Not a 'white space' The black female hikers challenging rural stereotypes

The black female hikers challenging rural stereotypes

- Amelia Hill

In early December, Emily Zobel Marshall completed her mountain leader training for the walking group Black Girls Hike: a two-night expedition in Snowdonia that involved wild camping at -6C and night-time navigation.

Speaking just before she left, Zobel Marshall, a professor at Leeds Beckett University, insisted she was thrilled by the challenge.

"Putting up a tent at night, in driving rain and strong wind, could be seen as admirable or bonkers - but I'll be taking my lipstick with me too, so it can't be all bad!" she said, laughing.

"Black women can face rural racism when they go walking in the countryside," she added. "While there's rarely the 'You don't belong round here' type of direct racism, you're often the only black woman and often made to feel you don't belong in so many direct and indirect ways: being stared at, aggressively asked if you're lost, or repeatedly asked why you're there.

This is why black walking groups, that specifically support black girls to feel that the outside is a safe landscape, are so important."