Catch up on support group photos

I thought that I would use my rest day to catch up on some of the photos of the support group that I have previously been unable to upload. The pictures in order are:-

Pat and Bryan Cooper with their support vehicle.

Cousin Dawn Cooper and her husband Dave (it is not a requirement that you must be a Cooper to be in the support team!).

Susie and Clive Walters together with their support car.

The view from the Lodge in Looe, kindly provided by David Russell.

The "Looe Squad" preparing for the walk - Adrian, Steve , me and Terry.

I will perhaps try to catch up on some of the other photos another day.

Cheers

Keith

Day 14 - 250 and 1000

The good news is that I today passed the 250 mile marker. The bad news is that after consulting with Norman I think that I am due a 250 mile service, and I am now taking a rest day tomorrow. Norman doesn’t think that the problems are too serious, just wear and tear on the shin muscles which are used to lift the foot up whilst walking. The strange thing is that walking downhill causes more of a problem to these muscles than does going uphill. He has prescribed ice packs every 2 hours and as much feet up as possible.

The stroll today started about 5 miles south of Cirencester (which looks to be a very pleasant town) and then took the White Way out of town reaching a little village Compton Abdale which is just south of the A40. The White Way is another Roman road and runs due north out of Cirencester. The weather was sunny and so I had the opportunity to audition as a human sundial. It was interesting to watch my shadow gradually move from the left to the right as the day progressed. I am however synchronised to Greenwich Mean Time, so that it was at 1.00pm that my shadow was pointing due north.

I am very pleased that the photo facility is now back in action and I will try to catch up on the best pictures from the last week. The first photo today shows Rod (who hosted me last night) and his sister Judith who carried out today’s taxi duties. Thanks very much to both of you. Also to Rod’s wife Jean who did not quite make the early morning start!

The second photo shows the proud and relieved moment when I left Cornwall, and entered Devon, after several days of walking up and down hills. I am with Terry so I assume that Steve took the photo.

You may remember that my lifetime bird list was 999. Well I am pleased to say I have reached 1000. The new species is Merlin which I saw hunting over Dartmoor. It was not until I returned home today that I had access to my records to show that I had not seen it before.

Today’s KBW’s are:-

Judith – Excellent transport and encouragement when walking was painful
Rod and Jean - Fantastic hosts with great food and hospitality
Norman – Physio advice and help


Two reminders. I would be delighted to read your comments and thoughts, so please post comments. The fundraising total has now exceeded £3,500 but I would be pleased to receive any more donations!

“People say that losing weight is no walk in the park. When I hear this I think, yes, that’s the problem” – Chris Adams

As tomorrow is now a rest day the next blog will be on Thursday.

Cheers
Keith

Day 13 – In Roman Footsteps

I have now done over a quarter of the walk! Not far to go now!

Almost the whole trip today was along the Fosse Way, the Roman Road North East out of Bath. After yesterday’s musings about Harold’s Army, today it was time for me to think about the huge distances that the Romans walked. I therefore spent the whole day imagining life as a Roman soldier.

I know roman roads are renowned for being straight but I had forgotten that romans weren’t concerned about hills – they just went over them! I don’t think that I will forget this lesson.

My right shin has been painful all day although it hasn’t slowed me down (24 miles in 6 ½ hrs). I’ve have arranged to see Norman, my friendly physio tomorrow night when I am back in Coventry. I will try and struggle through until then.

Jean returned home this morning with my laptop so this blog has been typed by Sue – thanks, and to which she qualifies for a KBW for services to typing.

Today’s KBW’s go to:

Judith for transport services
Rod and Jean for wonderful hospitality and accommodation

Tomorrow I will be on my way through Cirencester towards Chipping Camden.

“He who limps is still walking” – unknown

Cheers
Keith

Day 12 - Bath

I had an early start today in an attempt to get back onto schedule.This surprised me a little as we had spent Saturday evening with my cousin Dawn and her husband Dave, and there is the reputation of perhaps drinking a glass or two of red wine more than is strictly good for us. However this time we had a very good,quiet, meal in the vegetarian restaurant (Demuths) that Dawn had booked - if at any time you feel the need for a vegetarian meal it is highly recommended. So I felt on good form this morning and it was pleasing that they were able come over to spend some time with us and to participate in the venture.

The early start led to having breakfast in a lay by as the hotel did not serve breakfast until 8.30. Jean is planning the same again for tomorrow morning, before I head towards Cirencester along the Fosse Way .

I started with my head literally in the clouds as the clouds were low over the Mendips, with light drizzle for the first few hours. When the weather improved I had a pleasant stroll through river valleys on quiet country lanes.

I made my target of walking back to Bath and in fact managed to walk 2 or 3 miles along the Fosse Way out of Bath. This will make it easier to to make a start tomorrow morning. Jean will drop me off and will then return home. I an to be met at the finish of the day's walk by Judith Mitchell and will take me to her brother's house in Wootton under Edge where I will stay the night.

My shins were much better today. I stretched them last night and this morning which may have done the trick. Hopefully this problem will not recur.

I haven't been keeping stats but I think that by far the majority of people that I have spoken to along the way (I am not too proud to ask for directions!)have been supportive of the enterprise, with only a few thinking that the whole thing is pointless.

Whilst marching along today I recalled the forced marches that armies did in the olden days. The one occasion that I recalled was 1066 when the English army marched from northern England (York?) where it had been fighting the Vikings to Hastings to fight the Normans.I would like to know how far they walked and how long their march took. Does anybody know? I suspect that it may put my present efforts in the shade.

"A pedestrian is someone who thought that there were a couple of gallons left in the tank." - Author unknown

Cheers
Keith

Day 11 - 200 up

I managed to achieve the target for today reaching about 6 miles south of Midsomer Norton, clocking up the total of 200 miles in the process. Tomorrow I hope to reach Bath - at least when walking as I am staying in Bath tonight at the Halcyon hotel.

The walk was fascinating today. After a mile or two I could see Glastonbury Tor in the distance , even though it was about 8 miles away. The weather was very good with bright sun light and no wind. After passing through Street I joined Jean for a quick sandwich lunch in Glastonbury - which turns out to be very much a hippy commune with various health food, tarot card shops, faith healers etc. I then left Glastonbury and passed about a mile or 2 to the east of Wells, which provided lovely views of Wells cathedral. The whole of the day gave me a good insight into the geography of the area and in particular how the towns of Street, Glastonbury, and Wells are so closely linked. Also the whole trip so far has emphasised how beautiful the English country side is- this is overlooked by most of us as we zoom along in cars at 70 miles an hour.

After 10 days of walking I today had the first signs of the strain of it all. My shins were sore for the first mile or so, but it wore off and was no problem after that. This is slightly worrying as shin splints were responsible for me having to abandon my attempt at running a marathon some years ago. However no blisters yet! Well, in fact Jean walked a couple of hundred yards with me in Glastonbury and developed a blister!

Today's KBW's -

Dawn and Dave - for driving over from Kent to spend the evening with us in Bath and especially for booking us into a vegetarian restaurant for tonight's meal
Bryan - Losing an argument with his human sat nav (ie Jean)and liaison with waitresses
Bryan and Pat - Excellence in support driving.

"I am a slow walker,but I never walk backwards" - Abraham Lincoln

Cheers
Keith

Day 10 - Water and birds

Despite it raining for the first 4 hours of today's walk I had a good day. The early part of the walk was along the West Deane Way along the river Tone into Taunton. Because of the rain the insects were flying low, so their predators the swallows. swifts, house martins and sand martins were flying very close to me, giving me wonderful close ups of them. At times I could even hear their wings passing through the air - a first for me. After passing through Taunton I joined the East Deane Way- which was along the towpath of the Bridgewater and Taunton Canal.

Later on I walked for over 4 miles along a perfectly straight North Drove across the Somerset Levels. This was an incredible experience (once I had confirmed that I was on the right track- Alan's compass that I was gifted yesterday came in handy here). The highlight was when about 20 swans flew just feet above my head, again the noise of their wings was worth the walk to get there.

I have reached the village of Aller which is about 9 miles south of Street. Although I walked 21.5 miles today I have fallen a few miles behind schedule because I had to re plan the route to Street.

I had the first real negative experience of the walk today when the farmers wife at Aller Court Farm objected to me walking across their garden. She did not seem to think that my reason for doing so was that they had barred the public footpath with a 3 string electric fence was sufficient justification. Other than this I have received nothing but help and kindness from everyone that I have met.

Tomorrow I hope to make progress to about 6 or 7 miles south of Midsomer Norton,via Street and Glastonbury.

Today's KBW's are to Pat and Bryan who as well as acting as support driving team carried out the role of wife sitters. They very nearly lost the award when I realised that their idea of wife sitting involved visiting most of the shops in Taunton and Street and making a dent in Jean's credit card! The promise of a glass or two of red wine tonight has however persuaded me not to penalise them.

I am still unable to upload photos to the blog. This is frustrating me but hopefully will be rectified shortly. When it is I will hopefully be able to upload all of the photos taken over the last few days.

"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." - John Muir

Cheers
Keith

Day 9 - Best day yet

Today was the sort of day that I had imagined when planning this walk. Highlights were:-

Flat terrain along river and canal paths.
Sun for most of the day and best of all NO wind
The landlord of the Globe Inn at Sampford Peverell, Roger Atkins, who organised a collection for the BHF whilst I was having lunch (and a pint!). This raised £45 and created a lovely warm feeling of generosity.
The 2 ladies cycling on the towpath who donated £5
John Adams who when I asked for directions near Wellington gave me a wonderful marching compass to help with the rest of my walk.
Clive and Susie who did the transport honours for today, and bought me lunch.
Pat and Bryan who have come to Somerset (yes I am in Somerset now !)to spend 2 days with us and who brought Jean back with them.
The owner of the Bickleigh Mill, where I left the car for Jean to collect, who couldn't understand why I needed to cross a busy road, and walk 150 yards, to where I had finished yesterday's walk, only to have to come back to the Mill. She said that no one would know that I hadn't!

I have now reached Wellington. Tomorrow the plan is to walk towards Street. The support team are planning a shopping trip to Street, so that will give me something to worry about whilst I am walking!

The only downsides today were the start of the Exe Valley Way when I wished I had taken rock climbing classes, and the footpath near Wellington which disappeared and resulted in a frustrating extra mile or two. I am used to walking on the Coventry Way paths which are excellently signposted. The paths that I have used so far in the South West have been very poor - even when it is possible to follow them they are often blocked with electric fences.

The KBW's for today are for the wonderful people mentioned above - Roger,John, Clive, Susie, Pat and Bryan.

In all of the confusion of changing location I have mislaid my list of quotes. don't worry I am sure that I will find it tomorrow.

I have now walked 160 miles which is approx 16% of the total. However I prefer to say one-sixth which sounds much further!

Cheers
Keith