The Dorset and friends volunteers at the first checkpoint. I’d add that I’m only visiting select checkpoints on the route, which is more to do with the limitations of getting there rather than a lack of aspiration to visit them all.
Anne and Vaughan were two of the first in, with Anne being the 100s officer so there’s not much that she doesn’t know about this event.
The formidable David Morgan, who I am sure is getting taller every year.
Roger and Yvonne, the first two entrants in from Norfolk & Suffolk.
Andy Todd, looking calm and confident.
Despite his war wound…..
Some of the Norfolk & Suffolk entries in there, including Jane, Jayne and Hilary.
Chelle and Michael then swept in, completing the Norfolk & Suffolk entrants.
The weather at this stage was very warm, it would have been too hot for me, but I complain about the heat a lot. There wasn’t much shade along parts of the route and those without hats were starting to suffer from sunburn already. It’s a challenge when the first ten mile section is hot, it might feel reasonably pleasant but it can lead to excessive sweating and it is quite exhausting. But entries on the 100 have all completed a 50 mile event and have lots of experience, so confidence remained high.
Simon and Bailey, both supporting the Norfolk and Suffolk contingent.
Peter and Steph, the main event organiser and the marshal walk organiser.
The walkers are lined up and ready to go.
There’s always some nervousness amidst the excitement, but the fifty or so walkers all looked fairly confident to me. The sun was shining and at 10:00, it was time for everyone to set off. They have 48 hours to walk the 100 miles and their first checkpoint will be at Addington Village Hall, which is around ten miles into the event.
I rounded up the Norfolk and Suffolk LDWA contingent for a group photo before the start of the big walk. I had to use AI to edit this as someone was unhappy with how they looked…. But I was very helpful and obliged.
Peter Jull, the organiser of the whole event, looking really rather calm and cool at HQ. And, if technology works, there should be a short video of him below.
It’s not called the Hunnypot 100 for no reason….. And entrants will get to go over Poohsticks Bridge which is the original wooden bridge in Ashdown Forest in East Sussex which is where the game of Poohsticks was invented.
I’m safely at Meopham and this is where the marshal event is taking place this weekend for the LDWA 100.
It feels a bit hot to me, but I’m seemingly always too hot. I rushed to get the train in Chatham to get here and I didn’t need to rush, I just realised that I could get an earlier one. Anyway, this 100 is the work of the Kent group of the LDWA.
I would say that it is the calm before the storm, but it’s all too controlled for there to be a storm. Anyway, this is Meopham scout HQ, which isn’t where the main event will be starting from. It’s all happening now as they say, well, as Alan Partridge says… There’s a strong contingent from Norfolk & Suffolk LDWA which is rather lovely.
It’s the marshal’s event of the LDWA Hunnypot Hundred 2026 in Kent this weekend (2 to 4 May 2026) which means that I’m meandering down to Chatham today. I’ll use this as an index page for all the excitement and random witterings I might have to offer over the weekend as well as links to photos and videos.
For over a decade, it’s been a tradition now for my friend Liam and myself to take part in the Stansted Stagger, a 26 mile challenge event put on by the Essex & Herts LDWA group. A walk at this time of the year is always a bit of excitement as there is the potential for a lot of mud, a lot of ice, a lot of rain and a lot of complaining from me. The drive there was marked by a series of Greggs being shut when they weren’t meant to be, so that was sub-optimal but I was too tired to be be pre-annoyed.
Liam got us safely to Stansted Mountfitchet where the walk starts. There were around 180 people taking part and there was a positive atmosphere whilst I focused on how many biscuits I could eat without looking greedy.
It was time for the walk to start and Liam and I seemed to be at the back, which is where we kept ourselves for much of the day. Some of the Norfolk & Suffolk contingent rushed off, but someone mentioned that it was probably just Simon H showing off. Someone in our group also mentioned that they were hungry, but fortunately, this event has 2.5 checkpoints so there was certainly lots to look forwards to.
We strolled past St. Mary the Virgin’s Church which is located just outside of Stansted Mountfitchet.
This is Arthur Findlay College, located at Stansted Hall, which is managed by the Spiritualists’ National Union. Arthur Findlay (1883-1964) was a stockbroker who became very involved with the spiritualist movement and he was one of the founders of the Psychic News. Stansted Hall, which is mostly from the late seventeenth century, was purchased by Findlay in 1923 and it was left to the Spiritualist movement in 1964 following his death.
Very pretty ice formations. We were fortunate that there was no snow, unlike the Norfolk we had departed, and relatively little ice. I have near zero ability to walk on ice, so this pleased me greatly. On reflection, this was the least muddy Stansted Stagger I’ve ever taken part in and that suited me on this occasion even as an experienced mud run person.
I appeared to be the only one in shirt sleeves as I thought it was getting a bit hot. The sun was quite clearly blazing down at this point, which is a field near to the village of Pledgdon Green.
The route that the organisers chose was a new one to me and it circumnavigated Stansted Airport. This was my favourite route that the event has taken, as it changes from year to year, although I was surprised just how little of the airport we saw as it seems to be landscaped away a bit. It was harder for them to blend the aircraft into the background though, so we were able to do some plane spotting.
The tilted sign amused me. I don’t get out much.
This was Mill Race, the former water channel for powering the mill at Tilty Abbey.
We then approached the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, which is the former chapel outside the walls of the abbey. When the abbey was suppressed following the Reformation, this became the parish church. But, I’ve written about this separately as well.
Sub-optimal and a reminder of the dangers of the cold weather. The police were aware of the car, but this looks like it must have been a frightening thing to happen.
And safely into the first checkpoint at Great Easton. I was surprised and delighted to see that there were some cheese & pickle sandwiches, which are one of my favourite things, so I had several of those. There were also jelly babies, crisps, mince pies, hot cross buns, biscuits and chocolate and so that’s all my main food groups covered. There was some fruit as well I think for those that like that.
The volunteers across the whole event were brilliant, full of enthusiasm and the LDWA is very fortunate to have so many people willing to help. And, from personal experience, it’s a lot of fun volunteering at events as well.
The church of St. John & St. Giles at Great Easton. It’s not a great photo as I was balancing crisps and jelly babies in my hand whilst trying to take a photo.
Rob had dropped a bit to walk with Liam and I for the next stage, here there are waiting for me to balance my snacks whilst taking a photo of the village of Great Easton.
Horse Pond in Little Easton, located opposite from the Great Pond and the manor house.
Despite never being far away from Stansted Airport, it was rarely visible, but the control tower did appear from time to time. We certainly had no shortage of planes taking off and landing to look at during the walk.
This is All Saints Church at Canfield End with the walk going through the churchyard. It wasn’t known who the original dedication of the church was to, so in February 1900 it was dedicated to All Saints by the Bishop Suffragan of Colchester. The nave is from the twelfth century, but the chancel and most of the interior is from the nineteenth century.
The second checkpoint was located near to Great Canfield and it had plenty of seating for the weary. Obviously, as an athlete I didn’t need a seat.
Well, how lovely.
Those warm apple pies with custard towards the front were the standout food item here, and there was a lot of competition. I actually didn’t even notice the wraps until looking at this photo, such was the choice, although I think I was focused on the crisps.
The checkpoint menu. Bear in mind this entire event costs £15 or so for members, we get that much value from the food alone. Well, I do.
I took a cake to help sustain me for the next part of the walk.
An interesting tree near Great Canfield.
I can think of a few people who could go in these at Hellmans Cross.
The former railway station at Takeley, I’ll write about this separately and drop the link in here later.
The bridge underneath the appropriately named Station Road, this is the stretch on the former railway line from Braintree to Bishops Stortford which is now known as the Flitch Way.
Rob decided he would rush off at this point, but Liam and I decided we would just amble along. We rushed the Capital Challenge last year and sometimes it’s best to just take it easy.
The final checkpoint by the Dunmow Road which was advertised as a water stop but actually had some snacks as well, which pleased me. But my two loyal blog readers would have guessed that.
Then it was a series of bridge and tunnel crossings to get over the M11.
The bendy signage at Birchanger.
And back to the start at Stansted Mountfitchet….
Julian “I’m not very hungry, I likely won’t have anything at the end” White….. That carrot cake was delicious.
I accept that this wasn’t our fastest time, but it’s not a race and we had a really rather lovely day. For anyone tempted to take part, absolutely do, it’s a manageable distance with plenty of food, drink and encouragement at the checkpoints. The volunteers were all wonderful and so many thanks for all the time they put in to planning this event, which really is great value. We’ll be back next year!
This is the second podcast and there’s more about this series in the text of the first podcast with Simon Hodgin. In short, these are like pilot podcasts to establish how to do the audio better, see what the reaction is like and then we will start to widen the scope of the whole arrangement.
This podcast is with the legend that is David Morgan, the former Chair of the LDWA, who has organised and taken part in many challenge events. The podcast focuses on his experiences of this over the years and also addresses the most important question of what is his favourite food at challenge events. I suspect this might become a running theme (excuse the pun).
Something new for 2026 is a series of podcasts that I’m planning for the LDWA. It’s going to take a fair few podcasts to start getting the editing quality sorted, but I have to start somewhere and Simon Hodgin of Norfolk & Suffolk group kindly agreed to help with the first one.
I reference in the podcast that there’s a lot more to the LDWA than just the 100, but I felt the need to ask Simon about some of his challenge event achievements. I’ve recorded a couple more podcasts and they’ll be advertised within the LDWA. After a while, they’ll advertised more widely hopefully when I’m content that I know what I’m doing.
The first few podcasts will be with LDWA members, talking about their volunteering experiences and their walking, but there will be more focused podcasts on how to prepare for any challenge event, what to pack for a 100 mile event, as well as podcasts about specific walking trails. Then there will hopefully follow podcasts featuring other people involved in outdoor adventure activities, as well as those involved working on trails, B&Bs owners used to dealing with walkers and much more besides.
When I’m happy that I’m getting there with the quality, then they might start appearing in the usual places where podcasts are found. So, that’s the background! The podcast download for the first episode is below.
