I subtitled my 2013 walk “one thousand miles of poetry, technology and community”.  However, the nature of a long walk makes detailed planning difficult. I met and talked to many people on the journey, but it was hard to pre-plan meetings with the communities through which I passed.  As a walker one is always a voyeur, passing through.  However, for this walk I want the communities, the people of the land, to be at the centre.

There is hardly a mile of the coast of Wales where one does not encounter the vestiges of past industry, from lime kilns and brick works to Bronze Age mines, often half-covered by bracken, or melding back into the rocks from which they were hewn, the once numerous populations dispersed.

In the valleys, the heart of Wales, this is reversed.  It is people and the impact of industry that makes them what they are both topographically and spiritually.  Colliery and chapel have declined, but the vibrant communities remain with rich heritage and new industries, and above the brickwork terraces, albeit often shrouded in discarded coal spoils, the same green mountain tops remain that once saw Roman legions and Welsh princes.

Rather than a single traversal of the valleys, this walk will consist of a series of short two- or three-day legs, going up a valley and either crossing over the mountain to the next valley for a return journey, or returning along the long often forgotten ridges that lie between them.

Each leg will be planned and timed to engage with different aspects of local communities: heritage centres, schools, new industry, artists, local government, and community organisations.  For some legs I may walk alone, but I invite others to come with me, perhaps walking familiar ground, perhaps to take part in an event, or engage in a project of their own on the way.

Do you know people and places, schools, companies, communities that you are working with, live alongside or where you have your own roots?  Work with me to highlight the exciting things happening and expose the challenges facing those who live in what was once the source of prosperity for the land and offers so much today.  Do you know walking routes along valley bottom or hilltop?  Do you know that special café to stop for a break?  Help me to find the significant or neglected places along the way.

Join me on the walk, either meeting at a particular location, or walking parts of the path with me.  Maybe you have stories to tell of your own experiences of the place, or maybe we can simply have a chance to talk together in English or my learners Welsh.

In my 2013 walk I offered myself as a living lab, contributing to different research agendas.  I do the same again, perhaps carrying equipment, or looking out for things.  Would you like to come with me to collect oral history, add biosensors to see how my body reacts, give me an app or equipment to try out, or run a workshop somewhere along the way?

This is my walk, but also your walk and most importantly a walk for the people of the valleys.