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LDWA 100 – Completed 🙂

[I originally posted this in May 2021, but have reposted it in May 2025 to fix the broken image links]

After a year of planning, lots of training walks and thinking about this whole crazy idea, this was the weekend of the LDWA 100. I’m going to, of course, write much more about this over the next few days, but I’m pleased (and a little proud) to say that I completed it.

Thanks to Richard and Liam for being the support team who were present for the entire weekend. Thanks also to Kathleen, Brian, Paul, Chelle, Rob and Jayne for walking sections of the route, they were all great company. And to Leon for his support at the end, and Dylan for his commentary during the drone section.

I’m pleased to report that I didn’t have any injuries or pain, and am now (the following morning) back to normal, so that’s a swift recovery I’m grateful for. I’ve spoken to lots of people who provided support and advice, and their tips were crucial in getting me through. Thanks also to the very many people who were tracking my route and sending messages of support, there were so many that I might have missed thanking people individually, but those kind words were much appreciated.

And biggest thanks to Nathan for his involvement in the whole project. He completed 60 miles of the route, an incredible achievement for someone who hadn’t walked any longer distances until a year ago. Nathan’s humour, complaining and determination were essential in getting me through to 60 miles.

INDEX:

Miles 1-10

Miles 11-20

Miles 21-30

Miles 31-40

Miles 41-50

Miles 51-60

Miles 61-70

Miles 71-80

Miles 81-90

Miles 91-100

Final Thoughts

May 3, 2025
LDWA 100 – FAQ

[I originally posted this in April 2020, but have reposted it in May 2025 to fix a broken image link]

OK, I admit that these aren’t FAQs (frequently asked questions) because no-one has asked them yet. But they might, so I’m ready with the answers as the background to my attempt to walk the 100 in 2021.

Why are you doing the LDWA 100 event?

Because if Simon Hodgin can finish it, it must be doable. And, he’s said he’ll buy me six pints of craft beer if I finish.

The LDWA are?

The Long Distance Walkers Association.

And how many days do you get to complete the 100?

2 days, so 48 hours.

Is this a good idea?

No.

Are you excited?

No.

Why are you doing it?

To annoy Simon Hodgin that he has to buy six pints of craft beer. And, I’ll enjoy the food and drink whilst walking around the 100.

How much training will you need to do?

I drink craft beer on a regular basis.

What about the walking?

The technical minimum is to get a 50-mile qualifying event, but I’ll need to do more than that to feel fit and confident. My 50-mile qualifier is a little out of date, so I do need to get another one, as will Nathan.

Who is Nathan?

Someone who had the opportunity to turn down my plan to walk this 100 with me, then neither of us would have to do it.

Isn’t 100 miles a long way?

Yes, it’s not ideal if I’m being honest.

It must be a great achievement?

Yes, if I finish, my certificate will be mounted (well, blu-tacked) to the wall and I will send copies of it to everyone I know, and quite a few that I don’t.

If you do complete the 100, will you do another one?

No.

Shouldn’t you be more positive about this challenge?

On a more serious note, the LDWA 100 is a great event and is the pinnacle of the organisation’s challenges. I am conscious that this will be very difficult for me, so hopefully if I can work out how I’m going to do this, at least others can see that it’s perhaps more achievable than they might think. However, if I fail, that ruins that plan. We’ll worry about that in May 2021 though when I’ve quit after the first checkpoint as I’m tired.

Is this a physical or mental challenge?

Both. Many people who have completed the walk believe that anyone who has regularly walked 40 or 50 miles should be able to make the step up to the 100, but they have to have the mental attitude to allow that.

Do you have the mental attitude required?

Not really. I’ll work on it.

Are you allowed to drink craft beer at the checkpoints?

Yes.

Are you meant to?

Probably not.

It must be amazing to be able to walk for 48 hours with someone you can trust and can support each other.

Yes, it would be. But, I’m doing it with Nathan. If we can avoid a punch-up we’ll be doing well.

Will you get sleepy?

I think so, the first night at about 3am is apparently difficult, but when sun rises, the mind resets and then it’s just a matter of keeping going. Ideally we won’t take the maximum 48 hours as that takes us through two nights, but it’d be very difficult for us to come in under 44 hours.

What can go wrong?

Absolutely everything.

Medically?

Blisters are a potential problem, but Sudocrem is apparently recommended, as is careful wrapping of the feet and a regular change of socks. I’ll wear knee bandages as well. Hopefully the practice 50-mile events will be guide on what needs fixing before the 100.

Are there two events?

There is a marshals’ 100 and the main 100, on the first and second Bank Holidays in May 2021. We’re hoping, if space permits on the event, to do the former, as we wanted to be marshals for the main event.

What about the weather?

I hate hot weather, but it’s Wales, it’ll likely rain for 48 hours. But if the weather is hot, I’ll have to be careful to drink enough. Ultimately, I never really worry about the weather, just have the appropriate clothing then the rest fits into place.

How many people from Norfolk & Suffolk LDWA group are taking part?

There are probably two others from N&S group doing the marshals’ walk, and around six from N&S group doing the main event.

Isn’t this all a bit self-promotional?

Yes, although I’m the Publicity & Communications Officer of the LDWA, so I’m meant to be promotional. That’s my excuse anyway.

I think I want to read something more motivational.

I would. This is the book by Julie Welch which gives a more erudite and positive account of what is required.

May 3, 2025
LDWA 100 – What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

[I originally posted this in April 2020 but have reposted it to fix some broken image links]

LDWA 100 in 2021 – What a Lovely Idea

OK, some background first.

So, that’s me. Rugged, determined, brave, courageous and understated. I spent ages finding a suitable photo that wasn’t taken in a pub or a pub beer garden. This one is from the Isle of Skye. I can’t use the ones of me after challenge events, as I look bloody exhausted. Although, to be fair, I look fair done in before I’ve started the challenge events.

That’s Nathan. That photo will do.

Anyway, we’ve had a marvellous idea, which is even better than our GeoGuessr trips (there’s no denying just how carefully we plan everything). OK, we forgot head torches there. And suitable footwear. But, otherwise all was well. Other than we got told off by some landowner and got stuck in mud. That route was around 250 metres.

But, inspired by how we manfully tackled that 250 metres, we are moving onto the next logical step of walking 100 miles. In one go. I can’t really imagine what could possibly go wrong.

I have an impeccable walking record of completing around 20 challenge events, including one fifty-mile event organised by the Essex & Herts group. It would have been more, but I found out that if you volunteer with the LDWA to print the certificates, then you’re placed near the kitchens at the start/end point of the challenge walk. And because the LDWA community is so friendly and helpful, they rarely complain when I pop in to get food. Actually, I’ve sort of been banned from the kitchen in case food stocks are threatened, but there’s no shortage to the sustenance offered.

Anyway, I got distracted there thinking about food. So, as I mentioned, I’ve completed a fifty mile event, and I remember how inspired I felt at the end of that. “I’m never doing that again” were the words I actually uttered, but I think I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the food anyway. Which reminds me of the doughnuts on the Smuggler’s Trod and the BBQ on the Birmingham Canal Canter. The LDWA do food and drink very well.

Nathan hasn’t done any of this, but he works on the principle that if I can do it, so can he. This is the problem with the youth of today.

So, before I drift off the subject matter again, this will be the story in text and video of the practice walks, the qualifying events (yeah, neither of us have done qualification events yet, so that’s another challenge) and the march towards the big day in May 2021. The location of the LDWA 100 walk in 2021 is Wales, postponed from 2020 when sadly the virus thing ruined plans.

The aim is for us, if there’s space on the event (and I’m hoping it’s full, since my attempts to get banned from the event by threatening to eat all the food have already been refused), to complete the Marshals’ Walk for the 2021 100 so that we can both then spend the actual event marshalling and drinking craft beer from Tiny Rebel whilst shouting encouragement at Simon Hodgin as he faffs along the route.

One interesting video was made by Jamie Hearing, which gives some background to the people on the walk. They’ve blocked embedding, but it can be seen at https://vimeo.com/402157343.

The video below was produced by David Morgan, the current national chair of the LDWA, and is from the 2019 Hadrian’s Wall event. He’s one of those inspirational figures who strides up mountains faster than I go when marching along on the travelators at airports. Positive and motivational, his videos capture the wonderful landscapes of the countryside and the characters of the LDWA. Well, just so no-one expects too much from the videos I’ll be crafting this year, I won’t be distracted by that, my videos will feature food and complaining. And probably a video of some bloody sheep that is in the path that stops Nathan and me from progressing along the route.

Final thing, for anyone who wonders why there’s a dog lying down in the main photo of this blog post, it’s Simon’s dog as he thinks that what I’ll look like at the end of the 100. Well, at the first checkpoint more likely….

May 3, 2025
Norwich – Ship (Two Julians)

This is a slightly different visit to those I usually write up, it’s a pub on King Street that unfortunately closed all the way back in 1969. It was known as the Ship, or the Ship Inn, and it is the building in the photo which is painted red. This means that I haven’t visited it, although Julian probably has in his younger days. Firstly, it’s useful to have a look at the photo that George Plunkett took of the pub in 1939 from a very similar position to mine. The main door of the pub is in the centre of the photo and the former cellar hatch is underneath the window just to the left of the door.

The building was a licensed premises from at least 1760 and it was acquired by Youngs, Crawshay & Youngs in the nineteenth century and their branded pub sign is visible in George’s photo. The company was then bought by Bullards and then that was in turn acquired by Watney Mann. After closing its doors on 26 May 1969, it was then purchased by Norwich City Council who in the following years turned it into two residential properties. The ownership by Youngs, Crawshay & Youngs was rather handy as their brewery, the Crown Brewery, was located nearby on the other side of the road, so the beer didn’t have far to go.

The brewery advertised in the Eastern Daily Press in September 1889 that a boozer was available (fortunately, the newspaper didn’t actually keep calling every pub that in the nineteenth century) opposite the Crown Brewery and this was taken on by James Catchpole and he ran it until he died in 1898 and his wife then carrying on operating it for another five years. There was a large auction in the pub in October 1889 which included 150 lots of “useful furniture” and if that wasn’t a sale on behalf of someone else, the recently deceased landlord Walter Blyth must have liked his chairs, tables and headboards.

Ship Yard is located behind the pub and I won’t give any prizes for those who work out how it got its name. This is the entrance to Big Ship Yard and there’s an entrance to what was Little Ship Yard on the right hand side of the pub.

Here’s a map from the 1880s which might make things a little clearer.

The rear of Ship Yard and the buildings down here were demolished around 1970 and rebuilt to provide more modern accommodation. George Plunkett took a photo down here in 1938 and I suspect it might be the only one surviving of this courtyard.

Quoting the great George Plunkett, he noted that “The yard to its south has at some time been partly built over, so that while formerly wide enough for the passage of carts it will now accommodate only pedestrians. The finely carved lintel above bears a design of foliage together with the rather contradictory inscription “Princes In”; it is believed that this was brought here at some time from the famous inn of that name, first mentioned in 1391, which once stood in St George Tombland parish on the north side of Princes St.” This feels a logical argument to me, meaning that this lintel could date back to the late medieval period or Tudor period with a bit of imagination.

That’s the former main door to the pub and I rather like that those timber surrounds to the door are original. The building dates back to around the seventeenth century and was constructed from flint rubble and topped with a pantile roof. The casement windows, the ones either side of the door, are thought to date to when the building was constructed, although the sash windows are later.

During the period after lockdown, Jonathan and I went on an expedition to look for all the parish boundary markers in Norwich. I need to return to the posts I’ve made about these and fix the broken images, but then Jonathan and I can start completing our project.

The loss of this pub is a huge shame and I don’t say that about absolutely everywhere, although Julian often has a crack at that line of argument. There are no pubs remaining on the stretch of King Street and imagine the heritage of this building if it was still a licensed premises, I suspect that it would be something of destination real ale venue given the history. The building was listed in 1954 and it was that which perhaps meant that the city council decided against demolishing it and instead repurposed it, so at least it has survived in some form.

May 2, 2025
Charlecote House – Billiards Room (Painting of George Lucy)

This painting is located in the billiards room of Charlecote House and it’s of George Lucy (1714-1786) who was also known as the Bachelor Squire. The painting is by Pompeo Girolamo Batoni (1708 – 1787) and it’s that which I’m most interested in here as George had a long and complex life that is far beyond any short blog post. Batoni became famous for painting members of the British aristocracy, and indeed many others, who were visiting Italy as part of the Grand Tour. George Lucy himself noted:

“I have shown my face and person to the celebrated Pompeo Battoni, to take the likeness thereof. These painters are great men, and must be flattered for ‘tis the custom here, not to think themselves obliged to you for employing them, but that they oblige you by being employed.”

George Lucy arrived in Naples in 1756 and soon realised that he didn’t quite look the part and he promptly asked for his clothes to be shipped from Charlecote to Italy. I’m not sure how you would go about doing that, as UPS weren’t quite fully formed at that point, but it didn’t do much good as the vessel they were on was promptly intercepted by Moorish pirates and his fineries ended up in Algiers. It was in 1758 that he moved onto Rome, with what I assume was a new wardrobe he had acquired out there, as he was clearly in no rush on this Grand Tour, and it was then that he commissioned Batoni to paint him. This was a considerable honour, the artist didn’t speed paint and he was careful what work he took on.

Lucy paid 40 guineas for this artwork which was completed after he had left Rome and so it was shipped back, fortunately not being intercepted by pirates on this occasion. He looks very on-trend in the painting, he’s wearing fancy and fine clothes, he looks elegant and he looks very travelled. Batoni was often said to have inspired Thomas Gainsborough and on Lucy’s return he also had a painting commissioned by the British artist. The phrase Bachelor Squire was polite, he was known by others as the “wild bachelor”, obsessed with travel, society and food. I make no comment. Lucy found the process a bit of a faff, he had to sit on three occasions for Batoni and he wrote to his housekeeper at Charlecote that “he would not undertake to do me in less time”.

Batoni’s paintings are scattered everywhere today, but this one of George Lucy hasn’t gone anywhere far since it was installed in Charlecote in the late 1750s. Along with the entire house, it was given to the National Trust in 1946.

May 2, 2025
1911 Census – Spends My Money

Credit for this one to Family Tree Magazine, but they noted that on this 1911 census form that the occupation of the housewife has been listed as “spends my money”. George Henry Mousell, a transport clerk, lived at 17 Clifford Gardens in Kensal Rise, London, and goodness knows if his wife, Lucy Mousell, ever saw this. [I originally posted this in November 2020, but have reposted it to fix the broken image link].

May 2, 2025
Charlecote House – Billiards Room (Colonel Sir Henry Fairfax-Lucy)

This artwork is located in the billiards room at Charlecote House and is a painting of Colonel Sir Henry Fairfax-Lucy (1870-1944). The date of the artwork is unknown, but the artist was Alfred Edward Borthwick (1871-1955) and he has painted Fairfax-Lucy wearing the uniform of the Royal Company of Archers.

As some background, he was born Henry William Fairfax on 25 September 1870 in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire and he was the eldest son of Sir William George Herbert Taylor Ramsay-Fairfax, 2nd Baronet, whose family seat was Maxton in Roxburghshire, Scotland. His education followed the conventional path for his class, attending Eton College and it was evident that he would go on to do great things. Upon the death of his father on 19 January 1902, he succeeded to the baronetcy, becoming the 3rd Baronet Ramsay-Fairfax-Lucy (the ‘Lucy’ having been added previously into what was becoming a ridiculously long name if I’m being honest, although I’d likely take a double barrelled name if I got a country house from the arrangement). Alongside the title, he inherited the family estate of Maxton and at this time has embarked on quite a successful military career. He also managed to become a chartered accountant, which doesn’t feel like an obvious fit alongside a military career and numerous political responsibilities, but I suppose that someone has to do it.

As for the link with this property. On 26 July 1892, Sir Henry (then Henry William Ramsay-Fairfax) married Ada Christina Lucy (1866-1943). Ada was the eldest daughter and, crucially, the heiress of Henry Spencer Lucy of Charlecote Park. Her father had died in 1890, and Ada inherited the historic Charlecote estate. This marriage thus brought Charlecote Park, with its centuries of Lucy family history, into the sphere of the Ramsay-Fairfax family. Despite the historical significance and grandeur of Charlecote Park, Sir Henry reportedly preferred to live in Scotland, presumably at his ancestral estate of Maxton. Nevertheless, he remained involved in the parish life of Charlecote. During the Second World War, he offered his services in an advisory capacity to Winston Churchill, though this offer was apparently not taken up which I imagine Sir Henry felt was sub-optimal.

I was interested in Henry (if I might call him that) as this was the last real period when the property was run as a country house. Following his death in August 1944, the baronetcy and the associated estates, including the financially strained Charlecote, passed to his eldest son, Sir Henry Montgomerie Cameron-Ramsay-Fairfax-Lucy (1896-1965), who became the 4th Baronet. It seems that there are numerous factors here including the more obvious death duties which would have been substantial. However, his interest in his Scottish estate did mean that there had been a lack of investment at Charlecote and it wasn’t in the best state of repair, another factor as to why it was all given to the National Trust in 1946. The decision was also clearly being made much earlier, as the Stratford-upon-Avon Herald reported on 1 June 1945 that the property was likely being given to the Trust, so discussions about this seem to have begun shortly after the Colonel’s death.

So, as a painting, this feels important as Henry was a pivotal figure. I can’t imagine that he could have saved Charlecote in terms of keeping it as a family house, and the National Trust deal did mean that the family could continue to live in one wing of the property permanently anyway. His life was certainly an interesting one, even if he didn’t get to work for Winston Churchill…..

May 2, 2025
Food from Every Stall on Norwich Market (2025 Edition) – Week 9 and Jacket Spuds & More

This week’s attempt to eat at every food stall at Norwich Market is Jacket Spuds & More, which we visited last time we embarked on this same project in 2023. Incidentally, for anyone thinking that we’ve done three visits this week, we have as I’ve been away which has disrupted our dining schedule no end. Since we made our last visit, jacket potatoes have undergone something of a revolution in this country and that’s to a large part down to social media. Operating from his van in Tamworth, Spudman has become something of a viral sensation and he’s been able to build up a large regular trade on the back of that. Following this have been numerous other retailers trying similar things and even Subway got into the action when they started to sell jacket potatoes in a trial that was launched a couple of months ago. I’m not sure whether that trend has impacted this stall on Norwich market, but I’m impressed at how many toppings that they offer here.

The service from the two team members was friendly and I think that they thought I was nervous in ordering, when I was just faffing about deciding what to have. There is a wide variety of choices including jacket potatoes, sandwiches, toasties, breakfasts and omelettes. The reason for my delay is I was debating having something different to a jacket potato, but I decided in the end to stick with that as I’m sometimes not very adventurous. It was clear how to order (unlike last time when we got muddled up) and the whole service was efficient and helpful, with the team members checking if we wanted a drink or anything else with the food. The stall accepts card and cash, with the prices having gone up around £1 an item over the last two years.

I opted for the jacket potato with chicken curry and no butter, which was £6. That heap of black pepper on the top is me and not them, I’ve made that look worse presented than when it was handed to me. I’m not usually one to opt for a jacket potato when dining out (pizzas make quite an appearance though), but this whole arrangement did surprise and delight me. The jacket of the potato was crispy, the inside retained some firmness but was cooked through and the chicken curry was plentiful and actually had some reasonable sized pieces of chicken in it. There was sufficient curry sauce for the amount of potato, with the portion size in general feeling generous.

After standing about taking photos from odd angles, James started to eat the beef chilli jacket potato with extra cheese added that he’d ordered and he noted:

“During a recent midday peregrination through Norwich, serendipity led me to partake of a rather exemplary tubercule en chemise. This was no quotidian spud, but a specimen of discernible, superlative provenance, its preparation evincing considerable culinary adroitness: the integument crisped to perfection, the interior exquisitely fluffy, and the whole presented with commendable aesthetic fastidiousness at an eminently suitable thermal point. Crowning this farinaceous marvel was a generous impartation of piquant bovine concoction – a beef chilli of satisfying depth – further embellished by a liberal cascade of molten caseous adornment. The resultant gustatory experience, an agreeable amalgamation of textures and flavours, represented remarkably judicious expenditure considering the modest pecuniary outlay. One departed thoroughly gratified by this unexpectedly sophisticated rendition of humble fare, acknowledging the substantial contentment derived from its consumption.”

In short, he liked it, even though he managed to spill some on his trousers, nearly choke halfway through and have chats with about ten people he knew. Talk about a social butterfly.

All told, I thought that this was a really decent visit that was really most lovely. The service was polite, the potato and the topping had a depth of flavour, there were a range of textures and it felt like value for money.

May 2, 2025
Charlecote House – Billiards Room

I can’t imagine that I’ll ever need to live in a large house, not least as it would be expensive to heat, complex to maintain and I would fill it with books. But, if I did, I’d have a snooker table in it. Putting that thought to one side, this room is located on the ground floor of Charlecote House and is part of the original Tudor house and was part of a suite of three rooms and it might have been a bedroom. It was later changed into a dining room but was remodelled under the guidance of Mary Elizabeth Lucy to become a billiards room in the 1850s and the Elizabethan style ceiling was installed here at the same time.

These billiards rooms were the on-trend thing to have in country houses in the late nineteenth century, a place for gentlemen to retire after dinner to smoke, drink port and play billiards (this was before the time of snooker being commonplace).

The room guide told me that when the National Trust acquired the house they got rid of the original snooker table, which had some considerable heritage, as they didn’t intend to put it on display when they laid the room out as a dining room. When they decided later on that they did want to put one on display they then couldn’t get back the one they’d flogged off which all feels a bit sub-optimal. The replacement table has the annoying attribute that there are two baulk lines slightly out of alignment. The room guide also said that the National Trust believe that the lighting set-up above the table is original, that apparently went into storage but they were able to recover it (there’s a pun there about re-covering a billiards table, but I won’t labour that point).

The rules of billiards are on the wall and they certainly go into some detail here. Anyway, this was one of my favourite rooms in the property and I’ll just have to console myself that I won’t ever own a snooker table, but maybe a bar billiards table one day….

May 2, 2025
Ridgeway – Day 4 (Walking)

[I originally posted this in June 2018, but am reposting it to fix the broken image links]

Some more photos from day four of our walking expedition.

May 2, 2025