Day 24 - Evictions, Disturbances and an Absence of Manners

Painswick to Cheltenham - 13/06/09

Didn't really get the best of starts today to be completely honest. After confirming with my B&B hosts over breakfast that checkout would be at 10:30 I found myself unceremoniously expelled from my room at 10:05. To make matters worse I was right in the middle of packing my pack for the day and my pleas for another 5-10mins to get everything straightened out fell on deaf ears. My gracious 'hosts' didn't even have the decency to wish me well on my journey but instead retreated back to their TV in the lounge and left me to see myself and my armful of possessions out. Still it gave me the chance to experience completing my packing from the comfort of a park bench in true hobo style. Now all I need is a knotted hanky on a stick.

Naturally this spontaneous bout of rudeness didn't put me in the best of moods for the remainder of the day, but thankfully the now much flatter Cotswold Way did go someway towards soothing my ruffled feathers. Alas, this afternoon saw me bid a final farewell to the Way and after bidding it a fond farewell (and a promise to re-walk it in full some day) I joined the somewhat less fantastic Gloucestershire Way. Maybe the well walked and well maintained footpaths of the Cotwolds have spoiled me, but this afternoons foray on the Gloucestershire Way was a real pain. Every trail was choked with clinging vegetation and naturally most of this turned out to be of the stinging variety.

Now, after nearly four weeks on the road I've understandably become rather adept at spotting a stile lurking amongst the undergrowth. Credit then must be given to the Gloucestershire Way for managing to conceal one so completely that I passed within 5 yards of it (several times) without ever becoming aware of it's existence. After vainly searching up and down half a mile of hedgerow for some considerable time (and debating the possibilities of successfully vaulting a 5 foot hedge) I did finally manage locate the devious little thing. I then set about my usual tactic of using improvised trekking pole machetes to clear myself a path through the stinging shrubberies so I could finally be on my way once again. In my mind, this not only prevents me from my legs being stung to buggery, but also provides something of a public service to any poor hikers following in my wake (unlikely in this case I reckon). Apparently the farmer who interrupted my pruning session would beg to differ. I was mid hack when he popped his head over the hedge and asked if I would mind keeping the noise down. Two things baffled me about this statement. Firstly my trekking pole chopping was hardly what you would call noisy in the first place and secondly, I was surrounded on all sides by open farmland so who exactly was I disturbing? I managed to refrain from mentioning that maybe if he maintained the footpath a little then ramblers such as myself would no longer have to disturb his empty fields. Ah well, here's hoping for a better day tomorrow.

Day 23 -

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Day 22 - Lords, Ladies and a Weary Walker

Tormarton to North Nibley - 11/06/08

Having said only yesterday that I shall be sticking to official camp sites from now on, tonight I am once again in the garden of a B&B. Unlike yesterday however my accommodation here in North Nibley (oddly I don’t recall seeing a South Nibley or even an East or West for that matter) would be difficult to miss for all but the most unobservant rambler. I find myself this evening pitched in the gardens of a grand 3-storey country manor and whilst the owner really couldn’t be nicer, my little tent feels somewhat at odds with the opulent surroundings. In fact the whole town seems to have an air of wealth about it, which is not something I was anticipating. I was surprised to find that the local pub that I sauntered into in my usual state of post-walk dishevelledness (yes I agree, that’s probably not a real word) was serving up top quality nouveau cuisine. Granted my minted lamb cutlets in red wine jus were delicious but after a day on the road I would have really preferred quantity of quality tonight.

Its not that the walk has been particularly long today (14-15 miles, sort of average really) but its been pretty warm again and the Cotswold Way has led me a merry dance up and down the hills all day. Nevertheless, I’m quite enjoying the Cotswold Way thus far and I’m even willing to forgive its somewhat eccentric course as long as that course continues to be a clear and trouble free as it has so far. I can understand the reasons behind its meandering journey North, this is certainly an area with a lot of history and the Way does its best to take it all in. There really is only so many forts, monuments, statues, churches, etc that one man can take in a single day however so I’ll admit to once again taking to the roads for an hour or two in order to cut a bit of a corner. I do feel a little disappointed to be missing these occasional stretches but I guess from a slightly mercenary point of view, my goal is to get to John O’ Groats and so any path that doesn’t head Northwards (however excellent) has to be considered expendable. Besides it gives me a good reason to come back and walk the Way in totality sometime in the future, preferably without the giant backpack though.

As to the bits that I did actually walk today, they were once again very pleasant, with the possible exception of the climb out of Wotton Under Edge which it has to be said was a complete killer. There does seem to be an annoying tendency for the hardest physical challenge of the day to occur within the last hour or so of the walk. Maybe it just seems more difficult because of the several hours of hiking that proceed it, or perhaps the chap who wrote my guide book is a touch on the sadistic side (I think this has already been firmly established with the Tiverton to Taunton fiasco). Either way, I suppose it makes me appreciate it all the more when I finally get to put my feet up at the end of the day and that feeling alone is almost worth the extra effort.

Endings, Musings and Thanks to All

Hey Folks,



As you've probably guessed from the title of this post and from the rather dashing photo of yours truly above, I have at long last completed my epic trek across the country! To be more precise, I actually finished my epic trek across the country back on the 30th of August at around 4:30pm some 98 days and 1100 miles after leaving Land's End.

Despite having officially hung up my boots about two weeks ago, the fact that I've actually finished still hasn't really hit home. I'm not sure at what point the knowledge that I've managed to walk the entire length of the country will dawn on me, but at the moment I'm still convinced that I'm merely taking a few days off and that I'll be back on the trail any day now. There's something very pure about focusing all your efforts getting from point A to point B and the therapeutic effect of doing this day after day should not be ignored by those yearning to escape the rat race of modern life. That said, I am quite glad that the challenge has been completed but I know I shall nonetheless miss the simple life of the rambler.

I would like to take a moment to thank any and all who have taken the time to read my blog, leave comments and generally show their support for my challenge. That support has made a big difference, especially back in my planning days when the expertise of the LEJOGing community proved invaluable on more than one occasion. Also, to all those who were kind enough to make a donation to Katharine House Hospice on my behalf, the total amount raised so far is in excess of £2500 and I've still got a few more donations to collect. This is absolutely fantastic, and I want to thank each and every one of you on the Hospice's behalf. Your money will make a big difference.

Apologies again that I was not able to keep up the day by day posting that I had naively planned for way back in May but as I said in my previous post on that topic it simply became too much for me to handle at the time and in the end getting the walk done was my top priority. Now that I'm back and getting back towards some semblance of normality (these last two weeks have been unbelievably busy) I shall finally start the process of writing up my daily notes and sticking them up here with the odd photo or two. Obviously some of the suspense will have been lost as you're now aware that I made it safe and sound, but for the sake of completeness and for my own satisfaction I shall be continuing to write my diary anyway although it may take me quite some time to finish the whole thing.

Anywho, thanks again to all of you out there in blog land. I couldn't have done it without you!

Chris

Still here, still going and getting closer!!

Greetings to all of you in blog land. Apologies that its been so long since the last update. In fact it has been so long that I've no idea what the most recent entry actually is (my Dad has been updating the blog from notes I've been sending through). I'm fairly certain it was from before I got to Stafford.

Rest assured however that I have not been putting my feet up for the last month or so, but I am in fact still trundling quite nicely up the country. Granted from my lack of posting lately you could hardly be blamed for thinking otherwise.

(Dad's note: As of today, 20th July, Chris is on day 59 of his epic trip and is well over half way. He is currently in Bellingham just South of the Scottish border and is still on target to finish the walk by 31st August.)

I'm going to be honest, in term of blogs I'm now so far behind that it seems unlikely that I will be able to catch myself up while I'm still on the trail. The problem is that after a long days walking, I usually reach my campsite around 4.30 to 5.00pm. I then spend the next hour or so setting up camp and trying to make myself more presentable by visiting the shower block. Feeling slightly more human, its time to do something about my raging appetite. The best fix for this little problem seems to be a visit to the nearest pub for an hour or so where I proceed to stuff my face with delicious (for most of the time) pub fayre.

By the time I return to my little canvas home (usually slightly less sober than when I left), it's invariably past 8.00pm and all I feel like doing is lying back, stretching my weary legs and listening to my iPod before getting some shut-eye, so that I can repeat the whole process again on the next day.

It becomes difficult finding time to write a short essay about my experiences on the trail that day. I've tried writing shorter entries; I've tried combining multiple days into a single blog entry but neither method really seems to work.

Instead, what I've decided to do is to continue to make my notes about the day but write them up properly and in full, once I have completed my journey at the end of August. It's not an ideal situation I know, but my concentration is fully engaged at the moment with keeping me moving North. That said, I've got a few days off in Edinburgh in just over a weeks time, so if I can find an internet cafe I'll try to post a little update.

Rest assured however that I am plodding purposefully on and seem to have found my rhythm (at long last). For now though, this is Chris Berry signing off until August 31st, after which I will update you with all of the gory details!!!. If you are in the vicinity of John o Groats on that day, maybe I'll see you there.

Day 21 - Trails, interrogations and a missing destination

Bath to Tormarton - 10/6/08

Today saw a significant milestone in my journey through the country. Up until now the majority of my days have been made up of roads, canals, rights of way and the occasional minor trail. BUT...today saw me join the first of the major national trails, the Cotswold Way, which I will be following for several days. Being a major national trail, the Cotswold Way is excellently waymarked (I could probably have managed without the maps today) and well walked by other intrepid hikers. This means that my experiences of hacking a path through the undergrowth should be behind me (for the time being at least) as the passage of hundreds of pairs of booted feet has already done the job.

Inevitably, the route had one last parting gift before I picked up the Way into Bath. When checking the map the morning before I noticed an old road that would take me directly from the campsite to the outskirts of Bath. I really should know better by now, but I decided to utilise this shortcut and then swiftly regretted it when it turned into a nettly, brambly nightmare after the first mile. I seem to have a talent for picking these seldom used (for seldom read never) routes, which annoyingly have a habit of turning shortcuts into exhausting slogs.

Still, when I finally did reach the start of the Cotswold Way (not the actual start, but the start as far as I was concerned), it made me appreciate the wide open, easy trail even more. Joining a national trail also had other effects. Today was the first day since leaving Lands End, well over 200 miles ago, that I've encountered other hikers. Weirdly, one of the first chaps I bumped into happened to be chair of the local long distance walking club. While he has never done a full end to end, he has done most of the national trails and he seemed to approve of my selection. Having passed my interrogation, I continued to wind my way gradually Northwards.

That is the one problem with the Cotswold Way; it appears to have a real problem going in straight lines and tends to opt for an extra few miles of winding in order to bypass a 50 yard stretch of road. It's something I remember reading about in Mark Moxon's fine publication and now that I'm here, I do see his point. Having spent most of the last 3 weeks walking along roads, I've got no problem with using them in order to cut off some of these redundant twisting sections. That's not to say that I will be abandoning the Way entirely (after all, it is easier on the feet and blessed with some terrific views), but if it starts to veer wildly off course and I can see no major benefit to it, I'm going to look for an alternative.

That quibble aside, the walk today has been exceedingly pleasant although the heat was a tad overpowering again. I never thought I'd say this, but I would actually welcome a spell of cooler weather. Lugging my pack up and down hills tends to warm me up plenty on its own. Nevertheless, everything was going pretty smoothly, right up until I reached Tormarton (my destination for the day), when I realised that I didn't actually know where the campsite was. Actually, campsite is a bit misleading. I'm staying at a B&B that has given me permission to camp in their garden due to a chronic shortage of campsites along this part of the Way.

After a call to HQ (my folks) I had a street name and a grid reference, both of which I located but still to no avail. Every B&B I've ever stayed in has some sort of sign outside, proclaiming it as such and my downfall in this case was that this B&B had absolutely no outward indication of its B&B nature. Assuming it to be just another house in a street full of houses, I walked straight past it several times before giving up and knocking on the first door to ask for directions.

Not knowing that this was the place, it was slightly unnerving when I was greeted with "Ah, you must be Chris, we've been expecting you". After a moment of panic that I'd stumbled across a community of LEJOG stalkers, it was confirmed that I was actually in the right place. Think I'll stick to the official campsites from now on - at least the tents are a bit of a giveaway.

Day 20 - Lethargy......

Chilcompton to Bath - 9/6/08

At last, it seems the weather is finally on my side. Today was another scorcher and whilst this might cause me to sweat even more profusely than usual (and that is bad enough) at least I can chill out in the sunshine after reaching camp. Even better, today turned out to be a pretty short day by my standards, which means I have maximum time to be lazy. The only downside to short days is that it makes writing an interesting blog entry something of a challenge. I suppose I shouldn't complain. After the last few days, it's quite pleasant to have an uneventful walk.

The route for today was largely along the roads, which is far from ideal but at least you can be certain that the way will be clear of excessive foliage. The oppressive heat (I know - I'm never satisfied) did make the going slightly tougher than it ought to have been but it was far from the most challenging day I've had.

Probably the hardest (but certainly the most interesting) part of the day came when I finally abandoned my tarmac friend and took an old byway in order to cut quite a sizeable corner. It started innocently enough; the surface wasn't great but you could still easily drive along it if you took it steady. As I descended further into the valley, small streams started to appear along the road, shallow at first and then progressively deeper and wider so that eventually I found myself walking along an increasingly narrow embankment. To top it all off, there were a series of steep drops where the original road had obviously subsided due to its new watery status.

What surprised me most, as I slowly clambered down this natural obstacle, were the tyre tracks. This track was long past the point that it could be called a road and yet people still seemingly used it as such. I presume it must be used by some local off-roading club, but I suppose its possible that some navigationally challenged but optimistic motorists might have attempted to force their way through. I'm both disappointed and glad not to have been witness to such an act of lunacy. While the attempt would surely be spectacular, being roped into pushing them back up the slope would have seriously eaten into my sunbathing time.