Abstract

By their nature, heritage sites often require constraints and controls on pedestrian access. Yet the freedoms of walking – and the attendant pleasures of pausing, ruminating, peering, questioning, imagining and narrating – are vital to the public experience of these sites. In this paper I will discuss how psychogeographical approaches, particularly those embraced by practitioners of counter tourism, can be used to ameliorate issues of access and develop imaginative responses to physical and less tangible heritage. Since 2015 I have been developing the use of creative and attentive walking practices at heritage sites from the perspective of a psychogeographer and curious visitor, rather than a member of the archaeological community. This includes work with English Heritage at sites in East Kent, an HLF-funded project ‘Walking Heritage’, and ‘O what we ben! And what we come to!’, an interactive walking project mapping post-apocalyptic literary landscapes onto medieval and Roman sites in Canterbury. Drawing on these case studies, I will discuss how walking with psychogeographical attitude can be encouraged, creating playful experiences and an enriched engagement with heritage places and spaces.