rock face – “a smaller cousin of the albatrosses”. “Last year I saw two humpbacks breaching, a sei whale, nine minkes, and loads of porpoises and seals,” Sean muses. “You hear so much doom and gloom about conservation – but there’s so much good news. I saw a razorbill yesterday at the cliffs at Boulby. Some day soon we might have guillemots and puffins nesting here.” There’s social history, too. “You’re now stood on a railway track that served the ironstone mines along the bay, worked till the 1930s. Alum was also mined here till the 1870s, used as a mordant in setting dyes in calico.” Poking around the brash – the seaweed and other detritus in piles at the high-tide mark – Sean is looking for jet, which gets tangled up in the weed. “Look for something black and shiny,” Sean tells me. “If you think you’ve found a piece, scrape it on a rock – if it’s black, it’s coal, and if it’s brown, it’s jet. It’s been extracted here since the 18th century.” Sean is understandably proud of the area’s geology. “We have more mileage of ‘Jurassic’ coast than Dorset,” he boasts. Not for nothing is this stretch called the Dinosaur Coast. Sean points out a rib bone protruding from the cliff – the rib of an icthyosaur or plesiosaur. Luke and Thomas dart here and there, periodically returning with nodules fallen from the cliffs – like nuts to be cracked, many conceal treasures: fossils of ammonites long embedded. Picking over lumps of shale, Sean demonstrates how to scrape ochre – essentially rust from the ironstone – to use for paints. There’s a rainbow of different shades, from pale yellow to rich orange and rust-red. We finish our course – more entertaining than any learning experience has any right to be – at Sean’s hut at Port Mulgrave, once an important harbour but now just a rocky cove with a row of tumbledown shacks. Inside Sean’s cosy lair, Tricia dishes up homemade soup, crabs, bread, hollandaise and salad, followed by the moistest home-baked fruit cake – a delight, topped with a slab of Wensleydale. Recalling my earlier foraging lesson, I sprinkle a dash of dried pepper dulse over my soup. It tastes like the sea, concentrated: salty and fishy. And it’s just the flavour I want to remember from this day when, with Sean’s help, the shore yielded just a fraction of its secrets. Real Staithes offers two fascinating and unique day courses: Coastal Craft, sharing Sean’s in-depth knowledge of the foreshore’s wildlife, geology and history, and Ancient Paint Palette, showing how to collect pigments and make paints from ochre, tyrian and charcoal made with driftwood. Courses run on spring tides, with a maximum of 8–10 participants, and include a hearty soup and fresh lobster lunch. (01947 840278)

As we launch our Green Traveller's Guide to the North York Moors, Paul Bloomfield traverses the southern moor, encountering dozens of curlews and relics of feisty giants Traversing the Moors from Centre to South. The heart-tugging call of the curlew echoes the character of high heather moors as no other sound can. Like rooks in a churchyard or a blackbird’s trilling song in a summer garden, the curlew’s plaintive, drawn-out cries is the aural epitome of its habitat: it whispers bleak beauty, empty expanses, wind-tugged heather. It’s perfect. Which is just as well, because on the moor above Goathland I’m being serenaded by curlews from all directions. Everywhere I look there seems to be a speckled brown-and-cream bird stalking a open patch in the heather, its distinctive long, curved bill lifted as it calls. I’m just beginning my 16-mile hike from Goathland, in the heart of the eastern moors, to Pickering, southern gateway to the national park. The day had started with bang – or, rather, a whistle, a chuff and a clank – as I set off from Pickering on a vintage train of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. For over 40 years, one of the country’s finest heritage railways has puffed its way through the moors, and it’s a great way to start a day’s walk (or just a short stroll – the gentle 3.5-mile rail trail from Goathland to Grosmont is a perennial favourite). I would be stretching my legs on a longer route, which traverses a cross-section of the national park’s varied habitats and landscapes. If Goathland seems familiar to you, it might be because of its star turns on the silver and small screens: its station, forever stuck in 1922, played stunt double for Harry Potter’s Hogwarts stop, while the village is Aidenfield in TV drama Heartbeat. Coachloads of nostalgic fans visit to take tea and admire vintage cars. I amble along the broad, attractive main street before heading south and up onto the moors. As the path climbs among heather, cottongrass, curlews and skylarks, the sense of isolation and timelessness becomes palpable. Though I can turn my head to see Goathland and a few neat farms over my shoulder, and the huge pyramid of Fylingdales early warning station is intermittently visible to my left, I have a strong sense of stepping out of time, that the well-worn path I’m treading must have been followed by generations of travellers. The impression is heightened as I reach the Two Howes, cairn-topped mounds surrounded by small stone circles. My reverie is broken by the disgruntled cackle of a grouse as it whirrs out of the heather, disturbed by my clodhopping boots. After an hour or so, the scene changes: I descend to a field among fir plantations, crossing sheep pastures to reach a stony track through woods intermittently pine and broadleaf. Here, I know, crossbills and siskins feed, and goshawks may hunt; though I’m alert, the wood’s avian inhabitants are much shier than those curlews. I time my arrival at Newtondale Halt, a request stop on the railway, just in time for a steam loco to go chugging through. Then it’s a steep climb up the rocky escarpment called Yewtree Scar, with fabulous views back down to the halt and the thickly wooded gorge, before ascending to the broad path along Gallows Dike – those names! – and another classic vista: this one across the Hole of Horcum. This round-shouldered bowl of a valley was formed by spring sapping – or, should you choose to believe the favourite legend, the result of local giant Wade scooping up a clod of earth to hurl at his wife during a tiff. Either way, the panoramic scenes south and east from the ridgeway are celestial. The landscape changes again as I descend to Levisham, a rural idyll with neat fields and a tempting pub, the Horseshoe Inn – hours could be lost (and calories gained) in its bar or front garden. Now wandering cowslip-lined lanes, farm tracks and paths, I stop at ruined Levisham Church to admire its oldest gravestones before crossing pastures and wild-garlic-scented woodlands to reach Pickering and the end of the line – for me and the railway. Practicalities 17 Burgate is a truly exceptional, intimate guesthouse in the heart of Pickering, an ideal base from which to explore the east and south of the national park. This imposing Georgian town house has been extensively refurbished by owners Pat and William Oxley, retaining period features – wonderful ceiling mouldings, multicoloured glass window overlooking the stairs – but with flair and taste, being comfortable and stylish rather than arch or effortfully hip. On a chilly evening, the wonderfully snug, flagstoned bar, with its wood-burning stove and comfy sofas, is the ideal place to browse the maps and walking guides, and plan your next day’s adventure. Breakfast is a showcase of local talent: kippers and salmon smoked nearby, free-range eggs laid nearby, mushrooms grown nearby, bacon and sausages from the butcher in Malton. Oh, and the marmalade is home made. Every effort is made to nurture environmental responsibility. Opened in 2003, it was a boutique B&B before the term really took hold, and still offers one of the best options in the region. The North Yorkshire Moors Railway runs up to nine trains daily between Pickering and Grosmont, some continuing to Whitby. Check the timetable to be sure of catching a departure pulled by a steam loco – though the diesel trains are also atmospheric. Various period themed days and Pullman dining options add to the fun. This walk is flexible – it can be shortened by starting at Newtondale Halt and/or catching the train from Levisham back to Pickering instead of walking the last few miles. Use the Ordnance Survey Explorer Map OL27. Inntravel is a lauded local tour operator with a strong green ethos, and offers a fine three-day self-guided walking holiday in the North York Moors. The third day of this tour tackles the walk described above. The North York Moors National Park website has a wide array of walking routes to download, as well as information on guided walks and holiday companies arranging tours. The new Lime & Ice app (currently for iOS only) helps visitors explore the dramatic landscapes around Sutton Bank.

As we launch our Green Traveller's Guide to the North York Moors, Paul Bloomfield wanders the ruins of the North York Moors' iconic monasteries Rievaulx and Byland, as well as some of the park's lesser-known but equally beautiful abbeys and priories. “Everywhere peace, everywhere serenity.” It sounds like it could be a marketing slogan for the moors themselves; in large swathes, apart from birdsong and the distant tootle of a steam train on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, tranquillity reigns supreme. But these words were actually written by Aelred, 12th-century abbot of Rievaulx Abbey, the Cistercian Monastery that nestles in the Rye Valley just west of Helmsley at the national park’s south-eastern corner. They seem apt even today – but why was it that Yorkshire as a whole, and this patch in particular, attracted so many religious orders to build such imposing edifices? It’s hard to say, exactly – but even now, new spiritual communities are settling here. Thanks to Henry VIII’s tender attentions during the repression of the monasteries, most of Yorkshire’s (and indeed the UK’s) ancient abbeys, priories and monasteries now lie in spectacular ruins. Rievaulx was the first Cistercian monastery in the area, and arguably the finest; certainly its remains today still inspire the kind of reverence they were intended to induce when built in the first half of the 12th century. To my eye they are the closest thing we have to an English Angkor: a mighty religious ruin, towering stone and vast in scope, redolent with power and peace. The abbey church, which still retains its transept and soaring eastern walls and arches, inspires and awes in equal measure, and you can easily imagine the monks going about their lives in the cloisters, infirmary and refectory. Nearby Byland Abbey, though less extensive, is – if possible – even more calm. The stone outline of its massive rose window, now half-gone but still impressive, can be made out from some distance away; reputedly it inspired York Minster’s famous rose window. More imagination is required to picture the Savigniac community at its peak, but some elements – notably the fine, intricate mosaic tiles in the abbey church – are both unique and uniquely beautiful. Mount Grace Priory, to the north-west, is different again: a Carthusian monastery, it is smaller and more intimate in scale. A reconstructed monk’s cell gives a good idea of life for this austere order, and wildlife is abundant here – watch for the stoats! Just outside the national park, the spookily gothic ruins of Whitby Abbey are famed for their Dracula connection, while the remains of Kirkham Priory boast a gatehouse beautifully decorated with the arms of the De Roos family. It’s not all ancient history, though; two contemporary religious communities continue the monastic tradition. Ampleforth Abbey has hosted Benedictine monks for over two centuries; as well as running a respected college, it’s also known for its excellent cider, continuing a tradition of brewing and beverage production stretching back to the earliest days of monasteries. Stanbrook Abbey is a modern eco-friendly community of Benedictine nuns, relocated from Worcestershire to a new site close to Byland, that welcomes visitors who wish to join in contemplation and worship. As well as these large communities, the unusual, beautiful and fascinating churches scattered across the moors deserve a mention. Many have Norman or even Saxon features, with ancient fonts, ceiling bosses and monuments honouring local noble families from centuries past. Worthy of special note are the medieval wall paintings in Pickering’s Church of St Peter and St Paul. Dating from the 15th century, these depict scenes both biblical – the beheading of John the Baptist, the passion and resurrection of Jesus – saintly, including the martyrdom of St Edmund and a colossal St Christopher carrying the infant Christ, and mythical (St George’s lances pierces the cheek of a ferocious dragon). If more modern ecclesiastical architecture inspires you, look out for the marvels built by Temple Moore, one of Victorian England’s finest church architects whose apogee is found in Gothic Revival sites around the North York Moors. The Temple Moore Trail website and app leads you to the various spot where you can admire his work.

As we launch our Green Traveller's Guide to Dartmoor National Park, Paul Bloomfield discovers a wealth of Bronze Age gems on a walk on Bellever Tor in Dartmoor National Park. I love Ordnance Survey maps – the unmanageable size, the colours, the impossibility of folding, the tiny symbols denoting bogs and crags and trees, the papery rustle. But there’s one element that gets my heart racing more than all others: that medieval-style gothic typeface used to label archaeological sites. And OS Explorer Map OL28 is awash with it – because Dartmoor has the highest concentration of Bronze Age and other prehistoric sites in the UK, and probably anywhere in the world. Literally thousands of cairns, menhirs, stone rows, hut circles and field systems stud the moor. What’s more, these fascinating spots are open to be enjoyed by anyone – at least, anyone with a pair of hiking boots and an ounce of energy. True, some are visible from the few roads criss-crossing the moor: the stone rows just east of Merrivale, for example. But to really appreciate the national park’s incredible heritage, stride out on a moorland walk. You can’t fail to stumble upon a wealth of monuments. I was joined by Dartmoor National Park’s communications officer, Mike Nendick, on my circuit from Postbridge through the forest and up onto Bellever Tor. We’d been walking barely ten minutes when he beckoned me off the main track and along a muddy path to a curious assembly of granite lumps atop Lakehead Hill. A row of stones form a line leading to four flattened, upright rocks forming a box perhaps a metre high and a little more across. “This is a cist – a Bronze Age burial chamber – and an unusually large one,” Mike explained. “Unfortunately, it’s not quite as it would have been originally; Victorian antiquarians excavated it – as they did most other sites on Dartmoor – and rebuilt it, but not exactly right.” The stone row, he explained, would originally have led to the cist’s entrance, while the chamber itself would have been partially buried. Those Victorians were fervent in their obsession with what they believed – or wanted to believe – was ancient druidism. Unfortunately, their archaeological skills were primitive, and an unknowable wealth of information and artefacts was lost during their excavations. Continuing out of the forest and onto the hillside below Bellever, large stone circles appeared among the heath – the remains of ancient field systems and a hut circle, barely visible among the heather and bracken. “In Bronze Age times, the climate was warmer,” Mike observed. “Back then, Dartmoor would have been a more hospitable place, important not just for farming but of course for the extraction of tin, vital for the production of bronze.” The jumble of huge granite stacks atop Bellever looks almost manmade itself, like dozens of thin disks piled one on the other to form a succession of turrets. And from this striking formation, more of the moor’s heritage is visible: the hulking grey jail at Princetown, built by – and to incarcerate – French prisoners of war, and later used to house conscientious objectors during the First World War. Dropping down to the south of the tor, we swung east and then north, passing a much wider stone ring perhaps 5m across enclosing a flat, grassy area: a hut circle. “Imagine thatch forming a conical roof rising to a central point above the fire – this was a substantial family home,” Mike observed. “When this was excavated a few years ago, we found round holes in a ring inside the stone walls, holding ancillary posts for furniture or separating internal areas, perhaps for sleeping or storage.” As we wound our way back to Postbridge, we crossed the medieval Lych Way, the ‘corpse path’ along which all bodies had to be carried to the nearest official graveyard at Lydford, many miles to the west. Here, the paths themselves tell stories. This is an exciting time for anyone interested in Dartmoor’s history. The results of the excavation of a Bronze Age tomb on Whitehorse Hill are only now being revealed – and they are more important than anyone imagined. Amber beads traded from the Baltic, an intricately woven lime-bast basket, spindlewood ear plugs and an ornate woven cowhair bracelet embedded with tin pellets are just some of the artefacts buried with a young girl in this previously untouched cist. An exhibition opening at Plymouth City Museum in September will shed light on the internationally important finds. These details add colour and depth to what we know about the area’s prehistoric inhabitants. But even without beads and bones, during a walk on Dartmoor you need only the slightest imagination to visualise yourself among the people who built homes, farmed and herded, were born, died and were buried here 4,000 years ago. Further Information: The website of the Dartmoor National Park Authority has information on the moor’s Bronze Age sites and offers free downloadable audio tours, including one covering Bellever, as well as occasional guided walks.  Moorland Guides is a cooperative group founded by former national park guides offering a wide range of excellent walks, some themed around archaeology and other topics, across the moor and farther afield.

Catherine Mack describes a new car-free initiative on the Isle of Wight. The Isle of Wight has been turning a deeper shade of green for several years now, with many dynamic tourism providers showing other regions how it's done. On my various trips there in the past, I am always struck by how tightly the leading green businesses work together to benefit providers and tourists alike. As well as an impressive collection of walking routes, cycling routes and farm shops, the latest initiative to hit the news is their Car-Free Scheme, where businesses, attractions and activities are offering discounts and incentives to those arriving by public transport, foot, or bike. Anyone who has visited the island already knows how easy it is to get around without your car, and how much cheaper it is to travel on the ferry without one too. On one of my visits I was met off the ferry by one of the Isle of Wight's cycle hire company, Wight Cycle Hire, which then took my bags, delivered them to my accommodation, and then did the same for me on my return journey, as I cycled all the way back to Cowes. On another trip, my husband had to head back to London early for work, leaving the rest of us to spend another couple of days at the glorious luxury yurt camp in Freshwater. All he had to do to find out bus times at very short notice, and late at night,  was send a text with a number which was printed at the bus stop, and minutes later he got a text back with all the information he needed. As for walking on the island, the 67 miles of the Isle of Wight Coastal Path have to be seen to be believed. At present 75% of visitors to the Isle of Wight come by car, and the impact on the environment and the island's rural roads and villages is certainly significant. According to the island's Car-Free Scheme, the reasons why people use their cars so much for holidays is simple:  cost, convenience and familiarity. However, by offering discounts for entry , accommodation and other incentives, as well as all the details you need for getting around the island using public transport on their website,  members of the Car-Free Scheme hope that more visitors will use more sustainable transport, and still manage to have a great holiday while they are at it. One example is the weekly rover ticket on the island's efficient Southern Vectis service which, for a family of up to five people, is £40. Helen Cunningham, co-founder of the island's coolest accommodation, Vintage Vacations, is part of the scheme and enthuses about its potential, commenting, "At Vintage Vacations we have noticed that the number of people asking for car-free travel information and details on how to hire bikes etc has been increasing. When we saw the car free scheme we thought it was a fantastic idea and may encourage those who were 'on the cusp' of either coming without a car or not using the car when here. So far we have had five car-free bookings and two enquiries / bookings pending, which we are delighted with." In terms of day trips, you will also get a discount at the island's coolest activity provider, treeclimbing experts Goodleaf, where treeclimber Paul McCathie leads small groups up into the canopy of a giant oak tree, using harnesses and helmets. I first discovered Goodleaf when I treated my son to a morning's treeclimbing for his 9th birthday, and we have been back every year since for a family treat. You certainly start to see the island in a different way from 60 feet in the air and, in its own way, the Car-Free initiative is also striving to look at things from a new and different way, but equally exciting.

Two centuries ago, the Romantic poets sought inspiration on the byways of Exmoor. Paul Bloomfield follows in their footsteps on a section of the Coleridge Way Some poets find their muses in mountains or lakes, others in birds or flowers. For the Romantics, William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Southey, the wild beauty of Exmoor provided inspiration, the latter rhapsodising: ‘The inland walks are striking: the hills dark, and dells woody and watery, winding up them in ways of sequestered coolness.’ The ideal way to explore those hills and dells is to tackle the Coleridge Way, a 36-mile walking trail winding west through the Quantocks and Brendon Hills, traversing eastern Exmoor to within touching distance of the coast. The path begins at Nether Stowey, where Coleridge lived for a few years at the tail end of the 18th century, and finishes at Porlock, home of the unnamed man whose untimely visit curtailed Kubla Khan. The whole route can be walked in three or four days, with ample accommodation at stage ends; as a taster, I hiked the final nine miles north from Wheddon Cross. Descending from the village, perched high on the moor, I followed wooden fingerposts bearing the quill symbol, pointing down a track through Raleigh Manor. The settlement soon melted away, and I tramped between rhododendrons, bamboo and wild garlic; in spring, I reflected, this must surely be a riot of floral colour, but on this frosty March morning, snow dusted the path. The first two or three miles alternated between pine and deciduous woodlands, in which a woodpecker clattered its Morse code, interspersed with steep fields and narrow combes, clefts in the hillside cut by dashing streams. Reaching the valley floor, a succession of fords and stepping stones crisscrossed a winding brook; a shadow flitting across my path betrayed a buzzard soaring overhead. Soon the path rose onto the open moor beneath Dunkery Beacon, at 414m Exmoor’s highest point. As I tramped up among grass and rust-red bracken, I passed possibly the tiniest lamb I’ve ever seen, nuzzling at mother’s belly for a feed – a reminder that spring was, theoretically, here, despite the unseasonal frost. Then, cresting Dunkery’s shoulder, the vista was transformed. Snow-free hills, rounded, verdant and chequered with field boundaries, reared ahead. Footprints pocked the last patches of snow: the hopping of hares and birds, mingled with larger pawprints – had the legendary black beast of Exmoor roamed these trails? As the path curved north around Dunkery, I had a clear sense of walking away from winter. On these eastern slopes, the gorse was aflame with yellow blossoms; the sun sparkled on the Bristol Channel ahead, while to the north the creamy-yellow thatched cottages of Selworthy and Allerford nestled beneath Bossington Hill. Descending from the moor, I emerged from the woods below Webber’s Post at Horner, passing the delightful stone-built mill before crossing an ancient packhorse bridge, clad with moss and lichen, for the final mile to Porlock. Despite the damage wreaked on the poet’s fantastical dream-vision by its notorious son, Porlock celebrates its Coleridge connection. I popped into Dovery Manor, a compact gem of a museum set in a 15th-century manor house. Here, period curios and artefacts from schoolrooms and shops sit alongside natural-history exhibits and displays on the artists and poets – Coleridge, Wordsworth, Southey and Shelley among them – whose creative juices were set flowing by Exmoor. In the Coleridge Memorial Garden behind Porlock’s visitor centre, the poet is commemorated with a plaque bearing the famed first lines of Kubla Khan. But while pleasuredomes and palaces owe more to opiates than open moors, I reflected, other words from his unfinished opus perhaps speak of scenes he witnessed on his Somerset wanderings: 'A savage place! as holy and enchanted... As e'er beneath a waning moon was haunted.’ That’s Exmoor, without a doubt. Where to eat and drink Coleridge’s inspiration was fired, in part at least, by opium. My own exertions were amply fuelled instead by the breakfast provided by Rosi and Frank at Exmoor House, a B&B with a strong green ethos, where the origins of ingredients are measured not so much in food miles as inches. With bacon cured just over the border in Devon, coffee blended in Porlock, honey from Allerford and Dunster, eggs from the next-door neighbour, and home-made bread and jams (plum particularly recommended), no ingredient could have travelled more than 15 miles to my plate. Frank even makes his own baked beans. A sumptuous dinner (£24 for three courses) was similarly Exmoor-centric: venison burgers, Exmoor Jersey Blue cheese from Lydeard St Lawrence, just to the south-east, and home-made ice creams, washed down with Exmoor or Cotleigh Ales from Wiveliscombe. Cuisine aside, Exmoor House has a vintage character belied by the rather plain exterior. Built over a century ago as a tailor’s shop, its dark wood panels and quirky room shapes endow it with a unique charm. The guests’ sitting room is particularly alluring, especially when the open fire roars; with an honesty bar and shelves groaning with games, maps and books on local lore, wildlife and walks, it’s perfect for relaxing after a day’s hike – or for planning tomorrow’s exertions. Words by Paul Bloomfield

As we launch our Green Traveller's Guide to Exmoor, here is our guide to travelling to and around Exmoor National Park without a car. A. Getting to Exmoor without a car: By Train: The main rail gateway to Exmoor is Taunton, which has regular mainline services from destinations across the country, including London Paddington, Bristol, and Reading, with First Great Western; and Cross Country services from the Midlands (including Birmingham), the North (including Leeds and Newcastle) and Scotland – both operators also run services to Taunton from further down in the South West. If you are coming from Cornwall or elsewhere in Devon, services stop first at Tiverton Parkway, which is also well located for Exmoor National Park and its public transport network. The Tarka Line also connects Barnstaple with various local stations en route to Exeter, where connections to the rest of the country can be made. The closest station to the Park itself is at Minehead, connected to Taunton and mainline services by the West Somerset Line. By Coach or Bus: National Express runs services from across the country to Taunton, Tiverton, Barnstaple and Minehead, whilst Megabus supplements this with further services to Taunton. B. Getting around without a car: By Train: There are no train services running across Exmoor National Park itself, though there are two heritage railway services for visitors to Exmoor. By Bus: Exmoor’s exemplary Explore Moor initiative groups together the different public transport options in the National Park in a cohesive way. This consists principally of several useful bus services linking the National Park’s main destinations, supplemented by the Moor Rover (below). It is worth noting that bus services and timetables are subject to fairly regular change, so please check the Explore Moor website and the timetables it links to before planning your trip. The following routes (destinations accurate at time of press) could be useful for visitors: 39: Minehead – Allerford – Bossington Green – Porlock – Porlock Weir (not Sundays) 107: Minehead – Alcombe – Dunster – Timberscombe – Wotton Courtenay – Luccombe – Minehad (Wednedays only) 300 Exmoor Coastal Link (open top sightseeing service): Minehead – Allerford – Porlock – Culbone – County Gate – Countisbury – Lynmouth (April – October only) 300X: Taunton - Minehad - Lynmouth - Combe Martin - Ilfracombe (open-top service running four days a week during the Summer holidays) 300 (regular service): Ilfracombe – Combe Martin – Blackmoor Gate – Lynton – Lynmouth (7 days a week in the Summer, weekends only in the Winter) 309/310: Barnstaple – Blackmoor Gate – Parracombe – Woody Bay Station – Barbrook – Lynton – Lynmouth (no Sunday service in Winter) 398: Tiverton – Bolham Cove – Bampton – Dulverton – Bridgetown – Wheddon Cross – Timberscombe – Dunster – Minehead (not Sundays) 400 (vintage open top bus, sightseeing service): Minehad - Dunster - Wheddon Cross - Exford - Porlock - Minehead (August and September, Friday to Sunday) 564: Minehead – Alcombe – Dunster – Timberscombe – Luxborough – Roadwater – Washford – Old Cleeve – Blue Anchor (Mondays and Fridays only) 678: Dulverton – Brushford – Exebridge – Bury – Upton – Brompton Regis – Timberscombe – Minehad (Thursdays only) >> Bus timetables within the national park, and for more information, have a look at the Explore Moor website. Moor Rover: If flexibility is what you are after, there's a flexible minibus service, the Moor Rover, which links destinations across the National Park. The bus will pick up and drop off anywhere on Exmoor between 8am and 8pm, seven days a week, all-year round (subject to the availability of a vehicle and driver), and can also transport bicycles, wheelchairs, dogs and luggage. You must book the service (sliding scale of prices according to distance) 24 hours or more in advance – discounts are offered for groups of six or more. There is also a similar service for access to the Coleridge Way. Cycling: For leisurely road cyclists looking for relaxing, quiet country lanes through beautiful scenery, to hardcore mountain biking enthusiasts seeking out the most rugged off-road terrain, Exmoor’s diverse landscapes, roads and bridleways offer up some of England’s finest cycling terrain. Most mainline train services have allocated spaces for bicycles, however these are limited so you should always reserve your spot in advance, by calling up the train operator, or heading to your local railway station ticket office. Once in Exmoor, you can take your bike on the Moor Rover service (see above), however most bus services in the Park do not carry bikes. There are also various cycle providers within Exmoor National Park, who offer bike hire plus information, maps, accessories, and more. Some offer electric bikes to take some of the strain off your legs (though there is no longer currently a National Park-wide e-bike scheme). Providers include: Exmoor Cycle Hire Pompy’s Cycles Exmoor Adventures Two long distance routes pass through Exmoor: the Tour of Britain, whose local section has been named ‘Exmoor Cycle Route’, and the well-signed West Country Way, which consists mainly of quiet country lanes: both take in some of Exmoor’s best views and finest scenery. Exmoor has become one of the country’s premier mountain biking destinations, with a huge range of off-road routes for all abilities: you can purchase a colour-coded graded mountain biking map of Exmoor from the National Park authority to help plan your trip. For more information, maps and inspiration for cycling, check out Exmoor National Park’s cycling page, the broader 1 South West Project, linking cycle routes and facilities across the region. For information, routes and news for cyclists in Exmoor and across the country, check out the Sustrans website. Exmoor National Park provides a useful interactive map of the National Park on their website, alternatively for more maps, guides, general information and local advice head to one of their three visitor centres, located at Dulverton, Dunster, and Lynmouth. There are also independently run visitor information centres in Combe Martin, Lynton, Minehead, and Porlock. >> For great places to eat and stay, and ideas for days out, see our Green Traveller's Guide to Somerset and Exmoor

As we launch our Greentraveller's Guide to Dedham Vale, our writer follows in the footsteps of John Constable You can hardly take a step in this part of the world without bumping into a location for one of John Constable’s paintings. Whether it’s Dedham Lock and Mill, the riverside walk which inspired at least four of his works or Flatford Mill itself which was owned by his father and provided the setting for ‘Boys Fishing by Bridge Cottage’, ‘The Lock’, and of course ‘The Haywain’. Dedham Vale was Constable’s childhood home and his main source of inspiration. “I should paint my own places best", he wrote to his friend John Fisher in 1821. "Painting is but another word for feeling." He was born and grew up in a radius of just a few miles, living in East Bergholt and attending school in Dedham which he walked to each day along the River Stour. Even after he moved to London to further his career, he returned to Dedham Vale every summer to sketch and paint the landscape, and even eventually married his childhood sweetheart and one time neighbour from East Bergholt, Maria with whom he had seven children. Flatford is one of the best places to start your exploration of ‘Constable Country’. I arrived on foot from Dedham, which is just a 30 minute stroll through the riverside meadows and brings you across a small wooden bridge right into the heart of the hamlet. The National Trust took over in 1943 and restored its buildings and the dry dock, and has continued to acquire the surrounding land over the years to protect it from development. Some of the buildings are now leased to the Field Study Council which offers over 300 residential and day courses based on the arts and the environment. There’s also a delightful new wildlife garden which has been cultivated on land donated to the RSPB by two sisters, Sylvia and Margaret Richardson who ran a tea garden on the site for many decades. You can either spend a leisurely day wandering around the hamlet, learning about John Constable in the free, small exhibition at Bridge Cottage and exploring the circular walks which offer panoramic views of the surrounding farmland and 15th century buildings. Or do what I did and jump in with one of the daily guided tours (there is a small fee) to find out more about the artist, how he worked and his links with the area. We visited several sites where Constable painted and our guide explained what daily life at the Mill would have been like at the time. With her bulging bag full of print copies of his most famous paintings, we were able to compare the scene in Constable’s day with how it is now, and saw in many cases how little the landscape has changed as well as where he had taken a certain amount of artistic license. For example, the tower of Dedham Church appears in many of his works but in order for it to have sufficient impact in the painting, he decided to add roughly 30ft to its actual height. Afterwards, I tucked in to a freshly made salad at the National Trust tea room, picked from the on-site Valley Farm kitchen garden that same morning, before catching a ride back to Dedham on the Hopper Bus service. Here there were a couple more important Constable connections to see, including his former school where someone has mysteriously etched the initials ‘JC ‘ on the front wall, some eight feet off the ground. Dedham Church houses one of his paintings, The Ascension. If the tower is open (weekends only) then it’s well worth a climb to the top for its fabulous views over the surrounding Stour Valley, and if you have time then stroll up to Castle House, which was home to another great local artist and former President of the Royal Academy, Sir Alfred Munnings. Where to stay Maison Talbooth and Milsoms, both on the outskirts of Dedham, each make a fabulous base if you want to enjoy a stay with that added touch of luxury. Maison Talbooth has 12 gorgeous suites, all with super king size beds, goose feather duvets, Egyptian cotton sheets, mini bars and complementary wi-fi. The Garden Room Restaurant serves breakfast and lunch, and overlooks the lawns and pool house where you can head for a dip afterwards in the heated outdoor swimming pool and hot tub. Book in for a session on the tennis court, or relax in the new Day Spa which offers massages, facials, manicures and a whole range of other treatments. For dinner, the complementary shuttle will take you up to their award winning restaurant, Le Talbooth which is just a couple of minutes away on the banks of the River Stour. Their fine dining menu includes plenty of locally sourced dishes including Dedham Vale beef carpaccio and Colchester crab ravioli. Alternatively, Milsoms down the road has fifteen stylish en-suite bedrooms all with crisp white linen sheets, duvets and fluffy towels, a mini bar, satellite TV and that all important free wi-fi. Here you can dine in their two-tiered restaurant or outside on the terrace under their gigantic 'sail' and in the shade of a 160 year old Sequoia tree. The menu here specialises 'global' cuisine as well as daily specials that showcase the best of the area’s produce, such as the delicious pan fried flounder I tried with browned butter and seasonal vegetables, caught locally that same morning. By Juliette Dyke

As we launch our Greentraveller's Guide to Dedham Vale, our writer, Juliette Dyke, chats to Paula Booth - the planning and development officer for the Dedham Vale AONB - to find out why this area's a special place to visit, whatever the season Why do you think people should visit the AONB? To experience the tranquillity of the area and enjoy the rolling fields, lush woodlands and meadows and appreciate the cultural connections and picturesque villages. It’s a place to visit at a slower pace; no fast-paced entertainment around here. Is it a good destination to visit year round? Yes, I think the off-peak times of year are just as enjoyable as mid-summer. Winter can be one of the best times, if you are lucky enough to visit on a crisp bright day for a good long walk followed by a lunch in a cosy pub. There are plenty of great places to enjoy walking at any time of year, the only difference is what you do when you finish. Whether you end up warming up by the open fire in a local pub, or dipping your toes in the nearest stream to cool off. Of course, like most places, the Dedham Vale is at it’s busiest in the summer, but if you want to get away from it all, there are still plenty of paths off the beaten track. The most popular spot is undoubtedly the walk between Flatford and Dedham, so if visiting in summer, try an early morning or an evening stroll as it might mean you get the place to yourself. Are local tourism businesses getting more involved in green initiatives? I think it’s a good marketing opportunity for businesses to promote the fact that they are using local produce, and will make our tourism offer a bit more ‘exclusive’. Our heritage buildings are also part of the offer, as we have nice surroundings and nice food. It’s a trend which is targeted at some people and not all. Is it possible to get around without a car? Yes it is possible, and the best way to really get the feel of the area is to be on foot or go by bike. Being on foot means you can really get away from it all and enjoy the lovely network of paths. If visiting for the day, Manningtree Station brings you close by and it’s a 40 minute walk along hedge-lined and riverside footpaths brings you to Flatford which definitely beats the alternative of arriving via the car park. For longer trips, some people may have arrived at their accommodation by car, but it’s still good to leave it behind for the day and get those walking boots on. In the summer months, we are lucky enough to have the Dedham Vale Hopper bus running which provides a circular service to all of the main villages of the Dedham Vale plus a link to Manningtree train station. What does living and travelling in a more sustainable way mean to you? It means making conscious decisions about how you live, what you consume, having less impact through your actions and being a conscientious consumer. What do you love to do in this area when you have some free time? Riverside walks, enjoying the cultural connections especially in Flatford and Dedham, and exploring Arger Fen with its little valleys, views, woodland and lush bluebells. What do you enjoy most about getting off the beaten track in Dedham Vale AONB? I love to appreciate the mini scenes, snapshots and special moments during a walk, for example a viewpoint, a scent, or an unexpected place.

Our guide to travelling to and around the Lake District National Park without a car. Getting to The Lake District without a car By Train: The Avanti West Coast mainline (formerly operated by Virgin Trains) stops at Carlisle, Penrith and Oxenholme, which have good transport connections to different parts of the Lake District National Park. Trains along this line run from Glasgow and up through the Midlands from London. There are also services to Carlisle from Newcastle, whilst from Yorkshire and the North West there are trains both to Carlisle and Penrith, and on the Windermere branch line via Kendal right to Windermere in the heart of the Lakes. Additionally, you can also make connections at Lancaster (on the West Coast mainline) to the Furness Line and the Cumbrian Coast Line to access some of the quieter, outlying areas of the National Park such as Grange-over-Sands and Maryport. For more information on routes to the Lake District, check out Go Lakes’ Cumbria by rail. By Coach or Bus: National Express coaches serve both the major settlements and tourist destinations within and around the Lake District National Park from various destinations across the UK. Whilst Megabus does not serve destinations within the National Park, it does run buses to the nearby transport hubs of Carlisle and Lancaster. Getting around the Lake District without a car By Train: Travelling within much of the Lake District by train is not an option as the trains skirt the outside of the region, however on the Lakes Line there are railway stations at Windermere (for the lake), Staveley (for some great walking country), Burneside and Kendal (a major tourist and cultural hub) on the branch line from Oxenholme, where connections can be made up to Penrith in the Northern Lakes. The Western side of the Lake District is also easily accessible from the Cumbrian Coast line (via a change at Lancaster). By Bus: The Lake District is served by a great network of bus services, with many interconnecting to allow for seamless travel across the length and breadth of the National Park. There is a thorough guide to bus travel at Go Lakes. Key routes for visitors include: 77/77a Honister Rambler 73/73a Caldbeck Rambler 108 Penrith – Patterdale 508 (Stagecoach) Penrith – Windermere & Bowness 516 Langdale Rambler 505 Coniston Rambler 525 Cross-Lakes (Windermere, Hawkshead, Coniston) 555 Lancaster – Carlisle (traversing much of the Lake District) 597 Windermere town 599 Lakeland Experience open top bus X30 Cross Lakes Experience X12 (Apollo 8 Travel) Ulverston - Coniston Go Lakes also has an interactive map of buses in the Lake District, and you can access full timetables of bus routes across Cumbria via the county council website: some services are seasonal, running only in summer. By Boat: Whilst you probably won’t do much of your Lakeland travel on the water, you can make a few handy ferry crossings to cut journey times and take in the lovely scenery, mirrored in the water next to you. A range of different boat trips and cruises run on Windermere, Ullswater, Coniston and some of the smaller lakes, some of them linking different destinations. Buses and foot passengers also take the Windermere ferry, which has been running for over 500 years (though fortunately with updated vessels). It connects Bowness, next to the town of Windermere, with Far Sawrey (for Beatrix Potter’s house and Hawkshead), and avoids having to circumnavigate England’s largest lake. Additionally, some of the Lakes' top attractions and main towns and villages are linked by boat cruise routes that often tie in neatly with terrestrial transport. Windermere Lake Cruises offer regular sailings between Ambleside, Brockhole, The Lake District Visitor Centre and the National Trusts Wray Castle at the northern end of Windermere; at the southern end you can cruise between Lakeside (for the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Steam Railway and local attractions), Bowness-on-Windermere; as well as services along the whole lake to Ambleside Up in Ullswater, hikers and ramblers can reach their starting points (plus some great cafés) with Ullswater Steamers, which offers regular services between Glenridding, Howtown and Pooley Bridge. And for a real vintage experience, try travelling across Lake Coniston on the heritage vessel Steam Yacht Gondola. Cycling: The dramatic peaks and upland terrain of the Lake District is an obvious destination for mountain bikers and off-road cycle enthusiasts; however, along the lakes and valley floors, the National Park also offers great cycle options for cyclists of all ability levels – and the views are just as spectacular. This is a useful overview: taking bikes on public transport. Mainline train services usually offer space to keep your bikes, however these spaces are limited and should always be reserved in advance to avoid disappointment, by calling up the train operator, or heading to your local railway station ticket office. Whilst not all local bus services allow you to take a bike on board, many buses in the Lake District are fitted out to carry bikes. In the summer the 800 bike bus service has the capacity to carry twelve bikes on a route that links many of the main sites and centres of the Windermere area, including Ambleside and Fell Foot Park, covering the full length of the lake. The service runs on weekends and bank holidays from the 4th of May until the 14th of July. In the summer high season (July 20th - September 1st), there is a daily service. Other services particularly geared towards cyclists are: 599 (Bowness - Ambleside - Grasmere; carries two bikes) X33 (The Lakeland Explorer: Ambleside - Coniston - Bootle - Muncaster - Ravenglass; carries two bikes) X30 (Cross Lakes Experience: Hawkshead - Grizedale - Tarn Hows - Satterthwiate; carries two bikes, hop-on hop-off service) Additionally, a bike boat shuttles cyclists across Lake Windermere, between the Lake District Visitor Centre at Brockhole and Wray Castle. Carrying up to twelve bikes and linking into bike trails on both sides of the lake, this is a great way to reach some of the best cycling in the area, including the more secluded trails on the 'secret' western shore. Why not take some of the strain off your legs and allow yourself to cycle some of the Lake District’s steeper routes with an electric bike? This new scheme offers e-bike hire from various points across the Lake District, with hire costing from just £10. This list of bike hire shops includes those renting electric bikes. For traditional cycle hire, plus handy local information, and often much more, there are numerous bike providers and hire centres across the Lake District National Park, Go Lakes provides an extensive list of cycle hire and providers in the Lake District. Any number of routes traverse the Lake District, following flat (and fairly flat) roads, or across challenging mountain terrain: for a broad selection check out the Go Lakes cycle routes and guides. For more information on cycling around the Lake District and the rest of the country, check out the Sustrans website. For more information and useful links, head to one of the visitor centres listed below. Maps and further information You can find a fantastic range of different downloadable PDF maps and an interactive map of the Lake District on the National Park’s website. If you want a whole host more information, maps, and advice, all in a beautiful lakeside setting, head to the Lake District National Park visitor centre at Brockhole, on the shores of Lake Windermere. From Windermere train station, you can take the 555 and 599 bus services to the centre. There are also three further National Park information centres for visitors: Bowness on Windermere visitor information centre, Keswick visitor information centre, and Ullswater visitor information centre.

As we launch our Green Traveller's Guide to East Devon, our writer, Paul Miles, spends a few days exploring the Devon section of Route 2, a cycle path linking Dover with St Austell, and enjoys some local food and a spot of birdwatching en route Cycling through pretty farmland, along the edge of a field where cows graze, on a smooth, car-free cycle path: what more perfect start to a green holiday could there be? I’m no Wiggins but to my mind a holiday isn’t complete without a bike ride, especially along country lanes by the coast. You smell farmyards, hedgerow flowers and salty tang and feel the sun, wind (and rain). A steep climb is rewarded with a view of rolling hills and sea. New cycleways are opening across East Devon. One of the newest is a short, two-mile, car-free stretch from Axminster railway station to the village of Kilmington. This is part of the National Cycle Network 2, a long-distance route that will eventually link Kent to Cornwall and is known as the South Coast Cycle route. In East Devon, it links Axminster to Exeter with a stretch of some 30 miles. I had taken the train to Axminster with my bicycle (no pre-booking required on Southwest trains). Conveniently, I was staying in Kilmington, at a hilltop farm, where beautiful 17th century stone barns have been converted into very comfortable self-catering accommodation: Cranberries Luxury Hideaway. The owner, Steve Littley, met me at reception. “You won’t need to lock your bike,” he tells me. “Kilmington is the third safest place in the country according to the crime statistics.” Bucolic bliss and practically Utopia too? It was a good start. I just needed a Devon cream tea to round off my afternoon. There wasn’t one in my welcome hamper but there was fresh fruit, bread, tea, coffee, chocolate and biscuits. I cycled off to nearby Millers Farm Shop for more provisions – local vegetables, fruit, honey, jams, smoked fish, Devon beef and pork (and French produce too, including inexpensive wine). The next morning, I continued exploring route 2, signposted clearly along the way. I stopped first at the nearby village of Colyton, where the church has an unusual octagonal lantern tower and a group of men called the feeoffees, or ‘trustees’, still wield power granted to their predecessors by Henry VIII. “There have never been any women feeoffees,” a resident informed me, with a sigh, as I asked her about the history of the ‘most rebellious town in Devon’. In Colyton, there’s even a cycle shop that hires out bikes. Colyton is the terminus for the Seaton tramway, a narrow-gauge tram trundles some three miles between Seaton and Colyton during the holiday season. The tramline follows the Axe estuary and is a good spot from which to view birdlife. Otherwise, you can cycle to some excellent new hides in a newly formed wetlands nature reserve. Route 2 takes you right past the entrance to the Axe Estuary Wetlands on the outskirts of Seaton, just seven miles or so from Kilmington. Here, I met Fraser Rush, Axe Estuary Wetlands Officer. “This nature reserve was created in 2008 as an East Devon District Council project,” he tells me. “It’s not just to benefit wildlife, but to provide a visitor attraction.” Where once there were fields of cows, there are now lakes and islands, with smart bird hides from which to watch shelducks, curlews and godwits (or learn how to identify them if you don’t already know.) If you’re very lucky, you may even see an otter or two. A lot of thought has been put into the half-million pound project. “Most bird hides are rectangular with a wooden door and, if you’ve never been in one before, it can be a bit intimidating to enter,” says Fraser. “Everyone’s sitting with their back to you, lined up on a bench, peering out through binoculars, no-one talking,” he smiles and leans away from me with his fancy binoculars, to watch a flock of oyster catchers on an islet. “We made our hides hexagonal, which makes them more sociable, and we deliberately didn’t put doors on them.” Built of wood, they are attractive structures and one even has a sedum roof. Inside there are pictures and descriptions of the various birds you may see and information on the history of the two-mile long Axe estuary. It was an important harbour for Henry VIII’s navy until a pebble bar started to form across the mouth of the river. We peer out onto the bright water. A kingfisher whistles and flies low and arrow-straight, over the surface. A little grebe dives and disappears. It was time for a coffee. At The Chine Café on Seaton seafront, I sit in the sun and admire the red Triassic cliffs. In a park on the clifftops, there’s a labyrinth laid out in the grass: a relaxing half-mile walk, for contemplation, within a circle just 60ft across. Like the twists and turns of the labyrinth, my day’s cycling would, via meandering country lanes, be taking me back to where I’d started: Cranberries, where another circular form of relaxation awaited: an outdoor hot-tub.

Exploring Sutton Hoo and the surrounding area, our writer learns some fascinating archaeological and historical facts on the Suffolk Coast & Heaths. Poor old Basil Brown. In 1938 this self-trained, local archaeologist was asked to examine 18 low grassy mounds on the land of one Edith Pretty, a wealthy heiress and widow. She claimed that she had dreamt about seeing ghostly figures marching about on the mounds and felt compelled to investigate. However, no sooner had word got out that Brown and his two assistant labourers had in fact found an undisturbed 90ft Anglo Saxon ship, then Cambridge archaeologist Charles Phillips rushed down to see the findings for himself. In turn he persuaded Mrs Pretty to appoint his own team instead, and Brown was politely but firmly sidelined on the project. What this new team went on to discover astonished the world; a treasure chamber containing a iconic warrior’s helmet and shield plus many gold and silver treasures believed to have belonged to King Raedwold who ruled over most of East Anglia in the seventh century. Fortunately, Brown’s name has since gone down in history as the one to have made that first, momentous discovery of the Saxon ship, and his detailed diaries have provided an invaluable insight into what happened as the dig unfolded. To make the most of your visit, book yourself on a guided tour with a National Trust volunteer who will take you right up and onto the burial mounds. Afterwards, take one of woodland and heathland walks trails around the 245 acre site which overlooks the Deben estuary. As you look down, imagine what kind of an undertaking it must have been for those sailors to manoeuvre the 90ft ship all the way up from the river to the burial site. This extraordinary place is reason alone to come to this part of Suffolk, but there are plenty of other historical sites that are well worth a visit. On your way back from Sutton Hoo, pop in to the Tide Mill Living Museum at Woodbridge. It has recently been re-opened following a £1.25m renovation project to restore its four tonne oak wheel, which had been grinding corn for over 800 years right up until the 1970’s. Also don’t miss the tiny village of Dunwich, now home to barely 120 residents with a few picturesque offshore fishing boats and a friendly 17th century pub, The Ship Inn. Despite appearances, it was once one of the greatest ports on the east coast and the 10th largest place in England, which you can learn all about the in the charming village museum. There’s also the Aldeburgh Museum, packed with local history and housed in a historic, timber-framed public building dating back to the 16th Century, and of course there’s the iconic Orford Castle. It sits overlooking the former port developed by Henry II, and has one of the most unusual and best preserved keeps in England. Where to stay The Coach House B&B in Woodbridge is a great base for exploring the area, with a bus stop right outside and it’s well worth taking the slightly longer route into town via the National Trust’s Kyson Point walk with stunning views of the Deben estuary. The house has three light and airy guest rooms, all decorated with sophisticated touches including stripped pine floors, warm oak furniture and crisp, fresh bed linens. I particularly loved watching the birds feeding in the pretty courtyard garden, as I savoured a hearty, home cooked breakfast sourced entirely from local ingredients. The owner, Rita James, has won a Gold Award from the Green Tourism Business Scheme and puts it down to the great thought and care she puts into every detail, whether it’s using low energy bulbs, harvesting rain water for the garden, offering fair trade tea and coffee or simply picking a fresh bunch of sweet peas every day for each guest’s bedroom. In the evening, try dinner and a movie at the restaurant-cum-cinema, The Riverside on Woodbridge’s scenic quayside. All their bread and pasta is made in-house and the produce is as local and organic as it gets, whether it’s Blythburgh pork, Ketley Farm beef or wild mushroom taglietelle. Or you could pop across the road from the Coach House to The Duke of York, part of the Vintage Inn chain which serves seasonal fare in country pub surroundings. By Juliette Dyke

As we launch our Greentraveller's Guide to the Kent Downs, writer Harriet O'Brien encounters bees, butterflies and bluebells on a wildlife tour with the White Cliffs Countryside Partnership and the Kent Wildlife Trust ‘It’s typical - the girls do all the work,’ said our team leader. The males, she explained, laze around drinking nectar while the females busily collect pollen. I was among a group of six who had gathered at Whinless Down on the very fringes of Dover for an afternoon learning how to identify bumblebees. Sounds effete? Well not really: on this edge of England bumblebees can be regarded as a sort of litmus as to climate change. There are about 24 species of bumblebee in the UK, eight of which are commonly seen. The Bumblebee Conservation Trust is currently orchestrating a countrywide survey to take stock of the numbers of these endearing-looking insects and to establish why there has been a decline in population, and partly to monitor the new arrivals from the south – particularly in Kent where they first set wing in the country. Gathering relevant data about bumblebees isn’t entirely a simple matter so, to help the public participate, the conservation organisation The White Cliffs Countryside Partnership was running a bumblebee identification field workshop. It was one of a great range of free events and guided walks that this preservation body regularly offers. We learnt how those lazy males have no sting: that’s a female thing. We attuned ourselves as to differing stripes, from red-tailed bees to white-tailed bees with three yellow bands. We took note of a variety of fake bumblebees ‒ insects cleverly masquerading as bees to discourage potential predators. Then we started out on a bee walk, the idea being that we could then set a route to walk every month, sending our sightings back to the Bumblebee Conservation Trust. The beauty of spending an afternoon with nature conservationists is that you see and learn so much. Quite apart from gathering bee specifications, we took in a particularly interesting downland area which is in the fascinating process of habitat restoration. Covering just 19 or so hectares, Whinless Down is a designated Local Nature Reserve noted for the rare species its dramatic chalkland supports. Containing Bronze Age burial mounds it was grazed for many centuries and is home to a wonderful range of plants including bee orchids and harebells, and butterflies such as the little seen adonis blue and the silver-spotted skipper. In the 1950s grazing here stopped and thorny scrub started to spread, with the result that far less wildlife was able to flourish. Now a scrub clearance programme is re-establishing the open chalkland in which so many species thrive and this is being maintained thanks to grazing by specially introduced konik ponies and Dexter cattle. I came away from my afternoon excursion quite as inspirited by the conservation measures as by my new bee knowledge. Revival; regeneration: that’s been the remarkable success story in wildlife stewardship in the Kent Downs over the last couple or so decades. The next day I began to appreciate quite what a heartening process this continues to be when I took a walk at the Lydden Temple Ewell Reserve with Paul Hadaway, Living Landscape Team Leader at Kent Wildlife Trust. A 90-hectare National Nature Reserve managed by the trust, this striking stretch of chalk downs just inland from Dover offers a great swathe of open land along with marginal woodland, and it commands stupendous views. It was probably grazed even in pre-Roman times, said Paul, and it looks today much as it would have done many centuries ago. However, it, too, has been through a fairly recent process of reclamation, scrub having been cleared and the open land now maintained through carefully managed grazing by cattle. We stopped to look at a milkwort flower at our feet: it’s a plant growing close to the ground and an indication, said Paul, of very healthy chalkland. On hands and knees, examining a small patch about 30cm around it, we noted a fabulous natural tapestry of mouse ear hawkweed, wild carrot, wild marjoram, birds foot trefoil and more. With all this burgeoning vegetation insect life has been flourishing, Paul added - and they’ve successfully reintroduced the wart biter cricket here (it’s the largest cricket in the UK). Of course it follows that bird life is rich, too: green woodpeckers, yellowhammers, linnets, skylarks. They’ve also been reintroducing red kites and buzzards. We stood up and gazed across the valley, taking in a distant kestrel circling over prey. As we walked on Paul talked of the great rewards in maintaining ecosystems – both for wildlife and for the enormous benefit of people, too. From restoration to creation: the other side of Dover, at the foot of the White Cliffs, lies Samphire Hoe. It’s an extraordinary, 30-hectare nature reserve. It isn’t only a relatively new reserve; it is new land, too, for Samphire Hoe was created in the late 1980s and 1990s from chalk marl dug out from under the sea when the Channel Tunnel was being drilled. Fast forward nearly 20 years and it is now rich in more than 200 species of plants, 10 or more species of dragonflies - and some truly eye-catching copper butterflies on the day I was there. Bumblebees thrive here as well – and some of them have no doubt newly arrived from across the Channel. == Written by Harriet O'Brien

As we launch our Greentraveller's Guide to the Kent Downs, writer Harriet O'Brien discovers vineyards, hops gardens, orchards and fruit farms on a whistlestop tour of innovative local food producers and microbreweries in the Kent Downs The story goes that it was Henry VIII who named Kent ‘The Garden of England’. He is said to have been fittingly inspired after consuming a bowl of Kentish cherries with lip-smacking gusto. Whatever the truth of the tale, that the sobriquet stuck is a reflection of how apposite it was – and continues to be. You get an especially striking sense of that natural abundance at Chegworth Valley fruit farm. It lies in intensely rural reaches close to Leeds Castle which, suitably enough, was once a property of Henry VIII. Indeed, Chegworth wasn’t originally a fruit producer so much as the dairy farm of the royal estate. David and Linda Deme moved here in the 1980s from London, and with no farming experience – and with huge amounts of enthusiasm – they set to, at first planting just 15 acres with apple and pear trees. Business developed, they added soft fruits, and with a bucolic sense of confidence they realised they didn’t want to supply supermarkets with uniform-looking produce; they wanted, instead, to provide great-flavoured fruit (and, in time, veg) to a market that would relish it. Today almost all their, now, 100-acre farm is organic. And from tomatoes and salad leaves to rainbow chard, their business continues to be all about taste. Chegworth has become a thriving family enterprise, too: the Demes’ daughter Charlotte now oversees the shopping outlets (as well as supplying local restaurants and farmers markets, there are dedicated Chegworth shops at Borough Market and Notting Hill in London and in the summer there’s a pop-up shop by the farm gateway) while their son Ben manages much of the day-to-day farm operation and is the driving force of innovation. Apples remain an enormously important crop: Cox’s, Bramley, Braeburn, Russet and many more varieties including the little known Boskoop Rouge and the home developed Chegworth Beauty. Meanwhile apple juice, every batch of which is tasted by a family member, has become an ever-more applauded product – the farm won Best Juice Producer in the Taste of Kent 2015 awards. Thanks to Ben’s pioneering efforts new lines such as apple and rhubarb juice and apple and beetroot have become very popular. And the market for organic apples and related products keeps growing: over the next couple of years the Demes will be planting 1400 more trees to keep up with demand. From innovation to tradition: up near Faversham, Pawley Farm also presses its own crops of apples. Here, much of the end result is cider. And here they revel in time-honoured methods – as did Rick Stein when he nominated Pawley Farm and owner Derek Macey among his food heroes. Sold in farmers’ markets and offered at local pubs, the cider is made to a family recipe about 250 years old and is matured for up to two years in oak casks. Of course, given Kent’s centuries-old role as major hop-producing land, no trip here would be complete without sampling beer, too. Make that a pint of award-winning Green Daemon Helles which you’ll find in many pubs in the Kent Downs, including The Bowl Inn at Hastingleigh and The Plough at Stalisfield Green. It’s one of five beers by Hopdaemon microbrewery, also near Faversham, which was set up in 2000 and lists East Kent Goldings and Kentish Cascade among its favourite hop varieties – both of which are grown very locally. There’s been a tremendous come-back for hops over the last six or so years, I was told at Brenley Farm nearby. And that’s because of the great growth of microbreweries such as Hopdaemon. A family enterprise for generations, Brenley Farm grows apples, pears and cereals as well as hops – and also operates as a B&B (see under where to stay). Reflecting demand, this year a new hop garden was added, which is a significant investment in terms of the elaborate structure and wirework required for the plants. They grow East Kent Goldings here, prized for a delicate aroma and now in demand all over the world. Planting hops usually takes place in winter or early spring, with shoots appearing by April and bines on the climb up the wirework thereafter. By August the hop gardens have become curtains of green, and towards the end of the month feathery flowers, or seed cones, appear – and these are harvested about a month later. Alongside the hops, Brenley Farm has also diversified into vines, producing Bacchus grapes for wine made by Chapel Down winery at Tenterden. In the Kent Downs AONB, Terlingham Vineyard on the farmland of historic Terlingham Manor near Folkestone is Britain’s smallest commercial winery. Vines were planted here in 2006, from which the first wines were produced in 2008. The vineyard produces sparkling white from Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay grapes, rose, and still wines of which White Cliffs made with Bacchus grapes won a silver medal in the 2011 English and Welsh Wine awards. Another Kentish crop also growing in demand is the cobnut. This variety of cultivated hazelnut was introduced to Kent in the 1830s and proved such a commercial success that orchards of nut trees were established. However demand started faltering after the First World War when imported foods became more readily available. Today Alex Hunt of Potash Farm has been among those reviving interest in cobnuts and pioneering new product lines too. Set between Sevenoaks and Maidstone, his farm includes 30 acres of cobnuts and 10 acres of walnuts and it also offers a nursery business of nut trees – from cobnuts to almonds. He produces a range of nut products, from cold-pressed oils (intensely flavoured cobnut, walnut and hazelnut) to cobnut soaps and balms. And of course he also offers fresh nuts – all his goods being available at farmers’ markets, at Potash Farm Shop, and nationwide at high-end stores such as Daylesford. Cobnuts, he says, are wonderful eaten fresh either salted on their own or sprinkled in salads – a true taste of Kent. Written by Harriet O'Brien Information: Harriet stayed at Brenley Farm, a handsome Georgian property offering three bedrooms, fabulous local breakfasts, swimming pool, garden, orchards and stables for those bringing their own four-legged transport.

As we launch our Green Traveller's Guide to Northumberland National Park, here's our guide to travelling to and around Northumberland National Park without a car. Getting to Northumberland without a car: By Train: While Newcastle is not in the National Park, it is a major gateway city and is well connected by rail. East Coast links Edinburgh, York, Peterborough and London to Newcastle and Berwick-upon-Tweed; Virgin operates services from London, Manchester, Glasgow, Carlisle, Leeds, Sheffield, Birmingham and South West England; and Transpennine services serves Newcastle from Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds and York. From Newcastle, the Tyne Valley Line takes you into the southern part of Northumberland National Park, with stations close to Hadrian’s Wall World Heritage Site. Key stations for visitors are located at Wylam, Prudhoe, Stocksfield, Riding Mill, Corbridge, Hexham, Haydon Bridge, Bardon Mill and Haltwhistle. Trains are operated by Northern Rail and First ScotRail. By Coach or Bus: There are National Express and Megabus services from throughout the UK to Newcastle and Carlisle. From Newcastle or Carlisle, there are various Arriva, Go North East and Stagecoach services into the National Park, as well as a summer service called The Hadrian’s Wall Country Bus, which links major sites along the Hadrian’s Wall corridor between Newcastle and Carlisle (services operating out of both cities; more information below). B. Getting around without a car: By Train: The principal line of use for visitors to Northumberland National Park is the Tyne Valley Line, which links Newcastle and Carlisle with destinations along the Tyne Valley through Hadrian’s Wall country, a full list of useful stations can be found above. Though this line doesn’t cover the whole of the National Park, there are many inspiring walks to be made from the stations along the line, the national trail offers a selection of walks in the East Tyne Valley and walks in the West Tyne Valley, accessible by railway. By Bus: Part of the beauty of Northumberland National Park is its isolated, rural nature: this is a place where you can really escape to windswept hill and dark skies. The corresponding lack of population centres does however mean that much of the National Park remains beyond the reach of regular bus services. There are still some useful services for visitors, however most of these are concentrated in and around the more populated Tyne Valley to the south. Hadrian’s Wall Country Bus The flagship bus service for Northumberland National Park is the AD122 Hadrian’s Wall Country Bus (commemorating the year in which construction of the Wall commenced). Running from Easter throughout the summer, it operates a hop-on, hop-off system of ‘rover’ tickets with a one-, three-, and seven-day pricing structure (reductions for students, children, and families); the tickets are also valid on some other local routes such as the 10, 185, 880 and Tynedale Links. There is also provision to carry bikes, if pre-booked (more information below). The AD122 runs between Newcastle and Carlisle, stopping at Corbridge, Hexham, Once Brewed National Park Visitor Centre, Haltwhistle, Gilsland, Brampton, and various points in between: see the timetable. Other bus services 10/10A: Hexham - Corbridge - Stocksfield - Prudhoe - Rockwood Hill (10A) - Greenside (10A) - Crawcrook - Ryton - Blaydon - Metrocentre - Newcastle 14/X14: Newcastle - Morpeth (for East Coast mainline and local railway services) - Thropton (located just to the east of the National Park). Service offering access to the northern parts of the National Park. 185: Carlisle – Brampton – Gilsland – Haltwhistle 685 Carlisle – Newcastle and X85 Hexham - Newcastle 808: Newcastle – Otterburn 880: Hexham – Bellingham (- Kielder) Tynedale Links runs various local services to rural areas of the Tyne Valley. National Express 383 services connects Newcastle with Edinburgh through Northumberland National Park, stopping at Otterburn and Byrness. Cycling Mile after mile of wonderful country lanes offering spectacular views, with barely a vehicle in sight: this is what awaits cyclists in Northumberland. Combined with extensive off-road trails, cycle hubs, and well-marked routes, Northumberland is a cyclist’s dream – from families looking for quiet, flat roads to mountain bikers seeking a challenge and a thrill. If you want to bring your two-wheeled friend along, all mainline train services (and many local ones) have spaces for bikes, but to avoid problems or disappointment, it is always best to reserve your spot in advance. To do this, you can either call the train operator, or head to your local railway station’s ticket office. The majority of buses in the area do not take bikes, however it may occasionally be possible at the drivers’ discretion. One notable exception is the AD122 Hadrian’s Wall Country Bus: however you must contact the service operator before 3pm the day before intended travel – click here for contact numbers. If you want to hire a bike upon arrival in Northumberland, or get hold of maps and useful advice and information, there is a wide range of cycle provision on offer both in the National Park and around (in places such as Newcastle). Check out the National Park’s visitor website for a full list of bike hire and cycle providers. Two of the major long distance cycle routes which run through Northumberland National Park are the Pennine Cycleway and Reivers Cycle Route; the National Park also boasts two cycle hubs at Wooler (starting point for the Wooler Wheel, a scenic cycle ‘challenge’ through the Cheviot Hills) and Haltwhistle. Around Bellingham, the lovely Kielder Forest boasts a wonderful array of routes for cyclists of different abilities, plus its own cycle challenge. Sustrans offers great information and route ideas for cyclists and sustainable travellers in Northumberland and beyond, and for a wealth of information and links to cycle resources, have a look at Northumberland National Park cycling page. Electric Vehicles The National Park also has a network of electric vehicle charging posts, from Hadrian’s Wall to the Cheviots and the Scottish border. Why not recharge your batteries with a lovely walk in the hills, whilst your car does the same! Maps and further information On the official Park website there's an interactive map of the Northumberland National Park. For more maps, plus a whole host more information, guides and friendly local advice, head to the award-winning Once Brewed National Park Centre. There are also several other tourist information centres in the National Park and surrounding area. For more information about visiting Northumberland National Park, see the websites of the Northumberland National Park and Visit Nortumberland.

As we launch our Green Traveller's Guide to Northumberland National Park, Jo Keeling explores Hadrian’s Wall by foot and on the AD122 bus, making sense of the geology that underpins this immense human endeavour and reimagining life on the northern edge of the Roman empire The yellow  bus skips along the B6318 – the military road that cuts a fairly straight Roman line just south of Hadrian’s Wall. To my right, walkers are silhouetted on the brow of the hill as they make their way along the 84-mile National Trail, running coast to coast from the River Tyne to the Solway Firth. I disembark at the Twice Brewed Inn, already humming with ramblers. The origins of this pub’s name are somewhat woolly – one story links it back to Yorkist foot soldiers who demanded stronger beer on the eve of the Battle of Hexham in 1464; others refer to the way Hadrian’s Wall snakes its way along the brows (or brews) of the two hills opposite. Either way, the pub provides me with a cracking packed lunch of freshly-made sandwiches wrapped in foil, and now I'm ready to join the trail, heading east on the most dramatic section of the Wall. Climbing up to Steel Rigg, I'm not greeted by acres of vast moorland, as I'd expected, but a wealth of colour. The light beaming down between the thick grey-blue clouds seems to coax out the richness of purple thistle heads pushing through bracken, vivid pink foxgloves and the soft violet hues of the far too delicate harebells. Looking south from the top of the ridge are the kind of views that really mess with your sense of scale. The hills to the south ripple like shockwaves away from the Wall, the dips peppered with sheep or striped by tractors; the tops crested with dense clumps of forest like thick neat eyebrows. The ripples aren’t all as they seem: some are the ragged edges of rock layers, formed when a huge earth movement injected molten lava between horizontal beds of limestone, mudstone and sandstone 295 million years ago and titled the land so it dips to the south. Another ripple is the Vallum, an enormous man-made earthwork dug as part of the Wall’s defences, which stretches from coast to coast. Milecastle 39 is known as Castle Nick as it sits on the nick of the hill with views over what was once the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire. Beyond lived the old tribes of Britain – the powerful Brigantes who refused to bow down to Roman occupation. I drop down into Sycamore Gap, well-known as the place a quick-footed Kevin Costner saves a young lad from deer hounds just a few hours after landing at Dover in Prince of Thieves (1991). It’s a photogenic spot – the perfect picture of a tree set in a neat dip between two symmetrical hills. I continue along the path, following the grass-topped wall as skylarks ascend to either side, before cutting through tall pines as tiny goldcrests nip between branches. After three miles, I arrive at Housesteads, Britain’s most complete Roman fort. Here one can begin to imagine what life must have been like on the Roman frontier. Vercovicium, as it was known at the time, was built in AD124, two years after they started work on the Wall. Today, you can walk amongst the lichen covered stone foundations past the hospital, now taken over by weasels, to the bath house, taverns, granary and latrines. On the northern edge you’ll find the barracks where up to 800 men slept, waiting to be called upon for battle. After another mile I drop down to the military road and wind up for the night at the Old Repeater Station, a well-loved pit stop on the National Trail. Once a telephone signal booster, this down-to-earth B&B is rather like a Tardis with five basic bedrooms offering bunks or en-suite doubles (for those who book early). Its avuncular host Les cooks a hearty portion of lasagne for supper, before I settle down in the homely lounge and share Allendale Ales and banter with four bikers from Scunthorpe. Les, ever the raconteur, spins yarns and sips whiskey from his corner of the room. As he gets up to pour himself another drink he mutters cheekily: 'and don't anyone even think about taking my seat or there'll be hell to pay.' It would, I realise, take a Roman army to wrestle Les out of his favourite armchair. Further information: The AD122 bus operates daily April-Sept, hourly between 9am-6pm. It connects up with buses in Hexham for onward travel to Newcastle, and with trains at Haltwhistle. Hadrian’s Wall has its own country code called Every Footstep Counts, devised by the National Trail partnership, with tips on how visitors can help look after the Wall for future generations. Please read this before walking in the area, but most importantly you should never climb or walk on top of Hadrian’s Wall.

As we launch our Green Traveller's Guide to Northumberland National Park, Jo Keeling visits England's remotest protected area to explore Europe’s largest area of protected night sky. It was my first night in Northumberland National Park and the clouds were beginning to clear. Our group of six stood expectant (and rather full) in Battlesteads Hotel's observatory, a wooden stargazing station in the pub garden. As we waited for the sky to darken our host, planetary physicist Roy Alexander, was spinning yarns about his childhood obsession with astronomy: “I used to put on as many layers as I could and sit on Norfolk beaches until I got cold,” he said, before talking about his current hobby of layering up and stargazing from the A1. In 2013, 572 square miles of Northumberland was granted Gold Star Dark Sky Status, making this Europe’s largest area of protected night sky. With such low levels of light pollution, you can see the Milky Way with your bare eyes and, if you’re lucky, the northern lights. At 55º north, it’s not just the aurora borealis you should be looking out for but the equally-sublime noctilucent clouds. A polar cloud on the edge of space, these ice crystals shine like spun silk in summer between latitudes 50º-70º. Roy explained them rather more poetically as, “water vapour mixed with the dust of shooting stars.” Now that it was fully dark, we pushed the tempting red button and the roof pulled back to give the 11” telescope full view of the sky. As one unfamiliar with computer-controlled stargazing devices, I can tell you there’s something rather eerie about a spyglass that knows its location in time and space and moves on its own accord. Our group spoke to the telescope in the revered manner one would save for the HAL 9000 in Space Odyssey. “Show us the moon, HAL,” we said, as we typed the location into the handset, and it calmly slewed round to point at our nearest neighbour. With a catalogue of 40,000 objects, the moon was easy to find, but not as easy for us to see. “The moon is just past those clouds,” Roy said, laughing. “Welcome to astronomy!” Once the clouds shifted, we began to notice things about the moon we’d never seen before. The white parts are more heavily cratered than the dark ‘seas’. Meteors hit evenly, Roy said, but the darker parts were once pools of lava which absorbed the shocks. As the rock hardened it formed ripples like cooling milk. After practicing the basics of “smartphone astro-photography,” and viewing Saturn and its “innumerable moonlets” (one of many poetic celestial phrases we heard that evening), we retreated into the lecture room to drink hot chocolate and examine Roy’s handmade solar filter. Using one is vital; observe the sun without one and the UV light would boil your retinas. You wouldn’t notice you were blind until you looked away. “That’s when the screaming starts,” Roy said, as silence descended on the room. Then he smiled: “So who wants to see a scale model of the NASA space shuttle?” Replete with stargazing facts, we made camp deep in the Dark Sky Zone at Wild Northumbrian Tipis & Yurts. Our home for the night was Merle Yurt, accessed via a rope bridge and hidden within a woodland, owner Rob Hersey promised, was “filled with owls”. Rob has thoroughly embraced the National Park’s Dark Sky status, focusing on simple, joyful ways to experience Northumberland skies. He provides guests with a rug, star map and hamper of treats so they can explore the starlit landscape under their own steam. “We’re so far north that in summer, you can track the sun below the horizon,” he told us. “In winter, the moonlight reflects on the snow and it’s as bright as daylight.” We plied the log burner with wood, slow-cooked a sausage stew and listened to the rain on the roof, more aware than ever of all the astral objects skimming across the sky above us. Further information Jo stayed at: Battlesteads Hotel & Restaurant, a multi award-winning green hotel which organises dark sky events – from family stargazing evenings to 'Aurora hunting' workshops – from its own observatory. Wild Northumbrian Tipis & Yurts, a tranquil tipi and yurt camp in the Tarset Valley, which runs regular stargazing discovery events throughout the year.

As we launch our Greentraveller's Guide to the Northumberland Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Jo Keeling boards a boat to the Farne Islands and gets up close to some of the islands' inhabitants, including puffins, guillemots and seals. “Hold on to your hats folks, the sea’s looking a little bit lively,” the skipper calls back to us as we set out of the harbour at Seahouses towards the Farne Islands. I turn to see several rows of grinning faces – none of which have turned green yet. After riding a few rather feisty swells, the waves settle and we start to be overtaken by skeins of seabirds skimming over the waves: first gannets, then cormorants and terns, as if every living thing is being drawn towards the archipelago by some invisible force. As we near the first island, Inner Farne, the call of ‘puffins!’ causes passengers to rush to the boat edges, as these hardy little birds skitter away from our wake like clockwork toys. The Shiel family has been running boat trips around the Farne Islands since 1918, when the odd ornithologist would ask for a lift out on the lobster boats. Today, Billy Shiel Junior (otherwise known as just William) leads a fleet of seven passenger boats and a high speed RIB on a choice of 11 trips – a slightly more sophisticated set up than when his grandfather started rowing out tour groups in his open Northumbrian coble. We edge closer to the cliff face, sheer columns of pitch black dolerite bleached by decades of guano. The seabirds seem to be arranged in layers: cormorants drying their wings on the lower steps, nesting kittiwakes in the middle and the last of this year’s guillemots. This cluster of islands has been attracting ornithologists for decades – and looking at the scores of seabirds arranged in front of us, it’s not hard to see why. Between May and July, the archipelago becomes a frantic seabird colony – and a puffin fanciers’ dream. 37,000 pairs of these colourful and hardy auks breed here each year, along with 22 other species of seabird. Among them you might spot eider ducks, kittiwakes, guillemots, razorbills, fulmars and Arctic terns, which regularly dive-bomb visitors during their nesting season (bring a hat). If you time your visit well, you’re in with a chance of witnessing some of Britain’s most incredible wildlife spectacles: 1,000 grey seal pups resting on the rocks; gannets exploding into the sea to fish; humpback whales breaching; basking sharks circling the shallows and jumplings (guillemot chicks) taking a leap of faith as they leave their nests. On 11 November 2007, 28,800 little auks streamed past the Islands. It’s still an unbeaten British record and I can’t begin to imagine what that must have been like to see. As the boat motors towards Staple Sound, I can feel the gaze of many eyes upon us and look out to see seals nodding sagely from the water, or turning their heads from their position on the rocks as if we’d rudely woken them from a nap. Up to 3,000-4,000 grey seals live here, making it the largest colony in England. We explore the water around Staple Island and Longstone Island, as the crew spin tales about Grace Darling, the 22-year-old lighthouse keeper’s daughter who risked her life by rowing out to reach the wrecked SS Forfarshire in raging seas on 7 September 1838. A paddlesteamer called the Forfarshire had foundered on rocks and broken in half. After Grace spotted the wreck in the night, her father decided it was too rough for the lifeboat to put out from Seahouses so they replied to the call in their open coble, saving nine surviving members of the 62 crew and passengers. Grace returned a celebrity and was showered with honours. There’s an RNLI museum about her life in Bamburgh. I can’t imagine trying to row in today’s slightly chopping conditions, let alone in a full-blown gale. Nowadays, the lighthouse is powered by solar panels and the only people to live on the Farne Islands are National Trust assistant rangers, who sleep in the old pele tower and the lighthouse cottage. As the guardian of these islands for the past 90 years, the Trust has many tales to tell. One of my favourites happened on one December morning in the late 80s, when the seal team delayed their return to the mainland in order to indulge in a huge breakfast and a game of cricket using their remaining potatoes. However, before long, a huge storm blew up and it was another two days before they could be picked up – meaning they had to scour the island for their cricket ball potatoes in order to eat, before they could return home for the winter! On that note, we turn and start to head back to dry land – a camera filled with photos of puffins and thoughts of fish and chips on our minds. Written by Jo Keeling == Further information Jo Keeling travelled with Billy Shiel's Farne Islands Tours, who organise boat trips around the Farne Islands throughout the year on a high speed RIB. There's a choice of 11 tours, from the Inner Farn tour to dolphin and porpoise watching on the Pelagic Criuse tour. Diana Jarvis travelled with Serenity Boat Tours who run trips around the Inner Farne Islands, Staple Island and all-day birding trips, as well as sunset cruises and wildlife photography workshops. The RNLI Grace Darling Museum in Bamburgh is a fascinating museum commemorating the life of the 19th-century lighthouse keeper's daugher who risked her own life to row out to a wrecked ship in raging seas. >> For more ideas on places to stay, eat, and things to see and do on the Northumberland Coast, see: Greentraveller's Guide to the Northumberland Coast

As we launch our Greentraveller's Guide to the Northumberland Coast, Jo Keeling enjoys a seafood lovers' walk between two of the region's best pubs – The Ship Inn in Low Newton and The Jolly Sailor in Craster via Dunstanburgh Castle. Ever since I visited seven years ago, I’d always vowed to come back to The Ship Inn, which is tucked within a row of 19th-century fishermen’s cottages in Low Newton. There’s just something eminently comforting about it. Perhaps it’s because it’s one of those rare British pubs that still feels like someone’s front room – albeit, right now, the busiest front room you’ve ever been in. We budge on to the end of a table, the windows behind us steaming up with the mix of warm bodies and drying waterproofs, as a gentle hum of Gordie and Scottish accents fills the air. No matter how tempting the pork pie ploughman’s lunch and fresh lobster sounds, there’s only one thing on my mind: Craster kippers served with brown bread, butter and a slice of lemon. Good honest northern food, washed down with a half of squid ink ale, brewed onsite by the hardworking (and rather fiery) mother and daughter team. Well sated, we set out along the coast path towards Dunstanburgh Castle. After traversing the edge of a golf course and skirting around a number of enviably-set but rather ramshackle wooden holiday huts, the two-mile arc of Embleton Bay opens up to our left. At the tip of the bay, the ruins of Dunstanburgh draw us on. We follow the path as it climbs the crest of a sand dune, picking our way through dense bracken and stopping every so often to check the sea for seals and seabirds. Eider ducks, which you might seeing bobbing around in the surf, are known locally as Cuddy Ducks after Saint Cuthbert who established laws to protect them in 676 AD. It’s thought to be the world’s earliest bird protection act. After scanning Greymare Rock for kittiwakes and fulmars, we reach the remains of the 14th-century castle. It was built on top of a former Iron Age hill fort between 1313-1322 just as relations between King Edward II and his most powerful baron, Earl Thomas of Lancaster, were becoming openly hostile. It soon became the focus of fierce fighting during the War of the Roses and changed hands five times. The castle never recovered from the sieges and it began to fall into what the 16th-century Warden of the Scottish Marches called a "wonderfull great decaye,” becoming a popular subject with artists, including M. W. Turner. Since then it has been used as an observation post to guard the coast from German invasion, been refortified with trenches, pill boxes and mine fields and, worst of all, become besieged by a golf course. Today, it’s said to be haunted by a number of ghosts – most notably Thomas Plantagenet, who was executed for treason in 1322. Apparently the bumbling executioner delivered 11 strokes before he finally decapitated Thomas, who is said to roam the ruins carrying his mangled head. We push on to Craster, walking on a gorse-lined grassy path until we reach the harbour, flanked by stone and white-washed cottages. Along with nearby Seahouses, Craster claims to be the birthplace of smoked kippers so it's an apt conclusion to a walk that has fuelled by them! L. Robson and Sons have been smoking fish here since 1856, and today the grandson Neil and great granddaughter Olivia still use the same traditional methods, hanging their ‘silver darlings’ on tenter hooks in the cavernous smoking rooms over oak sawdust so that the full taste of the fish comes through. With its open fire and battered leather sofas, the Jolly Fisherman provides a cosy end to our ramble. Established by Charles Archbold in 1847, the pub even pre-dates the invention of kippers and has been well-loved by Craster residents. As the name implies there’s a cracking selection of cask beers – we round off the day with a pint of Mordue Workie Ticket (made in a microbrewery on Hadrian’s Wall) before gently dozing on the bus back to Low Newton. Written by Jo Keeling == Further information For more ideas of places to stay, eat, and things to see and do in the area, see our Greentraveller's Guide to the Northumberland Coast Jo ate at: The Ship Inn, a pub and microbrewery on the coast at Newton-by-the-Sea, who serve locally-caught fish and run folk events throughout the year. The Jolly Fisherman, a 19th-century pub popular for its crab sandwiches and buckets of mussels, with pretty garden overlooking the harbour and along the coast to Dunstanburgh Castle. Jo visited L. Robson and Sons, a family-run traditional kipper smokehouse in Craster with restaurant and shop.

Andrea and Jack Montgomery head to a wine-growing region in the Sierra Nevada mountains in Las Alpujarras, Spain, to visit Juan Palomar's vineyards and sample his award-winning wine What do the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains and California's Napa Valley have in common? To anyone arriving amongst the softly rolling plains and snow capped peaks of Las Alpujarras with its white-walled villages huddled like sheep into the folds of the hills and its olive and almond groves, the answer is very little. In Las Alpujarras wide avenues, neatly mowed lawns, white picket fencing and country manor style homes are as evident as Cadillac cars. But make your way to the town of Úgijar and the home of Veleta wines and you'll find Napa Valley's vines flourishing and producing wines of such high quality that they're winning awards 'back home'. “Just to give you an idea of how old I am,” says Juan Palomar as he leads us down the drive of Dominio Buenavista Farm towards his bodega. “I planted these palms from dates.” I glance at the row of tall, fat date palms standing sentry along our route and then back at the smiling face of Juan and conclude that either date palms are extremely fast growing or there is a painting of a very old man in the attic. At the turn of the 21st century, there were two passions in Juan Palomar's life, his work as a surgeon in Ohio and his love of California Napa Valley wines. Realising the similarities in climate and geography between Napa Valley and his home town of Ugijar, Juan decided to try to grow some of the varieties so successfully produced in California on his family farm in Las Alpujarras. In 1994, carefully carrying root stock from Santa Rosa vines by hand back to Spain and grafting them onto wild root stock planted two years earlier, Juan began to cultivate Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay vines to produce wine for his family and friends. With time and care the vines adapted perfectly to their new home and the experiment proved so successful that Juan planted more vineyards with root stock brought from California, adding Merlot and Cabernet Franc to his menu. By 1998 the Bodega Dominio Buenavista was born and when, four years later Juan was forced to retire from medicine due to the arthritis in his hands, his hobby became his second career. Medicine's loss was viticulture’s gain as Juan turned his surgeon's skill to grafting, pruning and tending the vines that carpet the hillsides of his family farm, irrigated by the fresh spring waters flowing down from the mountains. Veleta wines grace the tables of the Restaurant Las Chimeneas in Mairena from where David and Emma Illsley arrange tours and tastings for their guests. After we tour the fermentation room and cellars of the bodega, Juan leads us to everyone's favourite part of the visit, the tasting room. Seated amongst the award certificates and press clippings that adorn the walls of the tasting room we sample the fruits of Juan's labours; a Veleta Chardonnay 2011 with its crisp, dry peachiness; a chocolate and blackcurrent, full bodied Tempranilla Reserve 2007 and my personal favourite, the elegant, cherry, chocolate and almond perfection of the Veleta Nolados 2008 which marries Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc grapes with traditional Tempranilla. Juan's Veleta wines regularly scoop awards in Holland and across Spain but sweetest of all are the honours that are bestowed from across the pond, at Cincinnatti and San Francisco International Wine Festivals where the Tempranilla Reserve won gold at Cincinnatti and silver at San Francisco in 2010 and the Nolados won silver at Cincinatti in 2011. Putting a beaming smile on Juan's face today is the news that one of the USA's most respected digital, wine specialist magazines, Snooth, has just named Veleta Nolados 2008 and 'reserva' Veleta Tempranilla 2009 as two of the nine best wines of Spain in the United States. Veleta wines, from California, via Úgijar, with love. Written by Andrea and Jack Montgomery Further information Jack and Sarah visited the Bodega Dominio Buenavista, an organic vineyard and wine shop run by Juan Palomar who can organise tours and tastings. Restaurant Las Chimeneas is a wonderful restaurant and cookery school set on an organic farm with self-catering cottages; the owners can organise walking and birdwatching tours, and children's activities.

As we celebrate our Greentraveller's Guide to Las Alpujarras, in association with Inntravel, Paul Bloomfield heads to the region to get a taste for ham-drying and home-cooking around Mairena and discovers that the flavours of Las Alpujarras reflect the ingredients, lifestyles and history of its people. Do you have a pig? Is it well fed, perhaps having munched plenty of acorns during its free-ranging daily snuffling? And finally, do you have a spare €650? If the answers to these questions is yes, you could be in for the meatiest treat of your life. Simply head to Jamones Muñoz in the small village of Yegen, in the eastern Alpujarra, drop off your porker and – after a suitable interval – you’ll have a larder stocked with the finest sausages and air-dried hams imaginable. OK, €650 isn’t exactly cheap. But if you have a top-notch pig – perhaps a pata negra (‘black hoof’, a black Iberian), maybe bellota(acorn-fed) – and given the labour-intensive traditional artisanal methods used by this family-run outfit, which has producing its renowned hams and other goodies for well over half a century, it’s a price well worth paying. I don’t have a pig of any kind, but after taking a brief tour of Jamones Muñoz with Isabel, I almost wished I did. This area, you see, is famed for its air-cured (mountain ham); the cool, almost supernaturally dry air of the higher southern slopes of the Sierra Nevada creates the perfect conditions for dehydrating pork. In some parts of Las Alpujarras, production has expanded vastly – head to Trevélez, for example, and you’ll find upwards of 20 producers, with perhaps a million hams hanging to dry at any one time. Jamones Muñoz is very much a small, artisanal outfit, but even so my jaw dropped at the sight of some 30,000 hams hanging in a refrigerated warehouse. All had been salted, massaged and lovingly coated in manteca – a preserving balm of fat and oil, like a natural cellophane wrap – before being hung for upwards of a year. They’re checked regularly (the outsides are tapped to check they’re curing properly, and manteca re-applied if necessary), and carefully labelled with origin, classification and weight before and after drying. If its up to scratch, 18 months or even three years later, a gran reserva jamón is taken down and carved with the loving care and precision that such a superbly crafted delicacy deserves. Once we’d gawped at the ranks of drying hams, Isabel herded us into the back room of the shop for an impromptu tasting. Along with tissue-thin slices of were produced and sliced: chorizo, of course, but also salchichón (more like salami), longaniza(similar to chorizo, but with black pepper in place of paprika) and delectable lomo, tenderloin coated with salt and pepper and lovingly cured. Home-made wine was sipped and declared dangerously swiggable – something none of us was expecting when it was sloshed from the large plastic jerry-can. The idea of having ham dried from your own pig is very much in tune with the culinary ethos of the Alpujarra. There’s no pretension – just a knowledge of what tastes best, and an instinct for using whatever ingredients are to hand. A cookery lesson with Conchi and Sole, the kitchen maestros at the charming Las Chimeneas guesthouse in nearby Mairena, followed the same theory. With what do you stuff your aubergines? Well, of what do you have a glut? Here it might be tomatoes, onions or courgettes, with plenty of your own olive oil, of course, and topped with your home-made goats’ cheese. The act of cooking was similarly instinctive. Both of these women learned their craft in a kitchen without a table or worktop, so onions were chopped in the hand, twisting and slicing the bulbs with slick dexterity. They’d had no cooker as we know it, either; instead, a big burner like a hefty camping stove was topped with a large pan, into which was tossed a healthy glug of olive oil, followed by those rustically sliced onions and the rest of the ingredients. The same process was repeated for each dish, so that within an hour, a whole menu was miraculously produced. Chunks of tomato, garlic, apple, peppers and bread were thrown together and blended to make a creamy gazpacho – an ever-present in summer, when an abundance of tomatoes ensures a never-ending supply. Jugs of gazpacho are crammed into fridges, hauled out when a cool, savoury drink is needed. Ajo blanco, white almond soup, followed a similar procedure, though without the tomatoes. Aubergines were stuffed, chicken casserole simmered, orange and fig salad drizzled with just a few drops of orange-blossom water for a refreshingly floral dessert. As the heat of the June afternoon lifted, I took a pre-dinner stroll down to the finca of David and Emma Illsley, owners of Las Chimeneas, to admire the source of some of the ingredients. If I’d ever been in doubt of the appeal of life in Las Alpujarras, it swiftly leached away. At almost any spot on the terraced smallholding I was within plucking distance of a cherry or a kaki (persimmon), a deliciously sweet nispero (Japanese quince), apricot or olive. The scent of wild mint, crushed underfoot, infused the air; courgettes and aubergines burgeoned in vegetable beds. No-one with an understanding of local history would be blasé enough to call this region a land of plenty. Even with the irrigation marvels of the acequias (water-channel network) installed centuries ago by the Moors, life here has always been pretty demanding. Things are a little easier today, certainly, though people still work very hard to get by. And fuel as delicious as that I’d tasted today must provide at least some recompense. Words by Paul Bloomfield Information Jamones Muñoz has a tempting shop selling its hams and other pork products, along with crafts, wines, cheeses, honey, jams and other locally produces goodies, in Yegen. Ask to be shown the production for the lowdown on drying hams the artisanal way. Las Chimeneas is a delightful guesthouse occupying several houses around the main square in the little village of Mairenas, has a wonderful restaurant where Conchi and Sole dish up a daily changing dinner menu; expect ajo blanco (white almond and garlic soup), gazpacho, stuffed aubergines and a host of local dishes, along with sinfully delicious cakes. Cookery classes can be organised as part of a stay, and chefs including Sam Clark of renowned London restaurant Moro tutor at dedicated cooking holidays.

As we launch our Green Traveller's Guide to Las Alpujarras, in association with Inntravel, Paul Bloomfield goes on a guided nature walk in this glorious mountainous region in southern Spain, where the dual overlapping protected areas of Sierra Nevada Natural Park and National Park host countless bird, plant and insect species. After dozens of outings with naturalist guides across six continents, the most important wildlife-watching lesson I’ve learned is this: the slower you walk, and the less distance you cover, the more you see. On a nature walk on a hot June morning in Las Alpujarras – where, let’s face it, life moves at a pretty relaxed pace anyway – we were practically at a standstill within yards of setting out. And the experience was all the richer for it. I’d joined a small group of half a dozen or so visitor on a day’s walk with specialist nature guide Jorge. Actually, having worked across Europe and North Africa, as well as living in Australia and New Zealand, and being qualified to guide among the architectural and historic gems of Granada, he’s a specialist in lots of things. But within minutes of meeting it became clear that his real passion is the natural history of the mountains that form the northern limits of Las Alpujarras. “Sierra Nevada is paradise,” he enthused. “It’s a biodiversity hotspot, one of the richest in species in the world.” What does that mean in practice? “Well, in Spain we have 232 butterfly species – and you’ll find 135 of them in Sierra Nevada, including several endemic species that you’ll find nowhere else, along with many more endemic subspecies. We also have over a quarter of Spain’s planet species – more that 2,500 of them – and 215 bird species.” This natural abundance became evident almost as soon as we set out from the tiny village of Júbar, taking the track running north from alongside the ancient whitewashed church. This house of worship is itself worth exploring, having been previously a synagogue, before that a mosque, and possibly earlier still the site of a Roman temple. Our cadre on the walk was a mixed bunch, our levels of interest and knowledge ranging from those really just out for a pleasant stroll to others with camera lenses as long as their arm, and species wishlists far longer. My own inclinations lay somewhere between the two, and we gradually adjusted our pace to suit the whole group. Fifty paces (and quite a few minutes) after setting out, we were paused in admiration of the parade of butterflies flickering around us like confetti – swallowtails, painted ladies, small tortoiseshells – and the plants that lined the path. We learned about the Spanish oak, Quercus ilex, and how it is largely responsible for a whole ecosystem: its leaves – rounded higher up, curiously spiky like holly near the base of the trunk – are shed year-round, creating the perfect level of soil acidity for local species to flourish. The galls on such oaks, formed when wasp larvae hatch and valuable for use in leather tanning, were once used as currency along the ancient trade routes established in Roman times. We examined St John’s wort, known in Britain as a herbal antidepressant but used here, Jorge explained, for centuries in treating skin conditions (why St John’s? It typically blooms on 24 June – St John’s day.) There was fake indigo, producing rich blue dye as used by the Touaregs (‘Blue Men’) of the Sahara in North Africa. We sniffed wild thyme and oregano, and stroked the soft leaves of Verbascum, the ‘toilet paper plant’ (no, I didn’t!) Eventually we all accepted that a slightly (only slightly) speedier pace might be advisable if we were to reach our objective for the day. Still, there was plenty of time to halt and identify whether the trills emanating from the treetops were the calls of a cirl bunting or a Bonelli’s warbler, and to admire the sure-footed Spanish ibex hopping around the sheer rocks on the opposite face of the valley. Sierra Nevada, Jorge informed us to our delight, boasts the highest density of the mighty-horned wild goat. After a couple of miles the chattering of water announced that we’d reached an acequia – one of the irrigation channels first established by the Moors, and so typical of Las Alpujarras (indeed, essential for agriculture here). Like the levadas of Madeira, this acequia provided an idea flat path through the scrub, largely shaded from the midday sun and blessed with delightfully cool breezes. Another few hundred metres brought us to our lunch stop at a lush glade alongside a stream, dominated by a huge chestnut tree at least 800 years old, maybe a thousand. We lolled beneath its branches, munching cheese, olives, tomatoes and rustic bread as a golden oriole sang its fluting contact call from high in the tree canopy above. The veteran chestnut’s bark was so gnarled it looked almost knitted, its branches so heavy they needed support from self-sprouted struts like walking sticks, yet it was flourishing still and crowned with a dense bolus of leaves. “This was already a sturdy young tree when the exquisite palaces of the Alhambra were being crafted,” mused Jorge. “And it was mature and well established by the time Boabdil, the last emir, left Granada in 1492, vacating the city for Isabella and Ferdinand.” This venerable tree has stood sentinel at the head of this valley for centuries; with luck, its vast trunk will be here, steadied by hefty buttress roots for centuries to come. The efforts of people like Jorge, enthusing visitors and locals alike to help protect its environment in the Sierra Nevada Natural Park, can only help secure its future – as well as providing a fascinating insight into the natural wealth of its domain. Words by Paul Bloomfield Further information: Jorge offers a range of tours and courses via http://www.al-natural.eu (his website is in Spanish, though his English is excellent). Paul stayed at Las Chimeneas, a characterful, welcoming guesthouse in the charming village of Mairenas, just 1km or so from Júbar, whose owners can organise nature walks with Jorge as part of a stay. >> The UK-based tour operator Inntravel (the 'Slow Holiday People') runs a range of holidays in Las Alpujarras.

As we launch our Green Traveller's Guide to Green Spain, Ginny Light samples the food scene and the great outdoors in Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque Country. Food is often a product of geography and history, and no more so than in Green Spain where the local fare goes far beyond the typical seaside menu - there are many familiar items like tortilla, paella and squid but also products of the ‘terroir’, such as beef, cheese and beans. Gastronomy is a big draw for Green Spain, but so too is the huge variety of activities and attractions in a relatively compact area, especially given the proximity of the mountains to the coastline and the region's avante garde cities such as Bilbao and San Sebastián. You say Tapas, I say Pintxos What is considered tapas in most parts of Spain is called ‘pintxos’ in Green Spain. It is best known in the bars of San Sebastián, where pintxos culture is very much part of city life. The pintxos experience is a multi-generational affair, and on a Friday or Saturday night one can expect pintxos bars in San Sebastián to be spilling their customers onto the street From the tiny matchbox neighbourhood bar to the latest fashionable eatery, this is no tourist tarry - everyone tucks in from 6pm. But come 10pm, the crowds disperse and the floors are littered with little napkins and cocktail sticks - all that is left of a bar once overflowing with a rainbow of pintxos dishes. Many items come on toasted bread resting on a napkin - tortillas, mushrooms, padron peppers and cured ham, crab or salt cod. Or there are sticks that pierce a chunk of chorizo, an anchovy, olive and jalapeno pepper or a garlicky mushroom. Tortilla is always served runny, as it should be, not dried out and rubbery, and often comes sandwiched around a central filling of something like ham and cheese or spinach. These plates could cost anywhere between €1 and €5 depending on the institution, or on rare occasions, come free with a drink. But more often than not, you are charged for each plate of food that you choose while your drink is prepared. A sweetshop mentality is essential - restraint is the order of the day but it is hard not to take too much - towers of morcilla sausage atop sweet roasted pepper and bread, crispy croquettes of jamon Iberico, and tempura salt cod. Pastures Green Grazing cows, cheese matured in caves and hearty stews are a staple of the upland regions of Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque Country. This is a consequence of the lush pasture that supports pastoral farming. Nigel Burch owns the Hotel Posada del Valle in Asturias and grows much of his own produce but sources the rest locally. He explained to me that: “The mountain landscape of Asturias means it is difficult to farm on a commercial scale so there is a huge diversity of cheese in the area owing to the many smallholdings”. The beans in traditional dishes such as fabada stews, have their roots in the influence of Latin America culture, brought back by emigres who fled Spain and found their fortunes from across the Atlantic. There is another change from southern Spain; the menus mostly come in two languages - Spanish and Basque. The latter is a mythical and exotic tongue - all x’s, z’s and k’s. It is quite unlike any other European language, and together with the influence of beef, cheese and beans, can make navigating a menu in this part of Spain feel like unfamiliar territory. Food markets Eating in can be just as enticing in Green Spain - there are fresh produce markets across the region. Bilbao, Santander and San Sebastián are among the cities with superb fish markets that also have stalls selling vegetables, fruit, meat, cheese and deli items. The fish comes from the Bay of Biscay and includes the somewhat alien-like local delicacy - percebes, or goose barnacles. These crustaceans are indigenous to this coastline and are usually steamed or boiled, then the insides pulled out and eaten. The taste is said to be rather like octopus and oyster. What to drink A popular drink with seafood and pintxos is the local white wine, txakoli, and, particularly in Asturias, cider. Both drinks are poured from a great height into a glass - the idea being that the liquid is ‘broken’ on contact with the glass and left aerated with a slight fizz. Burn it off In between meals, the variety of landscape across Green Spain means there is a vast range of activities from the sedate to the intense. Exploring the cities on foot is the best way to get your bearings and in San Sebastián there is a fascinating route around the arc of La Concha Bay.Two hills mark the entrances to La Concha Bay like standing sentries, and offer spectacular viewpoints from which to see the city and the hills beyond. Urgull Hill is to the east and on the other side is Monte Igueldo, which has been served by the same rickety wooden funicular for over 100 years. At the top is a shabby but charming amusement park and cafes and restaurants.Tourists and locals have been taking the train since Victorian times when a casino and dance hall were the big draws at the summit. It is worth the ride just for the the changing panorama as the train ascends the hill and the sudden refreshing blast of Atlantic air as one emerges from the shadow of the hill. Along the arc of the bay one can take the upper promenade on the arching sweep of the famous La Concha iron railings.Or escape the heat in the covered lower walkway, onto which countless surf and paddleboard schools open out - many of them year-round. Also on this route is a big Ferris wheel and behind it the Old Town, home to the fish market, pintxos bars and the beautiful baroque church, Basilica of Saint Mary of the Chorus. On and under the water Watersports stretch far beyond the city beaches. Surfing is hugely popular the entire length of the coast because of the range of breaks and reliability of the swell in the Bay of Biscay. Kiteboarding and windsurfing are also on offer in destinations such as Somo and Oyambre. There is quiet water here too - the many rivers that carry run-off down from the Picos de Europa open into broad estuaries along the coast and many are protected by coves and outcrops. These are superb to explore by paddle board - notably San Vicente de la Barquera and Llanes. The wind and waves of the Bay of Biscay have made it a treacherous stretch of water for shipping over the centuries and many vessels have fallen foul of rough weather. This makes it exciting territory for wreck dives. The Aries shipwreck in Galicia is a dive site offered by Wild Sea and is known for its well preserved cabins and the marine creatures that live within it. Mountain highs One of the most extraordinary things about the region of Green Spain are the vistas - the backdrop to the coastal scenery is the Picos de Europa mountains, part of the spine of the Cantabrian mountains that run east-west across northern Spain. All over the mountains are miradors, or viewpoints, as well as walking routes and stunning glacial lakes. Some of the most popular published walks, which tend to be between three and six hours long, are Cares Route, the Covadonga Lakes, the Ordiales viewing point, the Vega de Ario plain and the ascent to the Fuente Dé cable car. Like walking in the Scottish Cairngorms or the Lake District, one should be prepared for rapid changes of weather with a variety of clothes and good boots. Pack a picnic of Cabrales cheese, fresh bread, crisps from Asturian potatoes and the local biscocho cake with apple juice or cider and you can enjoy a regional feast, often with miles of the Cantabrian mountains all to yourself. Words by Ginny Light. Photos by Christoper Willan. == More information: Spanish Tourist Office: www.spain.info Galicia: www.turismo.gal/inicio Asturias: www.turismoasturias.es/en/home Cantabria: www.turismodecantabria.com/inicio Basque Country: www.tourism.euskadi.eus/en == Disclosure: Ginny Light was a guest of the Spanish Tourist Office. Ginny had full editorial control of the review, which is written in her own words based on her experience of visiting Green Spain in the winter of 2018 for Green Traveller's Guide to Green Spain. All opinions are the author's own.

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As we publish our Greentraveller's Guide to Dorset's Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the author of the guide, Harriet O'Brien, provides an overview of the region's real-food revolution Wild boar salami, gooey goat cheese, black garlic, walnut and rosemary soda bread… From the Cranborne estate chalk lands of northern Dorset to the coastal riches of the south, over the last few years a real-food revolution has been gaining momentum across the county. It has in part taken its cue from the ongoing success of a few relatively big Dorset players. Dorset Cereals had been quietly making muesli for 20 years when it radically overhauled its product line – and image - in 2005. It now thrives, and spreads the Dorset name, from its base at Dorchester. Hall & Woodhouse has been brewing ales since 1777 – the company started in Weymouth, making beer for troops stationed there – and today produces award-winning Badger beers and a more recent selection of ciders. Purbeck Ice Cream began life in the late 1980s as a diversification project at Hazel and Pete Hartle’s dairy farm near Corfe Castle. It now takes the Purbeck name far and wide: as well as a great host of local cafes, restaurants and shops, it supplies many London hotels, P&O Cruises and Japanese Airlines among others. Meantime the number of small producers in Dorset has been steadily growing – and they are becoming ever more zealous about capturing the flavours of the area. Much of their success is down to an appealing community spirit, which has been very much fostered by the new Dorset Food & Drink organisation, set up in 2013. For example, at smokehouse and charcuterie maker Capreolus in Rampisham, west Dorset, owners Karen and David Richards periodically smoke cheese for nearby Woolsery Cheese. And they’ve orchestrated a neatly beneficial system whereby otherwise unused whey from Woolsery is fed to Sam's pigs at Rob and Sam Holloway’s Locke Farm down the road. In turn this results in wonderfully flavourful meat that the Richards process at Capreolus. Formerly a boardroom executive, David Richards turned his gourmet hobby of curing meats into a business when he was made redundant. In the four years since setting up in Dorset, he and Karen have won armloads of trophies including the top prize of Champion Product at the Taste of the West Awards 2013, and in February 2014 they were finalists in the BBC Food and Farming Awards. West Dorset, with its butchers, bakers, and even fine wine makers – Furleigh Estate near Bridport and Langham Wine near Dorchester - is progressively regarded as an outstanding foodie destination. Further north, From Dorset with Love was set up just a few years ago at Blandford Forum and has been having a big impact across the county and beyond. It was already much acclaimed for its jams and chutneys when it launched piquant Dorsetshire Sauce, which gourmets swear is now an essential ingredient for in any self-respecting kitchen. Meanwhile, the Purbeck area is starting to get into a gourmet stride. Among its producers are Dorset Charcuterie operating fom Lytchett Minster and happy to be an honourable rival to Capreolus – competition keeps quality at a high say owners Lee Morton and Ben Sugden. Purbeck’s food revolution was in part started by Chococo. Run by husband and wife team Claire and Andy Burnet, Chococo creates some of the best chocolates in Britain (they’ve won more than 40 top awards), all handmade using sustainably produced raw chocolate from Venezuala, Grenada and Madagascar, along with fresh cream from family-run Craig’s Dairy Farm at Osmington. The fillings are for the most part a terrific celebration of Dorset: Chococo creates a special chocolate for each month, such as Dorset Blue made with Blue Vinny cheese, and Black Garlic, a product from South West Garlic Farm near Bridport that has been causing waves of excitement in the food world. Chococo’s workshops are in Wareham, but the company started up in 2002 in Swanage, where it continues to run its main outlet, a shop and café that despite being tucked away down narrow lanes inevitably draws steady streams of people. They come for the quality, but the pricing here is also wonderfully keen, well below the cost of prime chocolates in, say, Brussels or Paris. Chococo hasn’t – yet – devised a Dorset Knob chocolate. This savoury biscuit encapsulates much of the idiosyncratic spirit of Dorset: it’s a unique, amusing looking product shaped as a small round about the size of a golf ball and made by family-run Moores bakery in Morecombelake, west Dorset, since 1880. And it has been enjoying a great surge of popularity ever since 2008 when a Dorset Knob throwing competition was incorporated into the Frome Valley Food Festival held at Cattistock on the first Sunday of May (dorsetknobthrowing.com). This attracts hundreds of ‘biscuit atheletes’ and thousands of spectators. Other Dorset food festivals include Spring Tide in Bridport in May and Bridport Food Festival in June; Church Knowle Food Fayre in July; Eat Dorset Food Fair at Parnham House, Beaminster, in October; Dorset Food Week at the end of the October/beginning of November and the Dorset Food Festival at Athelhampton House in November (dorsetaonb.org.uk/food-and-drink/food-week-and-events). Between times you’ll find a happy concentration of top Dorset producers at farmers’ markets which take place variously at Dorchester, Blandford, Sherborne, Bridport, Wimborne and Shaftesbury. Look out for wonderful bread from Lizzie and Bekki the Baking Birds (www.homemadebylb.co.uk); sustainably caught crab from Dorset shellfish; and pies from Dorset pies which launched earlier in 2014 to much acclaim. More information: dorsetaonb.org.uk/food-and-drink dorsetfarmersmarkets.co.uk Words by Harriet O'Brien