Below, Jon Cox tells us how he and his mate Pete decided to embark on a quintastic new venture in their 50s. Read how you too can ‘Get Sparky with Sparky Walking Guides ….
“That’s not a nuclear bunker, is it?
“Is that Wales?
“What’s that weird-looking hill?”
And that’s how it all started. With questions.
The Cotswold Way
My old friend Pete and I were standing on top of Broadway Hill in the Cotswolds on a beautiful May day in 2019, wondering what we were looking at, and marvelling at the heart-stopping beauty of it all. We had just started walking the Cotswold Way – our first attempt at a long-distance trail – and we were loving it. The fresh air, the lofty views, the companionship.
We had first met at the same London publishing company back when we were in our early 20s. A warm friendship developed, but marriage, children, house moves and the simple passage of time saw us drift slowly apart. But now, with both of us hitting our early 50s, we were determined to arrest the slide and reconnect.
Pete had continued working in publishing, eventually setting up his own company specialising in textbooks, which he had recently sold. I worked for Time Out Guides for many years, writing and editing travel guides, before retraining as a teacher and spending more than a decade in primary schools. Although neither of us explicitly said it, we were both looking for the next thing…
The South Downs Way
It wasn’t until we were walking our second National Trail – the South Downs Way – though, that we realised what that next thing was going to be. There are some decent walking guidebooks out there, but none were giving us quite what we wanted. Why not create our own guides to the UK’s best long-distance paths? And so was born the idea for Sparky Walking Guides (named, by Pete, possibly ironically, after my bad-tempered, overweight tabby cat, who really could do with more exercise).
Sparky Walking Guides
But what did we want our guides to be? At first, it was easier to say what we didn’t want. We didn’t want pages of detailed wayfinding information. National Trails are well signposted and, with a decent map, that should be all you need to keep on the right path.
We also didn’t like having to flick back and forward from the map to the main text to find out more about the places of interest. Couldn’t it all be in one place? Less could definitely be more.
And, thus, we came up with our key idea, our USP: to include ‘nuggets’ of information on the maps themselves. A couple of sentences to enlighten and entertain and enrich your walk. And there’s so much fascinating stuff out there to be discovered…
What Are The South Downs?
When we first started seriously to research the landscapes we passed through as we walked, we were astonished by their richness. The interaction of the human-made and the natural shapes everything we see. Ancient history, in particular, is all around us, yet we so often pass it by without a second thought. What is that mound? Why are there lines of earthworks across that field? Who put those stones there?
Then there is the thrill and mystery of nature itself. What exactly are the South Downs? Why is there an abundance of wildflowers on this hillside? What’s that gorgeous butterfly?
The joy of creating Sparky Walking Guides has been that we are our own target audience. There’s no second guessing. If we like it, if we find it interesting, if we find it useful, it goes in. Most walkers on long-distance trails are in their mid 30s to mid 70s and, from our research, users of good old paper guidebooks still vastly outnumber devotees of their phones. Who wants to be staring at a screen while they walk?
Get Sparky!
We didn’t neglect other key information, so we have an inspiring introduction to the trail plus sections on practicalities, suggested stages, accommodation, transport, flora and fauna and a Get Sparky! chapter listing further resources if your curiosity has been piqued.
Although we have worked on a tight budget, we were determined to produce a quality product, something that felt as good in the hand as it was useful and enlightening, and slips easily into your pocket. That’s why we use high-quality OS maps, superior paper and have flaps so you can mark your page. Let us know if you think we’ve succeeded! And get out there into our stunning countryside. There are surprises waiting around every corner, if you are just willing to walk with your eyes and mind wide open.
Sparky Walking Guides to the South Downs Way and the Ridgeway were published in February 2024. Our guide to London’s Capital Ring comes out in May, and it will be followed by the Cotswold Way and the Thames Path later in the year. They are available from bookshops, from online retailers and from sparkybooks.co.uk.
