Ruth Livingstone
My book: Walking the English Coast
Click for further information
Winfield’s Award
Killer Cows: Cattle Safety
Miley and his wife have to wade across a stream to escape cattle.
Incident number 1305Date: 30.08.26Site: Public footpath alongside of Egglestone Abbey near Barnard Castle. County Durham.Bull with cows and calves (Comment: very large brown cattle with small horns.)2 walkers with dog on a lead. Miley’s Report: “We were walking from woods towards grasslands alongside Egglestone Abbey. This was the only route back to the gate onto […]
Cows chase walkers AGAIN on Sussex Ouse Valley way
Incident number 1303Date: 31.5.26Site: Between Lewes and Hamsey on the river footpath BN7I dog, on a lead, 2 walkers Description: “Chased by cows on footpath, not for the first time here but very scary. Our dog froze in panic making getting away from cows near impossible.We reported it to the council who have replied saying […]
Cows with calves roaming freely around Hare Hill
Incident number 1301Date: 24.05.26Site: Roughly this: What3words:Punctuate.Otter.Fronted. Near Over Alderley, Hare Hill permissive path. 1 dog on lead, 3 walkers. RH’s report: “We were just walking and suddenly a group of cattle burst out of a field (from nowhere) and moved around us, not charging but getting quite close, agitated and shifting around restlessly with […]
Tag Archives: travel
47. Dungeness to Lydd
Buffeted by wind, and fighting for a foothold on the shingle, I continue onwards – disoriented and uneasy. I have the dangerous firing range on one side. A nuclear power plant on the other. A howling gale blowing behind me. And ahead is a protected nature reserve. Continue reading
Stage 46. Hythe to Lydd-on-Sea
I come across a warning sign.
“Caution non-ionising radiation. Do not loiter within 2 metres of any antenna.” I look back at the mast where I have just spent 10 minutes of ‘loitering’. A bit late to tell me now!
Continue reading
Stage 45 Dover to Folkestone to Hythe
This is the best day of walking, ever. I start from Dover seafront. Looking out, across the little beach, through the mouth of the harbour, I can see the outline of France. It is clear and close. You could sail across and be there is a few minutes, or so it seems.
Continue reading
Stage 43. Sandwich to Deal to St Margaret’s at Cliffe
This morning is warm and the sky clear, with a low haze. I leave Sandwich and head through a pleasant park, crossing the river and walking along the bank towards Sandwich Marina. Joggers pass me. A couple are out walking … Continue reading
Stage 42. North Foreland, Broadstairs, Ramsgate to Sandwich
It is warm and people are arriving on the promenade, opening up their beach huts and assembling chairs, tables and barbeques. People (this is an odd English custom) are erecting windbreaks – despite the fact there is no wind. I witness a few territorial skirmishes.
Stage 41. Birchington to Margate to North Foreland
Margate on a sizzling hot Good Friday. I am intrigued by the Royal Sea Bathing Hospital and pay a visit the Turner Contemporary. Hamish Fulton says ‘Walking is an art form in its own right, it does not have to be a lesser form of land art.’ Now, that is my kind of artist!
Continue reading
Stage 40. Whitstable to Herne Bay to Birchington
Perhaps it is hunger, but I begin to have paranoid fancies. I imagine the pub full and no space to sit down. I imagine it has stopped serving food (it is now nearly 3pm). I imagine there are signs saying ‘no boots allowed’.
Stage 39. Faversham to Whitstable
I meet a man who is walking along the narrrow top of the wall, hands outstrectched for balance.
“I think you are forty years too old for that,” I say, smiling.
“I am letting my inner child out,” he replies.
And why not?
Stage 38. Teynham to Faversham
The light, the water, the mist, the stillness, the clarity of the near distance, the obscurity of the far horizon – so magical. I have never experienced anything like this before. Then I notice a strange sound. It is gun fire. Continue reading
Stage 37. Sittingbourne to Teynham
When I reach the sea wall, before me stretches a lovely vista of gleaming mud flats and an expanse of blue water beyond. Although I am still in the shelter of the Isle of Sheppy, I am nearing the open sea again. I feel a surge of blissful happiness. Progress at last and the sea is ahead of me.
Continue reading
Ruth's Coastal Walk (UK) 