After a week's relative rest - only 7.8 miles in the week instead of the 20-30 miles per week I'd been doing for the previous three weeks - my legs and mind were itching to get out so I found a linear route on the map and caught a taxi to Water Stratford. After tightening my boots and checking the GPS I set out across the fields.
Once again I'd sat in the office indecisive about whether I should go out or not, on the brink of saying "Ah, screw it!" and sitting on my backside for the evening. By the time I was half-way to Water Stratford in the car I was excited; by the end of the first field I was elated and beaming. There should never be any doubt as to whether it's a good idea to go for a walk.
Field turned to track turned to cut-grass bridleway. The track ran out in the direction I wanted to go so I diverted to the road and walked a couple of hundred metres to a right turn toward Fields Barn. Passing this industrious farm and some lovely little houses, I crossed a minor road and headed down then uphill to the church at Westbury, with its small tower and picturesque graves.
Westbury is a pretty village in parts. Low thatched eaves jut into the path next to the main road, the village hall and Reindeer pub seem welcoming and if it wasn't for a busy main road running past, it would be lovely. However, it was only 200m of my route so I crossed the road and traversed more corn fields past the grass dryer which offered a smell of moist, warm grass to drift on the wind.
After struggling with a couple of overgrown paths I came to a minor road and a sign for Westbury circular ride which pointed into some woods. It was here I decided to tag-on a small circuit to increase the length of the walk and I'm pleased I did/aching because of it. The extra 2.8 miles brought the total for this walk to 15.8 miles which is a new record, although my tendons are tight and the soles of my feet ache somewhat today. I had to push myself to complete the walk and I'm glad it ended when it did, although I think I probably could have gone another mile or two after a short rest. One thing to note about these recent longer walks is thay they've mostly been non-stop, or at least only five-minute breaks to check position or take the weight off briefly. I'm convinced this is the reason for my dramatic weight loss, the constant relentless exercise not giving my body a chance to wind down and back up again between bouts of activity. I don't know if this is good for me or not but I feel fantastic while I'm doing it and afterwards, I sleep very well and it seems to balance my appetite, which is a bonus.
I recognised the spot on the road as the starting point for a walk with my parents, which I appear to have missed from my blog. The woods were peaceful and transformed into an enclosed path that continued for a kilometre and opened up to a view of an aerodrome I'd categorically failed to spot on the map! I was looking only for a suitable circuit to add to my walk and didn't even notice the bloody big airstrip it went through! There's a lesson here.
The path crosses the edge of the aerodrome and heads about 200m past some industrial units, then cuts back across a field toward the hangars. Light aircraft were parked outside and cars and vans were regularly on the move. A yellow stunt plane roared into the sky and scattered birds. I passed the buildings and crossed some tarmac to the track which skirted the edge of the airfield. I watched the stunt plane do tumbles and twists way up in the sky then come down to land and taxi to the hangars, before turning off and heading back along the bridleway to the road and my starting point.
I followed the bridleway toward Wood Green, which wound up and down through lovely woods for some distance then bisected Evershaw and New Copses to the road. The tarmac led to Wood Green and I took a five-minute break to rearrange my map and have a banana. I decided to head to Stowe Woods and return through Akeley Wood instead of my original intention to head straight through Stowe and Chackmore to get home. Fifty metres past the houses and my only real frustration of the walk, where a choice of paths should have been available but only the southern path could be seen. This turned to my advantage as the path was pretty and it meant I had an opportunity to pass the playground in Dadford where I used to play as a child, almost thirty years ago. It feels odd putting local memories into context by referring to them as three decades ago; I still don't feel old but I think references like this will start the process!
Along High Street and up the hill to the footpath, through a large field of tall reeds I've seen before but not in such numbers. The reeds eventually opened out into a big, sweeping, hilly field and after a few hundred metres I began to feel like I'd missed a path and was lost. I stood and got a grid reference - I was about 200m off so I followed the verge of a corn field, spotting from afar the path cutting through the crop. Instead of trying to take up the path I hopped a barbed-wire fence at a convenient point and followed the hedge to a gate and to the entrance to Stowe Woods.
The path headed down and east past two horses - the grey was certain I had an apple in my bag and wouldn't let me save half for the other horse - uphill and a wave from a rider, then south-south-east along an apparently perfectly straight path which wound its way along and through the outskirts of the Stowe grounds. I passed a lady with three charismatic border-collies and a jack russel before reaching the track which took me to the road to Akeley Wood.
At this point I was starting to regret taking the longer route home. My legs and the soles of my feet were starting to ache and my right knee was telling me it was too much, but I pushed on through the 'private' road and along the tarmac into Akeley. As I approached my intended rest spot the clouds broke and made my ten-minute break most enjoyable in the late evening sunshine. I notice my GPS had run out of battery but estimated my distance by this point at 14 miles, which is a great distance to do before any real break to rest my feet.
The final stomp home along regular paths between Akeley and Maids Moreton was considerably eased by the break; I think if I'd have carried on without stopping I'd be in considerable pain today. I'm really pleased with the progress I've made over the past month or two, as to have attempted this distance three months ago would probably have broken me. I'm aiming for twenty miles non-stop - something daughter challenged me to last year. It's been at the back of my mind through all these miles across the local area and I'll be very pleased with myself when I can do twenty miles in a day. The non-stop part is my own personal goal which I think is totally achieveable. The next target is to do fifteen to twenty miles on two consecutive days, then three, then more, in an aim to walk to the coast at Canvey Island later in the year.
