{"id":19254,"date":"2022-09-05T07:06:37","date_gmt":"2022-09-05T05:06:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/?p=61732"},"modified":"2022-09-05T13:23:18","modified_gmt":"2022-09-05T11:23:18","slug":"best-hill-walks-in-britain","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/rss_feed\/best-hill-walks-in-britain\/","title":{"rendered":"Best hill walks in Britain"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Daniel Graham\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Monday, 05 September 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Britain\u2019s landscape is covered with spectacular hills, from the Cambrians in Wales and the Chilterns in southern England, to Northern Ireland\u2019s Mournes and Scotland\u2019s Southern Uplands.<\/p>\n

One of the best ways to explore this bounty of ridges, knolls and uplands is on foot. There are thousands of paths to choose from \u2013 here are a few our our favourites, each with its own\u00a0route description and map.<\/p>\n

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The ruins of St Michaels Chapel, a medieval hermitage on Roche Rock near St Austell\/Credit: Getty<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

History of hills in the UK<\/h2>\n

Hills normally form the horizon line of our landscapes but in the past they were often viewed for how they could be used for the benefit of humankind. Thus, it is on and within these great mounds of rock and earth that some of our most meaningful historical relics can be found.<\/p>\n

Hills have long been used for symbolic reasons. The St Michael Ley Line, for example, is thought by some to connect a string of hilltop churches dedicated to the archangel across southern England. Earlier people also used hilltops for spiritual purposes; some stone circles on hills may reflect this. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Hilltops, such as that dominated by Carreg Cennen Castle in Carmarthenshire, were often used in the past to aid the defence of land\/Credit: Getty<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Wiltshire contains plenty of sites employing another ancient practice: the creation of geoglyphs. Here, grass and topsoil were removed to reveal an image on the hillside, white from the chalk beneath. The White Horses are a notable example. More recently, regimental badges were carved into slopes near Fovant by serviceman awaiting call-up in the First World War.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As a protrusion of geology, hills were, and still are, used for the properties they contain; the Welsh coal-mining industry springs to mind. But excavating rocks and minerals from hills has been going on longer than our image of canaries and cage lifts. Few visitors to the Langdale Peaks in the Lake District realise that not all of the scree on Pike o\u2019 Stickle is natural. Some is discarded material from one of the most important Neolithic axe factories in Europe.<\/p>\n

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