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20 Yorkshire Walks with only one map OL21

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20 Walks in the Yorkshire Dales with only one map OL2

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Famous Walkers/Hikers

On a quiet, wet day, I got to wondering how many famous people went walking/hiking. I don't mean a one off spectacular for charity or a TV programme but who just enjoyed walking in the countryside like the rest of us. To my surprise, there seemed no one reference point so I thought I would create one. Listed below are the ones I have come up with, based on a bit of perfunctory research.

I have restricted the list to UK individuals or residents (past or present), as there will be thousands elsewhere who, frankly, I am not concerned about and who might mean little to people in the UK.

There is not the space to give a detailed biography, just enough to clarify why they are well known. You can look them up if desired.

I apologise in advance for anyone I have missed or for inadequate details.

If anyone knows of any others who should be added to the list, please let me know. It would be appreciated if you could include why they are famous and add any internet references which confirm their walking status in case, for instance, they appear in some obscure soap, or on an obscure TV channel, where they may be famous to thousands but many (including me!) may not have heard of them. I want to be sure inclusion is relevant.

If you are well known and feel you would like to be included or if you are mistakenly included but are not a walker, please let me know.

The list is in alphabetical order by surname.

First Name(s) Surname Reason Known
Simon Armitage Poet. Walked Pennine way
Steve Backshall TV wildlife presenter and naturalist, rock climber and mountaineer.
Claire Balding Broadcaster, journalist and author. Presents the walking programme "Ramblings" on radio. 
Floella Benjamin Now Baroness Floella Benjamin, OBE. Actress, presenter, broadcaster, parliamentarian and charity worker. Former President of the Ramblers. 
Phil Bodmer BBC TV broadcaster, best known as regular anchor on Look North.
Chris Bonnington Famous climber author and lecturer.
Julia Bradbury TV personality and presenter famous for popularising hiking with various programmes such as "Britain's Best Walks". Former president of The Ramblers.
Bill Bryson Travel author. American but lives in UK. Probably best known for his book "Notes from a Small Island".
Toby Buckland TV presenter known from gardening programmes.
Ed Byrne Comedian.
Hermione Cockburn Earth scientist and presenter of BBC programme "Coast".
Cheryl Cole Singer, judge on Britains Got Talent.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge Poet.
Fearne Cotton Radio and TV presenter.
Nicholas Crane Geographer, writer and explorer, best known for being a presenter on the BBC programme "Coast".
Charles Dickens (deceased) Famous 19C author.
Alesha Dixon Singer. TV personality.
Muriel Gray TV presenter Had series "The Munro Show".
Mike Harding Musician, author, poet and photographer.
Alan Hinkes Only British moutaineer to have conquered all the Himalayan mountains over 8000 metres. The current "go to" media choice for expert opinions on mountaineering issues.
Anthony Hopkins Actor, director and producer.
Kate Humble TV presenter most notably nature and science programmes.
Alex Jones TV presenter. Best known as presenter of The One Show.
Gryff Rhys Jones Comedian, presenter.
Stuart Maconie TV/Radio presenter and journalist. Has been president of The Ramblers.
Teresa May MP and Prime Minister 2016 to 2019. Well known for spending holidays hiking.
Cameron McNeish Scottish wilderness hiker, backpacker and mountain walker who is an authority on outdoor pursuits. TV presenter.
John Mitchell Meteorologist working as a weather presenter for ITV on the Yorkshire regional Calendar programme.
John Noakes (Deceased) TV presenter and personality best known for presenting "Blue Peter" in the 1960s and 1970s. Has walked Pennine Way and Coast to Coast.
Mary-Anna Ochota  TV presenter and anthropologist.
George Orwell (Deceased) Born Eric Arthur Blair. Famous author best known for "Animal Farm" and "1984".
Mark Radcliffe Radio/TV presenter. Has done Coast to Coast.
Sophie Raworth BBC news reader.
Tony Robinson Actor, TV presenter and writer.
Eric Robson TV broadcaster, author and documentary film maker. Chairman of the Wainwright Society.
Gaby Roslin TV and radio presenter. Actress. Presented Children in Need with Terry Wogan for several years.
Frank Skinner Born Christopher Graham Collins. Comedian, TV/radio presenter.
Chris Smith Lord Smith of Finsbury.
Christopher Robert Smith Now Baron Smith of Finsbury. Former president of The Ramblers. First MP to finish a round of the Munros.
John  Smith (Deceased) MP. Former Leader of Labour party. 
Janet Street-Porter Media personality, broadcaster and journalist. Former president of The Ramblers. President of the Burley Bridge Association, which campaigns to build a bridge across the river there.
Carol Vorderman Media personality, journalist and broadcaster best known for being the mathematical brains on the ITV show "Countdown".
Alfred W Wainwright (Deceased) Probably the most famous British walker, author of many guide books and remarkable illustrator. Devised the Coast to Coast walk from St Bees in Cumbria to Robin Hood's Bay in Yorkshire.
Tom Weir (Deceased) Scottish climber, author and broadcaster. Best known for TV programme Weir's Way.
Virginia Woolf (deceased) Famous writer from the "Bloomsbury Group", a group of intellectuals, writers artists etc who lived/worked in Bloomsbury in the first half of the 20th Century. A regular walker on the South Downs.
William Wordsworth (deceased) Famous 18th/19th Century poet most famous for the poem which begins "I wandered lonely as a cloud".

 

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