The Traditional New Year’s Day Walk | Celebrating British Customs

6 MINUTE READ

Continuing the occasional series on British Culture I Love, author Yang-May Ooi reflects on the difference in walking cultures in the hot tropical landscape of Malaysia and cold winterland of the UK – plus the courtesy with which the Brits greet strangers while walking in the countryside, dispelling the idea of English reserve and coolness. 

The New Year’s Day Walk | British Culture I Love

In Malaysia, where I grew up, we did not really go for a walk in the countryside. Back then, in the 1960s, the countryside was made up of primary jungle or secondary forest. In the southern states, such as Selangor, where my hometown Kuala Lumpur sat, the cultivated areas outside the city was mainly rubber or palm oil plantations. There were no public footpaths or open common. 

Going for a walk in Malaysia

In that tropical landscape of Malaysia, walking in the countryside would mean making your way through knee-high lalang (a tough indigenous grass) thick with leeches amid clouds of mosquitos. There might be snakes and other biting animals protective of their territory against bumbling city folk. In wooded areas, there might be monkeys – possibly snarly rather than cute and cuddly. 

And it would be very hot, averaging around 30 degrees in those days. And very humid, with a thick coating of sweat pouring from you and soaking your clothes even standing still. 

These days city folk do go out to the countryside – but they would go in the spirit of hiking rather than for a casual walk. With hiking boots, mozzie spray, day packs and the like. And, if through forest or jungle, a map and certain knowledge of their route – without this last two, the landscape might just swallow you up, never to be seen again.

I thought about all this when we went for the traditional New Year Walk up to Wittenham Clumps in Oxfordshire, about half an hour’s drive away from my new hometown, Oxford.

Going for a walk in the UK

The clumps are two round hills overlooking a landscape of classic patchwork fields, with a cluster of beech trees crowning them. From the slope, you can look down on the village of Dorchester-on-Thames and across to other settlements and their church spires peeping up from creases in the fields. The day of our walk, there was a light dusting of snow on the hills and across the eiderdown vista and the trace of mist glinting in the winter sunlight. 

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Going for a walk is one of the activities of British culture I love. The great poets of the Romantic era, Wordsworth and Coleridge, loved to walk. As did the heroines of Jane Austen’s novels. City Brits go for a walk in the many parks in all our urban areas. For those who can get out into the countryside by car or public transport, a stomp across fields and through woods is a great way to spend time with friends or just on one’s own. Country Brits go for a walk naturally in the landscape around their villages or hamlets. Dogs are often involved in all cases. 

Strangers in the City vs in the Country 

In city parks, you do not meet anyone’s eye, you do not say hello. You just get on with your walk with whoever you are with like everything else you do in the city. In the countryside, it is customary to say hello or at least smile and nod as you pass another walker. There is a loveliness in the momentary connection between strangers. It feels very rude when you pass someone who ignores you. If that happens, it may be because they are city folk unfamiliar with British walking custom – and that might be confirmed by their stylish trainers and trendy clothing that don’t quite look right in the muddy surroundings!

On New Year’s Day, it is a thing for most Brits to go for a walk. It’s a way to get some fresh air after Christmas week and New Year’s Eve spent mostly eating, making merry and indoors. On our walk up and down and around Wittenham Clumps we came across many groups of friends and family as well as couples, some with dogs, some with children of all ages.

Cheerfulness is infectious

There were English folk, French and European groups, Asians and those from the Americas – judging from the voices and language as well as demeanour. It felt very much like an international and inclusive crowd that were taking up this particularly British tradition. I love that. 

The temperature was near zero degrees, there was snow and slippery icy bits underfoot. But the sun was bright and the air was fresh. Unlike hot tropical weather, the cold bright atmosphere prompted us to stride along. We were all wrapped up warm and wearing hiking boots or wellies. All was good.

As we passed different people, we all smiled and nodded or said hello or good morning – or Happy New Year. The greetings were cheerier and louder than usual on walks at other times of the year. People were happy to be out, enjoying the festive period, loving being with their friends and family – and it exuded out of all of us, our happy mood embracing the strangers with us beneath the blue sky.

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What about you?

Did you go for a walk on New Year’s Day – or in the new year period? What did you love about it? Did you experience the extra special cheeriness of other walkers? Am I right to name it a British tradition – or do you think it’s an international one? 

Let me know. Or have a chat with your friends and family – what do they think? Or forward this story to someone who may or may not agree. 

More stories about British Culture

For more stories on British Culture, Traditions and Customs – from the splendid and heart-warming to the quirky and eccentric and everything in-between, go to British Culture I Love.

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ref: brtcl

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Photos: from my album

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More info:

Wittenham Clumps – https://earthtrust.org.uk/visit/wittenham-clumps/ 

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