I hid my bike in a hedge and set out to explore the grid square on foot, keen to see what the world would offer to my imagination today. My voice sounded small as I hummed a song to myself beneath an outsize bridge rumbling with overhead lorries. The solitude I experi- ence in nature is very different from the loneliness that often keeps me company in daily life on this map. It is one of the appeals of swapping Wi-Fi for wellies and going for a wet schlep through muddy, empty landscapes. 

My outings had recalibrated my preconceptions about how much of my map was covered with concrete and shown that much still lent itself to vigorous, solitary hikes. Though moulded by man – absolute- ly – the countryside is not irrevocably wrecked, even in this crowded corner of the country.