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  • LDWA 100 – Norfolk and Suffolk LDWA

    LDWA 100 – Norfolk and Suffolk LDWA

    As I’ve mentioned on at least 72 occasions on this blog, I completed the LDWA 100 a few weeks ago. Which it has been widely and universally acknowledged was very brave. And it has also become apparent that nearly no-one actually thought I’d finish, and it seems a few bets were lost. I like being understated and unpredictable though   🙂

    But, enough about me. There were two walks that I was visiting this weekend, the one along Peddars Way and the North Norfolk Coast path which was being walked by Jayne and Malcolm. There was another in Suffolk being walked by Jane, Simon H, Simon C, Paul, Michael, Hilary, Roger and Yvonne. The first of those two walks I was visiting on both days, the second of the two walks I was visiting on the Sunday.

    Susanna kindly escorted me along to see Jayne and Malcolm, and by chance it was agreed that it best to meet them near to the McDonald’s at Swaffham, which is next to the Peddars Way. Dave Morgan mutters and moans about Peddars Way as a trail, but I ignore that, as if he hasn’t got some mountain to climb he gets temperamental and doesn’t appreciate the beauty of flat fields. Us hardened walkers don’t need mountains, we level-headed Norfolk folks just require one level. Although actually, Liam and I cycled all 49 miles of Peddars Way in one day once, and I complained for most of it, although that’s primarily because 49 miles is a very long way to cycle.

    The end of that bike ride in 2009…..

    Anyway, I digress.

    Susanna and I found a spot to wait along one of the lovelier parts of the Peddars Way, which is namely a section that wasn’t in the bright sun. And Malcolm and Jayne swept by, in far too healthy a state for my liking given they’d already walked nearly 30 miles.

    This is a little further along the Peddars Way, just before Castle Acre. I remember this as Liam likes cycling through this…..

    And there we are, from 11 years ago…… A little trip down memory lane there. I’ve digressed again.

    The route that Jayne and Malcolm took wasn’t entirely dissimilar to this, starting from Peddars Way near Thetford, then going north, popping into Hunstanton to add distance, before walking back along the coast path.

    It was a very hot day, which I think I mentioned on a few occasions….. Malcolm seemed to like the blazing heat, but I think it might have exhausted some walkers as it can sap energy if it’s too hot.

    Here they are walking into one of the little checkpoints organised by the quite incredible Dawn, who was running their support team. This was me done for day one, with thanks to Heather for getting Susanna and myself back to the car, all much appreciated. Although our attempt to find the shoe that had gone flying off Heather’s bag at some point was unsuccessful.

    Here we are in North Norfolk on Sunday morning, with many thanks to Richard for taking me. In the background, looming high about the landscape, is the mountain of Beeston Bump. This mountain strikes fear into the heart of Norfolk walkers, towering above the footpath. And, Jayne and Malcolm decided that they’d summit this. Tough people…..

    I was busy taking photos of the beach and sea, promptly nearly missing Jayne and Malcolm walk by. It’s that kind of care and attention that I can offer to events…..

    The salubrious surroundings of the West Runton car park, listening to the car park attendant shouting at visitors. He scared me and I don’t even have a car…. There’s nothing like the welcome to the North Norfolk coast of an official shouting and gesticulating at a visitor “come back here, don’t you dare park there, come back” because a poor driver had got confused as to the admittedly confusing arrangements there were in place. Anyway, that has little to do with this post.

    Jayne had a deserved little sit down, whilst worrying if I had eaten enough. I’m not sure that’s quite how the marshalling support system works, but I had a lovely custard tart, sixteen cheese straws and eight date balls. Jayne took a croissant to eat at an unstated future point of the walk.

    Whilst moving to the next checkpoint set-up, Richard and I popped to McDonald’s in Cromer en route, which is one that I’ve never visited before. They’ve got one of the worst Covid-19 handling arrangements I’ve seen, involving more touchpoints and corralling customers towards each other than they had before the outbreak. Very bizarre set-up. Anyway, it’s a relatively new McDonald’s and I rarely go to them in the UK (other than twice this weekend), as pubs are usually too tempting. Staff were friendly though and the food was brought out promptly, which was useful as the confusing ordering set-up had put us in danger of missing Jayne and Malcolm in Overstrand.

    More of the coastline, it was a beautiful route which they were walking.

    I think this is Overstrand, and it’s somewhere around the 95 mile mark for our brave entrants. Brian and Kathleen had joined the walk to help, and they’d been assisting overnight, and it was a delight to see them given they’d helped me just a few weeks before. The LDWA has some really lovely people in it.

    And there they are in Southrepps, going past the church which is often used as a checkpoint in the Winter Poppyline challenge event that the Norfolk & Suffolk group hold. That was the end of Jayne and Malcolm’s walk, 100 miles successfully completed in a very good time that I think was just over 32 hours. That is an excellent pace, showing what sort of times are achievement when entrants walk on the flat, something for us to consider when Norfolk & Suffolk group hold the event in 2025 at the AYCE 100.

    The timing of this walk ending was very convenient, as it meant we could then go and see the group that was still walking near Ipswich. Thanks to Richard for his assistance in getting there, his support was much appreciated by the LDWA, and myself.

    This is Sproughton church which is near to Ipswich, a countryside setting which is surprisingly near to a built-up urban area. On this walk, Hayley and Yvonne had dropped out before we could get there, but not before posting some huge distances themselves. Still going were Jane, Roger, Simon, Michael, Hilary and Paul, with Simon C having walked a shorter distance. I had thought that Hayley and Jane were only ever walking 60 miles or so, which is a massive walk in itself. However, Jane was still going. I was impressed.

    It would be impossible not to single out Jane for one of the bravest walks that I’ve seen. Despite being in pain at 90 miles (and indeed before, but that’s when I saw her) she still persisted with the walk. I couldn’t have done that, huge credit to her for achieving that. And of course, the others were doing marvellously as well, with Simon struggling slightly, but that wasn’t a surprise as he had clearly pushed himself to match my time of a few weeks ago.

    I’ve never walked along this stretch of the River Gipping, but it’s quite beautiful and we saw very few other people. It was lovely also to see Chelle and Fred for the last few miles, as unfortunately Chelle’s foot didn’t allow her to take part in the event this year. I heard a rumour that instead she’s walking the 100 twice next year.

    Simon had a wait and a think by the river. He’d sort of agreed to take Jane on nine holidays if she could walk the last nine miles in, so he had a lot to think about, especially if they were camping holidays.

    Richard and I had time to pop into the Sorrel Horse Inn, which was rather pleasant, but I’ll write about that separately as to not to distract myself writing about the appropriate temperature of beer in the middle of a walking post. It was a refreshing stop, as all this walking had worn me out. It was also another opportunity to try and update LDWA social media about the event, something I had been trying to do all weekend. It was a challenge, given just how many walks were taking place and seeing just how many photos were coming in. Thanks to Michael and Dave for their support with this, much appreciated.

    And look at the bravery as Jane battles on. She was at around the 95 mile mark at this point. She’s going to have to win some sort of award.

    The sun was slowly starting to set, it really was a beautiful evening. It was sunny throughout much of the country during the weekend, even in South Wales, where I was told it always rains. And, at that point, I’d like to thank South Wales for their quite wonderful organising of this event. The national pandemic meant they didn’t get to hold the event in 2020 or 2021, a real blow given their years of planning to host the national LDWA 100. Their volunteers have been so warm and helpful, I do hope there’s another event held there in the future. Also, Jeremy and Chris from Norfolk & Suffolk group were walking the planned route in Wales as their LDWA 100 effort, and they got over 60 miles in, another marvellous achievement.

    Something like 96 miles done now and although Jane was struggling, the pace remained steady.

    Jane was surprised and delighted to see a hill, but there were steps up it.

    This isn’t exactly a photo that will win a prize to go on the LDWA membership card next year, but here are Jane and Simon walking in for the final stretch. At this point, I’d say that Jane was looking quite energetic and ready to go. Unfortunately, she still had to walk another 0.5 miles around the garden when we got to the finish point, just to tick the distance off as being over 100 miles. It seems ridiculous to see people walking around a garden, but it’d be soul destroying to walk the event and then find you’d actually only gone 99.8 miles. To the outside world, it’d make little difference perhaps as it’s still such an amazing distance, but to a walker, it really isn’t ideal.

    And in! Roger, Simon, Jane, Hilary, Paul and Michael all completed the walk, so it was a delight for me to see them all come in having finished the LDWA 100. It was nice to see Yvonne as well who was fortunately still in good shape, although I’m not sure yet on her thoughts about walking the event in future. Maybe best to ask in a few weeks.

    And then they were all safely home. I’m not sure that I was much use in the whole arrangement, but I wanted to be present given the help that others had given to me on my 100 walk a few weeks ago. I think it’s also becoming apparent which of us are retiring from walking 100 events and which of us are just going to keep taking part every year.

    As the outgoing chair of Norfolk & Suffolk group (what a marvellous two years it has been for everyone!) I’m incredibly proud of everyone who took part in our area. To Hayley and Yvonne on their 60 mile achievements (or around that, sorry if it was longer!) and to Jayne, Malcolm, Jane, Simon, Roger, Paul, Michael and Hilary for their 100 mile achievements. And, not to forget my 100 achievement of course, as I haven’t mentioned that for a few paragraphs. It was quite emotional to see so many completions locally, and also to hear of how entrants had been getting on around the country. The LDWA community came together, whether it was walking or supporting the walkers. How very lovely.

  • Norwich – The End of Debenhams

    Norwich – The End of Debenhams

    That’s the end of Debenhams in Norwich, they’ve been boarding up (or metalling up, whatever the phrase is) the entrances of this large building all week. It’s not somewhere that I’ve been for years, it has felt old fashioned and under-resourced for a long time.

    This boarding up has meant that the recessed areas where the homeless have been sleeping have been made inaccessible, with the tents just moved to the outside now. I’m not sure that this is entirely ideal.

    It’s a far cry from 1955 when this building was being built, then known as Curls (or Curl Brothers) and replacing a war damaged building. There’s a photo on Photo Norfolk of what the site looked like following the end of the Second World War, with Debenhams now being located where that pool of water is.

    Debenhams purchased Curls in the 1960s, but it continued to trade under its old name until the 1970s. What will happen to the building is anyone’s guess, but I suspect part will be turned into residential flats and there will likely be some coffee shop or the like added to it. The future for large department stores doesn’t look entirely bright, although I suppose this will be useful for nearby Jarrolds who might benefit from the trade.

  • LDWA 100 May Update (the weekend is here!)

    LDWA 100 May Update (the weekend is here!)

    This is a follow-on from the April update, where I asked a number of entrants how their plans were progressing. Since then, I’ve completed my 100 effort, so that’s that out of the way (and I’ve mentioned that more than enough times now). So, how are some of the others getting on?

    Rory Bennett seems full of enthusiasm (more than I ever had!) and is also starting very early on the Saturday. The above photo is when Rory was on his last push over Rushock Hill on a training walk.

    “It always feel like you have to wait an age for a challenge walk to arrive, then suddenly its upon you! I’ve loved having this 100 to look forward to and to focus on.

    Over the past month my training has been up and down. I’ve managed to get in some fairly long runs alongside 2 good sessions recceing the route which has really helped my mental preparation. Particularly tackling the night section and realising I’m definitely going to need my boots for that bit (and not to be confused when you stumble across a field of pigs…) I always try and scale back my training from 2 weeks to go. I tend to find this the hardest part as I’m usually just getting into it properly and seeing results. Alongside that the event is closer and I’m a lot more psyched up mentally which makes it a struggle to taper down, but taper we must.

    “View from St Margaret’s back over the Black Mountains on my night section recce”

    I’ve now spent the last week enjoying being able to buy excessive amounts of sweets, M&S Pork crackling (you’ve got to try it…) and all manner of treats. I also try and run through the route in my head, visualising my stops, where I’ll change my socks, where I might be brave enough to try a pint, etc… It can also take a while to lay everything out, plan how I’m going to pack my bag and sort out my half way bag. All crucial things, as one thing I have learnt from walking is, if you pack something deep down in your bag, you likely won’t reach for it. Keep the snacks, painkillers and water close to hand!

    From here on in my mind has been wandering more towards how I’m going tackle the mental impact of walking 75 miles on my own and through 2 nights (I’m starting at 00:01, the earliest point so I catch the shops on my return loop). Only time will tell for that, but let’s be honest, like everyone else, I’ve mostly been watching the weather! Bring on the 100, it’s going to be a corker!!”

    I asked Kevin Marshall whether he was excited or nervous about his weekend’s walk with Sara:

    “We are both feeling a mixture of excitement and nervousness! Having completed 22 LDWA 100 before I have a big slice of ‘can I drag my body around again…’ I am also very excited as this will be my better half’s first attempt at the distance and it is a real privilege to be going all the way with her so to speak!

    Today is the day we are checking and rechecking plans (at the same time still working…), have we got everything, have we got spares… I was reminiscing to Sara this morning about the time I lost my head torch and didn’t have a spare. Someone kindly lent me their spare, the only problem was it was a wind up torch, great fun for six hours! I also recall my 20th as I left my map on the kitchen table at home! Again someone kindly came to my rescue and lent me the one off the wall at the start!”

    As for this being a very different 100, Kevin added:

    “This year will be very different none of the usual checkpoints to look forward to. We are largely self sufficient carrying stove and meals. However the founders of the Millennium Way have taken us under their wing and will be popping up along the route with water, coffee and any supplies we need. The kindness of ‘strangers’ is one of the things that never ceases to amaze me. Even our B&B host is cooking us a meal on Sunday evening when we hope to finish. She says this is something she has never offered to do before. Such kindness. So yes a mix of nerves and excitement, bring it on.”

    It’s less good news for Chelle, who won’t be able to walk the event, but she is still excited to be part of the event by helping some members from Norfolk and Suffolk LDWA. She says “I will be marshalling for friends all weekend so will regularly post their progress and lots of pictures of food.” I’m already excited for the food photos   🙂

    Tim Ryan is positive about his walk:

    “I will be walking the Exe 100 from my house in Devon as planned. There will be 5 Cornwall and Devon members starting on the Exe 100, 3 completing up to the 50 miles checkpoint. Then hopefully along with Linda McCarthy the two of us shall be pushing on to complete the 100. A momentous occasion, as it shall be Linda’s 20th Hundred completion! My personal preparation has been going quite well, although I have allowed myself 3 weeks of rest days and just short walks since building the mileage up. I have provided a few pictures of places taken along the route: Exe Bridge about 13 miles in, Washford Pyne on the Two Moors Way after around 75 miles and what will be a welcome site, crossing the Exe at Bickleigh Bridge after 95 miles. Great to see the enthusiasm of so many members getting out there around the country. The best of luck to everybody.”

    Caroline Tennant mentioned that it’s all suddenly happening, which is what I thought, it does come about very quickly…..

    “From sitting at my dad’s dining table on Boxing Day, idly looking at maps…we are nearly there! After 5 months of walking, mapping and maniacal list writing, it all seems strangely calm at the moment. Yes, I am still running about, packing bags and sorting supplies, but without any stress or panic about the weekend. We have all said from the start, we have no idea what is going to happen on the day, so it’s just a case of setting off now and seeing how it all goes. We are so lucky to have our little group, I think that is going to be the biggest help, having each other for support. Either that or we will end up killing each other! Whatever happens I have the worlds biggest packet of chocolate digestives ready for Monday. Whether celebrating or not, I am eating the whole lot! Wishing everyone else lots of luck, lovely weather and tasty treats on the way!”

    Shirley Hume sent the above photos a few weeks ago of her training efforts and said at the time:

    “Training is not going as well as I would like, needless to say. Although I have done over 1,000 miles since the start of the year I have only managed 2 walks of 31 miles and nothing longer. I seem to have got stuck on around 25 – 28 miles. The lockdown easing last week gave me my first opportunity to travel the 50 miles to Winchcombe for a couple of days recce (not staying over), which has led to a rethink on the route. The warmer weather made me realise that without mobile support I needed to go for shorter loops to allow for filling up.”

    The news this week isn’t entirely positive…..

    “In truth Julian it is all going amazingly badly.”

    As an aside, that’s how I felt about my training at times”

    “After walking the last couple of sections of Dave’s 100 with him, I came down with a bad flare up of diverticulitis (first for 8 months), a non-eating week taking industrial strength antibiotics was followed by a week of side effects from the ABs – by which time I should have been starting to ease back. Furthest walked in 4 weeks is 18 miles. Anyway we (myself and the HQ +CP manager) are now established at base camp and hoping for the best. Sadly my prayers for cool weather look as if they are being ignored.”

    All I can say is good luck to Shirley, but what a brave effort this will be with that background.

    “Try not to be too smug over the weekend!!!”

    I must admit for Dave Morgan and myself, this having already completed the walk really makes this weekend rather more enjoyable!

    Simon Hodgin from Norfolk & Suffolk group hasn’t got back to me yet, but that’s fine as I know what he will say. It’ll be about me being heroic with my 100 and he’s very inspired by my bravery and doubting whether he can possibly match my time. I’ll be seeing Simon and many others from the N&S group who are taking part this weekend. As I mentioned on Twitter, to quote Norfolk’s own Alan Partridge, they’re all so ruddy, bloody brave.

    Everyone on the NEC and involved in this whole event wishes every entrant the very best for this weekend. It’s the taking part that counts, enjoy what you can and see what happens!

  • Hike Norfolk Camping Trip 2021 – Day 4

    Hike Norfolk Camping Trip 2021 – Day 4

    This is the little story of the Hike Norfolk camping trip, but since it’s a private trip and I’ll get into trouble if I try to give all of the behind the scenes gossip away, I’ll only give a taster of the event. Thirteen of us went on the trip and it was a three night stay in Edale which is in the Peak District in Derbyshire and where I started a walk from last year. Here’s day one, here’s day two and here’s day three...

    Just as we were about the leave the campsite the weather decided that it would present itself with beautiful sun. Although it didn’t much matter, as it poured with rain later that day anyway. The group were all leaving the campsite, with some staying on in different locations and others going back home. For me, it was going back home.

    That meant it was now time to take down the tents. Richard is in the background started to take down his palace, whilst my little tent didn’t take much disassembling. It fell down a little too easily, but since there were only two poles and two bits of material, I wasn’t overly-challenged with its deconstruction. I shoved it in its bag and job done.

    Richard had a rather larger challenge on his hands. His tent was also rather moist, which required him to have to repitch it at home in the evening.

    And then there was no trace of where I stayed for three days…..

    So, perhaps it’s now time to write about camping. I have to say that I’m definitely a hotel person, there’s something really rather lovely about a bed, a door and an en suite bathroom. I don’t even crave decadent treats in a hotel room (well, I do, but there’s a limit to what Ibis can offer), just the knowledge that the ceiling won’t fall down.

    But, there were twelve of us camping and it’s all about the group spirit. I was rather more tired in the evenings than anticipated, not least because I should have taken a better sleeping bag, but I’ll fix that problem next time (and I hadn’t expected it to rain nearly every night). It was though an adventure and I like taking part in adventures of any description, even if I mutter about them….. I’ve also got a couple of camping trips booked on my own for later this year (and more with others) so I’d better grow to like the arrangement, although I think I’ll ensure that there is a lovely hotel before and after the camping, as a little reward. Also, full credit to Liam for helping me get a tent that was very suitable for my needs and which didn’t leak.

    We headed back towards Norfolk, with a plan to stop at Ripley in Derbyshire en route. Whilst on the way, we stopped for a while to look at the scenery and to wait for Richard to catch up, but we then realised he’d stormed off in another direction.

     

    Ripley has the most ridiculous number of pubs, I can’t recall a town with so many. There were also a Craft Union pub, a JD Wetherspoon pub and more independents, but I liked that there were two micropubs. I shall be back to Ripley, most definitely, it felt like a really intriguing place.

    That signage at Greggs isn’t ideal…..

    We stopped for lunch at a little cafe, Cafe Rossa, which was rather lovely. I’ll write about that separately, as I don’t want my ‘important’ food reviews muddled up with camping discussion.

    The church in Ripley, which slightly disappointed me as I was hoping to see a medieval church and this was clearly nineteenth century. The gravestones had also been uprooted and shoved around the outside of the churchyard, which made me tut inwardly. And outwardly actually. But, the history here is intriguing, as the church was built as part of the legacy of the armed uprising in 1817 that was the Pentrich Revolution. This is a complex piece of history that I hadn’t heard about until seeing an information board, but it’s made me want to return to the town to find out more. Although unfortunately, despite Ripley having a railway heritage, it doesn’t actually have a railway…..

    And so, that is the end of that little adventure. Not very gossipy I’m afraid, as I think some of the participants might not have been best pleased with me if I had gone into to much detail. But there are several trips coming up where I’m allowed to be gossipy, so that will mean a different style of blog for those adventures. It was an exciting trip that was organised by Steve, which I think everyone enjoyed and I know he’s planning future trips, so that’s all rather lovely.

  • LDWA 100 – Questions From Naomi and Julie Cribb

    LDWA 100 – Questions From Naomi and Julie Cribb

    A few weeks ago I completed the LDWA 100 and I’ve now decided that I’m an expert on the matter. In that spirit I fielded some questions from Naomi and Julie Cribb, who are tackling the challenge this weekend, along with nearly 500 others. Julie is the national chair of the LDWA and is tougher than me, so I’m confident that she’s got this! And with Julie’s help, Naomi will surely complete it as well, although I hope they don’t beat my time…….

    I mention this below, but the important factor for me is that I’m an idiot with this sort of thing, so my completing the 100 shows that it’s possible for non expert and elite walkers to complete it. We all know heroic people like Dave Morgan and Chelle Armour can complete events like this with their eyes shut (actually I suspect Dave would still come in faster than me wearing a blindfold), but for some of us, we’re a bit less committed   🙂

    Anyway, onto the questions that they asked me.

    What should someone expect mentally and physically, who has never done a 100 mile before?

    When I spoke to previous entrants before the event, it was mentioned that the challenge was really a mental one. A bit of me thought that this was ridiculous, walking 100 miles must be a physical challenge because 100 miles is a very long way……

    But, I think they were right, as there were moments on my 100 when I thought mentally this was all too much. The biggest dip was at around 03:00 in the morning, when I was only half way round, it was dark, I was tired and I thought that I could give up and claim I’d done a decent walk and that was enough. Although that was true, I sort of also knew that I could go that bit further.

    I’d say that any entrant should be prepared for mental and physical lows, this whole event is a bit of a roller-coaster. For much of my walk I was fortunate to walk with someone else, and chat helps a lot to help forget the challenging moments. For those walking the entire event with someone, be aware that you’re likely to have your highs and lows at different points, so it’s useful to support each other through the tougher times.

    What I’ll add here though is that I’m not really a very good long distance walker. I never in all honesty expected to finish this event, so my perspective is one that it is possible to get through without being ultra-tough or ultra-stubborn. I’ll be honest, I’m not either of those things, even though many LDWA 100 entrants really are. The key message from that is when I talk about my experiences, they’re as someone who normally moans and groans around even shorter challenge events (as Simon Hodgin pointed out in the LDWA Norfolk & Suffolk WhatsApp group), often nearly in danger of being timed out.

    How did you take care of your feet throughout the walk?

    This was crucial to me and I received a lot of advice on this, which I carefully listened to (it’s rare for me to be so attentive!). Firstly, there’s the obvious matter of cutting toenails short and wearing shoes which don’t rub. The best advice for me was putting lots of Sudocrem on my feet and not being sparing with that. I also wore SealSkinz socks throughout, which felt comfortable and helped keep my feet dry. I thought that the Sudocrem would be greasy, but that wasn’t the case and it felt like an extra protective barrier.

    I also checked my feet every ten miles and reapplied Sudocrem and checked for blisters, which fortunately I didn’t have at any point. I decided against checking my feet at 90 miles, but before then I was very careful to check regularly and even when I didn’t think I needed to. I had two pairs of SealSkinz socks so changed them at 60 miles, but if I hadn’t have had those, I’d have likely changed my socks every ten miles as well. I’d say it’s important to check feet regularly, to be confident everything is OK and to mitigate any problems that might be forming.

    What was the hardest point in the walk?

    Definitely the overnight section when we just got tired and I think we both started questioning why we were doing this walk. That’s the mental challenge element I think, just be aware that there will be dips like that and just keep going. It sounds easy when writing that, but at that stage, just try and walk one more mile and see if things improve.

    If you have to withdraw then that’s always an option and personally I wouldn’t push through much pain as I’m mentally quite weak and squeamish about hurting. But I didn’t want to withdraw and regret it, knowing that I could have gone further. So, when things are hard, that’s what I’d say to remember, don’t give up too willingly.

    What was the best part of the walk?

    At around 65 miles in, I was walking along Marriott’s Way and was on my own at that point. The sun was shining, I had just spoken to Simon Hodgin and Jane Audsley on the phone and was lifted by their camping fiasco news and I felt in good spirits. That was when I knew I’d finish and that I’d finish before it got dark on the Sunday night. That was a good moment.

    My favourite moment though was at 99 miles. Liam’s little boy Leon was pedalling furiously towards me on his bike with a big grin whilst calling out and I felt the need to run towards him with excitement. His laughing and happy face was the best moment of the entire walk. And it was a delight to carry Leon on my shoulders across the finish line.

    How were you supported?

    My friends Liam and Richard were the main support team, pretty much there throughout the entire event. Their support was crucial and I’m so appreciative of it. Liam, who seems to be endlessly reliable at everything, was a constant source of encouragement and he was even there when Richard had some problems with his car early in the morning.

    It was also great to see some people come and walk with me, including some surprise appearances (always nice surprises!) so many thanks to Chelle, Paul, Rob, Brian, Kathleen and Jayne. And of course to Liam’s wonderful boys, Dylan who came out once in between his playing Fortnite, and Leon, who came out a few times to support me with his huge smile and random questions. Children nearly always annoy me, but Dylan and Leon are bloody awesome.

    What kept your spirits high?

    For the first sixty miles, a lot of chat and gossip….. For the last forty miles, knowing that people were following me on my route and I was getting inundated with messages. They helped so much, more than I thought they would. I’d advise entrants to consider sharing their route, whether on the LDWA Facebook group or just with friends. I felt very popular with all the messages!

    Did you sleep at all?

    I had the chance to have two hours at home, but decided to go for ninety minutes. I set my alarm to have 75 minutes sleep, but then woke up after 60 minutes before the alarm went off. I felt enormously refreshed after that, even though it was just 60 minutes. For me, that was really useful, although many people feel more tired after getting just that much sleep.

    How did you cope with the exhaustion?

    There were two points where I struggled, at around 03:00 in the morning which was about 55 miles into the walk and also at around 75 miles into the walk. With the first one, I just remembered people telling me that I would be exhausted, but just to keep going until the sun started to rise as I’d feel better. That was true.

    The situation at 75 miles surprised me, as I thought I’d be really pleased to be near to 80 miles. I then realised though that I still had 25 miles to go and that was effectively eight or nine hours of walking. I started to then feel exhausted and a little concerned about the whole thing. I dealt with this by deciding to walk on my own again for a bit and listening to music on my headphones. That gave me a boost and I was able to speed up to do a much faster pace whilst listening to motivational music. As there was no-one around I was also able to sing a little song that myself and a friend wrote, that cheered me up.

    How sore are my feet going to be? Real answer! Haha

    I usually have problems with sore feet even after 26 mile challenge events, so under usual conditions I’d say that they’ll be very hurty. But I took enormous efforts to take care of my feet and I ended up with no issues at all. Circumstances will inevitably vary, but I’d say that with proper footcare during the walk that there’s a real chance of having relatively few issues.

    I’ve mentioned it before, but I’m not a pro walker, so if I can get through 100 miles with no foot pain, it’s maybe possible for very many people.

    Did you think at any point you wouldn’t finish the full walk?

    When I got into Norwich at 60 miles, I thought that’d probably be the end of the adventure. I knew that I would only have 75 minutes of sleep, I’d have to walk alone in the morning and that my feet might hurt. I had decided that if I woke up tired or injured, I’d like not go out again.

    However, I woke up before my alarm, I felt great and I couldn’t think of any excuses not to finish. I knew at that point that I’d finish. Liam mentioned that he realised this was the case as well, I left my flat in great spirits and everything felt right physically and mentally.

    Did you find certain foods boosted your energy more than others?

    Normally I eat anything, other than junk food such as lettuce. However, on the walk I decided to have no caffeine or alcohol before 60 miles, and I also decided to be careful with sugar intake to avoid peaks and troughs of energy. The Greggs towards the start, the KFC at 50 miles helped, as did the jelly beans that Chelle kindly brought along.

    I’d say that entrants should just eat what they want towards the last forty miles or so, but should perhaps be careful about taking in too much caffeine or sugar early on. In the end, I had a couple of Pro Plus at 90 miles, but I didn’t need them, it was just an energy boost just in case. I did think I might treat myself to some decadent craft beer later on, but I decided I didn’t fancy it (which is rare).

    Would you have preferred it to be the big social event it used to be or did you like walking alone/smaller group?

    Answering honestly, I preferred it as a small group. My problem is that I’m always going to be at the back of an event and somehow knowing so many people are ahead just lowers my mood. I know it doesn’t matter as it’s not a race, but having this event to ourselves felt much easier. That is why I was always intending to walk the marshal’s event of the 100, which has only around 30 people entering I think. I did have the support of friends and mini checkpoints throughout, so I did have the social element of support.

    What was your longest walk before attempting the 100 mile? And how long before it?

    I’ve only ever done one 50-mile challenge (which was actually just under 53 miles), and that was the Shotley 50 in 2017. I decided after that I’d never do another 50 as my feet hurt, my head hurt, I was grumpy, I was tired and I didn’t even eat the sausage meal that I was offered at the final checkpoint. I thought there was no way that I could do that distance twice. Actually, let me repeat that, I was furious that I’d even undertaken a 50 mile event…… So, this 100 event was quite a jump up from that.

    In the weeks before the 100, we didn’t really go that far in terms of long distances, it was more just regular 15 to 20 mile walks. We were planning to do a 50-mile walk a few weeks before the event, but the weather looked miserable and so we didn’t. It was one of our better decisions, I think we went to play pitch and putt instead.

    What was the best meal you had over your walk?

    Richard from our support team drove to Norwich and acquired me a delicious KFC meal. I had been craving that for a couple of hours before and it was something to look forward to. It was high in calories, salt and fat of course, but that isn’t a bad thing at all when 50 miles into the 100. Actually, as far as I’m concerned, it’s never a bad thing, but that’s a different matter. Definitely have a treat to look forward to. Or indeed, several treats.

    How did you feel after the walk? Recovery time? Exhaustion?

    Physically, I had no issues and was walking as usual the next morning. Yes, this enormously surprised me as well…. Emotionally, I felt quite worn out about the whole thing though, and that is apparently common from what other walkers have said. As you know, we spoke on the phone on the evening after the walk, and I also spoke to Dave Morgan as well after that, and you both reminded me that this was an enormous challenge that I had completed and there was perhaps some nervous exhaustion set into the whole thing that I hadn’t realised. I’d add though, it’s probably best to have one or two days of doing nothing after the event, you deserve a rest!

    When will your next big walk be?

    I fear that I’m going to give the wrong answer here, and I can already see Dave Morgan rushing to his keyboard to send me a furious e-mail! The 100 for me was always meant to be a one-off challenge, just an adventure to take part in and see how far I got. I’m naturally quite lazy and not really built for these challenges, I tend to prefer sitting in the pub and eating crisps. And indeed, that’s sort of how the challenge started, by sitting in the pub eating crisps whilst thinking that entering the 100 would be a good idea.

    So, I actually don’t know. I’m still taking a break from long distance walking of over 20 miles, but I’m conscious that Norfolk & Suffolk are holding the 100 in 2025, so I’m likely to walk the marshal’s event for that. As I was so passionate about holding that event, it feels wrong not to take part in it.

    Would you do another 100 mile walk now knowing what you’re letting yourself in for?

    In all honesty, and this isn’t the motivational message that I should probably be giving, but I’m not going to be rushing to complete another 100. I think that’s because I didn’t enter it to prove anything to myself, to others or because I actually enjoy walking huge distances. It was more of a lockdown challenge, so I’d find it hard to justify to myself taking part in another one just at the moment. But, I absolutely am delighted with my decision to walk this 100. Made me feel proud of myself, so I don’t regret taking part.

    Did you feel like crying at any point in the run up to the weekend or wish you’d never entered?

    The week before my walk I started to get nervous for the first time and I did wonder whether this was sensible. The day before the walk I couldn’t think about anything else and was starting to get worried that I wouldn’t get any sleep at all in case I would keep wondering if I’d made the right decision to take part. Of course, doing 100 miles after a night of no sleep would have been traumatic. I did get sleep fortunately and the morning of the event seemed a bit surreal, this thing that we’d talked about for so long was suddenly taking place. At that point it seemed sensible to just stop thinking about it and start walking. I did wonder whether I was dreaming towards the start of the walk, it seemed strange being there.

    How many stops/checkpoints did you have and how long was your longest stop?

    There were two of us walking for the first sixty miles, and we didn’t really have many checkpoints or stops during the first 30 miles. We sat down at the seafront in Great Yarmouth to eat our purchases from Greggs, but at that stage we just wanted to keep going. After that we had a sit down along Wherryman’s Way and then fell into having a stop around every five miles. My longest stops were for the BBQ at around 40 miles, the KFC at around 50 miles, my flat at 60 miles and Richard’s car at 90 miles. Those stops were around 20 to 30 minutes each, other than my flat which was for 90 minutes or so.

    Did you have any changes of clothes or shoes throughout the event?

    I changed clothes at 60 miles, but kept the same shoes on throughout the event. I had spare shoes just in case, but I was comfortable with the ones that I had. Changing clothes is good advice though, it helps make you feel refreshed.

    What would you do differently another time?

    This is the most difficult question to answer, as I’m not entirely sure given that it went very much as I hoped for. I think having better head torches for the night-time section is the area that I hadn’t given enough thought to, as although we had sufficient light, we could have had more. But that’s a very specific answer rather than a general one.

    What, if any, advice you were given did you ignore and/or what did you ignore and wish you hadn’t?

    I ignored the advice about not walking too much in the weeks before the event, although that was partly necessary as my planned training time had been cut short by the lockdown. I decided that I needed more confidence about walking regularly and feeling fit, even though there was a risk I’d go on a walk and trip over and twist my ankle or something three days before the event.

    I don’t think I ignored any advice that I regretted. Another top tip though, I was going to wear cycling shorts for the first 25 miles to avoid chafing. That worked so well, that I kept them on throughout.

    Other advice is to try and enjoy the moment, which isn’t always easy of course if you’re tired and grumpy at any point. But there are some magical moments, with the landscape and the people I was walking with. I’d actually say that I did enjoy it, and that’s important.

    What sort of route did you design and is there anything you would change?

    Our route went from Ness Point, the most easterly point in the country, up to Caister and this was mostly road with some sandy terrain towards the north of Great Yarmouth. We were ahead of schedule at this point and meandered more about Great Yarmouth which was an ad hoc change as we had initially planned to walk further north than Caister. We decided not to as it seemed a bit sandy, and it just used extra energy to walk on that.

    The next part of the route was Wherryman’s Way, which I walked twice last year and very much enjoyed. It was the longest stretch of soft ground that we walked on, which was a change from the road surfaces on the beginning of the walk. We then switched route nearer Norwich to stay on the road rather than walk in the dark by the river, as we just thought it’d be quicker. The rest was a former railway line, which is a great flat terrain to walk on.

    The route I walked would appeal to very few people if I’m being honest. I like flat surfaces and many walkers prefer a variety of terrain, but I simply don’t like hills on long walks (I’m from Norfolk!). I probably wouldn’t change anything looking back, but I’m glad we made the changes we did on the day. Incidentally, we were nervous about seeing snakes along the Wherryman’s Way, but the route was also designed to see as few animals as possible (to avoid being attacked, as being injured by a sheep would have been embarrassing). We did hear what we thought was a pack of hyenas howling at night, but apparently it was a lone fox or deer.

    As for our route, I still feel that I had it much easier than Dave Morgan did, who had an ascent of half the height of Mount Everest. He claims that a variety of terrains uses different muscles and that’s better for him, but I only have an ability to walk on flat, and I’m very happy doing that for tens of miles. There’s a bit of me that feels like I’m cheating compared to others, but then again, that’s their fault for having such difficult routes! And walking 100 miles is perhaps never easy.

    What is the most important lesson you have learned as a result of a) doing the walk and b) completing it?

    The surprise for me was how introspective I became after the event, when I started to write up the story of my walk. The question of “why did I take part?” started to feature prominently, and then “what I have discovered?” came up as I was writing about the walk. The most important lesson while doing the walk was to stay positive and keep going when the rough times appear. And they will appear, this is unlikely to be a walk in the park for any entrant.

    In terms of the wider picture, I learned that completing something I didn’t think that I’d finish was actually good for my confidence. It’s something I can remember when trying new things, going on new adventures or taking on new projects. The strategy is the same really, be prepared, be aware that there are always obstacles and still know that the challenge can be completed.

     

  • Hike Norfolk Camping Trip 2021 – Day 3

    Hike Norfolk Camping Trip 2021 – Day 3

    This is the little story of the Hike Norfolk camping trip, but since it’s a private trip and I’ll get into trouble if I try to give all of the behind the scenes gossip away, I’ll only give a taster of the event. Thirteen of us went on the trip and it was a three night stay in Edale which is in the Peak District in Derbyshire and where I started a walk from last year. Here’s day one and here’s day two.

    There was no Richard on the walk (he had gone shopping) so 12 of us took on the walk which went from Edale following a path by the side of the graveyard of Edale church.

    The footpath sign taking us towards the direction of Castleton.

    I think this is the same stream that runs at the base of the campsite that we’re staying at.

    The weather was moderate as we started off, but dark clouds were often on the horizon. I never read the weather forecast as it annoys me, but there was apparently (as others in the group are more assiduous than I am in their following climate issues) very conflicting information from the weather forecasters with some sources predicting rain and some predicting, well, no rain. It transpired there was quite a lot of rain later on in the day.

    This landscape might look beautiful, but look closely and there’s an enormous bull in the middle of the field.

    At this point I removed myself from being at the front of the group to being right in the middle of it. The bull made lots of noise and started to walk quickly towards the group. Ian, who is ridiculously brave (and frankly perhaps too brave), walked towards it and the bull then rushed off. That’s the sort of person that you need in an emergency…..

    We reached the summit of the mountain (technically a hill) that we were climbing and I was delighted to see that they’d paved the section to Mam Tor. I approved of this. The rain picked up quite heavily at this point, a situation that wasn’t entirely ideal.

    And the top of Mam Tor, which Wikipedia tells me means “mother hill”. It also tells me that the Mam Tor is alternatively known as Shivering Mountain, which I prefer since it has the word mountain in it and so makes the walk sound more difficult. Incidentally, I’ve only just discovered there’s an abandoned road (the A625) here which dates from the 1800s and was repaired until 1979 when a replacement was built. I want to see this next time I’m visiting the area…..

    Not a shop in sight…. BTW, good news about Richard’s shopping, he acquired an expensive bed for his giant tent.

    These flagstones fascinated me and I know that means that I really should get out more. But they are reused from cotton mills and many of them have holes in them from where things were attached to them. It really does feel like walking on history and the current property owners are pleased that they’re being reused, as previously they were a nightmare to get rid of. Apparently the stones are placed with care by hand, although goodness knows those big heavy lumps are moved into position. They have also been surfaced to avoid being slippery and I can confirm that I didn’t slip or slide once during the day.

    Some more landscape photos from the walk. We descended back down into Edale via a slightly different route to Jacob’s Ladder. We also saw a very brave cyclist pedalling his bike up the hill on a stony and rocky surface. I admired his fortitude.

    As we made good time a number of us decided to visit the Swiss Tap in Castleton. I went there last year and I’ll write about it separately again. I think we slightly annoyed the staff member by paying separately, but one person in the group kept ordering the most decadent gin he could afford and we couldn’t incorporate that into rounds.

    We then decided to go over the road to the Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese Inn. Since I’ve already written about that, I won’t add much more, but I will note that I was able to charge my phone up in both pubs. Having power in my devices is essential to me, and this gave me confidence that I had enough to get me through the entire camping trip, which was a burden lifted from my mind.

    Then it was back into Edale to enjoy another pub, which was the Nag’s Head, and I’ll again write that up separately. The beer was though acceptable, and indeed better than I had expected, and so all was well with the world. I have to confess to being quite tired by this stage of the day. Two nights of broken sleep whilst camping and lots of hill walking had rather taken it out of me. I then remembered that I’m not as young as I once was, although I’m still unsure that I always act my age. But there we go, maybe one day.

    It was then back to the campsite and it decided at that point to pour down with rain. Fortunately, we had nearly finished the five minute walk to the campsite before it really started to rain hard, so I was firmly ensconced in my tent by the time of the almost Biblical deluge. There’s something rather pleasant and primeval being inside a warm tent (well, a sort of warm tent) though whilst the rain hits the side. I’m also pleased to report that the tent remained intact and undamaged, although another member of our group did spring a leak overnight…..

  • LDWA 100 – The Results

    LDWA 100 – The Results

    I think that this will be the only time that I’m ever second in an LDWA event and even now it’s just temporary.

    https://ldwa.org.uk/results/full_results.php?event_id=243

    Thanks to the lovely validation team of the LDWA 100 committee who have checked my GPX file, photo evidence and witness testimony. The main event takes place this weekend, when I’ll drop down to about 300th. But, it’s not a race…..

  • Norwich – Old Library Wood Accident

    Norwich – Old Library Wood Accident

    This is the approach to Old Library Wood in Norwich (where I’ve written about the rather excellent sculptures before) just after I returned from my rather brave camping adventure this weekend. Visible at the rear of the photo is an Openreach van, located there as a Royal Mail van managed to plough into the wood’s wall yesterday and destroy a chunk of it.

    The wall from inside Old Library Wood, a situation I’d suggest isn’t entirely ideal. I hadn’t realised before, but there was a mural at this spot, now nearly entirely demolished. But, no-one was hurt and that’s the main thing.

  • Hike Norfolk Camping Trip 2021 – Day 2

    Hike Norfolk Camping Trip 2021 – Day 2

    This is the little story of the Hike Norfolk camping trip, but since it’s a private trip and I’ll get into trouble if I try to give all of the behind the scenes gossip away, I’ll only give a taster of the event. Thirteen of us went on the trip and it was a three night stay in Edale which is in the Peak District in Derbyshire and where I started a walk from last year. Here’s day one.

    I was pleased that the tent was still there when I woke up. Admittedly, it had to still be there since I was lying in it and the tent was so small that it couldn’t easily blow away. I hadn’t packed with great care (as usual) so wasn’t exactly snug overnight, but I hadn’t experienced any great difficulties. I had though pitched my tent over at least two pine cones (and a big twig) and that was a reminder to myself to carefully check the ground in future. To be honest, when erecting the tent I was more focused on ensuring there were no snakes in the nearby shrubbery that I overlooked the pine cone situation. I’ll put my thoughts about camping into the final post in this little series, that topic won’t be neglected.

    The start of the Pennine Way and also the beginning of our walk for the day. I decided that as the walk was only eight miles that I wouldn’t bother carrying a bag and I’d just eat my lunch before setting off to save carrying it. This is a new tactic of mine and I like it, just me and my water bottle.

    The start of the walk, a gentle slope in the footlands of the mountain range that we were tackling that day.

    I struggle to eat lamb as I find them so adorable. This one looked so sweet, adorable and lovely that I called it Mia and she liked that (I mean the actual sheep, not Liam’s baby Mia). I’d add that I don’t technically know that the sheep was a she, but it made the naming process easier if I assumed that.

    I’m a big fan of paving on hills if I’m being honest. I expect mountain purists would be horrified at that, but I’d have a set of steps up every mountain if it was up to me. With regular flat bits with Greggs or another cafe or pub on. I’d add that this isn’t the official policy of the Ramblers or the LDWA.

    The walk towards Jacob’s Ladder, in an area where I still didn’t have phone signal.

    This is Jacob’s Ladder, which I know as being the location where I get phone signal back after being in the Valley of Mobile Signal Death. Wikipedia notes that “in the 18th century Jacob Marshall farmed the land at Edale Head, at the top of what became known as Jacob’s Ladder. He cut steps into this steep section of the route up to the Kinder plateau”. I have no idea whether this is true or not.

    I took a similar photo of this sign last year that I made the main photo image of the LDWA’s long distance path Facebook group. Do join if you use Facebook!

    The good weather started to dissipate as we summited the mountain and entered the clouds. Dave Morgan will probably want to correct that to “walked up the slope of a small hill”, but I’m sticking to my words. I estimated the height of this to be around 3,000 metres, but it appears that it’s actually around 500 metres and that Ben Nevis is only 1,500 metres, so I clearly got muddled up somewhere with how far I thought I had climbed up.

    The views from one of the mountain peaks over Derbyshire, and indeed probably beyond.

    We decided to take a slightly different route to our walk of the previous year, which this time involved walking along a riverbank. In places the riverbank seemed to have collapsed which meant some traversing over gushing rivers that I considered to be as wide as the River Ganges in full flow. Following the path proved to be quite difficult, but I enjoyed this orienteering type challenge.

    Another water crossing we had to deal with and there were quite a few. Some of the group were quite nimble over these, but I won’t go into details.

    Some of the terrain we walked on.

    OK, I’ll admit that we had a little problem here as we were slightly lost. Technically we knew where we were, but we didn’t know where the path was and it’s fair to say that this isn’t an ideal situation. Fortunately, we had professionals on the team to get us sorted. Thanks Ian! I was glad that someone had a map and real compass, although there wasn’t much point in me having those as I get confused if there isn’t a blue dot on a screen telling me where I am. To be fair though, it’s hard to get lost on the top of a hill in Norfolk, so my navigational skills are slightly different (and mostly involves finding the nearest pub that serves decent beer).

    We didn’t see anyone for over an hour. Primarily as we weren’t on a path.

    After Ian got us back on track and onto an actual path we then descended and I thought that the views were really beautiful. My bravery was noted by several people on multiple occasions (well, two people twice).

    Back down the steps to the campsite. The eight mile walk had turned into around twelve miles, but I’m a hardened walker (on the flat anyway) so I decided this was fine.

    I kept waiting by my tent (well, not for hours, I wasn’t that bothered) for a train to go by and here it is.

    I’m a huge advocate for the pub industry and write negative things about them very sparingly, primarily as I rarely have any cause to do so. The welcome at the Rambler Inn was though hostile (actually the most hostile I’ve experienced at any British pub), although fortunately our group of six (the rest of the group were at the campsite as they wanted to sit outside in the cold for reasons known only to them) were spared the brunt of what I heard being offered to others. We asked for a table inside and were told no and that he wouldn’t be breaking the law by allowing us in as we were clearly from more two households. Firstly, we weren’t clearly from more than two households, but it’s irrelevant anyway, the law says “six people or two households”. But, none of us were going to mention this or argue, we just sat outside which was fine as there was a heated area. A welcome of “hi there, table for six but we’ve only got outdoors, is that OK?” would have been my personal ideal here. To be extra fair to the pub, perhaps the staff member on the front door had faced some troublesome groups over the day and was worn down by it, so I’ll be forgiving (but still feel obliged to recount my experience as it was the most extreme I’ve ever faced in the hospitality industry).

    As an aside, on Monday morning I was walking by the pub and a staff member ran out to confront a guest to tell them they were leaving without paying. The customer seemed bemused and mentioned that his wife was still inside and they weren’t leaving yet. I’m not sure I’ve ever witnessed this sort of thing either, the staff member seemed apologetic and said something about the booking company not making it clear that they didn’t take payment and the pub couldn’t access the card details. To be honest, this sounds a great pub that I’d like to stay in, I suspect I’d get very many stories. Equally, I can hardly stay there now I’ve written this, so we’ll let that lie there.

    The ordering process at the pub was via app, which worked perfectly for me. But there’s a flaw in the app, which the poor staff member had to explain to at least two tables, where you can’t use the saved card feature and have to retype the card numbers in again, otherwise it just rejects the order. Easily fixed though and I do appreciate that the pub had made the effort to have an app going, and technical difficulties with these aren’t rare at the moment. I tried the Farmers Blonde from Bradfield Brewery and the Wainwright from Marston’s Brewery, both perhaps unexceptional, but acceptable and well-kept.

    The fish and chips was served as a generous portion, although the batter was tasteless. The fish was though well cooked and tasted of a good quality, with the addition of a charred lemon being a nice touch. The batter wasn’t though greasy which is a positive, with the chips being fluffy inside. The mushy peas were bland, but it was all perfectly edible and served at the appropriate hot temperature. Staff despatched customers to go and get their own condiments from the front of the inn, but these were plentiful. Most of our group (but not me, I had more bloody sausage rolls* to eat at the campsite) also ordered the dessert of sticky toffee pudding, which was excellent and keenly priced at £5, so I’d say that the food was overall fine and the prices weren’t excessive.

    Two of us tried to get a table inside for drinks, but they were still full, so as it was getting cold we walked back to the camp-site.

    *when I say bloody sausage rolls, I meant I really got over-excited and over-bought them at Morrison’s, they didn’t literally have blood on them.

    Back in the party tent, this was surprisingly nice. It felt like a guilty pleasure, in the same way that I consider occasionally drinking Hooch to be. I shouldn’t admit that, but there we go….. Decadent craft beer from world class breweries is still my favourite tipple, I don’t want anyone think that my standards are plummeting.

    And that was the end of the second day of the trip, all really rather lovely.

  • Hike Norfolk Camping Trip 2021 – Day 1

    Hike Norfolk Camping Trip 2021 – Day 1

    This is the little story of the Hike Norfolk camping trip, but since it’s a private trip and I’ll get into trouble if I try to give all of the behind the scenes gossip away, I’ll only give a taster of the event. Thirteen of us went on the trip and it was a three night stay in Edale which is in the Peak District in Derbyshire and where I started a walk from last year.

    The drive up to Derbyshire was a bit sluggish as the volume of the traffic seemed high. We weren’t sure where to stop or whether we should try and get food in Edale, so we opted to find a Tesco Express. Then we spotted a Morrisons, so our little convoy of cars went there. I managed to get a couple of beers, a foot long sausage rolls, another bag of sausage rolls and some food for the next day’s walking. Certainly convenient.

    I discovered that about 100 metres from our campsite there was a railway station, so if I ever need to get back to Edale I could easily. It also only takes one connection from Norwich (change at Sheffield) and fares can be from as low as £20. I doubt I will be going back to Edale though as there was no phone signal (well, there is for EE, but I’m Vodafone). I know some people say that it’s good to get away from social media and e-mails, but I consider that to be piffle, as I need to upload photos to Facebook….

    The process of erecting the tents begins, although some had arrived earlier on in the day and had completed their arrangements. Fortunately, the rain held off for a while, which was useful as apparently it had rained for most of the day. Nearly all of this field was Hike Norfolk, with just a couple of other people from Yorkshire I think they said.

    My little tent is the one on the right, which Liam choose for me in Go Outdoors (I’m completely clueless with things like this). Liam and Leon also kindly made me a video of how to put the thing up, which proved to be most useful. I did get some help from Steve with the construction efforts of my tent, but I think I can erect the tent on my own next time. And there is a next time, as I got a cheap YHA camping deal when I’m going on my own for a few days, so I’ll have to deal with this alone….. I was pleased that there were just two poles and two bits of material, so that limited the number of mistakes I could make (although I still made about eight mistakes).

    This is the view from my tent (well, I was standing up here, as technically the view from my tent was the bottom of that hedge). That flat bit in the middle of the photo is the railway line, which was much busier than I expected. I liked the relatively regular sound of trains going along it, including freight trains at night. I used to think I like tranquility and quiet, but I like hustle and bustle which means I’m destined to live in cities forever.

    Observant readers of the blog will note that my tent is not very large, so this clearly isn’t a photo taken in my tent. I won’t name whose tent it is, but he owns the most decadent tent that I know. So that should be a clue.

    The campsite is relatively small, but it’s located across a few fields, with a lower section. At the base of the campsite is a river, which I could hear from my tent over the three night stay. Well, I could hear it when the rain and gales didn’t drown the sound out.

    I took some Guinness with me, but I also acquired a couple of cans at Morrisons. This was pretty decent and I consumed it with my sausage roll supper. That’s as decadent as I need in life.

    All told, I decided that the first day was a success as although the drive wasn’t the smoothest with the traffic, we got the tents up and everything seemed comfortable enough. I’d add now that I’m really not into camping, I consider comfort to either be inside a pub or inside a hotel, I’m not fussy which. But, the things I do for a little adventure in my life…..