Kate Humble on her love for walking

"I’m an obsessive walker. I can’t go through a day without going for a walk, even if I’m not with my dog. I walk every single day because I go mad if I don’t. I am the equivalent of my dogs so if I don’t get walked then I get destructive! 

"It helps having dogs that need walking, so even when it’s dark, wet and blowing a hoolie, you still have to get out. Even though you may have to get back into your already wet waterproofs, once you are out the weather is never as bad as you think it is going to be and you always feel better for it.

"Even when I’m not at home and I’m in a city for work, I’ll often try and build in a walk, either between meetings or appointments. If I’m staying in London I always try and stay near a green space and go for a run or walk very first thing in the morning. It’s something I do to get my head around the day.

"I'm not a very sociable walker – I like walking on my own. Even when I’m with people, I find walking a very contemplative thing and people I walk with do say I walk quite fast."

Young people getting outside

"I think for a lot of younger generations, the idea of getting outdoors does have a slightly middle-aged connotation – ramblers’ groups of older people all wearing matching socks. It’s not really something that young people like to do. That said, I’ve been really surprised by the number of younger people doing outdoor events as there has been a real shift."

"I think lockdown really encouraged people to get outside and walk. Someone younger I know told me, because the government said you were allowed out for an hour a day, she did it. At first it felt a bit like a chore, but then she realised how much she enjoyed it.

"I suspect two things are contributing to a different demographic that are thinking about walking when they haven’t done before. One is lockdown, where they discovered it was quite a nice thing to do and it cost nothing. You see a different part of the country, you can weave something fun in like a pub on the way.

"The other thing is social media and Instagram. I have come across people walking – groups of young people in their late teens and early 20s – walking around near where I live and five years ago I’d never have seen that. They are walking because they have seen a really beautiful view on Instagram and they want to see it too. It is happening in a different way than what older people would think were traditional reasons for going for walk i.e. family walks or good hearty yomping activity."

My favourite walks

"I’m very lucky because I live in the Wye Valley; it is one of the most beautiful parts of the country for walking. Lots of our local walks there are lovely. I’m also very lucky because I have got footpaths that literally leave from my house. I have a local loop that takes about an hour and is roughly three-and-a-half to four miles long, and I love that because to me it is like coming home. And because it’s a route I know really well, it’s my gauge on what the seasons are doing and what the Earth is up to.

"I do like a circular route and feeling like I can complete a start and end point, and of course I love a pub in the middle. If I’m in unfamiliar territory then I love to plan a walk and looking at paper maps and going that looks a nice route up there, or that looks like a big slope and a lovely bit of woodland.

"Just as an example, a walk that is still on my list is part of the Mortimer Trail near Ludlow, and I’ve been plotting on OS Maps app a 15-20 mile route around there. So I like plotting a walk and the anticipation of a walk. For me the great joy is finding the lesser-known ways to go, because it doesn’t mean they are any more difficult or unappealing than something that is as well-known."