Decide on rough location; convince someone else to come along; find cheap train ticket; buy map (or dig out from collection). The finer details of exactly where to walk, eat, drink and sleep could be decided upon on the train journey up, sometimes on arrival at the station.

I flop onto the shingle of Lyme Regis beach, an extra large portion of chips in hand. I’m exhausted, and more than a little surprised. When I headed east from Exmouth, I’d been expecting two days of gentle walking among rolling coastal hills.

One walking highlight of last year was the blissful day spent among the bluebells and tors of Dartmoor's eastern flanks. With the Haytor Hoppa service running again this summer, I was looking forward to returning to my stomping grounds of old.