We should start by saying that it’s a lot easier to list those trails that aren’t kind to campers. Those that aren’t – the North Downs Way, Cotswold Way and the Ridgeway spring to mind here – are the exception rather than the rule.

Of the ‘also rans’,  we would probably put the Coast to Coast path at the top, for you can also camp for pretty much every night along here too. However, it loses out to West Highland Way and the Great Glen Way purely because of its location in England, where wild camping is not allowed; and to Glyndŵr’s Way as it’s a lot busier, and thus (illegal) wild camping is more difficult.

For the others in notional ‘third place’, most allow you to camp at official campsites along most of their length. Hadrian’s Wall, South-West Coast Path, Pennine Way, Offa’s Dyke and the Pembrokeshire Coast Path – are all sufficiently provisioned with campsites to allow people to put up their tents for all but one or two nights along the trail. Even the Thames Path is pretty good for campers, at least for the first half of the trail; after Wallingford, however, the situation worsens as you approach London.

But that is the key: all of them also have a section where there is no official campsite. For most that won’t be a problem: that might be the night when you can ‘take a break’ and spend a night in a B&B or, if you’re a purist, simply wild camp that night.

And that is why we would put Glyndŵr’s Way as the best of the also-rans. Because this trail does have a campsite every night, and some of them are lovely too. Indeed, given the paucity of other accommodation options, camping is by far the easiest option. And though it’s not strictly legal, because the area is so quiet wild camping opportunities abound.

But even Glyndŵr’s Way loses out to the two Scottish paths: The West Highland Way and the Great Glen Way These are the clear winners here due to the fact that a) it’s feasible to camp every night along these trails; b) the official campsites on the West Highland Way are supplemented by the odd bothy, and on the Great Glen Way by a strange cross between official campsites and wild camping, a hybrid that we call ‘official wild campsites’; and c) that you can also legally wild camp in Scotland. As a result, they stand heads, shoulders, chests and tummy buttons above the rest. And that’s before we’ve even mentioned the fact that many of the campsites along both trails are of a great quality too, and were amongst the first to offer camping pods/wigwams etc – ideal if the weather’s bad.

One of the loveliest places to camp. The people who live on the barges at Hebden Bridge, on the Pennine Way, are happy for you to sleep in their ‘gardens’ on the canal bank (though always ask their permission first, of course). It’s a lovely peaceful place and feels very safe too.