![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1729-Animal-Friends-Web-Drop_in_02.jpg\")
The Two Tunnels Greenway near Bath. Image: Lewis Clarke<\/p>\n\u201cIf Geezer wants to go and sniff something for five minutes, I\u2019ll just stand there patiently, because when I want him to stop in the city centre while I talk to somebody, he always waits for me. So when it\u2019s his time, I let him take as long as he likes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Geezer is slower these days but still clocks up five miles a day, and Clive is unsentimental about what that companionship has meant. \u201cIf it wasn\u2019t for Geezer, I\u2019d be dead by now,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019d have happily drunk myself to death and smoked myself to death if I hadn\u2019t got him and changed my ways. He\u2019s my best companion, my bestest little mate.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Two Tunnels Greenway near Bath. Image: Lewis Clarke<\/p>\n
Just over 100 miles north-east, in Bath, vendor Ian Duff<\/a> has his own Sunday ritual. He takes his dogs, Trigger and Marlene, along the Two Tunnels Greenway, the old railway line that runs out of the city towards Frome through two long walking tunnels; or he follows the Avon half the way to Bristol and catches the bus back when his legs give out.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s good for both of us \u2013 it\u2019s the highlight of our day. If Geezer wants to go and sniff something for five minutes, I let him take as long as he likes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe dogs are with me most of the time \u2013 they come to work with me,\u201d he says. \u201cBut it\u2019s nice to do something that\u2019s not work-based, just to do something for them. They get a good walk, and they get to meet other dogs, which is a real bonus.\u201d<\/p>\n He does it religiously, he says \u2013 every weekend, bar the odd heatwave when it\u2019s simply too hot to take the dogs out.<\/p>\n Neither route troubles the top of Animal Friends\u2019 national list, which is crowned by the Rydal Water Circular in the Lake District, ahead of the New Forest\u2019s Bolderwood Radnor Trail and Baggy Point on the South West Coast. But that\u2019s rather the point.<\/p>\n Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/p>\n The nation\u2019s dream walk might be a Cumbrian tarn, yet the walks that actually carry people through the week are closer to home \u2013 a cycle path, a riverside trail near a Sainsbury\u2019s or, in Geezer\u2019s case, the city centre itself, still his hands-down favourite for the simple reason that it\u2019s full of people to greet.<\/p>\n The list makes room for the odd urban surprise \u2013 a gentle circular around Wells Cathedral earns a place to prove a good walk needn\u2019t mean a mountain \u2013 but the vendors\u2019 picks are the real hidden gems: free, local, and treasured for reasons that are only partly to do with the scenery.<\/p>\n Animal Friends was founded in 1998 to support animal welfare and a pet\u2019s wellbeing is very much part of that. What better way to improve wellbeing than a walk and some great enrichment for your dog?<\/p>\n Whether the walk of your dreams is Rydal Water or a well-worn loop by the river, the dog on the end of the lead doesn\u2019t care about the ranking. They just want the walk and, most days, so do we.<\/p>\n To learn more, and to access a map that will help you find your perfect dog walk, head to animalfriends.co.uk\/bigissue<\/a><\/p>\n Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this?\u00a0Get in touch and tell us more<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/p>\n Change a vendor\u2019s life.<\/p>\n Buy from your local Big Issue vendor every week \u2013 and always take the magazine. It\u2019s how vendors earn with dignity and move forward.<\/p>\n You can also support online: Thank you for standing with Big Issue vendors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cIf Geezer wants to go and sniff something for five minutes, I\u2019ll just stand there patiently, because when…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":96029,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2],"tags":[3434,13,1389,40821,15459,40822],"class_list":["post-96028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-britain","tag-animals","tag-britain","tag-dogs","tag-our-vendors","tag-pets","tag-sponsored-content"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/117029524385343038","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96028"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96028\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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