Seventy people came together to design an idea that would – hopefully – change the way people feel about the land beneath their feet. As with the best ideas, it started with people-power. Photographer Ben Darlington was there to capture it

Slow Ways walking routes are designed to be as off-road as possible... but what proportion of them really are off-road? And does it matter?

My name is Michael Tormey. I’m originally from the United States, but I’ve spent the past year studying for an MSc in Transportation Planning and Engineering at the University of Southampton. For my Masters dissertation, I’ve been looking into how and where we can focus efforts to continue improving the Slow Ways network of walking routes. Read all about my analysis here.