iWalk Cornwall

We've released an update to the iWalk Cornwall app which includes a couple of new features. The Walks Shop page for each walk now includes a slideshow of photos from the walk and the map now has numbered markers. You can tap to read the direction text, start navigating from that direction, or report a footpath issue there. Using the information that has been fed back, we've been working with the CORMAC countryside team to help them pinpoint and remove fallen trees, fix broken stiles and address overgrown fields where the cutting regime is not working. We use the app for all our walk testing when writing new walks or checking older ones so we've been using the new features ourselves for a few weeks whilst this version has been in development. The new features definitely make it much easier to start the walk from part-way round the route as you can immediately see where you are and what the previous/next directions are. This version also includes a number of small

Trespass - the UK outdoor/clothing company, do a range of walking boots and have bravely offered me a pair of their Walker boots to test to destruction. On over 3,000 miles of walking on sharp slate, abrasive granite and through saltwater, previous incarnations of my walking boots have had their soles worn all the way through, pieces of metal sheared off and had their waterproofing reduced to that of a teabag, so these are in for some punishment. When I say I get through boots, I don't mean that entirely figuratively! Initial impressions The RRP of around £140 is more than I'd normally pay for my "consumables" but at the time of writing they were on offer at 50% off which brings them into fairly close price competition with some of the half-decent boots of even the budget outdoor shops. A quick look on the Trespass website at the reviews left by "hardcore" hikers looks promising - people who use them day in, day out have good things to say. I don&

Dolphin Holidays at Tencreek Holiday Park have recently published some ideas on some things to try in Looe for the New Year and that includes a bit on the health benefits of walking. I thought I'd add a bit more on that in case you have a New Year's resolution that involves undoing the effects of Christmas Dinner. Admittedly the weather this year may have delayed that being put into action. It has been said in the Cornish Dialect facebook group that February is the new January for New Year's Resolutions this year (me 'ansomes). It's generally accepted that if you weigh around 11 stone, you burn around 100 calories per mile when walking on the flat (the more you weigh, the more you burn). You'll have noticed that most of Cornwall isn't flat so you can add on up anything up to 50% again depending on how hilly your walk is. There's a bit of controversy over exactly how many calories equate to a pound of body weight , but it's in the region

Parkdean holidays have produced an article on Cornwall's finest walks . As part of this they invited several authors of walks in Cornwall to share with them a favourite walk. Independently, two of us picked the same one - around West Pentire near Newquay. Due to those not intimately acquainted with the foibles of Cornish place-naming forgivably not realising that Porth Joke and Polly Joke were actually the same place, a little confusion resulted but has now been tidied up. In the end it all worked out OK as the iwalkcornwall route is a little bit of longer to include Holywell and its Holy Well. So there’s now a long route and a short version to choose from! Many thanks to Linda Sadler for her lovely photo of the wildflowers on West Pentire used in the article. The wildflowers are at their best in June. Given the current weather, the footpaths will have had a chance to dry out by then!