Weird Walk: Wanderings and Wonderings through the British Ritual Year

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So infuriated were the gnomes by the quarrying of their finest granite to rebuild the farmhouse at Fernworthy that they stole the firstborn child of the farmer who had committed the sin. On Dartmoor, “don’t upset the gnomes” seems to come pretty high on the list of folk rules.

On stepping down into the sunken stone horseshoe of the well, the great age of the place is apparent. Water seeps across ancient flagstones that lead to an arched recess within the far wall. Here, a basin collects the water that bubbles from the underworld, while further recesses provide space for offerings or perhaps cups for those who would have drunk the iron-rich water, the mineral evident in a reddish build-up of sediment between the paving and the wall. Here was the land of Silbury Hill and Avebury stone circle, of Wayland the Smith and the great Uffington White Horse, whose annual scouring is a true pagan survival; here also was the land of the druids, the first farming communities, the last Saxon kings, and countless age-old folk tales. It was a potent path indeed, and the trip soon led to others. The inn has its share of tales told around the fire, a favourite being “The Salted Corpse”. This yarn tells of a traveller staying overnight who opens up an intriguing chest in his room. To his horror, he finds himself gazing upon the face of a dead man. Suspecting murder, he rushes to the landlord, who casually informs him that “tis only father”, the old man having been salted down and stored until the trip can be made from the remote inn to Lydford for burial. Rob Young’s peerless overview of Britain’s ‘visionary music’ explores a tangled web of folk connections, from song collectors and pastoral composers to acid folk eccentrics and electronic pioneers. All are united by the inspiration they draw from this haunted old place we call home. St Nicholas church, Trellech, where sculpted side panels of a 17th-century sundial bear witness to the village’s mysteries. Photograph: Kiran Ridley/Visit MonmouthshireIn this book is a radical idea. By walking the ancient landscape of Britain, engaging with the traces of the deep past and following the wheel of the year as it turns, we can find a pathway that reconnects us to our shared folklore, to the seasons and to nature, setting a course towards optimism, re-enchantment and brighter futures. Fenella operate in a shadowy, crepuscular world. The experimental ensemble led by Jane Weaver (and long term collaborators Raz Ullah and Pete Phillipson) return with hallucinogenic excursions into ambient textures and hypnagogic drones. Fenella make spirited melodic progressive pop music that pulsates with the same magnetism that fans of Jane Weaver’s own The Silver Globe and Modern Kosmology have come to expect and hold closely. A ruminative and rather beautiful thing. Boards Of Canada, Cluster and Craven Faults are among those whose influence can be felt throughout” Elsewhere Stewart Lee finds his own connection with the landscape on a walk from Lamorna, uniting passions for visionary artists and prehistoric monuments and, in contrast to country acres parcelled away on grand estates, we take a look at the edgelands, those unloved, unruly spaces and the music that conjures them.

Once passed around playgrounds as charmed objects, the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks remain a potent way to while away the hours in a torchlit tent or moorland hostelry sans Wi-Fi. Obviously get the mid-eighties edition if you can.

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Our Book of the Week Weird Walkis a journey through the British ritual year in the company of the creators of the iconic zine of the same name. We asked them about some of their favourite books, and they did not disappoint: read on for megaliths, pagan gods, visionary music and Fighting Fantasy. Just an absolute and total TOME, without which it is highly unlikely we would be typing these words you are reading. Top shelf material of the most sacred and venerated kind. He’s a dab hand at writing tunes too. Hail to the Arch Drood. SPRING Watch the equinox sunrise light up the floating capstone of Pentre Ifan and connect with the Cailleach at the shrine of Tigh nam Bodach in the remote Highlands Dartmoor is not as out of the way as it once was, and we would hope that there is less need to reach for the salt cellar these days. However, this land has somehow managed to retain a peculiar flavour of isolation well into the 21st century, and, especially away from its most-frequented spots, it still holds almost limitless possibilities for exploration. AUTUMN Bring in the harvest with the old gods at Coldrum Long Barrow, and brave the ghosts on misty Blakeney Point

Consisting of two stunning stone circles, the Grey Wethers are one of the megalithic highlights of this part of the world. Their position makes them even more appealing – you’re likely to be sharing the circles with relatively few visitors or perhaps only the skylarks that dance overhead. The wheel turns and we find ourselves halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. Signs of new life emerge, the earth awakens, a new issue of Weird Walk pokes through the fecund mulch… There’s no shortage of fun ways to spice up your daily walk. If you’re feeling yourself, you can do a model strut at the gym or go on a hot girl walk around town while blasting Drake. If you want to perk up your mood, you can zone out on a silly little walk, which is all about wandering aimlessly until you feel happier. You could even take your partner along for a hot couple walk when you want a little company. At this point, there’s a walking trend for every mood — so don’t be surprised that weird walks are now a thing.Leyline is a quest and a rite of re-enchantment: by day seeking out connections in the landscape, and by night delighting in music and merriment, we embrace a collective endeavour in the time of the individual. Harold’s Stones in Trellech are said to have been flung into the village during a competition between a wizard and the devil. Photograph: Homer Sykes/Alamy