A Walk That Changed My Day

There are walks you do to exercise, and walks that do something to you. Runnymede was the second kind.

A Promise to Myself

After I was discharged from hospital following my Covid illness in early 2021, I made myself a promise: I was going to get my life back. That promise started with walking. Not dramatic, long-distance walking — just putting one foot in front of the other and seeing where it took me.

I took on a challenge to complete 31 days of walking ten thousand steps a day, and along the way I started discovering what the National Trust has quietly looked after for all of us — beautiful places tucked away in the English countryside, waiting to be found. I had no idea how many there were on my doorstep.

Runnymede and Ankerwyke was one of them.

Where History Meets the River

Runnymede is a meadow on the banks of the River Thames, between Windsor and Staines in Surrey. It is where the Magna Carta was sealed on 15th June 1215 — and if you’re not sure what that means, don’t worry, I had to remind myself too. The Magna Carta was the document that established, for the first time, that even a king had to obey the law. It was the beginning of the rights and freedoms we take for granted today. That it happened here, on this quiet stretch of English meadow, is something I find remarkable every time I think about it.

Standing on that ground puts your own troubles into perspective. At least it did for me.

The Walk Itself

The National Trust has done a really good job here. The paths are solid, the signage is clear, and everything is accessible — which mattered to me at that point, still getting my breath back after months of illness.

One of the routes follows the River Thames, and it is genuinely lovely. Houseboats moored along the bank, small yachts going about their business, the occasional larger vessel passing through. And always the sound of the water — constant, unhurried, completely indifferent to whatever is going on in your life. I found that oddly comforting.

Further along, the hard paths give way to grass and natural trails through the park itself. Wide open skies, big old trees, birds making a proper noise all around you. There’s a café too, and washrooms, and a large car park which makes the whole thing very accessible. But I’m getting ahead of myself — that’s not what I remember about this walk.

The Moment That Stayed With Me

What I remember is sitting down on a bench at the river’s edge. Close enough to the water that I could have trailed a hand in it.

The birds carried on above me. A pair of swans went past and couldn’t have cared less that I was there. The river kept moving. And for the first time in a long time — after Covid, after losing my wife, after months of just trying to get through each day — I felt something close to peace.

Nothing was fixed that day. I wasn’t suddenly better. But I didn’t need to be. I just had to sit there, by the water, and breathe.

What It Has Given Me Since

I’ve been back to Runnymede several times now. Each visit gives me something slightly different — sometimes it’s a clearer head, sometimes it’s just the pleasure of being outside and moving. What I’ve come to understand is that walking does something for the mind that it’s hard to get any other way. The rhythm of it, the fresh air, the simple fact of going somewhere — it breaks up the worry and the grief that can otherwise fill every quiet moment.

Runnymede has become one of those places I go when I need to remember that the world is bigger than whatever is troubling me. I didn’t know that on my first visit. I just went for a walk.

Go and Find Your Own Place

If you haven’t been to Runnymede, I’d say go. Take the river path, find a bench, sit for a bit. You don’t need a particular reason. Just a comfortable pair of shoes and a willingness to slow down.

And if you already have a place like this — somewhere that helps you breathe more easily or think more clearly — I’d love to hear about it in the comments. These places matter more than we sometimes realise. Someone reading this might be looking for exactly what you’ve already found.

— Anil