Another delightful summers day. I woke early and stood next to the open window and could smell the freshness of the new day. Breakfast with Hugh - National Sales Officer and walking companion for the whole of the journey - after we had viewed the You Tube video of Yvonne and Hugh's wife Shan modelling the walk polo shirts. First time I have ever been offered bacon 'from our own pigs!'...and it was delicious.
We were collected and taken to last night's pub for the start of today's leg of the walk which began at 10.30am - a nice relaxed time! Waiting for us were members of the Solihull 41 Club walking group - a hardened bunch of walkers who know how to live life to the full at lunch time: I shall call them the Solihull mobile gastronomic society - or even perhaps - the gracious living society. A great bunch who walked with us for several days - but of that more later!
Right now it's the 7th July - time is pressing and a bbq awaits! I shall try to add some pictures just so that you get a flavour of this wonderful pilgrimage but I don't think it's going to work.
We've had problems trying to find internet connections as we've gone round but now in Alcester we've at last found one!
Wednesday 30 June 2010
Tuesday 29 June 2010
A blistering pace!!
This is the first chance that I've had to sit and sign in such has been the pace of the expedition which some might even call the longest pub crawl in the world because each meeting point and handover and end of day rendezvous seems to have been pub! And very welcome they have been if only to drink gallons of ice-cold water such is the weather which has largely been unremitting sunshine!
What hospitality and friendship! Yvonne and I arrived on Saturday to be welcomed by our host's with tea in a truly beautiful cottage garden complete with two labs and a terrier who kept us entertained for hours.
After an informal dinner party - again in the garden - preparation for Sunday and our church service where we'd asked for the walkers among us to receive a blessing. Once again, a genuinely warm welcome from the congregation who were interested in what we were setting out to do.
Lunch in the nearby pub when Chris Tayler - the enthusiast who had devised the Millennium Way - was presented with the Club Service Award by his club for all that he had done in connection with the development of the walk over the last decade. Thoroughly deserved.
Photographs and video were taken at the church gates before we set off [see You Tube!!!] and then we were off at what seemed like a blistering pace which, at the end of the day, proved to have been a truly blistering pace - one which is now slowing me down to a pleasant amble due to the size of the burst blister on my left foot which nurse Yvonne needs to treat each day! Even the National President of RTBI has been consulted [he's a chiropodist!] and he has kindly made himself available 24/7 for professional consultations as and when needed!!
But we did our 6+ miles in the allotted 3 hours and a small country pub has never been so welcome. Pints of ice cold water disappeared with seconds before pints of real ale were consumed only slightly less quickly.
An evening BBQ with members of Banbury 41 Club before home to bed in readiness for the next day with a somewhat slow painful start to the planned walk.
It's now 11.35pm and I need to get to bed. Suffice it to say that we have meandered through some of the most beautiful parts of the English countryside. Today has been extra special with sections of the walk along canal towpaths with narrow boats and and canal side pubs festooned with flowers and window boxes.
Daventry 41 Club guided us expertly through meadows and woods and taught us how to play skittles in a little country pub where we were treated to supper and even did some of our washing before handing us over to Southam 41 Club who were less sure of the way but nevertheless brought us to our destination and a couple of very welcome pints and later, an excellent evening meal at the Buck and Bell Inn at Long Itchington before delivering us back to Wethele Manor - the most beautifully and sympathetically restored 'manor' farm house you have ever seen and where tonight I shall sleep in my first ever four poster bed!
This is a lovely journey - if a somewhat painful one at the moment. But sleepy villages with golden stone houses basking in glorious sunshine, country pubs with low beamed ceilings and real ale with sandwiches waiting hot and slightly weary walkers, laughter and new friendships more than compensate for sore feet and a little sunburn.
It will take me a while to do justice to this walk which is a true gem in the midst of England already bursting with the promise of a rich harvest in just a few weeks time.
A shorter walk tomorrow - just 6.25 miles - only 2 of them after lunch at yet another country pub by the river - the Red Lion at Hunningham! I'll even try to download some of the dozens of pictures via the Dongle!
More later but just at the moment - the four poster calls!!
What hospitality and friendship! Yvonne and I arrived on Saturday to be welcomed by our host's with tea in a truly beautiful cottage garden complete with two labs and a terrier who kept us entertained for hours.
After an informal dinner party - again in the garden - preparation for Sunday and our church service where we'd asked for the walkers among us to receive a blessing. Once again, a genuinely warm welcome from the congregation who were interested in what we were setting out to do.
Lunch in the nearby pub when Chris Tayler - the enthusiast who had devised the Millennium Way - was presented with the Club Service Award by his club for all that he had done in connection with the development of the walk over the last decade. Thoroughly deserved.
Photographs and video were taken at the church gates before we set off [see You Tube!!!] and then we were off at what seemed like a blistering pace which, at the end of the day, proved to have been a truly blistering pace - one which is now slowing me down to a pleasant amble due to the size of the burst blister on my left foot which nurse Yvonne needs to treat each day! Even the National President of RTBI has been consulted [he's a chiropodist!] and he has kindly made himself available 24/7 for professional consultations as and when needed!!
But we did our 6+ miles in the allotted 3 hours and a small country pub has never been so welcome. Pints of ice cold water disappeared with seconds before pints of real ale were consumed only slightly less quickly.
An evening BBQ with members of Banbury 41 Club before home to bed in readiness for the next day with a somewhat slow painful start to the planned walk.
It's now 11.35pm and I need to get to bed. Suffice it to say that we have meandered through some of the most beautiful parts of the English countryside. Today has been extra special with sections of the walk along canal towpaths with narrow boats and and canal side pubs festooned with flowers and window boxes.
Daventry 41 Club guided us expertly through meadows and woods and taught us how to play skittles in a little country pub where we were treated to supper and even did some of our washing before handing us over to Southam 41 Club who were less sure of the way but nevertheless brought us to our destination and a couple of very welcome pints and later, an excellent evening meal at the Buck and Bell Inn at Long Itchington before delivering us back to Wethele Manor - the most beautifully and sympathetically restored 'manor' farm house you have ever seen and where tonight I shall sleep in my first ever four poster bed!
This is a lovely journey - if a somewhat painful one at the moment. But sleepy villages with golden stone houses basking in glorious sunshine, country pubs with low beamed ceilings and real ale with sandwiches waiting hot and slightly weary walkers, laughter and new friendships more than compensate for sore feet and a little sunburn.
It will take me a while to do justice to this walk which is a true gem in the midst of England already bursting with the promise of a rich harvest in just a few weeks time.
A shorter walk tomorrow - just 6.25 miles - only 2 of them after lunch at yet another country pub by the river - the Red Lion at Hunningham! I'll even try to download some of the dozens of pictures via the Dongle!
More later but just at the moment - the four poster calls!!
Friday 25 June 2010
Using the dongle for real!
In Birmingham to speak to RTBI National Council tomorrow. Hardly a training walk but a long walk nevertheless around Birmingham in the sun looking for a shop that might sell a lead from my camera to the computer! I left mine at home yesterday which doesn't help! I'm told that it is possible to download pictures directly through the Dongle: we shall have to try!
It's hard to believe, but we couldn't find anywhere in central Birmingham that sold camera's or computers! There are thousands of bars, restaurants and clothes shops and I have to admit that we had a wonderful lunch at Coste Brasserie in the Gas Street Basin. Highly recommended for food and the friendliest staff I have met in a long while.
Last night Yvonne and I attended the 'Music for Hero's' concert in Leicester along with IPP Richard Matthews and his wife Barbara. I'm pleased to say that we were joined by a goodly number of 41 Club members from around the Leicester area.
The RAF band was superb and gave us an evening to remember. It really was stirring stuff and a privilege to be there. Ken Bruce from Radio 2 gave 41 Club a mention and we got a warm round of applause from the capacity audience for the £140,000 we raised for Richard's Presidential charity last year - 'Help for Hero's'.
4 walk polo shirts sold already to my walking partner Hugh Milward and his wife Shan. Yvonne bought another 2! Still quite a few for sale to those who join us over the next 10 days!
It's hard to believe, but we couldn't find anywhere in central Birmingham that sold camera's or computers! There are thousands of bars, restaurants and clothes shops and I have to admit that we had a wonderful lunch at Coste Brasserie in the Gas Street Basin. Highly recommended for food and the friendliest staff I have met in a long while.
Last night Yvonne and I attended the 'Music for Hero's' concert in Leicester along with IPP Richard Matthews and his wife Barbara. I'm pleased to say that we were joined by a goodly number of 41 Club members from around the Leicester area.
The RAF band was superb and gave us an evening to remember. It really was stirring stuff and a privilege to be there. Ken Bruce from Radio 2 gave 41 Club a mention and we got a warm round of applause from the capacity audience for the £140,000 we raised for Richard's Presidential charity last year - 'Help for Hero's'.
4 walk polo shirts sold already to my walking partner Hugh Milward and his wife Shan. Yvonne bought another 2! Still quite a few for sale to those who join us over the next 10 days!
Wednesday 23 June 2010
Polo Shirts are ready!
The only activity today has been in the O2 shop where I have purchased a pink dongle!
Yes there are such things and I now have one so it looks as though it's going to be possible to update the blog as I undertake the walk!
I have also purchased 4 OS maps of the area through which the walk passes: it's always good to set a walk in context - to know where one is in the greater scheme of things!
And at last - the team polo shirts are ready to be collected. Yvonne and friends from Party Tyne and Angels of the North have been modelling them since the Scarborough conference and they have been much admired. I shall have some for sale as I travel and we can always have more ordered and sent to us as we go!
Now where did I put my old map case?
Yes there are such things and I now have one so it looks as though it's going to be possible to update the blog as I undertake the walk!
I have also purchased 4 OS maps of the area through which the walk passes: it's always good to set a walk in context - to know where one is in the greater scheme of things!
And at last - the team polo shirts are ready to be collected. Yvonne and friends from Party Tyne and Angels of the North have been modelling them since the Scarborough conference and they have been much admired. I shall have some for sale as I travel and we can always have more ordered and sent to us as we go!
Now where did I put my old map case?
Tuesday 22 June 2010
Millennium Bridge - River Tyne, Newcastle
At last! I've managed to upload this image taken with my little Sony Cyber-shot camera.
What a brilliant piece of engineering and design this bridge is. An inspiration to everyone who sees it, especially at night as we did after our cruise down the river Tyne - a once powerful river that witnessed many great engineering achievements and now, after the decline of heavy engineering in the north east, perhaps one of the finest salmon rivers in England!
It was a journey full of ghosts and memories: my teenage years were spent on the banks of the Tyne when I lived at Jarrow and then later at Hebburn.
Countdown - 22nd June - not long now
After a very busy but enjoyable National Council weekend in Durham that included a wonderful river journey down the Tyne on Saturday evening as a bit of r & r, it's back to the final few days of preparation before the off!
The weather has been wonderful but has found me mainly at the desk although yesterday allowed a good workout in the gym which I badly needed.
This morning I walked along the beach in glorious sunshine with Bracken and then this afternoon had another workout at the gym - not quite as successful as yesterday but useful nevertheless.
Then all hell has broken loose as my computer crashed 4 times during the course of the late afternoon. I was hoping to take it with me to write my blog as I journey but there is something seriously wrong with the thing. It's likely to be more of a liability than a help. Yvonne has kindly allowed me to use her lap top this evening and it may be this one that we take with us.
I am told that we need to buy a 'dongle' [can that be true? can there really be such a thing?] which will allow us to communicate with the outside world while we are away - so that is on the list for tomorrow along with getting hold of some OS maps of the route! I love looking at maps and I have a large collection of them spanning the years. But can I really walk into a shop and ask for a 'dongle'? Is someone having me on?
Yvonne is going to lead the back up party and will drive the Presidential limo from a to b and then to c. Having her own computer with her will give her a chance to keep in touch with family and friends back in Spain while she is waiting for us all to plod into the next check in point!
We are trying to decide what to take with us apart from walking gear. We have a range of social occasions, meetings, club nights, BB Q's etc to enjoy during our two week trek and although I say that walking gear is OK for everything, Yvonne is of a different mind!
In her usual organised way Yvonne looked at the weather forecast for next week and it seems that we are going to have some rain, grey skies and the odd day of sunshine. Seems like perfect walking weather to me but not so good for the BB Q's!
Tomorrow I hope there will be a chance of a walk before we climb into the car on Thursday for the off. We attend a concert in Leicester on Thursday evening, then it's away to Birmingham Friday in readiness for a meeting with RTBI National Council on Saturday. Hopefully I shall have time to prepare for Sunday morning when we attend a church service to mark the beginning of our walk. I have been asked to address the congregation during the sermon slot! Just like old times!!
I am really looking forward to meeting club members who will be walking with me and looking after us during our two week 'pilgrimage'. The basis of our Association is 'friendship' and 'fellowship' and at the root of each of those is 'caring'. So many people have shown a lot of care in the preparation for this Millennium Way journey and I have no doubt that the spirit of care and friendship will be a hallmark of the walk. I'll let you know.
I was hoping to include a wonderful picture of the Millennium bridge over the river Tyne but it's on my computer - not this one. Perhaps I can include it in a future message.
If you would like to join us on any leg of the walk simply turn up. Details of what we are up to are on our website. Remember, I am trying to raise the profile of the Association, meet some of our members along the way and raise much needed funds for my chosen charity - the Ocean Youth Trust. If you would like to make a donation or sponsor me please do. Every little helps!
The weather has been wonderful but has found me mainly at the desk although yesterday allowed a good workout in the gym which I badly needed.
This morning I walked along the beach in glorious sunshine with Bracken and then this afternoon had another workout at the gym - not quite as successful as yesterday but useful nevertheless.
Then all hell has broken loose as my computer crashed 4 times during the course of the late afternoon. I was hoping to take it with me to write my blog as I journey but there is something seriously wrong with the thing. It's likely to be more of a liability than a help. Yvonne has kindly allowed me to use her lap top this evening and it may be this one that we take with us.
I am told that we need to buy a 'dongle' [can that be true? can there really be such a thing?] which will allow us to communicate with the outside world while we are away - so that is on the list for tomorrow along with getting hold of some OS maps of the route! I love looking at maps and I have a large collection of them spanning the years. But can I really walk into a shop and ask for a 'dongle'? Is someone having me on?
Yvonne is going to lead the back up party and will drive the Presidential limo from a to b and then to c. Having her own computer with her will give her a chance to keep in touch with family and friends back in Spain while she is waiting for us all to plod into the next check in point!
We are trying to decide what to take with us apart from walking gear. We have a range of social occasions, meetings, club nights, BB Q's etc to enjoy during our two week trek and although I say that walking gear is OK for everything, Yvonne is of a different mind!
In her usual organised way Yvonne looked at the weather forecast for next week and it seems that we are going to have some rain, grey skies and the odd day of sunshine. Seems like perfect walking weather to me but not so good for the BB Q's!
Tomorrow I hope there will be a chance of a walk before we climb into the car on Thursday for the off. We attend a concert in Leicester on Thursday evening, then it's away to Birmingham Friday in readiness for a meeting with RTBI National Council on Saturday. Hopefully I shall have time to prepare for Sunday morning when we attend a church service to mark the beginning of our walk. I have been asked to address the congregation during the sermon slot! Just like old times!!
I am really looking forward to meeting club members who will be walking with me and looking after us during our two week 'pilgrimage'. The basis of our Association is 'friendship' and 'fellowship' and at the root of each of those is 'caring'. So many people have shown a lot of care in the preparation for this Millennium Way journey and I have no doubt that the spirit of care and friendship will be a hallmark of the walk. I'll let you know.
I was hoping to include a wonderful picture of the Millennium bridge over the river Tyne but it's on my computer - not this one. Perhaps I can include it in a future message.
If you would like to join us on any leg of the walk simply turn up. Details of what we are up to are on our website. Remember, I am trying to raise the profile of the Association, meet some of our members along the way and raise much needed funds for my chosen charity - the Ocean Youth Trust. If you would like to make a donation or sponsor me please do. Every little helps!
Thursday 17 June 2010
17th June 2010
Since getting back from Holyhead and Birmingham I have been trying hard to get some miles in. Each evening and on one occasion - early morning - I have been walking parts of the coastal path. The weather has been glorious - truly glorious.
On Wednesday 16th in particular, I drove down to Holy Island causeway and then walked north along the coast for about 2 miles before returning to the car. It was a memorable evening. Bracken my Black Lab enjoyed being out and about - the first time since he'd come out of kennels after a 2 + week stay. He swam, lingered over tempting scents, ran ahead of me then returned to walk by my side. As we walked among sheep in the dunes I put him on the lead just to make sure but he's usually very good among sheep and I was probably worrying too much.
On the way back we spotted a big group of rabbits: if there is one thing that sends Bracken wild -it's rabbits and he will chase after them for hours so I was pleased he was on the lead. As the rabbits scampered away at our passing we put up a fox who was not best pleased that we had spoiled his chance of an early supper. He ran away to our right to the wire fence then stopped to look at us in a most disdainful manner before scampering off to pastures new.
As we walked back along the creek toward the car Bracken swam for ages with an eye toward the four swans that are nesting by the waters edge. I called him back but he was enjoying himself too much but eventually climbed out and ran back to me shaking water off himself as he did so.
The tide had come in so we had to clamber up a bank to get round a headland before we were able to scramble back on to the level grassy path. Bracken waited for me and looked concerned as his clumsy overweight master slipped down the bank in a most ungainly fashion! Good job there was no one around to see me!
As we started on the last half mile back to the car - a pair of lapwings tried to distract us away from their nest. We wouldn't have bothered them and it was touching to see their antics as they tried to distract us.
I'd bought some new walking boots on Monday and they stood up well t the test. I'd had them on since I bought them and they are very comfortable and have taken no breaking in. I shall wear them for the walk and if it is mainly a 'flat day' I shall; wear the trainers.
I was hoping to get to the gym today but preparations for this weekend's National Council meeting have kept me at the desk apart from when I washed the limo. It wouldn't do for the Pres' to turn up at a Council weekend with a mucky car!
We have a very busy weekend ahead of us but I hope we have some fun as well. A formal dinner on Friday [when England are playing I'm told] then a trip down the Tyne on Saturday will serve as a useful antidote to our business meetings I hope. There might even be a chance of a leg stretch and a few miles along the rive Wear on Saturday afternoon.
Not long to go now!
On Wednesday 16th in particular, I drove down to Holy Island causeway and then walked north along the coast for about 2 miles before returning to the car. It was a memorable evening. Bracken my Black Lab enjoyed being out and about - the first time since he'd come out of kennels after a 2 + week stay. He swam, lingered over tempting scents, ran ahead of me then returned to walk by my side. As we walked among sheep in the dunes I put him on the lead just to make sure but he's usually very good among sheep and I was probably worrying too much.
On the way back we spotted a big group of rabbits: if there is one thing that sends Bracken wild -it's rabbits and he will chase after them for hours so I was pleased he was on the lead. As the rabbits scampered away at our passing we put up a fox who was not best pleased that we had spoiled his chance of an early supper. He ran away to our right to the wire fence then stopped to look at us in a most disdainful manner before scampering off to pastures new.
As we walked back along the creek toward the car Bracken swam for ages with an eye toward the four swans that are nesting by the waters edge. I called him back but he was enjoying himself too much but eventually climbed out and ran back to me shaking water off himself as he did so.
The tide had come in so we had to clamber up a bank to get round a headland before we were able to scramble back on to the level grassy path. Bracken waited for me and looked concerned as his clumsy overweight master slipped down the bank in a most ungainly fashion! Good job there was no one around to see me!
As we started on the last half mile back to the car - a pair of lapwings tried to distract us away from their nest. We wouldn't have bothered them and it was touching to see their antics as they tried to distract us.
I'd bought some new walking boots on Monday and they stood up well t the test. I'd had them on since I bought them and they are very comfortable and have taken no breaking in. I shall wear them for the walk and if it is mainly a 'flat day' I shall; wear the trainers.
I was hoping to get to the gym today but preparations for this weekend's National Council meeting have kept me at the desk apart from when I washed the limo. It wouldn't do for the Pres' to turn up at a Council weekend with a mucky car!
We have a very busy weekend ahead of us but I hope we have some fun as well. A formal dinner on Friday [when England are playing I'm told] then a trip down the Tyne on Saturday will serve as a useful antidote to our business meetings I hope. There might even be a chance of a leg stretch and a few miles along the rive Wear on Saturday afternoon.
Not long to go now!
Tuesday 8 June 2010
Back from Italy and Spain!
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Back at last from Bologna and Spain. The weather was exceptional yet was matched by the warmth of the welcome and the generous hospitality everywhere that we went. The Italian AGM was a great success and club meetings in Spain proved that the Association is alive and well on the Iberian peninsular. I'm pleased to say that there was time to stop and take in the surroundings and simply enjoy being in lovely places. I even found a rather splendid cockerel in the cloisters of a church that we visited - 'the cockerel of St Peter!'
'But what about the foot?' I hear you ask and 'what about the training for the walk?' Although I'm trying to hide the Presidential 'cushion' on which is placed the Presidential jewel on formal occasions, the more discerning among you will see that I haven't managed to lose anymore weight! There was a lot of walking in Bologna and I have to say that the foot took some beating on the Friday and I suffered the following day as we walked to the palace where the AGM was being held. Yet another pair of trainers was bought in Spain and some swimming was undertaken at which point the sun got to me in a big way and I had to retire to the shade! Such are the trials of an overweight, unfit National President who is shortly to walk 100 miles for his chosen charity!
Back to the wonderful UK climate where we rarely have to battle with the sun, and I got some miles in yesterday as I waited for the Presidential limo to have a new windscreen fitted. Today was to be a gym day - and still might be if I can get away from the desk - just so that I can keep my fitness levels finely honed in readiness for the off on Sunday 27th June.
It looks as though I'm still going to have to do this walk in trainers as I still can't find my newest and most comfortable pair of walking boots. You would think that after 9 months I would have been able to unpack all the boxes that came with the move to the little house by the sea: but as I've said before, being National President is a job and a half and there must be 30 boxes still waiting to be unpacked - most of them boxes of books but with one box somewhere containing my boots!
Off to Brum this week for meetings and then on to Wales for a 30th Charter evening. On the way I'll stop to see poor Andy Waite who broke his leg very badly while in Belgium. Sincere thanks to his Belgian surgeon - a Club 41 member who operated on him so well and so swiftly. Andy will be out of Action for at least 6 months. The lengths some guys will go to in order to get out of coming with me on the Presidential yomp!
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