Terms used here.

Flat

Pavement and level ground the whole way. You could do it in the shoes you happen to have on.

Gentle

A few miles, one or two slopes, nothing that needs a plan. You will know you have walked, and that is all.

A proper walk

Hills, mud after rain, and a real reason to sit down at the end. Wear something you do not mind ruining.

Walked

I have done this route start to finish, in this order, and the timings are measured rather than estimated. Walked routes carry a photograph I took, dated in the caption.

Not walked

I know the places, not the joins. The order is my judgement and the timing is a guess. There is no photograph, and the line where one would sit says why.

Cost

One person, travel not included. Next to nothing means under a tenner if you skip the pub. Under £30 assumes one drink and something to eat. Anything above that, I say so in the route.

Toilets

Where I know there is one you can use without buying anything, and where you will have to buy a drink. Not exhaustive, and I would like to be corrected.

Words this site uses on purpose.

Not a style guide. Each of these is doing a specific job, and most of them are there to protect you from a bad day out.

Old room

Not the same as an old pub. An old pub can be ruined by one refit; an old room survives its owners. You know one when your voice drops slightly on entering.

Easy exit

A named station within a short walk of every stage, and – more importantly – permission. Leaving a route early is a version of the route, not a failure of it.

The useful version

What the route page owes you: names, minutes, and what to do when the pub is full. Mood is the reason to go; the useful version is how.

What not to expect

Written before what to expect, and taken more seriously. Most bad days out are caused by accurate places and inaccurate hopes.

Field-checked

Walked, in person, recently enough to say so with a date. Nothing else on this site borrows that word, because assembling a route from knowledge is not the same as standing in it.

Pilot

Walked once, in person, but not lately. The shape has been stood in; some live details – hours, prices, whether the place still exists – need checking before you go.

Prototype

An honest draft. The shape is right; the details have not been stood next to. Treat every fact on a prototype as a rumour with good posture.

A warm finish

The last stop, chosen so that the day has an ending rather than a trailing-off. Usually an old room. Never a queue.

Slightly elsewhere

The feeling this site is for. Not another city – just enough sideways distance from your usual London that the evening acquires a border, and therefore a shape.