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Friday to Monday : The Polish City of Siedlce

I had arrived in the Polish city of Siedlce on time, it’s a relatively short train service from Warsaw. I won’t post about each day individually, I’ll wrap my three day trip up into one blog post to try and theme things together a little better. Less for my two followers to wade through that way as well.

My first sight of Siedlce after leaving the railway station and I never quite know what to expect from Polish cities. I’ve been to thirty or so different large towns or cities in Poland, some feel prosperous and some really don’t seem to have developed much economically since the Second World War. It’s hard to under-estimate how much damage was done to the country during the Second World War, with over half of Siedlce’s buildings being badly damaged or destroyed. The town hall was wrecked and the centre was devastated, with the communist influenced led city not really receiving the investment it should have done in the post-war period either.

My first impressions were a little negative as the railway station was basic and the photo shows the damaged building in a prominent location. However, this wasn’t the general situation in Siedlce, which actually seemed quite prosperous and there were only a handful of buildings that I saw which were derelict. There seems to be an element of wealth to the city now, perhaps its accessible location to Warsaw has helped. It felt very much a city at ease with itself, with a modern edge evident throughout.

Polska niepodległa means “independent Poland” and refers to when the country finally received its independence in 1918, following 123 years of being partitioned by Russia, Prussia and Austria.

13 December 1981 is when martial law was introduced in Poland, after the years of communist greed and incompetence. They arrested over 10,000 activists from Solidarity, or Solidarność, for the period that martial law continued for, which was until July 1983.

“Zlo dobrem zwyciezaj” means overcome evil with good.

There were numerous decorative touches around the city, here are some carefully tended flowers.

Oops.

I didn’t get to go inside as there always seemed to be services, funerals or other functions going on, but this is the Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

The sign notes that this was the site of the secondary school built in 1919, but the buildings were destroyed during the Second World War. I mention this as the city has placed numerous history boards on buildings, although they’re all only in Polish. That’s not a complaint, just in most Polish cities they also translate into English, so it’s an indication they’re not expecting a huge number of English visitors here.

The former Ogiński Palace, constructed as a grand residential property in the eighteenth century which is now used by the Siedlce University of Natural Sciences and Humanities. It’s not possible to go inside, although since the building was nearly destroyed by fire in 1944, it’s most recreated.

Some kind of sundial in the palace gardens.

The city has a lovely park, Aleksandria (or Alexandria), although it’s closed at the moment whilst they do some faffing about with it. It had a little zoo in it for a while, although most of the buildings in the park were demolished during the Second World War. As an aside, a lot of this city’s narrative still can only be told by the prism of the 1940s, its legacy runs deep.

The water park, which I didn’t go to, but is next to the Ibis Styles hotel where I was staying.

And there’s the hotel, glistening in the sun which made the city too hot.

It’s very much not in the Ibis Styles brand standard, but that’s it was constructed for use as an independent hotel and was brought into Accor later on. The air conditioning makes the rooms freezing, which I was very pleased about as this is my desired state of temperature affairs. They didn’t bother to clean the rooms at any time during the stay, which is something that every other Accor hotel I’ve visited in Poland is managing to do at the moment and have done for some time. There was also an absence of any paperwork relating to the restaurant, hotel facilities or indeed anything else, either in paper or digital form.

A pleasant view from the room.

Later on during the weekend I watched some football matches that were being played. I say watched, I more glanced out of the window every few minutes.

There was no welcome drink offered, although I was given a voucher when I queried it. They made clear though that I couldn’t have any nice beer of which they did sell in bottles, just a small glass of generic and cheap Czech beer. They didn’t use the words generic or cheap, but it seemed a sloppy way to welcome a guest (not that I’m important to need that, but the point of the scheme is to offer a nice welcome) and Orbis who run the Accor hotels in Poland told me before that they had done away with this penny pinching. The hotel did seem badly managed in many ways and it’s the first time I’ve been asked to pay at the end of my stay in an Accor hotel in Poland, payment is always taken before the stay, or occasionally on check-in. They then messed this up, which summed up the stay for me, but I have to add that it was cheap and it would be unfair not to mention that.

The restaurant might be separately managed, it was differently branded to the rest of the hotel, which might explain their lack of wanting to give away any beer that might taste nice. Actually, not wishing to drone on about this, it annoyed me as I was going to eat in their restaurant with my free drink, but I decided against it.

The breakfasts in the hotel were fine, although some of the ingredients changed each day and there were some odd items available, which I assume were left over from the restaurant the previous day.

Back to the city and away from my complaints about what the welcome drink was in the hotel, as if that matters. This is the city’s Jewish cemetery which was established in 1825 and there are apparently 1,000 graves here, the oldest of which remains is from 1855. The last burial took place in 1888, with two exceptions which both relate to mass graves. The first is the Siedlce Pogrom, where 26 Jews were killed by the Russians during an uprising in September 1906. The second is the mass grave of 3,000 Jews from the Second World War.

The cemetery can’t be visited by members of the public, there’s a long brick wall which restricts entrance.

There has been some tidying up of the site and they’ve added these gates to the entrance.

The wall goes on for tens of metres around the site.

The rear of the cemetery.

I took a photo through the gates of the inside of the cemetery, but no stones are visible, although there are a fair few inside.

As the Jewish cemetery was next door to the city’s main cemetery, I had a little look around there instead.

It’s better kept than the Jewish one, although that’s something that is a legacy of the post-war period.

All organised and neatly laid out.

I’m not entirely sure what is happening with this site nearby as there were no information boards or the like, but the site was used as a Catholic cemetery from the end of the eighteenth century until the nineteenth century when it closed. In the 1980s, the site was cleared, but numerous gravestones were kept.

Some of the gravestones which had been kept and positioned neatly around the little chapel.

A statue commemorating the life of Lech Kaczyński, the President of Poland from 2005 until he died in a air crash in 2010. I’m not sure if there’s any connection between him and the city, or whether it’s just something that the locals wanted to build in honour of his life.

The Kolumna Toskańska, erected in 1783 to mark the visit of King Stanisław August Poniatowski. I’m quite surprised it’s still there, it feels a bit in the way to be honest. Obviously it didn’t offend the Germans during the Second World War, since it’s one of the few things they didn’t knock down.

As it was too hot again, I had a sit down next to Ignacy Skorupka (1893-1920) who was a Polish Priest who died during the Battle of Warsaw. This conflict isn’t referred to much, it’s a bit overshadowed by the Second World War, but it’s when in 1920 the Polish troops beat the Soviets who were trying to invade. The Soviets, led by Lenin, wanted to seize and suppress the Poles so that they could spread out across to western Europe countries. The Poles weren’t having any of it, the Soviets were smashed and withdrew. The defeat shocked the Soviets who though they had the military advantage and Skorupka’s death was used as part of the theory that God wanted the Poles to win though divine intervention.

He was fortunate, his bench is in a nice cool area.

Brofaktura, which is meant to be one of the few brewhouses in the city, but I couldn’t get a table as they were closed for private functions. I took a couple of photos anyway.

I went to a bar, Piwiarnia Miejska Siedlce, over the road instead, serving Tyskie.

The burger meat tasted a little odd, but the rest of the meal was fine and I wasn’t ill, so that’s a result. Decent chips it has to be said and this burger and drink came to around £5.

The local Government offices, the photo of which I’ve included here as I like the architecture.

As an aside, I was impressed at how well organised the city was generally for pedestrians (the lighter paving) and cyclists (the red stone).

The city over time.

One of the few buildings in the city which was a bit derelict, although it looks like they’re getting ready to repair it.

This building on the other hand is about to be demolished.

I try and visit the site of the former synagogue, as that tends to be all that’s left, in Polish cities and this is all that remains in Siedlce. The Germans raided the building on the night of 24 December 1939, setting fire to it and destroying it. What was worse is that some Jewish people who had been made homeless were in the building, so the Germans killed them.

Here’s what the synagogue looked like. I had a look around the former Jewish ghetto, but there’s not really anything standing that I could take a photograph of. There’s more information about the ghetto at http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/ghettos/siedlce.html for anyone interested.

And this is where the synagogue used to stand, although they have put some information boards up in a number of languages to mark what was here. That means of the bustling synagogue, Jewish quarter and cemetery, nothing really remains other than for a number of graves in a mostly inaccessible cemetery.

When I was looking for things to do in Siedlce, the local tourist information web-site said it was essential to look at the church built in the middle of a roundabout. Well, here it is.

Pope John Paul II visited the city in June 1999.

I spotted an ice cream shop and it was still too bloody hot so I thought I’d better pop in.

And I got a delicious affogato. Friendly staff in this ice cream shop, definitely a place to pop in when it’s too hot, which was the entirety of my time in the city (with one exception I mention in a moment).

A monument to Józef Piłsudski, one of the country’s national heroes.

There are a lot of references to him, as indeed there are on this blog generally, since he is revered across Poland.

The city hall, with a grand open public space in front of it.

And that’s the abbreviated story of my time in the city, when it was too hot, with the exception of the moment of when I needed to walk to the railway station to leave Siedlce. There were then Biblical rains, when I had to shelter at a bus stop and then avoid being splashed in the flooded roads (although Polish drivers are very careful, but I was taking no risks). Mind you, it made the temperature just right for me, so I couldn’t really complain. I enjoyed my visit to the city and I was very productive with my laptop when here, so that was useful.

Back at Siedlce railway station, where I’ll pick this ever random story up in the next blog post.

June 26, 2022
Wednesday : London to Warsaw via Helsinki

Today’s adventure wasn’t an ideal situation, but British Airways needed to change my flight from London Heathrow to Warsaw and the only way that they could get me there was via Helsinki. These are challenging times for airlines at the moment, but I hope that these schedules start to settle down over the next few months, it’s not really a routing that I would have thought the most cost effective to arrange.

I was starting at the Ibis Styles at Heathrow, not my first time in the hotel, but my first time in the separate accommodation bloc. It’s really not apparent, but there’s a floor above what is visible here which is reset a little, which is where my room was.

Not that it’s particularly interesting, but that additional floor is visible behind Esso, with the main part of the hotel on the right.

A bus journey to Heathrow T3 central bus station and my complaint, yet again, that Heathrow have blocked off the pedestrian and cyclist entrance to the airport and so people are forced to use cars or go on public transport. In the past, the airport themselves paid for that public transport, but they don’t now. There’s an element of greed here and I find it a little sinister who is benefiting from these changes, but I had better not meander down that path for too long. So a little ride on the Travelator from the central bus station to get me to Heathrow T3.

And here it is again in all its glory, my favourite of the terminals at Heathrow. This is solely because of the lounges where I can get the most free food, T5 is a much better designed and interesting terminal architecturally (including the bits that my friend Liam built).

I can use the premium security line at Heathrow T3 because of my silver card (I have to mention every time that I got this through judicious use of Flyertalk tips, my spend on flights is very low and wouldn’t normally get me such decadence). A member of staff came over and said that the premium security line was longer than the standard line if anyone wanted to move over. I was by that point near the front and didn’t take the risk, but I was amused when someone just behind me said “you’re the one who just sent me over here”. I laughed just a little inside because the man seemed to want an argue but the staff member walked off. Security at T3 always seems quite quick and I got fortunate with my choice of queue, I think I was through within five minutes including the waiting time in the queue.

Lounge hopping at T3, I decided to start with Qantas to get a Salmon Eggs Benedict and delicious it was too. The service in the lounge was as impeccable as ever, efficient, informal and professional.

Part of the cold food selection, but I’ve written about this Qantas lounge before and won’t bore readers unnecessarily. It was though quiet, comfortable and as lovely as ever. I can’t decide which lounge I prefer, Qantas or Cathay Pacific, so I just visit them both.

I thought some exercise would be in order and so I walked to the Cathay Pacific Lounge to get food there, with this being the menu of the day.

Delicious, that Dim Sum selection is always quite beautiful. There was some spicy kick to that Thai coconut and vegetable soup, which complemented the Asahi beer nicely. I didn’t bother visiting the British Airways lounge, it’s just not as decadent and they don’t have any beer there. Well, they have Heineken, but I mean proper beer. The barman mentioned that I had the last bottle of beer he had left, so I hope he had access to some more stock from somewhere. Service here, just as in the Qantas lounge, is professional and although more formal, it always feels welcoming. It’s a comfortable space as well, there are plenty of different seating types as well as lots of power points to charge devices. I mention that frequently as it is quite important to me, just imagine having a phone without any charge. It’s too much to even contemplate, I shall move on and away from that horrible thought.

My flights to Warsaw were with Finn Air, although it was a little difficult to work out when to board as the neighbouring gate spilled over and they had the wrong passengers in each queue for a short whilst. I think the other flight was going to Africa, so it would have been quite some distance if someone landed in Helsinki by mistake. I had a little problem when boarding as the staff member said “since you’re going to Warsaw as your final destination, I need to see your Covid pass”. I’m not actually sure that was right, as Poland doesn’t need the pass any more, so I spent about three minutes (that feels a long time when you know you’re holding up the queue) trying to find my older one, which he said would be sufficient. He was very helpful and after a few seconds of panic that I had forgotten to do something I should have done, I was ready to board.

I don’t know why they were using such a large aircraft, the Airbus A350-900, as the flight wasn’t that busy and it isn’t the usual aircraft that I’ve been on when shunted onto this service before. I was very pleased with it though, as it’s also a long-haul aircraft and I haven’t been on such a large aircraft since 2019.

I rarely get to see these sort of images, as British Airways opted out of the camera installation which isn’t relatively that expensive, they just claimed their passengers wouldn’t want it. I do, I like watching the plane from above and below, it’s quite surreal as it’s not the sort of image I’m used to seeing.

I had the entire row of three seats to myself, so I could lounge out and enjoy my free blueberry juice.

There was in-flight entertainment, so I watched an episode of Bear Grylls doing something adventurous with Alex Honnold, who I watched on board a BA flight a few years ago climbing with ropes in the film Free Solo (I mean I watched him on the BA in-flight entertainment, he wasn’t on the aircraft climbing things, although that would have been exciting). The series is Running Wild with Bear Grylls, it’s the sort of thing that my friend Liam would be excited to be on, it’s full of adventure and danger. I’d rather be in the pub than jumping out of aircraft or eating rattlesnakes.

We landed and I was transfixed watching the servicing of the aircraft underneath me. I hope British Airways change their minds and install these in the future, they’re very informative about how aircraft are serviced after landing, it’s all precisely timed.

I wasn’t in business class as I’m not that decadent, that’s the sort of thing my friend Richard does as he spends a lot of money on things he doesn’t need, but it looked really rather comfortable.

And there’s the aircraft.

I very much enjoyed visiting the non-Schengen Finn Air airport lounge a few weeks ago, but the Schengen one was much smaller and it was at near capacity when I went to it. The staff were friendly, although it’s the first time I’ve gone into a lounge and the check-in process has been via a scanner checking my boarding pass rather than a human inspecting it. The food wasn’t very exciting, a tray of pasta and a tray of cooked vegetables. It’s not exactly Michelin cuisine, nor actually is it even Greggs cuisine.

They had some feta salad with cooked vegetables, but I’d rather have had something cold and crisp with it, it was all very bland. I greedily got two slices of cheesecake as they looked delicious, but they weren’t very nice either. I can’t complain as this was all free, but I just got my hopes up from how good my experience had been before.

I had a couple of hours in the lounge and it got much quieter during the second half of my visit.

Wine and biscuits. I don’t know anything about wine to comment on the quality of that, but they needed some custard creams I thought. Or Jaffa Cakes, that would have been very good.

My laptop and I moved to the window to watch the aircraft. There were lots of power points in the lounge which was handy, so that I could get everything charged ready for the second flight.

All much more sedate when most people had left.

The self-pour selection.

I left the Finn Air lounge a little disappointed it wasn’t as good as their other one in the same airport, but I enjoyed the friendly service, the clean environment and indeed the entire airport felt relaxed and comfortable.

The flight to Warsaw was on a smaller aircraft.

The aircraft was at near capacity, so no empty row for me this time. The curtain between business class and economy is right at the front on this flight, there were just two people in business class. One of the debates on FlyerTalk is whether customers in economy should be able to use the washrooms in business class. usually it’s preferred not to, but on this flight, I saw the crew turning back three customers and sending them to the back of the aircraft to wait. I thought that was petty and it caused them service problems as then customers were trapped behind trolleys in the aisles and the crew had to reverse back up to let them pass. I don’t know how many washrooms they had on this aircraft, probably two at the rear and one at the front. Having one washroom for two customers and the other two for eighty customers doesn’t really make sense, however much you want to offer a differentiated service for business customers.

The crew member made an announcement at the end saying “please let business class passengers off first” which caused amusement as there were only two of them, and she looked annoyed people had laughed. I just thought it was all a bit odd, although it didn’t impact me.

Finn Air offer free blueberry juice and water, with other items being chargeable. I was quite happy with my blueberry juice.

The flight landed on time and I was through Warsaw airport security quickly enough, even though I (and others from the UK, it’s not just me) now have to wait in a queue separate to everyone else as I was from the UK and not in Schengen. I love being back here, it’s the railway station underneath Warsaw airport, which means I’m back in what is now my favourite city.

Warsaw landmarks on the seats, the train spotlessly clean and it cost me 74p for my ticket to the hotel. Bargain.

I was staying at the Warsaw Airport Mercure hotel again, one of my favourites and I’ve stayed there ten or so times I think now. It’s the smallest room I’ve been given in this particular hotel, but they said I might enjoy the tea theme of the room, so I thought that sounded interesting.

I wasn’t going to run out of tea.

My welcome gift and I always appreciate the gesture, even if it is mostly fruit. Indeed, as fruit goes, it was rather nice.

Pictures, all part of the tea theming of the room.

I liked it, there’s something quite fun about hotels having these individually designed rooms, it seems to be something that a few Accor hotels in the city are doing. Having quirky little elements like this makes things just a little more interesting, especially when it’s a room that I haven’t had before.

That’s the end of today’s little instalment. It was good to be back in Warsaw, I very much like it here.

June 25, 2022
Tuesday : Ealing, Angus Deayton and Heathrow

I liked the Ealing Ibis Styles, my first time there and it was a quiet and peaceful hotel with some strong movie related theming. The reviews aren’t great for the hotel and some are complaining that the hotel is charging for luggage storage, which is odd as I’d have thought that should have been included. I was fortunate to get this hotel for a reasonable price, the cost of staying in London is becoming ridiculous at the moment, well above pre-2020 prices. I hope for selfish reasons that this trend doesn’t continue permanently otherwise I’ll hardly be coming to London at all. At the moment, a single night at a city centre Travelodge is the same price as seven nights in an Accor hotel in some parts of Poland.

It was a pleasant day (well, too hot really, but I nearly always think it’s too hot as soon as the sun comes out) and this is Christ the Saviour Church in Ealing. It’s not that hard to guess the designer of this beautiful building, it’s Sir Gilbert Scott. Built in 1852 when Ealing’s population was starting to rapidly increase, it was damaged during the Second World War, but sensitively reconstructed and there’s plenty of foliage today around the building.

Fortunately, the underground strike of the previous day had come to an end, so the District Line was open again at Ealing Broadway Underground station. Note the old style signage of the station in the background.

It’s visible on the right hand side of this photo as well TFL note that these are originals, with the design dating to the early twentieth century. As an aside, you can buy original signage from the Underground at https://www.ltmuseumshop.co.uk/vintage-shop/underground-signs. It’s the kind of thing that I’d like, but it’s far too expensive and it’s not clear to me why I’d want a sign from London Liverpool Street in my flat. Although I would, I’d even appoint my friend Liam as the civil engineer responsible for the installation work.

All credit to TFL for this signage to help those coming from Ukraine.

Not many commuters on the Tuesday morning District Line service into central London. They try and paint the poles the same colour as the train service, so yellow for the Circle Line. It doesn’t always work out though, the District Line is green, but sometimes the lines share trains.

A quick Wetherspoons breakfast alongside countless refillable coffees, although it’s not entirely clear to me what they had done with the sausages, but I’d probably be best not knowing. I’m very productive in these surroundings and the coffees were delicious.

It was too hot so I went to St. James’s Park for a little while, a 57 acre park which was once land owned by the Palace of Whitehall.

This canal was added in the seventeenth century, although it doesn’t really go anywhere and is now more of a lake, they just diverted the Tyburn I think to fill it.

I was here a couple of days after the Jubilee weekend, so a lot of the barriers were still present and endless flags, although they might be permanent. The Government seem to be trying to put the union flag in as many places in London as they can and Priti Patel seems to spend most of her time standing in front of one. Anyway, I mustn’t get distracted back into politics.

I was annoyed at the heat so sat in Green Park trying to avoid the sun. The park was landscaped in 1820, but is one of the plainest of the parks, just lots of grass, but that suited my needs on this boiling hot day. Bloody global warming.

I had free tickets to the recording of Alone, which is a BBC Radio 4 comedy. It’s been going for a few years, but I’d never heard of it and half the audience also put their hands up saying they hadn’t heard the show before. This was by far the quietest of the shows that I’ve been to, the audience were only in the first few rows, although I think they had enough people to make it all work.

Another one of my hopeless photos, but this was the break and the performers (or whatever the word is) were just leaving the stage. There’s Angus Deayton, Pearce Quigley, Abigail Cruttenden, Kate Isitt and Bennett Arron. I like watching the process of recording these shows and how much of it has to be re-recorded because someone has made a mistake, there’s been a sound issue or something else went wrong. I hope the others wouldn’t be offended (although it hardly matters, they’re not going to read this) but I’d only heard of Angus Deayton and Pearce Quigley, the latter from the Detectorists. Anyway, it was all very entertaining.

A pizza from the very reliable and affordable Pizza Union chain, although I was conscious at this point that I should really get a move on to get to my hotel in Heathrow. I always have a slight fear that my hotel room will be resold and that would be a faff to resolve.

I had an hour’s journey on the Piccadilly Line from Holborn to Hounslow Central, where I would get a bus to the hotel. To my great annoyance, Heathrow still haven’t reinstated the Free Travel Zone around the airport, so I thought I’d get a bus from Hounslow instead of faffing about at the airport.

The Ibis Styles Heathrow Airport room, where I stayed a few weeks ago, and the room has a modern feel and I tolerate the lack of desk as that small table is sufficient. That also isn’t an oil slick on the floor, it’s the design of the carpet, which is clever as it hides any stains that guests might leave by just looking like it’s stained anyway. No problems though with my stay, quiet and comfortable with everything as expected.

The free welcome drinks, with the excitement for me that I was going overseas the next day. I never tire of that excited feeling and I wonder if I ever will.

June 25, 2022
Wombwell – The Horseshoe (JD Wetherspoon)

Just as a separate post as not to upset the flow of my beautiful prose (ahem) on the LDWA 100 posts. I’ll keep this post short to avoid any one of my flights of fancy.

This is the Horseshoe pub in Wombwell, which was built in the 1930s and more recently taken over by Wetherspoons. There was also a pub on this site before then, dating to around the early nineteenth century.

As an aside, Wombwell is a small town located not far from Barnsley, with coal mines once providing its wealth. Unfortunately, the good times seem to have faded somewhat and the town is need of some funds to restore some of their grander buildings. The local press are saying that this building may now be redeveloped, after ten years of mostly standing empty.

Arguably slightly underpoured, but this is the Gorlovka Imperial Stout from the nearby Acorn Brewery, very keenly priced at £1.20, especially given it’s 6% ABV. Well-kept and suitably delicious, no complaints from me about that.

It was busy on a Saturday afternoon and had something of a community feel, but the pub’s location means it’s unlikely to get too many visitors from outside of the area as I’m not sure that Wombwell is known for its tourist industry. It’s relatively well reviewed on-line for a JD Wetherspoon pub, with everything seemingly well managed. I did quite like the recent review of:

“Youth club. Full of bratty teenagers strutting around, thinking they own the place. Staff couldn’t care less. They congregate in the toilets. Going to the bar and sitting with free coffee refills for hours and on end. Obviously been dragged up. Zero manners. Why in earth the staff don’t throw them out is totally beyond me. If I was the manager they wouldn’t step one foot over the threshold. Spoilt the enjoyment of the evening (from a hard full time working adult).”

I’ve heard complaints of younger adults getting drunk in pubs and causing a nuisance, but not so frequently of youngsters binge drinking coffee and being annoying. I was quite disappointed to miss out on this extravaganza though as it wasn’t taking place when I was visited. It’s quite a large pub with one of the more modern interiors, it feels like they have the best maintained building in the area in terms of the exterior. It can’t have impressed enough local CAMRA members though, as it doesn’t feature in the Good Beer Guide.

June 24, 2022
Sunday : Recovering after the LDWA 100

I say recovering in this blog post’s title, but I didn’t enter this year’s event, I just needed some sleep after only getting one hour over the previous 48 hours from my marshalling the event. Others who completed the event were much braver!

Richard drove us to his decadent Mercure hotel with a four poster bed as they had responded to his e-mail and confirmed he could have an early check-in. The rather less decadent Ibis Styles at Barnsley was rather less pro-active in offering such assistance to me, so I was pre-annoyed at the hotel before arrival. After I drank Richard’s coffee and privately laughed at how he nearly entered the room of a honeymoon couple (I’m not sure anyone in that arrangement would have been surprised or delighted), he kindly drove me to my hotel.

The Ibis Styles desk was unmanned when we got there, so Richard coughed a bit and someone came out concerned that someone needed medical assistance. The staff member was friendly and helpful, meaning I was able to get my early check-in, so Richard drove back to his palatial accommodation and I was given a room which had another broken lock. But, it was a clean and comfortable room, so I was pleased.

After a few hours of sleep, I woke and decided to privately toast the entrants to the 100 event with one of the official bottles of beer that Aaron kindly let me have. They were all magnificent (the entrants, not specifically the beer, although that was lovely), whether they finished or not, as it’s all about the taking part and giving it a go. If you finish and want to do more, then great, and if you drop out half-way and swear you’ll never do another one of the bloody things, it doesn’t matter, you were all part of the event.

Richard had been fanned by nubile young men and women in his four poster bed in his decadent accommodation, all part of the hotel’s five star service. So he was back fully alert, I was slightly more dopey and grumpy, but that’s a standard state of affairs if I’m being honest. I did have an Old Speckled Hen as my free welcome drink and that helped a bit even though the hotel seems to like super chilling them.

We decided against walking into Barnsley as I couldn’t be bothered and Richard had walked four miles on the Friday, so wasn’t mentally prepared for another long hike. Instead, Richard kindly offered to drive us in. As the parking was free, I offered to pay for it which I thought was kind of me. We started off in the JD Wetherspoon operated Silkstone Inn as Richard was craving alcohol and whilst we were there I got myself a quick half pint of Hope & Glory from Rooster’s Brewing Co, which was well kept and very drinkable. Richard ordered half the pub’s menu again, whilst I limited myself to my half pint.

The Kes statue in Barnsley and I was perplexed at the time as to how I missed this when I visited the town last summer. On reading up on the situation, it now makes sense, as the statue was only put here in late 2021, with the unveiling attended by the film’s director Ken Loach and the main actor playing Bill Caspar, Dai Bradley. The statue cost a cool £100,000, paid for by public subscription, and was designed by Graham Ibbeson.

I thought this was rather lovely, the Covid memorial sculpture named Reverence, also designed by Graham Ibbeson. It’s intended to mark how many ordinary people were involved in the fight against Covid and the words on the plinth read “Barnsley’s fierce love will hold you forever in its heart”. This sculpture cost £210,000, although Ibbeson worked for free. These sculptures don’t come cheap do they?

Then another new venue for me, Spiral City on the Arcade, which had the very lovely Bad Kitty from Brass Castle Brewery, which complemented my Steakhouse BBQ crisps very well indeed. I managed to stop Richard getting drunk as he was driving, another selfless act that will go unnoticed as I don’t like to make a fuss. It’s a decent venue, with friendly staff and although I knew they were closing within 45 minutes of our arrival, we still felt welcome. There’s a mix of cask and keg, with the atmosphere feeling modern and on-trend, it was a very agreeable venue.

There’s the exterior, with Spiral City on the left and the Jolly Tap Brewery on the right.

And that’s the end of the story really for this weekend, as Richard went off to get drunk in his room in his decadent hotel after he kindly dropped me back off at the Ibis Styles. I think he got a turndown service and he had sobered up by the next morning before his big drive back to Norwich. It was a memorable weekend which I really enjoyed, with one final thanks to the volunteers who organised the LDWA 100 and to the entrants who had a go at it. I hadn’t expected to come back to Barnsley so close to my first visit to the town last year, but I was pleased to go to a couple of pubs there for the first time.

June 24, 2022
Sunday : The Third and Final Day of the Trans-Pennine LDWA 100

Following on from the previous day and the Trans-Pennine LDWA 100.

I had come back to the HQ following my visit to the final few checkpoints to see the brave entrants come back in. I had seen the first couple of entrants back in before heading back out to the checkpoints, they were the runners who had finished after taking less than 24 hours to complete the course. I mean, just imagine, getting that far in less than a day, it’s all quite ridiculously fast.

But, as I’ve mentioned before, those runners did a great job, the LDWA don’t value their efforts any differently to those who take just under 48 hours to finish. Indeed, being realistic, those walkers who come in just before the end have gone for two nights without sleep, that’s even more amazing an achievement. This is why we refer to the walkers and runners as entrants, not as competitors as it’s not a competition or race. I had managed only one hour of sleep during the event, but then again, I didn’t have to walk 100 miles, so on this occasion even I needed no sympathy.

Sara, the 100s co-ordinator, looking at how the entrants were getting on, the tracking facility means that was possible in real-time for the first time on the 100s event.

More importantly, there’s the bell, which I took command of for several hours. Every entrant who completes the 100 miles is welcomed by the bell ringing, to ensure everything knows just how brave they’ve been. I wouldn’t need this, I’d go and tell everyone in person just how brave I’d been, but that’s a different matter. Completing the event is a big thing and a bell ringing and applause is the least that we can do to acknowledge the efforts that the entrant has made.

My view for several hours.

I was delighted to see that Claire and Simon had got back in, still looking in great shape. I analysed Simon’s GPX file to see if he had cheated, but despite checking for over twenty minutes, I had to admit he had indeed walked the official route without deviation. He did very well. Simon and Claire seemed to enjoy their walking round, although a few came to an end and swore they’d never enter again as they remembered how far 100 miles was. However, some had changed their mind within minutes, it’s a tough challenge, but that’s why it’s so addictive to many.

Aaron opened this 2.75kg bag of jelly babies, which I selflessly helped him eat to pass the time over the next few hours.

Karen (on left) effortlessly sweeping in.

Sammy Dawkins, one of the youngest finishers, who was another one who didn’t look any different to when he started, just a natural walking athlete.

There were numerous presentations throughout the event, this one presented by Aaron to David Purdy, who had completed his 20th LDWA 100. They get a special badge marking this milestone, along with a certificate signed by Sara and Julie, the national chair.

John Backhouse, who had completed ten LDWA 100s. Oh, and Richard to the right, who is thinking about entering an LDWA 10 one day.

The very lovely bell! Bacon rolls also made an appearance at this point, I was very pleased at that. One thing that isn’t evident until being at this event is just how emotional it can be, seeing friends complete such a touch challenge of course, but also just the delight of seeing anyone finish having walked for nearly two days non-stop. I marshalled my first 100 in Kent, and it was only then that I realised how high emotions were, all in a happy sense of the word.

It was starting to get a little busier in the hall as entrants started to wait for the arrival of friends, as well as those coming in towards the maximum time of 48 hours. Giving them that special welcome.

The beer that successful entrants received and what a marvellous idea.

Stephen Coveney, who had completed ten LDWA 100s.

And then this certificate was ready to be awarded to Leonard Fallick, who has achieved the astounding milestone of having completed 40 LDWA 100s. He hasn’t entered all of them in a row as he couldn’t make a few of them, but he’s finished every single one of those which he’s started, which is some considerable going. Some 100s are more challenging than others, some because of the terrain, but some mostly because of poor weather. But yet Leonard has battled on and finished every one of his 40 events, a remarkable achievement.

And here’s this hero of the LDWA, well done Len!

As an additional reward, Len was also presented with an engraved glass so that he can sit at home drinking decadent craft beer (or whatever drink he prefers) whilst looking forwards to future events and reminiscing over previous achievements.

Sara and Len.

Ken, our Vice President, calling over Aaron to thank him for all of his hard work as the event organiser. As Aaron noted, it was of course a team effort and we couldn’t have had such an event without the many hours of organising, walking, writing routes, changing routes and booking halls, a process which takes years for events such as this.

And that was the close of the event, another really lovely weekend which has been a real challenge for the organising committee given that their event was pushed back a year, then the dates were changed with the shift of the Bank Holiday days being moved. Nonetheless, they kept rebooking halls and kept changing plans, and I know from the feedback received just how much the entrants enjoyed it. OK, there’s a lot of walking, but there is the marvellous sense of the LDWA community wanting to be involved in this event, whether taking part or marshalling. All really rather lovely, and Simon Pipe has an album of photos from behind the scenes at HQ.

Oh, and did this make me want to do another 100? Well, it did just a little bit. But when the event came to a close, it was time for me to move to a hotel, get an early check-in and then have a long sleep.

June 24, 2022
Monday : Barnsley to Ealing During an Underground Strike

The LDWA 100 had seemed to go quickly, although the entrants might not say that, and it was the end of the Jubilee Bank Holiday so it was back to usual for me, which meant travelling about the place. I was heading to London, conscious that there was an underground strike which would make crossing the city just that bit more exciting when I got there.

Penny Pie Park is about to reopen soon and this site has had an interesting history. It was a colliery in the mid-nineteenth century, then brickworks were built there and those buildings remained until the post-war period. Then they were demolished and the local authorities dumped a load of refuse into the holes to fill them up, then it became a green space. As the road network nearby has been reworked, they’ve taken this opportunity to develop the park and they’ve been busy moving the trees about the site. They now have 243 trees, which is an increase of four. That doesn’t sound very aspirational to me in terms of increasing the amount of foliage, but there we go. The park wasn’t open when I walked by, but as can be seen, it wasn’t far off and I’m surprised some of the local hoodlums haven’t pulled that fencing down.

After walking back into Barnsley (again) from the hotel, I popped into the library for a while to use their electricity. I had thought about going into the Toby Carvery next to the hotel for another unlimited breakfast, but I overdosed on bacon and salt last time, so decided against it. My train journey was from Barnsley station, which is part of the integrated bus and rail interchange.

Welcome to Barnsley with some vibrant artwork.

I had two trains as part of my journey, the first to Peterborough and everything was going to plan timewise.

Not particularly busy, the colours remind me of a Ryanair aircraft, but the guard didn’t try and sell me lottery tickets.

At Peterborough station, the EMR Intercity train to London arrived a few minutes early.

As can be seen here, I was able to find an empty seat.

Into St. Pancras railway station in London on time. I was annoyed that they’d shut the front of the railway station because of the underground strike, I don’t know why they felt the need to do that, they could have just closed the entrance to the underground network itself. I noticed someone joined the queue to board Eurostar thinking it was the taxi queue, but fortunately he checked before accidentally arriving in Paris or something.

There was though quite a long queue for taxis, the drivers do well out of these strikes.

The strike did reduce my options to get to Ealing somewhat, with absolutely no services from King’s Cross.

So, I remained calm and resourceful and I went to Mikkeller bar to think what I should do. This is the All Day Haze which Mikkeller brew here, a very acceptable Double IPA with a depth of flavour and a not inconsiderable 8.4% ABV.

I’ve never really noticed their brewing equipment at the back at the bar, so I went to sit by it. I’d add there were tables here, I didn’t just sit randomly in their way. Although I could have lingered for hours, I thought one drink was enough as I wasn’t sure how busy the public transport options would be.

And with my plan developed whilst in the pub, I decided that I would walk to Farringdon’s Crossrail station as that line was still operating.

And my first time in the Crossrail part of the station at Farringdon.

I think it was also my first time on the central section of Crossrail, or the Elizabeth Line, which now all joins up to form a complete line, but for the next few months it’s still necessary to change trains at Paddington and Liverpool Street. It’s not ideal, but they’re getting there.

Very nice, platform edge doors have been put in here, just like on the central section of the Jubilee Line.

The section of the journey to Paddington wasn’t particularly busy, but these services are frequent at around every ten minutes and they’re long trains so have plenty of space.

This is a bit of a faff with the current set-up, as it’s necessary to leave Paddington station, walk through the concourse, towards the back and then connect with where the other part of the Crossrail service is. The part of the journey from Paddington to Ealing was much busier, although I was just able to get a seat, but thought it was a bit packed to take a photo.

Although I’m not entirely sure that I needed a seat, it’s only one stop to Ealing from Paddington. This Crossrail thing certainly speeds things up somewhat. And it was fortunate for me on this journey that the Crossrail drivers hadn’t also gone on strike, as otherwise it would have taken me three bus trips to get to Ealing, which would have been quite a trek.

I was staying at Ibis Styles Ealing for the first time, a rather attractive building about a ten-minute walk from the railway station.

There’s a movie theme across the hotel, which is one of the better Ibis Styles designs that I’ve seen. All clean and comfortable, with nothing for me to feel the need to complain about here.

Spot the movie related design items in the photos. I can’t remember why I booked a twin, but it was probably 20p cheaper or something.

My welcome drink, which was the Goose Island IPA, which is something else which is always acceptable to me. It sounds like I’m getting easier to please, but there are some grumbles coming up with some other hotels, so I hope no-one thinks I’m tolerating anything less than what I perceive to be perfection (and what some others would consider to be petty comments).

This is a nice environmental idea, avoiding the need for a plastic keycard.

They’ve put some real effort into this design and the welcome at the front desk was also friendly. The hotel seemed to have decent sound proofing as it felt like it was empty, but I noticed the next morning that it clearly wasn’t given the number of guests at breakfast. With that, it was time to spend some time getting work done that I’d neglected a little over the weekend, pleased that I had managed to tackle a public transport system which was partly on strike. And thank goodness for the Elizabeth Line.

June 24, 2022
Trouble at Smithfield – Jago Hazzard Video

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Just as a break from my normal range of irrelevant blog posts, I found this video on Smithfield market, titled “Meat, Museums and Malarkey” to be interesting. I’ve found this market a fascinating site, since Des led a walk around it last June, when the photos below are from (other than the very bottom one which is from a few weeks ago when I went back to see what progress had been made). As the video says, the plan is to move a number of the markets from London all to a huge new site at Dagenham, which will be the largest wholesale market in the country.

But many of the traders don’t want to leave and there has been a meat market at this site for over 900 years and the Poultry section is still operating. The traders have refused to move and the City Corporation has been forced to try and get an Act of Parliament to remove them, a process which seems to have been going on for some months without any obvious updates.

The Museum of London will be moving onto the site as part of their celebration of all things London, alongside some sort of cultural and residential zone. And the irony pointed out by the video is one I’ve thought before, they’re shifting out something authentic and genuine from the city centre to put in a museum which, well, is the story of the authentic London. Or as the video notes, “London is increasingly become a theme park version of itself”. Hopefully they’ll be able to do something decent here, without a mix of housing that starts at £1 million and restaurants that end up being ridiculously expensive because of the rents they have to pay.

Although, the solution is perhaps to ensure it becomes a centre for decadent craft beers and breweries, that would be a much better story in the evolution of London as a great city.

June 22, 2022
Saturday : The Second Day of the Trans-Pennine LDWA 100

This post carries on merrily from my post about the opening day of the Trans-Pennine 100, where 400 or so walkers took part in walking 100 miles.

With the Norfolk & Suffolk checkpoint closed, Richard and I made our way to the Heart of Scotland checkpoint at Mam Nick car park, which was 52 miles into the route. This outdoor checkpoint, which was CP8, was staffed with more enthusiastic volunteers, even though they’d been up throughout the night offering food, drink and support to the entrants. There was hearty soup available, as well as numerous types of delicious snacks.

And let me note a little about this whole thing. It’s great that there’s food and drink on this event, and of course essential. But what very many walkers need is a welcoming smile, a reassurance that everything is OK and that this bloody nightmare will be over soon enough. It’s great to get help from people who have completed a 100 and know exactly what is involved, which is mostly mental strength to keep on going. As the guru David Morgan always says, it’s 90% mental and 10% physical. Or, as Chelle always says, it’s just 25 short walks joined together, which I never found that motivational if I’m being honest as I can be tired out after one short walk. Anyway, I digress.

The menu had been carefully written out with some style.

There’s Julie, watching Naomi walk down the hill.

I think that’s Naomi, still being heroic and very brave battling on.

We then jumped (well, drove) to CP10, which is the breakfast stop. East Lancs were the group responsible for this big challenge, which was serving 400 people a cooked breakfast. Despite the space being a little limited, the team sprung into action offering table service with a smile, whilst the walkers tended their feet and thought about the situation that they were in.

The busy kitchen team.

And here’s Simon! We later discovered that Jane retired at this checkpoint, as did Naomi, but their efforts were still considerable. It’s all about giving it a go, that’s the main thing. I have a grumpy friend who got to 60 miles and didn’t realise how impressed people were, but that’s a different story.

For the avid readers of this blog (all two of them), they might remember this from the LDWA AGM, it’s the Colin Wormwald trophy. This goes to every 100 event and every entrant can have their photo taken with it, that’s a right that has been passed on down the generations! Instead of giving this trophy to the fastest entrant, it’s awarded to every single entrant, because this event isn’t a race, it’s a personal challenge and we don’t treat the fastest any differently to the slowest. Aaron decided to dress this year’s event up with a ferret, or whatever it is, I’m not sure what Michael will do next year for the Elephant, Bear and Bull event, but he’s got three animal options with that name.

I had a quick walk to a Wetherspoons in Wombwell, the Horseshoe, before Richard and I went back out to have a meander around some checkpoints. I’ll post separately about the Wetherspoons, so as not to spoil my flow of thought about walking.

The Irregulars checkpoint at CP14 which was at Wortley Rugby Club. They had some excitement of finding that their HQ had been used for storage which required some quick thinking, but like another checkpoint whose marquee blew down, they were resourceful and the walkers would never have known.

Just in case Simon needed any assistance, we decided to walk towards him. I think he appreciated my top tips on how to complete the event.

And here are Simon and Claire, positively gliding in again. They made this look a little bit too easy if you ask me.

The rugby club, where some entrants took a slightly more direct route than others.

And then a highlight, the South Wales checkpoint at Tankersley Welfare Hall, which was 85 miles into the event. Not a bad looking menu if you ask me.

And Dave was offering his usual formidable welcome in his Wales hat. I pretended not to notice it, I try not to encourage frivolity and fancy dress. The Norfolk & Suffolk checkpoint was jubilee themed, but I ignored that as well.

Fish finger and bacon rolls, what a time to be alive! These were delicious and I’ve spoken to Michael, several times, about these being available at next year’s event.

Simon and Dave, both who annoy me by walking around 100s pretending they find them difficult. Dave and his “oh, I don’t know if I can do it this year, I’ve hardly trained, just only done six marathons a week” nonsense, and Simon who vaguely pretends it’s a challenge to him. They are professionals at this, but as I mentioned, their fast speed and looking fine at the end is no more an achievement than the entrants who collapse over the line.

Onto the North Yorkshire checkpoint at Wentworth Village Cricket Pavilion and entrants were now being able to see the end in sight, this was the 90 miles mark. No photos of the inside of the checkpoint here as it was quite busy and we once again, incredibly selflessly, again went to walk to see Simon and Claire. To be honest, I was checking Simon wasn’t in a taxi, as marshals have to be alert to these things.

And the final checkpoint before the end, David Findel-Hawkins and Merrian Lancaster offering an incredible welcome. I note that as they gave me beer, which Dave didn’t offer me. It was a close run thing between the two checkpoints, but Merrian was very pleased I said theirs was the best 🙂

It’s like a party! Entrants didn’t tend to linger too long at this checkpoint, not because they weren’t surprised and delighted at it, but because it was only four miles to the end.

So with a smile and a wave, entrants left the checkpoint to just finish this damn thing off.

With that, Richard and I went back to the HQ to wait for the entrants. I’ll save this part of the story for the next post, but it was very exciting watching all of the very brave entrants coming in. Once again, so many thanks to the marshals who made this event possible, it was rare to see anyone looking tired, despite the hours of volunteering they’d put in to help the entrants. There was a friendly welcome at every checkpoint, such a wonderful community of walkers.

June 22, 2022
Friday : The Start of the Trans-Pennine LDWA 100

I took over 200 photos during the LDWA event, I can’t use them all in these blog posts, but they’re all visible here for anyone who might want to peek through them. The LDWA also has a Flickr account now, where there are additional photos available.

The HQ was Netherwood Academy near Wombwell, which isn’t far from Barnsley. The map of the LDWA 100 and looking at that is a reminder of just how far this distance is. Look at the number of maps taped together…. If anyone wants to see the route, and indeed how the entrants got on, it’s at https://track.trail.live/event/ldwa100. If that link isn’t working (it’ll be there for six months I think), there’s plenty more information at https://ldwa.org.uk/2022Hundred.

The registration process and the collecting of the trackers, the first time that they’ve been used in an LDWA 100.

And that’s a lot of trackers.

I had a little peer in the food room, all of this food and drink was being despatched to the checkpoints later on.

All neatly stacked up and a reminder again of just how much organisation goes into these events. I’ll return to that theme across these posts, it’s all a formidable volunteer effort. Norfolk & Suffolk group are holding the event in 2025 (their then forward thinking chair thought that was a great idea in 2021) and work is already underway on the route. As Dave Morgan says, a flat 100 is harder than a hilly one, I just hope he can cope with the terrain when the time comes. And also hope that the snakes on the Suffolk coast don’t come out in hordes again.

The food and drink destined to go to CP7, which was the Norfolk & Suffolk checkpoint that I was going to later on in the day.

I’ve just realised that I took quite a lot of photos of the food….. I’m hoping that the Norfolk & Suffolk event will innovate exciting new menu options, although I might not be allowed to go near that process. But a fish and chips van, hmmm…..

A little bit of a queue forming for the trackers, but the event registration went smoothly and it was good to see Madeleine in control at one of the desks. She was keeping everyone in order.

This bit isn’t ideal for entrants, it’s the wait for the start, and I could see the excitement in the eyes of Simon Hodgin and the look of anger in the eyes of Jane…. I’ve a lot of time for Jane’s walking style, she’s pre-annoyed before the start and quite grumpy that she’s doing the walk. This, to me, is much better than Simon’s odd attitude of being excited and positive. Also visible in this photo, as he’s helpfully wearing green (he supports Norwich City, hence the green) is Dave Morgan who was getting ready to receive his own award the next day.

Hazel and Karen visible in this pre-departure photo. Hazel was helping at the Cornwall & Devon checkpoint, which I’m sad to say is one of the few I didn’t get to, whilst Karen, the national groups officer, was walking the event. And in some style if I’m being honest, but more on her effortless walking later.

Aaron, getting ready to send the first wave of walkers off. He might have set them off slightly early, but there’s no time like the present on such occasions. Also visible on the right is Michael Jones, the organiser of next year’s event, ready to get tips from Trans-Pennine, or learn from any mistakes they might make, whichever way you want to look at it. There’s always much to learn from any event, but Aaron definitely got the big calls right as seems to be the popular soundbite from Government Minister at the moment. Not that I’m suggesting he’s like Boris Johnson (who arguably didn’t get the big calls right, but I won’t meander into politics), as he’s very sensible (I’ve veered back into politics very quickly again). Right, enough about that.

The walkers have gone, Aaron gets some time to reflect seeing the first 200 or so entrants off. I think there were around 400 people who took part in the walk, an excellent turnout. Unfortunately there were a few who couldn’t make the event as short notice, including some who got Covid just before the event.

Successful entrants got a beer to mark their bravery, a marvellous idea, it’s a blonde ale from Acorn Brewery, who are local to the event.

With that, Julie Cribb (the national chair) and I went to have a look at a few checkpoints and speak to some of our marvellous volunteers. She was also supporting her daughter, Naomi, who was walking the event, which is very brave indeed. This is CP1, operated by East Yorkshire LDWA. It’s a challenge marshalling this first checkpoint as everyone is coming in quite quickly, but the marshals were doing well and food and drink was being efficiently provided.

We arrived at CP2 before the entrants, which was a handy opportunity to take photos of the food. I’d add I didn’t take any, I went to the nearby Greggs. As an aside, there was a nightmare with my O2 priority reward, where the shop couldn’t get it to scan. Three staff tried to get it to work and failed, with one being annoyed at me I think, whilst the other two were annoyed at O2. They just gave me the pizza in the end anyway, which is the first time I’ve had that from Greggs. Very nice, although I’m still more of a chicken bake person. But, that’s fine, as I got a chicken bake at the same time just in case that situation arose.

CP2 was marshalled by volunteers from BBN and they were ready for action with the rush of entrants, offering a warm welcome to those who had by this point walked for just under 12 miles. Incidentally, one of the advantages for the marshals of the trackers is that they can see when entrants are about to arrive, which means that they can be extra ready.

And there’s Simon, having left Jane behind. Simon was speed walking around the event with Hilary.

And Naomi, still looking positive and keen.

Sara Dyer, the national 100s officer on the NEC, who helps groups organise this event.

Here’s Jane, with her Dad, Brian. Lots of smiles and the temperature was really quite moderate, not too hot but also not pouring with rain. I’m not allowed to mention the infamous event in South Wales that poured down with rain for two days, but somewhere in the middle is what walkers want, a cool breeze and not too wet. It was a good weekend for walking.

Then it was off down a farm track to see Wiltshire group at CP3.

Their food selection, in the calm before the storm.

They had a formidable scone production line going on, alongside some other healthy snacks such as Jaffa Cakes and jelly babies.

And they had ponies! No other group organised ponies, so I was very impressed.

And Julia, second from the left, who is the NEC’s membership secretary.

And Karen coming into the checkpoint, looking exactly as she did when she set off. Very calm, composed and professional.

Simon coming into CP3, still annoyingly positive.

Simon having a little rest, with Hilary from Norfolk and Suffolk (and the group’s new chair) strolling in as well.

That production line I mentioned earlier.

Julie and Naomi, this checkpoint was at around 18 miles.

Jane arriving into the checkpoint and still in a positive frame of mind. Inspirational.

CP4, which is Holmbridge Church Hall. On the drive there, I was pleased to see Holmfirth and the cafe where Last of the Summer Wine was filmed. I didn’t quite get to Holmfirth last year when I was in the area, so this whetted my appetite for when I do finally get to go to the town.

Julie and Nicky at CP4, the Lakeland and West Yorkshire checkpoint.

The kitchen team.

Neil Carter from Norfolk and Suffolk group, one of my favourite LDWA members as he always comments on my general bravery. Simon H doesn’t, so he isn’t as far up my list of favourites.

There was lots of bunting in the hall, although the LDWA didn’t put this up, it was a for a Jubilee Weekend event the following day.

And here comes Simon. It was lovely to see Pete Colley at the event as well, he was stopping by to watch some of the entrants glide into the checkpoint.

Still looking calm and composed.

And Hilary, who was jogging behind to keep up.

With that, it was off to CP7, as that was where I was spending the rest of the day, at the Norfolk & Suffolk checkpoint.

The marshals at the checkpoint, Sue, Katie, Chelle, Roger, Yvonne, Richard, Shu (just), Jayne, myself, Michael, Malcolm and Julie (popping in as chair). We had some fish and chips before the event, which was marvellous and everyone enjoyed those. Richard just had a heap of sausages or something, he didn’t want the delicious and decadent fish. I was initially annoyed as Chelle, who had volunteered to get the chips from the nearby Hayfield fish and chip shop, came back to say they didn’t accept cards. Luckily Richard and I were able to lend her cash (mostly Richard, he’s very wealthy) for a few hours to ensure that everyone got their food.

And the Raynet team ready for the checkpoint.

Aaron popped in, whilst also running the entire event, to drop off beer to those who had entered the marshals. Here’s Malcolm being presented with his beer.

That’s a blast from the past…. I’ve been a member of the LDWA for a decade, and this group had ceased to exist many years before that.

Night falls. A couple of local residents came to chat and were very enthused with the whole arrangement, with the usual surprise of why so many people want to walk non-stop. It’s actually the non-stop bit which confuses people, they can’t imagine keeping going throughout the night, or indeed two nights. We kept the noise as low as possible of course, we were an overnight checkpoint, but we were helped with the trackers meaning we knew when people were arriving.

It was rather lovely to be able to welcome entrants in, as well as a small handful of supporters who were helping friends or family with their efforts by cheering them on. We had a few retirements at our checkpoint, which was about 40 miles in, but mostly we were able to send entrants out inspired for the next part of their challenge. Neil unfortunately had to quit at this checkpoint, but he battled on as far as he could, it was a shame he wasn’t feeling very well. A proper fighter.

Our checkpoint in full flow. It was a tight squeeze when it was at its busiest, but it wasn’t often this packed, I think we had a big contingent from Yorkshire in at this point.

Jane wasn’t quite as jovial as she had been earlier on if I’m being honest. She made some funny comments about Simon that I think everyone thought were most amusing. I certainly did. It was a true inspiration to see how Jane had been so creative in where to stack painkillers to help her through and her Dad, Brian, seemed to be having a enjoyable time with the walk.

And that’s where I’ll leave this post, as the Norfolk & Suffolk checkpoint closed in the early hours of Saturday morning. There were no major incidents and I hope that all the entrants enjoyed the hospitality offered. And thanks to the wonderful Norfolk and Suffolk marshals, volunteering to help out at the event throughout the night whilst also smiling and remaining cheerful. Jayne managed the kitchen with effortless ease and I was able to save a couple of cheese sandwiches from going into the bin, so all was well with the world. Chelle also managed the checkpoint with professionalism, despite having a dog who needed some attention at numerous points during the night. And apologies for anyone I’ve missed mentioning who might have been in the photos.

June 21, 2022