OS Champion

Andrea Day

Meet Andrea, she came to hiking late with the Ethel Challenge, but has never looked back!

Tell us a bit about yourself and how you like to get outside?

It’s only in my 40’s that I have discovered my love for hiking after learning about the Ethel challenge in the Peak District. Over the course of just over a year, I bagged all 95 Ethels with my two dogs, Blue and Willow and since then I have been hooked. I have loved to get out hiking more and more and pushed myself to take on more challenges.

I hike solo with the dogs to give me a feeling of freedom and space – I often do my best thinking on a hike. Along the way, I have been fascinated by Trig points, benchmarks and learning some of the history of Right to Roam, Ethel Haythornthwaite and the Peak District.

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What’s your favourite route or place to go and why?

Andrea’s Favourite Hiking Route – The Bosley Cloud

The Bosley Cloud has all the things; easy access free parking with a picnic area, a circular route through forest and open plains, a topograph, a trig, epic 360 degree views, and you can make the walk as short or as long as you want as it is part of the Staffordshire and Gritstone trails. For you hill list baggers, it is an Ethel and a Marilyn. What more could you ask from one place?!

Andrea's Favourite Place – The Bosley Cloud

Want to find out more about how to start hiking?

Read our complete guide to Hiking for Beginners, everything you need to get started from essential equipment to fitness and safety advice – Hiking For Beginners

What’s your fave bit of kit available on the OS Shop?

I LOVE ticking things off a list, and having this map to point out all the best and free bits of the Peak District just makes getting out and about so much fun and accessible to everyone. There is so much to see in the Peak District and it is so close to such big cities, that it means that there is something for everyone and getting out into the outdoors doesn’t mean that you have to drive for miles to get to the Lakes or Snowdonia.