And a very nice little piece in this month’s Outdoors Fitness and Adventure magazine about the 2021 LDWA 100. The photo is the one I sent from Norfolk & Suffolk’s very own Jayne Cook, with the helpful journalist changing the text at the last minute as we finalised where next year’s 100 would actually be held given the impact of Covid-19……
I’m almost quite excited for this 100…..
The LDWA have an excellent collection of route descriptions from past 100 events and they can all be found at https://www.ldwa.org.uk/library/hundreds/hundreds.php. There are also the results and for the recent couple of events, the very useful GPX files. I like this, I’m a GPX person, route descriptions tire me out….
Note for the first event in 1973 that Guinness supplied stout for the entrants, which is a marvellous idea. I’ll add some photos to the later events at some stage over the next few months….. The main image for this page is the photo I took at the Vermuyden checkpoint at the 2018 event. I wasn’t walking that year, I was visiting local pubs and marshalling….
1973 – Downsman
1974 – Peakland
1975 – Downsman
1976 – Cleveland
1977 – Downsman
1978 – Cleveland
1979 – Dartmoor
1980 – Downsman
1981 – Cumbrian
1982 – Pilgrims
1983 – Snowdonia
1984 – Dartmoor
1985 – Yorkshire Dales
1986 – Downsman
1987 – Snowdonia
1988 – White Peak
1989 – Brecon Beacons
1990 – Chiltern
1990 – Marches
1991 – Lancastrian
1992 – Invicta
1993 – Cleveland
1994 – Dartmoor
1995 – Shropshire
1996 – Yorkshire Dales
1997 – Downsman
1998 – White Peak
1999 – Durham Dales
2000 – Millennium
2001 – Cancelled
2002 – Lakeland
2003 – White Rose
2004 – Exmoor
2005 – Chiltern
2006 – Northumberland
2007 – Cant Canolbarth
2008 – Yoredale
2009 – Wessex
2010 – Heart Of Scotland
2011 – Housman
2012 – Games
2013 – Camel-Teign
2014 – Valleys
2015 – Red Rose
2016 – Dorset
2017 – North York Moors
2018 – Cinque Ports
2019 – Hadrian
2020 – Cancelled
Part of my series of motivational messages from those who have done the 100, those who might do the 100 and those who won’t do the 100 but have an opinion on it. This is from Simon Hodgin, who has completed a few 100s. I did suspect that he was cheating, but I’ve checked the evidence and it does appear he walked them.
“”Walking 100 miles in 48 hours, that isn’t possible, is it?” That was the response I received from family & friends when I got ‘lured’ into the world of walking the LDWA 100, only a few years ago.
Far too old to continue playing football with the inevitable damaged knees I had been ‘introduced’ to the world of long distance walking by my partner & her father as a great way to get fit, whilst enjoying some great camaraderie and the benefits of some stunning countryside views.
Initially happy to walk the ‘socials’, and 26 mile routes I was soon lured into walking 50 mile circuits. It was only a matter of time before ‘the 100’ would appear on my horizon.
For many in the LDWA ‘fraternity’ the challenge and ‘enjoyment’ of the 18, 26 and even 50 mile routes provides more than enough challenge and satisfaction, but for some ‘the 100’ provides the annual pilgrimage.
I’m still a relative newcomer to the 100. What is clear from my relatively recent experience is that even with the required 50 mile ‘qualifier’ under their belts the range of entrants (both age & fitness) differs markedly. In many ways that is the great thing about the 100, everyone has their personal goal, be it a best time or just getting around the course in one piece in 48 hours.
Is it mental toughness as well as physical fitness? Absolutely, but do others, whether fellow participants, marshalls or spectators encourage you every step of the way to achieve your personal goal? Absolutely.
You will experience many emotions during the walk, many even hallucinate through lack of sleep. That all said, despite the all the pain, emotions, hallucinations and all types of weather the satisfaction of completing the challenge gives a ‘high’ that is hard to replicate. Why else do we return to participate year after year?
This was the first time that I’ve been to an LDWA AGM, one of those events that I’ve always meant to go to, but actually didn’t until this year. And, although it only took place a few days ago, it feels like an entirely different climate for the organisation today given the coronavirus situation. We stopped all walking and social activities within the organisation as from Monday, sadly meaning that there will be no LDWA 100 event this year and no Daffodil Dawdle for us Norfolk & Suffolk members. As this all goes, it’s as bad as the foot and mouth outbreak in 2001, and it’s clearly getting much worse. I’d like to think it’ll all be OK in a few weeks, but I can’t see this being something that’s over quickly.
But, all that aside, I intended to write a report of the weekend, so here it is. I was under strict instructions to show up Norfolk & Suffolk in a positive light, although that was a bit optimistic of them. I did though send frequent photos of food to the committee, so they knew that I was OK.
I had intended to get the bus from York to Easingwold, but the LDWA invited a very special guest to attend, in the form of Richard May from the Ramblers. And since he was driving through York, he kindly offered to drive me. I’m pleased to say that there were no incidents en route, although he did find an expensive shop at a petrol station and then spent 15 minutes selecting some artisan products from its shelves. I had a £1 cheese sandwich and two half price packs of Quavers from the Spar to talk on the Saturday walk. I think it’s clear he’s more middle-class than I am.
So, onto the main event, the food. Er, I mean, the evening’s activities. It was a rather lovely meal, many thanks for the volunteers who organised this whole event, as like everything else in the LDWA, it’s all arranged by volunteers. For anyone interested, and I doubt there are many (or indeed any, but I do like a reminder for myself at least), I had the salad and the cod.
And the cake selection, it was a hard choice to decide. I was going to just eat everything, but I suspected that someone might notice. And I remembered that I was meant to be on my best behaviour.
The LDWA had selected a grand location for the weekend’s AGM, the Hawkhills, which is also the Cabinet Office’s Emergency Planning College. The whole operation is managed by Serco and was previously used as a cold war civil defence establishment. There was certainly plenty of space, maybe not the largest bar area, but there were numerous nearby seating options, as well as an entire coffee room which was suitably supplied with biscuits. Could have been a better craft beer selection, but let’s not get into that, I’m just obsessed with the stuff.
I had opted for the 14-mile walk on the Saturday, one of four which visitors could choose to go on. We were delayed as Richard had lost his car in the car park, but I won’t tell anyone that.
He was modelling his luminous bag cover, which I had initially thought he was wearing for a bet, but it transpired that it was through free choice. I didn’t say anything…..
And here we all are on the short walk, ready for the off. This weekend is a wonderful way to meet people from other groups and find out how they do things in their areas. Some of the greatest ideas that I’ve had have been pinched from other groups. Namely the BBQ on challenge events if I’m being honest, but there are many others. Liam mentioned that a “Where’s Wally?” contest would be too easy given how Richard’s backpack stood out, but at least it meant that we didn’t get run over.
The walk went through Easingwold itself, a larger town that I had expected, with a population of nearly 5,000. I had thought it was a small village, but as a walker said “it’s even got its own Costa”. But not a Greggs. Not yet anyway.
Two very brave walkers ploughing on as a herd of sheep march across the field. I know it’s a flock of sheep, but they were stampeding like a herd. I walked close to the walkers in front in case the sheep all turned on me.
Always working.
The pub stop, which proved to be more difficult for me to write about than anticipated as I couldn’t remember where it was and I was confused by Google Streetview. The reason became apparent, this has been a substantial modernisation by the Tomahawk Steakhouse, with an extension added, a new porch and a large amount of decking. Certainly an expensive transformation, but a most impressive one. The pub had previously been known as the Plum & Partridge and the Orchard Inn, but it’s hard to see how this would have been viable just as a small pub.
The service in the pub was friendly, although they seemed just slightly overwhelmed with the size of our order, but there were no delays that were excessive. I say this, but I got my drink first, so I wasn’t too bothered about those who had ordered coffees. It was easy for the barman to remember my order though, I was the only one who had ordered beer. We didn’t order food, but it looked high quality, although I’m not really into steaks. Unless they’re cut up and shoved into a pastry and sold by Greggs.
This was an exciting post-lunch challenge that we hadn’t expected, a tree which had fallen across the path. Walkers had a choice, they could either climb under the tree and crawl through foliage, or go over the top. Another walker took my backpack whilst I did the former, but Richard ploughed on over the top and I won’t mention he nearly fell over.
It’s not easy to see (unless you click on the photo), but there’s a horse here which decided to follow walkers to the gate. I rushed through as I’m scared of any animal smaller than a mouse, others had more of a challenge. It wasn’t a scary horse, it just kept moving about quickly.
There’s the Kilburn white horse, vaguely visible in the background and I slightly regretted not bringing my camera as opposed to just using my phone. This was made in 1857 (the white horse, not my phone) and was created by Thomas Taylor, a businessman who was jealous of all the white horses down south. So, he made this one, which has to be artificially whitened on a regular basis to keep its colour.
Alpacas I think. They seemed friendly, but weren’t very good at posing for a photo.
Panda bear sheep. That’s not their formal or scientific name, but it’s the one that I’ve given them.
Aaaaah, how sweet.
And a happy Richard at the end of the 14 miles, he did very well indeed and was a wonderful representative for the Ramblers. Although he still doesn’t think that 14 miles should be referred to a short walk, which I’m afraid the LDWA think it is….. I had been looking forwards to Ramblers General Council (their equivalent of an AGM) being held in Bristol in early April, where I was representing Norfolk, with Richard being a trustee and David Morgan attending for the LDWA. Unfortunately, it has been cancelled due to the coronavirus. There’s always next year though.
This flyer from the Irregulars reminded me that I’d be walking the Afoot in Two Dales in a few weeks. Well, I won’t now unless things change, maybe next year though (there’s going to be a lot on next year at this rate). I’ve still only walked one 50-mile event, which I accept is a poor effort, but I’ll get round to more. I’m mostly inspired by Simon H, as anything he can do, I’m definitely positive that I can.
Evening meal on the second night, some soup as a starter then salmon for main for me. I asked a staff member how many pieces of bread I could have, he said as many as I wanted, which he probably regretted.
Actually, whilst I remember, I felt slightly under-dressed for the evening’s entertainment. I had made my usual lack of effort as I consider a t-shirt and jeans to be sufficient for most functions. Someone said “it’s the LDWA, they’re not going to judge”, which is true, and many others had made the equal lack of effort. Some though, including the accomplished David Morgan, swept in looking like they were on a catwalk. I felt a bit jealous at all this glamour, but I remembered I had beer, so I forgot that I hadn’t made an effort. Beer is great for distraction. I’d add here, it’s not required to look smart, before I put anyone off.
Back to the food, the highlight of the proceedings were the choice of desserts and cheese. What a time to be alive!
There was a talk in the evening by Colin Utting, a former submarine engineer who has changed his life to become a mountain walk leader. Colin’s talk was engaging and interesting, a story that I’m glad I got to hear. People should always follow their dream, although climbing up things with sheer drops isn’t mine, but well done to him. I heard others saying how much they’d enjoyed this talk, all very inspirational.
The formal part of the AGM took place on Sunday morning, with the current members of the NEC lined up ready to answer questions. There’s the formidable and well-respected David Morgan in the centre with the laptop, the current chair, who had already set the organisation the challenge of funding a new IT project, but is now faced with an external crisis that couldn’t have been predicted (the coronavirus, not me). He, and the other members of the NEC, will no doubt do a fine job. I’d add that I’ve now joined the LDWA NEC in the role of Publicity and Communications, but whether or not I do a fine job remains to be seen. If nothing else, there will be lots of mentions of food over the next year.
I would say (well, write) that any member who wants to find out more about the organisation, or wants to have a say in its future, should consider coming along to the 2021 event. The exact details haven’t been finalised, but as long as the restrictions on gatherings have been lightened by then, I’m sure that it’ll be another excellent event. I’m also fairly sure that more members from Norfolk & Suffolk will be coming along, just to check what I’ve been doing and saying…..
This is where the LDWA AGM was held this weekend, quite appropriate given the news that we’ve had over recent days on the Coronavirus.
The Wolsey Waddle was a challenge event run by Norfolk and Suffolk LDWA in the summer of 2019, with a 30-mile option and a 21-mile option. As it is a challenge event which is only being held once, I decided to lead the 21-mile version of the walk as a social event. Thanks to Peter, and other volunteers, for creating this route around Ipswich and also for helping ensure that the tides were in the appropriate place so that we didn’t get into difficulties with the mud and water…..
12 of us walked the walk, with everyone finishing. Thanks to everyone who came along and below are some photos from the day. We saw some interesting sights, including Noah’s Ark in the centre of Ipswich, with the full GPX file and route description at https://www.ldwa.org.uk/NorfolkAndSuffolk/W/1409/n-s-events.html.
After a lovely weekend in Robin Hood’s Bay and completing the Smuggler’s Trod LDWA challenge event, it was time to drive home to Norfolk. Well, not my driving obviously. Travelling on the Sunday of a Bank Holiday weekend seems a much better idea than driving on the Friday, as we fortunately didn’t have any of the delays that we encountered a couple of days ago.
On another point, it doesn’t take too much effort to work out which McDonald’s meal I had in Swaffham, as opposed to what Clive went for……
On August Bank Holiday in 2018 I thought it’d be a marvellous idea to walk the Yorkshire Coast LDWA’s Smuggler’s Trod challenge event which starts in Robin Hood’s Bay. I thought it’d be another marvellous idea to do the same in 2019, especially as I was able to book a good value B&B which was just three minutes walk from the start of the event.
There were seven of us from Norfolk & Suffolk group, Jane, Clive, Simon, Brian, Kathleen, Hayley and last and certainly not least, me. I’d note here that this post is just about my experiences, as the others might not want me to broadcast what they got up to. And I am the sole of discretion as everyone in the group knows.
Unlike some others on the walk, I didn’t get confused by this 🙂 It’s the black token which is dropped off at the, well, drop off bucket, and the tally card which is cut along the route. Being only three minutes from the start of the walk meant that I could walk over to register, then go back to get breakfast at the B&B before starting the event at 08:00.
The turnout on the walk seemed high and there was a positive atmosphere at the beginning of the event. I was over confident and planning this as some sort of training event for the 100. As usual though, around three hours in I launched an inquiry whose idea it was to go on the walk. We had a debate and thought it must have been one of Peter’s ideas.
Walking across the moor thing, the start of the walk is also the beginning of the Coast to Coast route. Although I don’t like being reminded of that bloody walk, but that’s a story explained in more than enough detail elsewhere on this blog.
This is the drop down into the first checkpoint and it’s quite a fun little scramble down. Well, it’s not really a scramble, but I’ll call it that so that I sound braver. It can be quite slippery though and the marshals advised us to take extra care. I was extra careful as I knew that the checkpoint was nearby and I was hungry.
The first checkpoint where I accidentally ate about three bags of jelly babies and several Yum Yums (doughnuts). This was just after the breakpoint of the short and long routes and although secretly I wanted to go on the short route, I didn’t want Simon to think I wasn’t as good a walker as he is.
We went a bit wrong in this area last year, but all went well this year.
I really like this checkpoint on the Moors, especially with the smuggler’s flag flying high. We caught up with Brian and Kathleen here, although Clive had long since sodded off. We had several theories why, but I can’t reveal on a public post why I thought he went off. I had more jelly babies here and I even had some tomatoes, which I hoped wouldn’t counteract with the healthy aforementioned jelly babies.
I found the walk harder this year than last year, but it was because of the heat. The sun was rather unrelenting and the walk is quite exposed for some stretches on the moors, although there was a reasonable breeze throughout much of the day. Like some other walkers on the route I spoke to, I drank more water than I’ve ever done on a challenge event. One of the marshals said they’d had a few people drop out during the event, and they thought it was the heat which was the cause. It was a tough day out there on the moors for nine hours is all I can say.
Incidentally, I heard one of the female entrants (not from our group) say that they had ‘chub rub’. I hadn’t heard of that, but it seems that it’s a real thing. I won’t give too many details here….
And one of the smaller checkpoints where I got more jelly babies. Jane and I had been agreeing about how brave we were at this stage, but I won’t go on about that here.
This middle section of the walk is beautiful and is much easier when it’s dry, otherwise it can be a little soggy in places. It’s a lovely part of the country to walk through, although I did wonder about how many snakes there might be in the undergrowth. I let Hayley go through first in case there were swarms of snakes as I thought she might know how to deal with the situation if it did arise.
Winding through the trees, this was a welcome stretch of the route as it was shady. We didn’t know where Clive had gone, so we kept an eye along the route in case he had got lost, which was something which happened to certain members of the group last year. Although we don’t mention that of course.
This was the checkpoint that I was looking forwards to, the one at the campsite. We were still in a big group at this stage that had sort of formed together, around thirty of us. The volunteers coped marvellously, making a variety of sandwiches quickly and efficiently. I had jelly babies and as many salty crisps and snacks as I could to ensure my salt levels weren’t depleted. I had more tomatoes as I’m reckless like that. Oh, and lots of cheese and jaffa cakes.
It was shortly after this that one of our party managed to get ordered out of the pub for using their toilets. I won’t go into details though, but I’m sure that the story will be retold…..
Robin Hood’s Bay comes into view.
Just before the mast with about six miles to go. So very brave. I’ve still got a slightly sore foot from the Birmingham Canal Canter from two weeks ago, which never really got chance to heal since I did the 21 miles last week on the Suffolk coast, but it will be getting a lot of rest this week. Quite a lot of that rest will be in the pub.
I did miss Jayne at this point, as she would have been able to do some bandaging and tell me how brave I was. Well, nodded knowingly when I asked if she thought I was being brave. It’s the same thing.
The mast thing.
The checkpoint near to the mast and I was pleased to get here as it marks the walk back into Robin Hood’s Bay. There was another entrant struggling at this point who had been affected by the heat. I knew that I wasn’t feeling entirely right as I started to crave melon, which can’t be healthy for me. I had some more jelly babies too though as I assumed I must be low on sugar.
Walking along the coast towards Robin Hood’s Bay, it’s a lovely view.
Onto the railway line….
This is the former railway line which ran from Scarborough to Whitby and we were on this for over two miles as we approached Robin Hood’s Bay.
I enjoyed this railway line section as it was flat and it was easy on the feet, although I still made Simon talk about politics to help the miles go even quicker. I also made Simon listen to my thoughts about the rail network, which I’m confident he very much enjoyed and I suspect was a real boost to him to help get him to the finishing line.
That was kind of it for the walk, albeit there’s a very steep (I’m from Norfolk, it’s very steep to me) hill at the end. It wasn’t quite as bad as I remembered, so with one final exertion to climb this mountain I was within sight of the end. It was very lovely indeed to be able to see the hall where the event finished….
A slightly blurry photo, there was either sweat or tears on the lens, I can’t recall which. I must admit, and I hope no-one from the Yorkshire Coast LDWA group reads this as I don’t like any negativity about the wonderful events run by volunteers, that I was marginally disappointed with the pie. I liked the pie and gravy they supplied last year at the event, and I had rather hoped for that again.
Anyway, in the absence of my planned main course I did have two desserts and several Yum Yums, so all was well with the world. And there were some jelly babies left as well, so I helped the group eat them.
On the subject of the Yorkshire Coast LDWA group, they were wonderfully friendly as ever and the event was very professionally organised. It’s so very kind of the marshals to give up their time and they were all happy throughout the event, although I don’t think I’ll be getting Norfolk & Suffolk LDWA to dress up at challenge events (they’d take it too far, I just know….).
Very well done Julian. Oh and well done to the others. So very brave.
Marvellous to see this advert being run in The Great Outdoors magazine, the LDWA is an excellent organisation to join!
Every year the Norfolk & Suffolk LDWA group have a lovely long walk and then a BBQ at the end, a joint social and walking event. The walk was 22 miles long and was expertly led by Cas, who was also able to reduce the distance a little when some of us were just too keen to get to the food.
The walk started at Thorpeness where the bus dropped us off, with the intention of walking back to near Brampton. The walk goes by Sizewell power station and onto the beach above, where fortunately this year we didn’t encounter any adders. There were just over twenty people on the walk and the pace was designed to be relatively brisk, ensuring that we didn’t have to wait too long for our sausages….
Just to the north of Dunwich is this colourful sight.
Jayne was really pleased when she discovered a Greggs wrapper on the verge, she was desperate for a vegan sausage roll. Well, that might be a lie, I was desperate for a chicken bake, but that’s sort of the same thing….. Unfortunately we didn’t go by a Greggs on the walk, but you can’t have everything. But, at the pace that Greggs are expanding, I’m hopeful that when we walk this route in the future that there will be a whole host of these artisan bakers to visit during the walk.
Walking towards our lunch stop. It was shortly after this photo was taken that the rain came pouring down, although not for an extended period. Not wanting to sound obsessed with food, but there were some rather nice blackberry bushes around this point.
Both the above photos were taken from the bridge near Walberswick, near to the start of the Flower of Suffolk walk.
St Margaret’s Church at Reydon was the lunch stop, just over half way through the walk. I didn’t spend much time investigating the church, but the current building is primarily from the fourteenth century with a modern – and quite recent – extension.
The group enjoying their lunches.
And this was what we spent all day walking for (as well as the joy of walking and the lovely views of course), the BBQ at the end. Endless sausages, burgers, salad and there were also some wonderful cakes made by Jayne as a dessert. As usual, Martin and Fran were excellent hosts and fears about the rain during the BBQ didn’t come to pass. There was also all sorts of gossip, but it wouldn’t be for me to post about that here on a public platform.
All told, it was a beautifully led walk along some of the most beautiful Suffolk coast, with some inland elements towards the end of the walk. It’s a similar route to the equivalent walk that I led last year, just without seeing any snakes this year which was a complete bonus.
