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Every year a small group of us like to plan a long weekend getaway. In previous years we have visited the Peak District, walked a part of the Cotswold Way and even walked the Ridgeway (that time over a full week). This year we decided we wanted to try doing a bit of thru-hiking, but we weren’t quite ready to carry a tent and all the camping gear too, so thought we would arrange places to stay along the way.

I was looking online for ways of having some kind of route displayed on my Apple Watch as I was walking. The built in workouts app allows you to track a lot of information, such as distance, elevation, heart rate, etc. but it doesn’t show you a map of where you have been, are, or are heading to. I noticed that the OS Maps app has an Apple Watch app, so I thought I would give that a go and see what it does.

We were looking at the National trails website and saw the Cotswold Way wasn’t too far away from Brackley. We decided to walk a section but wanted a way of parking at the end of the section and some way of getting to the start. After looking at our map, we discovered the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway (GWSR).

I have done a few long walks, but I would still call myself a novice when it comes to hiking. I’m still learning about different equipment and what works for me, but I want to share what I have learned so far about walking boots to try and help other beginners who are getting into walking and hiking.

Wow, we were almost there! One last day of walking to reach Ivinghoe Beacon and the sun had come out too!