Well, after the various crises and demands of the past few weeks, I am at last able to begin thinking about getting back on track. First off is to find a slot when I can start The Walk. And I’m really pleased that I can now revert to my original hope to be able to do the whole thing in one or two legs*, instead of smaller chunks of a couple of days each.
Lots of things have inspired me to this plan. Reading books about pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela. Books about walking (Robert Macfarlane in particular). And most recently (well, last year) reading Cathy Dreyer’s blog Short Circuit. Like many others, I came across Cathy’s blog via Clare Balding’s Ramblings programme on Radio 4. If you want to hear the programme, it’s still available to download as a podcast(click on the link).
What Cathy did was to revisit the same (local) walk every day for a year, and record on her blog something about what she saw, her thoughts and musings on the experience. It’s a very interesting read, very honest and thought-provoking. I found it fascinating, and it reminded me of the fact that we don’t need to go far to travel a long way.
Hence I stopped thinking about my walk as something to do elsewhere, and began to think about what I already have on my doorstep.
What I’d like to do is walk from Bath to Reading in one go, and then return after a few days and do the Reading to Greenwich stretch. I’m not sure at the moment whether a straight 10 days walk will suit me or not. I’ll continue to think about it before making any decisions.
My first task is to arrange to visit St Alphege’s church in Bath. Despite having lived nearby for well over 20 years, I’m ashamed to say I’ve not yet been inside. Hopefully that will be remedied shortly.
Next up is decide on a start date, and arrange overnight accommodation.
* yes, pun intended. I can never resist one. As the badge my son gave me says, a pun is its own reword.
the magic jug 