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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 My 50-mile qualifier is a little out of date, so I do need to get another one, as will Nathan.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
2025 LDWA Capital Challenge

Someone, which I accept was likely me, thought that it would be a great idea to complete the LDWA Capital Challenge event again. So, after getting up way too early, here’s Liam on the train all excited for the day of traipsing around London. The event has three different routes, although we happened to be doing the same route that we had completed before.

An early morning Tower of London.

The Tower of London with a pond in the moat.

Old and new, it looks a little AI created, but is authentic.

Walking over Tower Bridge to the start of the event, which this time was at a community centre. The first London LDWA marshal we saw was Pete C and it’s always a delight to catch up with him.

The fog on the Tyne is all mine all mine…. It’s the Thames, I accept, but I don’t know any songs about the foggy Thames.

Liam at Canary Wharf.

Some decorative elements at Canary Wharf.

One of the two city farms that we walked by.

Some pigs.

Looking back to the city.

Liam in the Greenwich foot tunnel. I would say that there’s a fun fact that the tunnel was bombed during the war and the heavily patched up area in the middle is testament to that, but I’m not sure that is quite a “fun” thing… Incidentally, we had to walk up and down the stairs as the lifts were broken. However, as Liam and I are just natural and accidental Olympian types, we would have walked up and down anyway.

The Cutty Sark, a majestic clipper ship launched in 1869, embodies the romance of the high seas and the fierce competition of the 19th-century tea trade. Built for speed, with the odd name “short shirt” (Scots for a short undergarment, the name of a witch in Robert Burns’ poem) was designed to be the fastest vessel on the China tea route. Though she never quite clinched the title, her sleek lines and impressive sail area allowed her to achieve remarkable speeds, later dominating the Australian wool trade. It became a training ship used by the Royal Navy and it then became a museum ship before a sub-optimal situation when it caught fire a few years ago. There’s a bit of the Ship of Theseus about all this, I wonder how much is actually original….

The first snack of the day, from the Tesco Meal Deal we had obtained earlier in the day.

The River Thames and my fun fact about this is that the river has its very own species of seahorse, which is a short-snouted seahorse that has been found living in the tidal parts of the river, particularly in the area around Greenwich.

Looking back on where we’d walked earlier in the day.

Clever, if you walk in that direction for 24,859 miles then you end up back in the same place. There are some technical reasons why that might be quite challenging, but I like the theory.

This is the ‘Demon with Bowl’ sculpture by Damian Hurst located on Edmund Halley Way and designed to look like a Ancient Mesopotamian demon.

I used to live over there…….

Liam enjoying the exciting view. We were making a good pace at this point, trying to keep other walkers in sight to help with the navigation. As a little treat for him, I let Liam do all the navigation on this event. Actually, I’ve let him do that for the last 23 events, which is a reminder of how we work so well together.

Approaching the Thames Barrier. As today’s fun fact, the design of the Thames Barrier’s rising sector gates was actually inspired by the humble taps on a gas cooker. Reginald Charles Draper, who conceived the idea, based the rotating cylinders on the way gas cooker taps work.

A close-up of the barrier and Liam studied its engineering. I wondered if there were any nineteenth century clay pipes in that beach area.

Volunteers at the second checkpoint which was the first one with some little snacks to keep us going. As usual, thanks so much to all the volunteers who make events such as this possible.

My delicious lunch from the Tesco meal deal, fortunately not heated up too much in the blazing sun. I haven’t yet mentioned, but it was too hot.

Some fields. If I’m being honest, I’m more of an urban walker.

A bridge at Eltham Palace, once a favoured palace of kings, including Henry VIII who spent his childhood there, it fell into disrepair which wasn’t entirely ideal. In the 1930s, eccentric millionaires Stephen and Virginia Courtauld built a stunning modern home onto the existing Great Hall, creating a unique architectural hybrid.

Anyone looking closely will see Dave M filming one of his videos. Dave started later than Liam and I, catching us up just before we reached the Palace. We walked together until the next checkpoint ensuring lots of gossip, but then he had to have a long rest at that checkpoint so Liam and I bravely walked on our own. I initially assumed that he just couldn’t keep up with the pace of us athletes, but it transpired he was waiting for his wife…. I wondered how much attention Dave actually pays though, we walked up about 12 enormous hills near Charlton and he didn’t even notice them. Actually, Dave was also reading from the route description, something which is completely beyond me, I’m more of a GPX person. But, I sometimes think I’m not a natural navigator….

Beckenham Place Mansion and time for another fun fact…. Despite its rather grand appearance as a Grade II* listed Georgian building, the impressive portico on the north-west side wasn’t originally part of the mansion. It was added later, around 1806-1812, and was actually salvaged from another demolished house in Blackheath called Wricklemarsh House showing that they had a desire for recyling.

Not that I’m one gossip, but it was evident to me that Liam was limping slightly, but he denied it. We are very different, at the first sign of pain or discomfort with me, then absolutely everyone knows about it, including members of the public who happen to be walking by. Liam is braver and doesn’t like to make a fuss, whereas I rather like a dramatic monologue, why be subtle when there’s an opportunity for a theatrical production?

Some street art somewhere near Crystal Palace. Liam’s foot wasn’t in the best of states by this time, but I rushed ahead to inspire him to walk quicker. As they always say, “the sooner you’re finished, the less time you’re stuck out there”. I accept I’m not sure who actually says that, but there’s some truth to it and tough love is important. I did say we could slow down if he wanted, but we both knew that I didn’t really want him to.

I did wonder about visiting a pub at the end of the walk, but the one near to the end point is operated by Sam Smiths and I can’t be navigating their odd rules and regulations.

The end of the walk and I think we were very brave. It was good to see Gavin at the finish with a smiling face and I announced that Liam was suffering a little in the hope that we might both get extra cake although that didn’t work. Although, and unusually, I thought Liam should win the ‘bravest walker’ out of the two of us as he had been a bit limpy but kept going. For anyone interested, the results are here and that was over twenty minutes faster than when we did it before. We never really worry about times, but we were surprised at how fast we got round, we must be getting fitter and healthier.

My certificate and my third pack of Mini Cheddars as I can’t be near them without eating them and I also needed sustenance after the long walk.

Liam and I at the end, with Sarah who trod on my shoelace but I was too polite to say. We then walked back to the nearby Overground station and then nearly boarded the train before I remembered we hadn’t touched in, so that would have been sub-optimal to have been fined. Luckily I remembered, we boarded and Liam soon recovered and didn’t collapse. As one of the finest athletes in the LDWA, I was uninjured. This tends to happen on urban walks, I like firm and flat surfaces, which isn’t the usual terrain of a challenge event. I should say we didn’t see much of the other walkers from Norfolk, but it was good to catch up with Andy and others at the end.

It was another lovely day out and marvellously organised. There is less food and drink than other challenge events, but the theory is that entrants walk by hundreds of food and drink options, so the need is a little different to a rural walk. I’ve now put my certificate on the wall at home, I’ve once again gone for blu-tac rather than a frame as that’s just, well, within my DIY skills.

April 18, 2025
LDWA – 2025 AGM

Well, how exciting, the LDWA AGM weekend was an exciting event as ever and more on that when I’ve finally finished writing up Athens, but it’s good to be back on the NEC as the National Communications Officer.

March 10, 2025
Smuggler’s Trod 2023 – LDWA Challenge Event

What better way to spend an August Bank Holiday Saturday than by going on an LDWA challenge walk?

Hayley and I were fortunate that our B&B owner kindly got up early to make us a quick breakfast and Simon and Jane picked us up after having a night at their luxury hotel and we set off on our adventure. The breakfast ensured that Hayley and I were fuelled for the day with an air of excitement to the whole arrangement. This is the third time that I’ve entered the LDWA’s Smuggler’s Trod 26 mile challenge event operated by Yorkshire Coast group, this time I would again be walking with Hayley, Jane and Simon. Richard was also at the event, but he was taking part in the shorter 17 mile version of the walk as he was keen to have a drama free event and an easy completion for his first challenge event. Richard parked around one mile away in the free car park, whilst Simon swept into the car park at the hall itself where the walk started.

Here we are, Jane, Hayley, Simon and myself, all ready for the off.

There are many reasons why this is one of my favourite challenge events, but the views right from the start are one of them. The walk starts up something of a steep hill, not something that I’m particularly used to in flat and steady Norfolk.

There’s a fair amount of walking over the moors, but we were fortunate with the weather which wasn’t too hot and there was plenty of breeze from the North Sea.

Snaking (and I’m pleased to say that I didn’t see any of the snakes that are running wild and unsupervised across this area) through the heather just before the split of the short and long walks. We hadn’t seen Richard on the walk as he decided to take it leisurely to ensure that there were no disasters on his expedition.

This is a tremendous walk, such a change of scenery for me compared to Norfolk.

This event is organised by the LDWA’s Yorkshire Coast and they had plenty of checkpoints and always friendly and supportive volunteers. We were wondering at this point at how Richard was getting on as he was walking alone, but we were confident that he was gliding through taking it leisurely. I was fortunate enough to have Simon and his technology guiding me around the event, saving me from doing the navigation.

There are many sections of the walk that I remember from previous events, not least this walk through the ferns.

We battled through, although Jane had a little falling incident here.

Our first checkpoint and I was delighted to see Yum Yums available at the event once again.

Shortly after this Hayley had a little incident and Jane dropped her cake, both disasters in their different ways. To cut a long story short, after some more walking and some debate, Simon and I then went on together to storm through the event because you can’t hold natural athletes such as us back.

This cave is rumoured to have been cut out by George Chubb in 1790, although I’m not entirely sure that I believe this local legend.

A boardwalk through the forested area with a drop down to the river on the left. This was on the long route only, so I was pleased that Richard didn’t need to concern himself with falling down and having an incident. We once again wondered how he was getting on with his short route walk whilst we were enjoying the variety of terrains that we were walking through.

This is new since I last walked the event in 2019.

Fortunately, no flooding at the moment.

The second checkpoint where I stocked up on jelly babies.

And flapjack. I also remembered there’s a substantial hill after this, something that I considered sub-optimal to say the least.

We reached the top and were treated to some more fine views across the moors.

Before we knew it, we had reached the next checkpoint which was operated by the formidable East Yorkshire LDWA.

We also had some rain for around fifteen minutes, which I rather enjoyed as it cooled matters down somewhat and it didn’t look like it would settle in for long.

Simon and I marched off through the trees and somewhere around here the short and long routes rejoined. Richard, who was walking nine miles less, seemed to be making good progress as I could see his location on Friend Finder. It was evident at this point that unless he walked very slowly, we wouldn’t catch him up.

There was some debate here about which way to go across the moors, but between us and despite me, we found the way to go.

There were now limited other entrants in view.

We safely reached the third checkpoint and it reminded me that last time I reached here in 2019 it was a hot day and I was delighted to restock on water. This is the campsite checkpoint and the more substantial along the route in terms of food and drink.

I was pleased that there was plenty of cheese for me to work my way through.

As well as jaffa cakes, sandwiches and more jelly babies. Could I just mention that this event costs just £15 to enter and I feel that I get my money’s worth just from the food and drink which is provided. For those on the long route, there was a checkpoint on average every 3.8 miles or so.

A small river crossing and I took great care here to prevent slipping in. I mentioned to Simon that I couldn’t see any evidence of Richard falling in, so we were confident that he had been safely getting himself around.

There was a stretch where it had been hot and a little unpleasant, but soon enough we were back by the coast. Then something exciting happened, I realised Richard was just 35 minutes ahead of us and there was potential that we could catch him. Simon and I discussed matters and the race was definitely on.

There’s just one blurry photo of a railway bridge as we had just over two miles along a former railway line into Robin Hood’s Bay. There are no more photos as Simon and I decided to up the pace to well over four miles an hour, plus just a little running, to try and catch Richard up. We saw the distance falling, 25 minutes, 20 minutes, 15 minutes, 10 minutes and we wondered whether we could even dream of overtaking him. It’s not a race of course, but it is under circumstances such as this.

Unfortunately, despite even more running, we just ran out of distance to catch Richard up. It transpired that he come in just three minutes before us, a gap which haunted Simon and I as we could have caught him. We sat and talked about our events for an hour or so, whilst I gorged on beef stew, a dessert of rice pudding and then more Yum Yums and cakes. The event had been impeccably run, Yorkshire Coast once again did themselves proud.

I won’t upload the photo (although it’s available on request of course!), but we discovered when we got back that Richard had been on one hell of an adventure. He had run out of energy after six miles and then whilst using his pole to navigate a route through the moors he snapped it and then slid straight into a bog. Up to his waist in the bog, he freed himself using his elbows and then soon enough the sweepers supporting the event found him trudging along in a dazed state. Worried he might jump in another bog, they then walked him to the end of the event, waiting patiently whilst he stood at the checkpoints charging himself back up on food and drink.

Next year, Simon and I are going for 26 miles in under 8 hours as we can’t let Richard get in before us, even though he was only walking 17 miles. I had a marvellous time and I didn’t want this event to come to an end, definitely one of my favourite challenge event from all those that I’ve walked. I was also honoured to be at an event where a muddy and wet entrant was walked around nearly the entire event by sweepers, I’ve never heard of that before. Congratulations to Richard for finishing in such trying circumstances! And also of course thanks to Simon, Jane and Hayley for walking with me, especially Simon for be willing to run bits towards the end as we rushed to catch up with Richard.

August 28, 2023
LDWA – Daffodil Dawdle 2023

The Daffodil Dawdle is one of the challenge events that is organised by Norfolk & Suffolk LDWA and one that I’ve been marshalling for several years having previously walked it numerous times. My role in the whole event is managing the registration and IT side of the operation, aided by Richard who I’ve trained up to do just about everything, which is allowing me to focus on my additional role of food tester. The start is Stradbroke Community Centre where we were made welcome by the particularly engaging and personable caretaker.

Here’s Richard entertaining some of the entrants before they get ready to start the event, which this year had two options, an 18 mile and a 26 mile route. He has been getting much better at recent events following my extensive training programme which I’ve been offering, although he’s yet to walk a challenge event himself. There were many negative comments about that during the course of the day, although to be fair, they were all from me. Being the brave athlete I am, I’ve already signed up to complete the Smuggler’s Trod later this year, the third time that I would have entered.

I put myself in charge of signage and an example of my professionalism is visible here. Richard claimed that this was would blow away within minutes, but I’m pleased to confirm that it lasted for the entire day.

Some of the 08:00 starters ready for the off, with plenty of Hike Norfolk members in there as well.

The 08:30 starters.

And the 09:00 starters who were mostly runners.

After the registration process is completed and the entrants are all on their way, Richard and I do two things. Firstly, we double check the entries to ensure we know how many people are out on the route and we update the checkpoints with this information using WhatsApp. Secondly, we get breakfast, which is my case was a delicious beans on toast prepared with care by Hayley in the kitchen.

Jayne excelled herself in the kitchen with this delicious leek and potato soup, which was prepared in honour of South Wales group. Actually, I’m not sure if that’s true, but it’s the sort of thing that we should do. Many entrants commented just how good this was and I’ve requested that it makes a reappearance at future events.

Peach crumble, also prepared by Jayne and this is another one of my favourites.

When entrants come in I tell them how brave they’ve been, if I think that’s appropriate, before writing down the time and entrant number for Richard to process. He then prints a certificate, which I carefully take over to the certificate table. Richard and I think that this is the mostly highly streamlined element of the event, although the kitchen staff are also nearing perfection as well. We run such a tight knit little enterprise in the corner that it gives me time to go and sit with entrants who have finished the route to gossip about numerous things.

It’s always great to hear feedback from entrants and I only received positive comments about the route, the volunteers and the food and drink. For LDWA members, the event fee was £14 which gets you drinks and biscuits at the start, numerous checkpoints all laden with food, such as sandwiches, crisps and the like, as well as the soup, beans on toast and peach crumble at the end. You also get a certificate and the warm feeling of completing a challenge, all for a very reasonable price I think.

We had just under 140 people walking the event this year and we were pleased that a slightly soggy area on the route had mostly dried out by the day of the challenge. Entrants navigate around the route using either GPX, the route description or a combination of both, but there are nearly always people around to follow if anyone does get muddled up. The group’s next event is the Summer Poppyline in Sheringham which will take place on Saturday 22 July 2023, with entries open at https://www.sientries.co.uk/event.php?elid=Y&event_id=11026.

And for anyone interested in volunteering for the LDWA in Norfolk and Suffolk, contact Hilary or Ray. Unfortunately the food testing role is filled, but help is always appreciated in other areas, whether that’s in the kitchen, at checkpoints, checking the route or in many other ways.

March 27, 2023
Saturday : 2022 LDWA Summer Poppyline Walk

Eric Rolfe ensured that there will be plenty of photos of the Summer Poppyline event for Strider and elsewhere in due course, so this post is more about the organisation of the Summer Poppyline challenge event. It’s organised by Norfolk and Suffolk LDWA and it takes place most years, taking in a smaller part of the Winter Poppyline 50 mile event which is put on every two years. This year there was the choice of a 19 mile route or a 50 kilometre route, with this latter distance being chosen as part of the LDWA’s 50th birthday celebrations.

It was an early start, with Richard driving Stuart and I to the start of the event at Sheringham High School. You can spot them both to the right of this photo, with Stuart wanting to set off as soon as possible for fear that he might come in last or something. However, it’s all about completing the event and enjoying the view, so it wouldn’t have mattered. But it didn’t happen either, Karen and the other NEC members swept him along. Stuart, Julie, Bill and Sara were all very brave in taking part, not to mention that Karen was doing the longer event and is always brave.

The numbers were a little lower than usual, mostly due to external factors than any loss of interest in challenge events, but we had over 130 people signed up. I’ve trained Richard up to do everything that I used to do, showing just how good at delegation I am. I think in a few years that Richard might be able to cope entirely on his own. Registration went smoothly, particularly for those in my queue who enjoyed my professionalism and efficiency. Or something like that.

There’s Jayne, ready to set everyone off on the first wave and I note Katie, the organiser of the Norfolk & Suffolk group’s 100 event in 2025, at the front just bursting with enthusiasm to start. I like being at the start of the events, to see all the excitement and just a little trepidation about the adventure that was in front of the entrants. To some, the distances are easy, but to others they’re more of a challenge and I know we had plenty of people taking part in their first LDWA event.

There’s Eric on the left, ready for his day of walking and taking photos. There are plenty of hills near to the start of the walk, not least the challenges of Beeston Bump, but it’s good to have a variety of terrains as not everyone can cope with endless miles of flat in the way that I can. I’d add that it’s great to see so many local members volunteering at the event, it’s a highlight for many people who want to help support the walkers and runners around the event.

Jayne setting the runners off on their walk, or in this case run, with the weather being quite warm, but not overly hot and there was a breeze from the coast. It was a delight to see our marshal Simon H turn up, although he was doing a very strange walk due to a leg injury, namely because he has pushed himself so much to try and be an athlete like myself. He should know his limits, but I didn’t say anything of course, and I was very sympathetic and full of empathy.

Sometimes we don’t have access to all of the cooking facilities in the locations that we hire, but in this case that wasn’t a problem, Jayne and her crew were busy making a variety of wraps for the walkers and there was a handy self-service area. As an additional treat, there was Eton Mess and ice cream, along with a range of cold and hot drinks.

It was all peaceful at HQ during the day, although since I was the emergency contact, I received a phone call from a walker concerned to see a fire near checkpoint 2. This transpired to be quite a serious fire on farmland, but fortunately the fire brigade were on hand and they were able to put it out. It provided some memorable moments for walkers, who might have feared momentarily that they couldn’t access our checkpoint full of food and drink. We ensured that the fire brigade knew about the situation and Malcolm bravely went out to go and have a look at the situation in case it impacted on our walkers.

Some of the entrants from Hike Norfolk celebrating their success, it’s good to see a steady flow of walkers from that group doing so well on these challenge events.

It was positive to hear all the feedback about the checkpoints and the welcome that they had offered, not to mention the range of food and drink that walkers and runners enjoyed. I hope that all of the marshals enjoyed their day, with everyone at HQ having a marvellous time, especially when Jayne arrived with some extra lunchtime treats for the hardworking registration desk operative and also for Richard. We heard later that a few of our walkers encountered some wasps early on during the walk, not something that is ideal, but good humour and bravery got them through.

As for the NEC entrants, Karen swept in looking like she hadn’t even entered the event, whilst Stuart looked quite worn out if I’m being honest, which I was. I had a lot of sympathy for him, I know how he felt, but he had been very brave indeed. Julie, Bill and Sara looked suitably tired from their experience, but I’m pleased that they enjoyed the route. Tim was also going to take part, but unfortunately, due to circumstances mostly out of his control, he wasn’t able to make it to the event. But, we’re pleased to have been able to offer some hospitality to the NEC officers who did take part.

The next challenge event is the Flower of Suffolk on the first Sunday of October, sadly this will be one of the first local events that I’ll miss in years, namely because I hope to be in the United States. I do hope that Richard copes without me on that event, but there will support on hand if he gets overwhelmed without my calm influence to gently guide him back on track. I shall of course report back here in October with whatever gossip I’ve managed to pick up from overseas.

I’m not sure I’ll be walking any more challenge events this year, but I hope to take part in a few next year, especially as Richard has indicated that he’s up for trying an 18 mile event. He’ll definitely need my support, encouragement and positivity with that, so anyone with ideas on which is the best LDWA event for him to start on, don’t hesitate to let me know 🙂

August 2, 2022
Friday : LDWA NEC Walk

As some of the Long Distance Walkers Association NEC members were in Norwich for the Summer Poppyline challenge walk, I led a short walk around the city. And, all good walks need to start in a pub, in this case Brewdog in Norwich so that Stuart could tick it off his list. It was of course to see Julie and Stuart, especially given how far they’d come for the weekend, from Scotland and Wales respectively.

I haven’t been in the Red Lion at Bishopgate since the change of ownership during lockdown, it’s got a rather lovely river view and location. The beer choice isn’t as inspired as my other favourite pubs in Norwich and there was an absence of welcome which I thought was a shame. I think it’s more food orientated though, so perhaps that’s what they’re focusing on. However, it’s hard not to enjoy the rather lovely surroundings of the pub, with Bishopgate Bridge in the background. The bridge was built in 1340 and is still standing (I hope the bridge Liam is currently building lasts for 700 years), although the tower was taken down in 1791 as they were worried it was structurally unsound. The bridge was used for road traffic until the 1990s and it’s now pedestrians and bikes only.

Pulls Ferry, a fifteenth century building at the site of where a ferry operated until 1943. It’s also the entrance to where the canal was built by the monks in the late eleventh century to transport stone from the River Wensum to build Norwich Cathedral. And standing in front of the gate, one of the city’s dinosaurs.

What I thought the group needed was a nice hill and I expected Stuart to report back to Dave Morgan just how Norwich can deliver hills.

Liam, ready to start the trek up Gas Hill, along with Karen, Richard, Stuart and Julie. They were very brave to take on this challenge. It’s a lot steeper than the photograph suggests. The hill is named after the gas works that were built here in the Victorian period, but unfortunately they’ve recently pulled down the gas holder which I thought for heritage reasons should have been kept.

Nearly vertical and there was a lot of complaining about the extreme heights, the lack of oxygen and why were we walking up such a big hill. I ignored it, I couldn’t be dealing with that negativity. Actually, Karen didn’t complain at all, I’m not sure that she even noticed we had climbed a hill at all.

And the climb, which took nearly six minutes (which to me is the upper limit on any climbing challenge), was worth it, there’s Norwich looking rather lovely. Norwich Cathedral is the centre with Norwich City Hall standing just next to it. This is the view that Robert Kett and his army would have had during Kett’s Rebellion of 1549. Although he was executed for treason, they did at least name a road after him which leads up here.

The walk to the pub went via Norwich Cathedral as it would feel rather odd not to include this magnificent building in any sojourn around the city. But the main part of the weekend was the Summer Poppyline the next day, with some very excited NEC members ready for their big walk. Stuart was besides himself with excitement, especially when it was mentioned to him that the challenge event didn’t just go up Beeston Bump Mountain, but another two nearby hills as well. Anyway, I feel I’ve dwelled (or dwelt, depending on your personal preference) on the matter of hills a little too much in this post….

August 1, 2022
Saturday and Sunday : LDWA Boat Trip Along the Orwell

There was little of consequence on Saturday because I was far too focused on the excitement of the LDWA boat trip that was taking place on the Sunday. There’s the usual heap of photos at https://flickr.com/photos/julianwhite-uk/albums/72177720300345889 for anyone who wants to trawl through them all.

My friend Liam, who is pub obsessed, demanded that we go to Briarbank, even if it meant missing the pre boat trip walk, so I decided that we’d better do that to keep him happy. I went here a few months ago, it’s a laid-back and friendly venue which would be easy to miss. And here’s a quiz question, there’s a subtle hint in the photo as to what this building used to be.

Here’s the answer and well done to anyone who noticed what was above the door in the previous photo.

The frontage of the building today. They’ve got a pleasant outside area I noticed later on and I enjoyed my visit, the Briar Cobnut brown ale was well-kept and quite malty.

Here was the vessel for the day, the Orwell Lady. This boat trip was paid for by Norfolk & Suffolk LDWA as part of the national organisation’s 50th birthday and I think 40 or so members came along for the journey. I had thought that the boat was a bit bigger than it was, but it’s a vessel with an interesting history, it was once a Thames River cruiser which was put together in 1979. It operated from Westminster Pier for a decade, then moved to Brownsea Island near Poole and has been meandering around Ipswich since 2001.

There’s the new N&S chair in the centre, Hilary, taking control after Hayley (on the left) yelled at everyone to be quiet. She’s good at getting quiet is that Hayley!

And we’re off! The captain, or whatever he’s called, gave a running commentary during the day of things to look out for.

We had to go into a lock to get onto the Orwell from the Marina and there was a bit of a queue for that, so we did a little tour of the harbour first. I remember Ipswich marina as an industrial and quite derelict area nearly two decades ago, it has very much changed to be really quite decadent now.

This is the grand building of the Old Customs House, originally built in 1845, replacing the previous building was which thought to have been there for over 400 years.

Into the lock. As Alan Partridge would say, it’s all happening now. Susanna was on the vessel and I was surprised that she hadn’t been to Ipswich before, as she’s been just about everywhere. I was impressed that she wanted to see the Wolsey Gateway, it’s one of the treasures of Ipswich that I’ve thought doesn’t get the recognition that it deserves. Ipswich could have been very different today if Wolsey’s plans for his Ipswich college had come to fruition, it could have perhaps been more like Cambridge and Oxford. The Gateway is a remarkable survivor and was intended to be the entrance from the river into the college, which itself was never built.

All of these containers are courtesy of Matt Hancock, hundreds of them, all with PPE waiting to be destroyed.

I’ve walked along the riverbank before, and gone over the Orwell Bridge in a car, but I’ve never been in a boat thing that goes underneath the bridge.

A little island with some fishermen.

And a hawk’s box, or some sort of bird like that. I’m pleased at the zoom on my camera, this is the first time that I’ve properly tried it out on something I wanted to see. What I wanted to see wasn’t there, but I guess that’s not quite the point.

I don’t think that I’d want a yacht, it looks a right hassle to maintain and manoeuvre about. I imagine it’s a very expensive hobby as well, so I think I’ll stick to craft beer where I’ve got no fears of capsizing. Well, I hope not anyway.

Look at the size of this container ship operated by Maersk. I remember being close to container ships in Seattle harbour when I went on a little boat trip there, but I don’t recall ships any of this size. Apparently this can hold several thousand containers and it still amazes me that the thing can still float with all that weight.

The cranes for taking containers on and off ships.

We didn’t unfortunately get up the powerboat speeds of when a little group of us went on the Thames Rocket a few months back.

Harwich and its lifeboat station, which is one that Liam didn’t build.

It’s a long time I’ve been to Harwich, I fancy another visit at some point. The geography of the situation, namely the big river in the way, makes it harder for me to get to than Felixstowe, despite them being so close on the map.

There was some kind of emergency, so this little boat thing was allowed to travel at speed ahead of us.

There’s Simon, Jane and Liam. Richard managed to break one arm off of his sunglasses as a party trick to amuse people which was kind of him.

Back under the Orwell Bridge, with the whole trip having taken around three hours.

The Cliff Brewery building originally constructed in 1896 and not in very good shape at the moment. There are plans to get on and fix this building up, but they need to hurry up before it just falls down. There’s more about this building on the Ipswich Maritime Trust web-site.

Sitting in the lock waiting to re-enter Ipswich Marina harbour, it’s surprising (to me anyway) how quickly the water level rises but without being able to feel it.

Anyway, all in all a very lovely day, thanks to Simon and Hilary for organising this trip, a lovely way of commemorating the LDWA’s 50th birthday. I’m pleased to say that no-one fell overboard, no-one was seasick and everyone was actually quite brave. It was also lovely to catch up on gossip, which I think was the main function of the day really.

Liam had never been to Tim Hortons, so we had a little visit on the way back to their new Ipswich outlet.

I quite like the chain, although they’re expanding quickly and I wonder just how different their offering is. Anyway, this is a bit of an aside to the rest of my post about the boat trip, but I enjoyed my chicken strips anyway.

July 7, 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