Having missed our rendezvous at Hope station in the Peak District, it takes a good 20 minutes before I catch up with the rest of my walking group. I hurry along cool green lanes, where brambles are starting to send out their first pinky white flowers, and dog roses droop over banks of ferns.
Soon the lanes open out into steep-banked drovers' trails, rough underfoot, with tall drystone walls fronted by towering purple foxgloves on either side.
Finally, I hit open countryside and the craggy beauty of the Peak District unfolds under a cloudless sky. I have also caught up with my fellow walkers.
Steve Sylvan, the walk leader, greets me with a smile. "You found us then," he says in a soft Glaswegian accent. Steve works as a progression coach for homelessness charity Crisis and is tasked with "supporting members to overcome any barriers they face in achieving their goals".
Steve is the driving force behind Wellbeing Walks, run by the charity's Sunlight Centre in South Yorkshire. The walks offer people who are homeless, or at risk of having to sleep rough, the chance to get out and enjoy the therapeutic properties of nature, in what is today dubbed a 'green prescription'.
Today, three Crisis members, as they are called, have joined a clutch of staff and three rangers from the Peak District National Park to walk the eight miles from Hope to Edale.
The walks first started in 2015, were then put on hold during various lockdowns and started up again in May 2021. Having the right kit is an issue and Steve is grateful to several outdoor clothing companies, including Mammut and Osprey, who have donated boots, rucksacks and waterproofs, which are then loaned out to members.
Denne historien er fra Special 2023-utgaven av BBC Countryfile Magazine.
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Denne historien er fra Special 2023-utgaven av BBC Countryfile Magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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We Are an Island Nation - So Let's Protect Our Seas - Living in the UK makes us islanders and personally I'm proud of that definition - not in any political or jingoistic sense, but simply because I love the sea and in this country we are totally surrounded by it.
Living in the UK makes us islanders and personally I'm proud of that definition - not in any political or jingoistic sense, but simply because I love the sea and in this country we are totally surrounded by it. We live inside thousands of miles of coastline, in a nation whose borders were created by nature and made us what we are.
Discover Jurassic Coast - With its towering cliffs, sweeping beaches and pretty seaside towns, the shoreline of Dorset and east Devon is spectacular.
With its towering cliffs, sweeping beaches and pretty seaside towns, the shoreline of Dorset and east Devon is spectacular. Jo Caird fossicks for fossils and dramatic rock formations. It's an auspicious start to my journey along the Jurassic Coast. This 95-mile stretch of shore mostly in Dorset, but nudging just into east Devon - is blessed with awe-inspiring geological formations and fossil deposits that have garnered it recognition as England's only natural UNESCO World Heritage Site. Snaking east from Orcombe Point near Exmouth to Old Harry Rocks near Swanage, it's studded with monumental rock arches, seemingly endless shingle beaches and fossil beds from which treasures were prised that altered our understanding of prehistory.
Viking shores
We picture Vikings marauding coastal settlements, looting and raiding. But what was life really like in the Viking Age? Historian Eleanor Barraclough reveals what the ancient artefacts found on Britain's shores tell us about our formidable forebears
Sea horses
On Cornwall's coastal clifftops, Melanie O'Shea meets the hardy grazing ponies that are helping to restore the land, so nature can flourish once more
A wing and a prayer
From their desks at Boulmer, 1,000 RAF personnel watch the skies for airborne threats to the country. Yet beyond the concrete of the base, vulnerable birdlife flourishes - thanks to the hard work of a small team
Cast in bone
Cuttlefish bones washed up on our shores have been used to make jewellery since ancient times. Jo Caird meets a craftswoman who's keeping the art alive on the Kent coast
EDIBLE SEAWEEDS
An ancient food harvested by humans for millennia, seaweeds bring an intense and rich flavour of the sea to a wide range of dishes, as well as essential mind-and-body-boosting nutrients
Spines and sulky faces
Watch where you put your feet at the beach - a weever fish could be lurking
Sea stars
The playful performances of Britain's bottlenose dolphins attract avid fans - but they deserve personal space
Harris's wildly beautiful beach
Cornwall may pull in the crowds, but one Hebridean strand stuns visitors
