What are other walkers doing?
Multitrackers Pictures of Kent . I met Multitracker on www.walkingforum.co.uk, and his blog led me to:
Kev and Liz's Homepage on Walking Places . They are due some respect!
Me? Not much - my back is hurting, it's raining, I'm working too hard......I think I'll go for a walk!

British Wildlife Nature and the Environment

I found a website, Wild about Britain, that looks as if it will be really useful for identifying wildlife that I see on my walks. There are hundreds of photos submitted by members and an active forum, plus a lot of information. Should be enough to keep me busy for a while! One of the forum sections is about walking. It's one of those sites that is built up by contributions from members, like a Wiki, and you can edit entries if you have something to add. They want people to submit Wild Places at the moment.
My walking is pretty poor at the moment. I have reduced my target steps to 8100, as I couldn't achieve the 11300 that was set for me by Fitbug. I've managed it 4 days out of 7, but still something to aim for! It's difficult when I've only got time for a quick lunch break and it's starting to get dark when I get home from work. I need a different strategy! It's rained all weekend, which hasn't helped. Oh well, the new week starts here!

County Durham Walk
The Derwent Valley is a beautiful wooded area very close to old mining and industrial towns in the North East of England. I walked in Pontburn Woods and on part of the Derwent Walk, which follows the path of a dismantled railway.
Much of Pontburn Woods is owned by the Woodland Trust. I parked on the road near Hamsterley and walked south through mossy green woods, with many oak trees and ferns. There was a small waterfall, but not much water. There are lots of paths through the wood, and I needed my compass to navigate.
Eventually the path emerges on to heathland with spectactular views across to Chopwell Woods, then crosses to a spinney. Each time I came out of the trees there were more ahead to aim for - welcome shade on a very hot day.
The route looped back via a couple of farms and then crosses the road to join the Derwent Walk. The Walk is used by many cyclists and has a good firm surface. The bit I walked on passes over old railway viaducts - I climbed down to the base of one of these, it looked very impressive from below. A seat beside the Walk commemorates a much-loved grandfather - what a good memorial.
I found the walk in an old copy of Country Walking magazine. Some details had changed in the 6 years since it was published, but it was still possible to follow without too much trouble.