Wednesday, 16 January 2013
Sunday, 13 January 2013
Saturday, 12 January 2013
1st day of the Cumbria way
Cumbria Way 1st Day: likes the route 'Cumbria Way' on Endomondo.
I know it's a while yet, but from my map I have plotted roughly, our first day of the Cumbria Way onto my phone app. I know it may sound a bit geeky, but.....well it's good fun :-)
I know it's a while yet, but from my map I have plotted roughly, our first day of the Cumbria Way onto my phone app. I know it may sound a bit geeky, but.....well it's good fun :-)
Sunday, 6 January 2013
Lubenham to Foxton Locks Walk
Today Paul, Russ, Richard, Tim, Andrew and Liz (Andrews Mother-in-law) embarked on a 12 mile walk in the fog from Lubenham. The weather was fine, as was the tour we received from Paul. We had a little stop at Foxton Locks for refreshments before finishing the last three miles.
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| Paul promised us some spectacular views. We are still waiting. |
Friday, 28 December 2012
South Kilworth / Welford Practice Walk
Hello everyone!
Apologies we have not updated recently. Today Russ, Paul and Andrew opted to show the rain who's boss and take a gentle 10 mile walk from South Kilworth via Welford, and a couple of new reservoirs that seemed to have crept themselves onto the route over the last couple of months. The walk was a pleasant one which re-united us with the familiar routes we took earlier in the year during our training for Hadrian's Wall, and helped blow out the cob webs from over indulging during the festivities that have just passed.
The route we took is on the link below (new reservoirs not included)
Russ, Paul & Andrew: were out hiking 10.21 miles in 3h:06m:
Apologies we have not updated recently. Today Russ, Paul and Andrew opted to show the rain who's boss and take a gentle 10 mile walk from South Kilworth via Welford, and a couple of new reservoirs that seemed to have crept themselves onto the route over the last couple of months. The walk was a pleasant one which re-united us with the familiar routes we took earlier in the year during our training for Hadrian's Wall, and helped blow out the cob webs from over indulging during the festivities that have just passed.
The route we took is on the link below (new reservoirs not included)
Russ, Paul & Andrew: were out hiking 10.21 miles in 3h:06m:
Monday, 24 September 2012
Practice Walk - Welford
Hi Folks,
Russ, Tim, Andrew, Paul and Richard set off on Sunday morning for a nice twelve mile stroll in the countryside. What you expect to see are fields, hills, cows (Russ's nemesis) and sheep. The last thing you expect to see is an angry, middle aged, portly, cyclist in Spandex and yellow goggles charging down the road at Russ shouting "you're gonna have it now". I don't know what it was that he wanted to give Russ but he didn't give him anything. The cyclist stuck to the back of Russ's backpack where Tim pealed him off and sent him on his way. No punches flew, just a lot of verbal.
The cyclists main issue was that just before the fisty-cuffs Paul had driven past him, the nerve. He was cycling two abreast with a number of other cyclists when we drove up behind them. The others moved over but he obviously didn't like having to move over to let us past so he swerved out in front of the car and made Paul stop in the road before the cyclists then peddled off again.
Of course, the start of our walk began from a lay-by four hundred yards down the road so we were bound to meet the cyclists again. I think he chose Russ to have a go at because he is the shortest in the group and the rest of us looked too tough to take on, (ehem).
Anyway, the rest of the walk was uneventful until Russ needed to use his trowel, but I don't want to talk about that.
There is no track today, I forgot to take the tracker.
Russ, Tim, Andrew, Paul and Richard set off on Sunday morning for a nice twelve mile stroll in the countryside. What you expect to see are fields, hills, cows (Russ's nemesis) and sheep. The last thing you expect to see is an angry, middle aged, portly, cyclist in Spandex and yellow goggles charging down the road at Russ shouting "you're gonna have it now". I don't know what it was that he wanted to give Russ but he didn't give him anything. The cyclist stuck to the back of Russ's backpack where Tim pealed him off and sent him on his way. No punches flew, just a lot of verbal.
The cyclists main issue was that just before the fisty-cuffs Paul had driven past him, the nerve. He was cycling two abreast with a number of other cyclists when we drove up behind them. The others moved over but he obviously didn't like having to move over to let us past so he swerved out in front of the car and made Paul stop in the road before the cyclists then peddled off again.
Of course, the start of our walk began from a lay-by four hundred yards down the road so we were bound to meet the cyclists again. I think he chose Russ to have a go at because he is the shortest in the group and the rest of us looked too tough to take on, (ehem).
Anyway, the rest of the walk was uneventful until Russ needed to use his trowel, but I don't want to talk about that.
There is no track today, I forgot to take the tracker.
Monday, 3 September 2012
Sunday, 12 August 2012
Few more pics
Look who we found.......Ray is trying to look interested :-)
What a fantastic morning's walk and some breathtaking views along the peaceful surroundings of the Grand Union Canal.
Foxton Locks
Paul, Tim, Russ, Andrew and Richard all set off at 9am this morning for a little 12 mile walk taking in Foxton Locks. Paul planned the route and set the timings so that we would arrive at the Foxton Locks Inn around midday. A welcome break it was too. The weather was hot and sunny.
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| This crop has grown a little since we last walked through here! |
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| A rickety old bridge. Paul remembers this being built. |
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| Tim and Paul taking point. |
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| Russ is going to drop his second hand kayak in this, The Drama Queen. (That's the name of his boat, not his personality). |
Wednesday, 8 August 2012
Sunday, 29 July 2012
Cat Bells in the Lake District
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| Keswick over Derwent Water |
Amanda and I took to the Lake District this weekend. Keswick, next to Derwent Water. We took a little walk up Cat Bells, 1484 ft high. The view was stunning, even through the sheets of rain and gale force winds.
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| Our Route |
Saturday, 23 June 2012
Zoe's Place cheque presentation
Hi all,
On Thursday I had the privilege of presenting a cheque for £9145.00 for my chosen charity for the walk Zoe's Place baby hospice. That included £7500 that Fortec (my place of work) raised at a raffle on their annual work do. 21st June 2012 marked Zoe's Place (Coventry) 1st year anniversary, and being there certainly opens your eyes, and pulls at those heart strings. I have asked for a photo from the photographer that was there, so as soon as I have some I will post them to the blog.
THANK YOU again to all of those who sponsored me for the walk. Zoe's Place is a unique place, and a very worthy charity. To care for 1x child in 24hr's costs around £500, so every penny counts that goes towards this very special hospice.
Andrew
x
Saturday, 16 June 2012
Poll Results
The polls have closed and the results are in.
Russ seems to have been our blog readers favourite walker by far. I'm not entirely sure why because although Russ is an excellent blogger Andrew did a brilliant and enthusiastic job of blogging throughout the walk too. Russ must have spent a small fortune on all those bribes.
Congratulations to those who thought Simon would be the first to break down, although it was a close run thing with Paul suffering quite badly with blisters. He welcomed the Vindolanda day trip break which gave his feet time to recover. No such congratulations to those of you who thought that I would be the first to break down, I went all the way with barely a whimper.
GPS Tracks For Hadrian's Wall
I have created a page containing the GPS tracks that I recorded on each day of our 99 mile walk along Hadrian's Wall. That distance does not include the distances to and from the various pubs that we visited in the evenings.
The page is here.
The page is here.
Saturday, 2 June 2012
Keswick.........
.........and what a beautiful place it is.
With the Kings arms shut in Bowness we rang the local taxi company and he advised us to pop to the tea rooms whilst we waited. We limped the 300yrds down to the tearooms and were welcomed with grace as we have been all week. We chose to sit outside as going in would mean all of us taking our boots off, as it was a B&B as well, and we all knew that doing that would probably close the business down.
The service was exceptional and it was like having tea in The Alice of Wonderland, served with delicious piece of Dundee cake soaked, and I mean soaked in Brandy.
After a well earned cup of tea and Dundee cake we slowly proceeded to the taxi with Paul in the front entertaining the driver on route to Carlisle where we would catch the bus to Penrith and then the final bus to Keswick.
Once in Carlisle (the driver survived) Richard had to find a chemist for some travel sickness pills, as the rest of us double checked the bus times and which bus to get (as advised by Dawn). The bus for Penrith arrived spot on time and we scrambled onto the bus with only Paul braving the stairs to the top of the Double decker bus.
Once in Penrith we had about a half an hr wait for the bus to Keswick, so we popped over the road from the bus station to the Local pub and had a swift pint for the road. Penrith was a small town with plenty of character, but with only being there for half an hr I can't really say much about it.
The route from Penrith to Keswick was spectacular with the Lake District opening up in front of you and the mountains hidden from the low cloud left a lot to the imagination to what they would look like on a clear day.
So we pitched tent at the well chosen camp site with views of Catbells and Skiddaw surrounding Derwent water. The walk to Keswick town centre was a short 10 minute walk, so we got some fish and chips and ate them in the busy Market Square before heading to the pub for a celebratory drink.
To wake up the next morning with the views we had was just staggering and we were all sad to say goodbye to a wonderful week that was filled with laughter, and a group of friends that you couldn't ask any more, of it was just fantastic. The six of us took the short walk to the town centre and all ordered a big fat boy full English breakfast, and with Tim amongst us we thought he was going to order a 2nd! I've never seen anyone eat as much and be only the same build as me!! (I swear he has hollow legs). After breakfast, we went our seperate ways to wonder round the many shops of Keswick to get something for our gorgeous wives, headed back to camp and soaked up the majestic views one last time before the taxi arrived.
A fantastic week was had by all as we look forward to the next challenge. I really hope you've enjoyed the blogs and following our progress throughout the week.
Andrew
xx
With the Kings arms shut in Bowness we rang the local taxi company and he advised us to pop to the tea rooms whilst we waited. We limped the 300yrds down to the tearooms and were welcomed with grace as we have been all week. We chose to sit outside as going in would mean all of us taking our boots off, as it was a B&B as well, and we all knew that doing that would probably close the business down.
The service was exceptional and it was like having tea in The Alice of Wonderland, served with delicious piece of Dundee cake soaked, and I mean soaked in Brandy.
After a well earned cup of tea and Dundee cake we slowly proceeded to the taxi with Paul in the front entertaining the driver on route to Carlisle where we would catch the bus to Penrith and then the final bus to Keswick.
Once in Carlisle (the driver survived) Richard had to find a chemist for some travel sickness pills, as the rest of us double checked the bus times and which bus to get (as advised by Dawn). The bus for Penrith arrived spot on time and we scrambled onto the bus with only Paul braving the stairs to the top of the Double decker bus.
Once in Penrith we had about a half an hr wait for the bus to Keswick, so we popped over the road from the bus station to the Local pub and had a swift pint for the road. Penrith was a small town with plenty of character, but with only being there for half an hr I can't really say much about it.
The route from Penrith to Keswick was spectacular with the Lake District opening up in front of you and the mountains hidden from the low cloud left a lot to the imagination to what they would look like on a clear day.
So we pitched tent at the well chosen camp site with views of Catbells and Skiddaw surrounding Derwent water. The walk to Keswick town centre was a short 10 minute walk, so we got some fish and chips and ate them in the busy Market Square before heading to the pub for a celebratory drink.
To wake up the next morning with the views we had was just staggering and we were all sad to say goodbye to a wonderful week that was filled with laughter, and a group of friends that you couldn't ask any more, of it was just fantastic. The six of us took the short walk to the town centre and all ordered a big fat boy full English breakfast, and with Tim amongst us we thought he was going to order a 2nd! I've never seen anyone eat as much and be only the same build as me!! (I swear he has hollow legs). After breakfast, we went our seperate ways to wonder round the many shops of Keswick to get something for our gorgeous wives, headed back to camp and soaked up the majestic views one last time before the taxi arrived.
A fantastic week was had by all as we look forward to the next challenge. I really hope you've enjoyed the blogs and following our progress throughout the week.
Andrew
xx
Friday, 1 June 2012
We've done it!!
Well what a walk that was, all 6 of us are just waiting for a taxi now to take us back to Carlisle. Ironically the pub in Bowness is shut! Cries were heard in Newcastle. Will be back later with a detailed summary of today.
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