This has slightly truncated my ability to head for the hills at the drop of a hat, but I have learnt that becoming a parent doesn't have to mean the end of car-free adventures it just means the adventures start a little nearer to home. With a little extra expenditure and planning, children can easily become car-free walkers.

During six years living in Brighton, the South Downs doubled as my backyard: peaceful hikes around Telscombe and Castle Hill; regular jaunts over to Lewes; taking visitors to Arundel and the Seven Sisters. And many, many weekends spent hunting for lost DofE groups anywhere from Washington to Beachy Head.

Growing up in Wiltshire, I must have seen the Ridgeway on many occasions: on family day trips to Avebury, near to its westerly end; on my annual pilgrimage to watch Swindon Town; on school field trips to survey the rare plants on its south-facing chalk slopes.