This Trailwalker thing ain’t that easy.....?

Date: Sun 29th June 2008

Distance: 32 kms

Location: South Downs Way, Washington to Plumpton

Conditions: A lot better than last weekend....

Weather: Sunny, warm & windy up high

Participants: Nik, Pip, Wol & Gee

Day 2 of the final full training weekend began with everyone feeling somewhat jaded, due to lagered up neighbours coming home at 4 a.m. & deciding to wake up everyone on the campsite. Cheers lads, you’re lucky someone didn’t do the foil-in-the-dustcap trick on you.

After a breakfast & car drop off session we headed off back on our way around about 10. First challenge was to re-climb the hill out of Washington. It didn’t seem so bad this time, though that was probably due to benefiting from at least a couple of hours snooze-battery recharge.

We traipsed on eastwards, but we all seemed to be suffering both physically and mentally. From blisters and the normal aches & pains to flagging motivation, I think we all found today a wake up call. It’s one thing to clock up miles & miles yomping through sunny Hertfordshire, but completely another on the actual route we’re doing in 3 weeks time. Constant ups & downs take their toll on all counts....oh yes, & the pesky non bell ringing cyclists don’t help!

After the first of 2 support stops we had to detour off through a somewhere called Upper Beeding, passing a pub enroute. It was then that we came face to face with Beeding Hill. It must have been fatigue but we misread this as Bleeding Hill. What can I say. Well, I suggest bleeding could perhaps be amended to something else, but, as this blog is family friendly, I won’t. ½ mile up a 1 in 4 gradient in a more or less straight line wasn’t exactly easy going. Possibly the meanest incline we’ve come across. Even mountain man Gee had met his match. The only plus point was getting to the top, which was fulfilling...until a hard looking Ghurkha type appeared behind us, looking like he’d just skipped up said hill, not even breaking sweat. I’m guessing we won’t be challenging the Ghurkhas for the fastest time on the day.....

Our second support meet was at the popular tourist spot of Devil’s Dyke. By this time Nik’s injury was causing jip, so she took the sensible decision to retire early & return home in the Wol Bus. Hopefully, a week’s rest will get our favourite walking fuehrer back to full fitness.

After saying a final farewell to the support team & Mrs P, the 3 amigos trekked on, for the final 15kms, passing through Pyecombe then on to previously walked territory of Ditchling Beacon, finally exiting the route at Plumpton.

Finally back in the Stilo we headed off back home. A warning to anyone who is given the job of map reading by Robbo. They’d better be prepared to answer to a hard task master. If you don’t give a decision within a nano split second he’s on your case. A ball ache of a journey up the A23, M23 then M25 was made slightly better by a green coach from Halesowen, a Peugeot 106 and Terminal 5. What goes on tour......

I’d like to take this opportunity to say a huge thanks to Paula and her 3 able assistants, for the brilliant support job they did over the weekend. Without them things would have been a lot harder and it emphasises what a crucial role they’ll play on the day...Cheers Family Wol!!

Gee

Double-header Down South...

Date: Sat 28th June
Distance: 35 kms
Location: South Downs Way, Hilltop Farm to Washington
Conditions: Generally decent under-foot...
Weather: Sunny and warm
Participants: Nik, Pip, Wol & Gee

And so we set off in convoy early on Saturday morning to make our way down to the South Downs Way to start our weekend of walking. The plan was to complete about 35km on both Saturday and Sunday and cover 6 stages of the course we'd be walking on the big day.

We made good time on the car journey, arrived at our camp-site (which seemed rather pricey, as they charged for tents, cars and people) and quickly pitched our tents (quickly in relative terms, given we had to erect the Enormo-dome that is the Wol tent).

Whilst Mrs W and the kids finished the final touches to the tent, the walkers set off by car to Checkpoint 2 (Hilltop farm). The 35 minutes it took us to get there gave us a pretty good idea of how far we'd have to walk to get back to the campsite, but undeterred by this we set off up the hill. This seemed the most difficult part of this stage as the rest was reasonably flat. so it seemed to be no time at all before we were meeting up with family Wol and the support vehicle beyond Checkpoint 3 and 2 hours into the walk. After a quick stop we headed off, negotiating a few more ups and downs to give the legs a bit of a workout before meeting the support crew again for a hot meal (well done Paula for another great meals-on-wheels offering).

Couldn't help thinking that with only a few weeks to go, we'd have to walk 3 times what we were doing today, and although the novelty of the whole event will help us, we decided we needed to make sure we were prepared for the mental challenge of plodding away for 24 hours (so a few quiz books will be carried for when conversation dries up and the grey matter needs stimulating). Having said that, the thought of Lurch greeting us at every checkpoint in his Pink Panther outfit should give us a welcome boost of morale....

We finished the day with a walk through and a loop around the village of Washington. This allowed us to locate the pub that we'd later visit for a few pints and something to eat, and also witness the unusual plethora of scarecrow celebrities that adorned the churchyard, pub and many gardens in the village. All a bit spooky as dusk descended - felt a bit "Children of the Corn"...

So feeling a bit jaded, but otherwise OK, we arrived back at the campsite. After retrieving the car from the start point, and having a shower, we headed off to the pub for some grub, blissfully unware we going to have a rubbish night's sleep and a rather challenging second day.

Ho hum.

Wol.

How long is a piece of string.....?

Date: Sun 22nd June 2008

Distance: 43.8 kms

Location: Hertford, Watton, Haultwick, Wadesmill, Tonwell

Conditions: A lot better than last weekend....

Weather: Generally sunny but with a gusty breeze throughout

Participants: Wol & Gee

With Lurch having hung up his boots, & the Robbos away up in the Fens, it was left to Wol & Gee to take on the mantle of this weekend’s yomp, another 8 hour-er....After being scolded last weekend for missing out on the odd mid weeker I’m not sure whether Pip’s flat 5 hours falls within the strict guidelines laid down by the Pot training regime.

In order to make things a bit more convenient for the support team (Paula & Family Wol) we chose a local route, starting & ending in Hertford, taking in the sights & sounds of the picturesque villages & scenery north of Hertford.
A 7.45 a.m. departure from Wisdom Drive (was supposed to be 7.30, but Woltime was in operation), heading down to Hertford East, across Hartham, then onwards towards the now familiar territory of Waterford, Stapleford & Watton. Such was the early pace we seemed to be setting that we decided to put back the first Support rendezvous location. We didn’t seem to be walking at a particularly faster pace but it was probably the more conducive walking conditions, i.e. no long grass, deep mud or unmarked fields of wheat etc etc, compared to last week. The issue of how quickly we were progressing started to plant concern in Gee’s mind. This was due to the technique used to measure the planned route. RealBuzz? Nope, a piece of string. What was supposed to be a 36km walk seemed widely overstated, with a more realistic estimate being round the 30k mark....more of this later.

The first support team meet up was in a small ‘village’ of Haultwick, a place possibly twinned with Royston Vasey. The pub, ironically called Rest & Welcome, looked like a recently converted Little Chef. We were half expecting a local to come out, from behind their net curtains, & order the Wol boys & their football, off the village green.

After taking on nourishment, the intrepid duo said adieu to Support, and headed onwards. There seems to be a lot of places round Hertfordshire with ‘Green’ in the name. One such place was our next through destination, Potter’s Green. Luckily we were not accosted by any spotty little spell chuckers, although maybe this can be blamed for missing the footpath sign. After quickly getting back on track we rambled onwards. The issue of distance, or lack of, brought us to make the decision to build in a Robbo detour, in order to avoid being ¾ hour early for the next Support stop. We also managed to add in a bit more distance when Gee decided to ignore the sign & head off through what looked like puddles of toxic industrial waste. A quick circle rectified the situation & we were back on track to Wadesmill. Somewhere along the route eagle-eyed Wol spotted a new addition to the wildlife collection. Any similarities to a recently retired colleague are purely coincidental.

The add-on detour allowed us to arrive on time at our second Support pit stop, in Tonwell. Is it pronounced Ton-well or Ton’ell? Answers on a postcard, if anybody actually cares... Lack of a church means you have to make do with the rather unattractive water tower. A veritable food treat ensued, with a great beef stew dished up by Mrs Wol, as a tester to see how we coped after taking on a proper meal, rather than copious nutrigrain bars or bags of haribo. A right touch, so something for Lurch to aspire to. The response to ‘can we have x’ should not be met with an emphatic ‘who do you think i am, Aisley Harriott’. Lurch, you should be catering to the nutritional requirements & requests of your team........

The last leg took us back onto familiar, previously walked territory, as we trekked back into Bengeo. Although the conditions seemed easier than previous weeks it did seem to cause Wol major problems with his feet, which seemed to cause him gip after about 4 hours. Maybe it was the increased road walking, but needs to be considered for the remaining training & main event.

Sticking to the plan to be out for 9 hours, we decided to throw in an extra trip down the Cole Green Way, which unfortunately involved walking past the front door of the Black Horse. As tempting as it was to go in, we stuck to the plan, hobbling on for the extra hour, before finally returning to the pub, exactly 9 hours after starting out.

Thanks once again to Paula & the support crew for the pit stops & beef stew, and the Black Horse for the cold Fosters. Not long to go now........

PS It turns out that string is king when it comes to measuring on an OS map. My doubt about the trek length proved unfounded, as the original distance was 37km. With the additional add ons we clocked out at a mighty 43.8km. Getting on for half distance....G.I.T.

Gee

Terrington or Bust...

Distance: 32kms (19.5 miles)
Location: Peter Scott Way, The Wash
Conditions: 100% flat
Weather: Grey, Wet, Windy & Steamy
Participants: Pip

Mrs P's injury meant that I had to head off into the desolation that is the West Norfolk Coast line between The Nene and The Ouse. Starting point was Mrs R Snrs at Walpole Cross Keys as we were in Norfolk for the weekend. With light drizzle above, the speed walking commenced as I headed along the old A17 to Sutton Bridge.

Interesting fact number 1: According to my Grandad, Charlie Chaplin lived the other side of Sutton Bridge.
I guess Hollywood is the other side of Sutton Bridge but I can't help think he was telling porkies - not that I doubted him at the time! Also during the '78 world cup, I also seem to remember Argentina being the other side of Sutton Bridge as well....

Nothing else exciting to report, Sutton Bridge looked liked Sutton Bridge always has looked with the Bridge Hotel continuing to hang onto its existence. The walk down past Port Sutton Bridge was the last semblance of humanity I would see for 3 hours. After turning the corner at the end of the Nene, the rain started to lash down. The next 2 hours would see me reliving the buns (the only points of interest on this part of the coast). At Terrington Marsh I had some fond recollections of my youth of getting stuck in the mud, climbing over wrecks and gathering samphire.

Interesting fact number 2: King John was meant to have lost his jewels in this part of the world - a perfect way for my folks to keep me under control as a nipper as I'd spend hours searching for them on the same
field only to remain disapointed.

Onwards and not upwards (it is the marsh after all) and I reached the Ouse at Kings Lynn. My own speed records being smashed meant that I was sweating like a pig inside my plastic overalls. Off they all came as I
headed back to Terrington to be picked up by the support crew.

Other things spotted - 2 pill boxes (probably occupied at some time by my Grandad in his Dads Army days), 1 oyster catcher, 5 people and 1 hoodie who put his rubbish in the bin going to prove you shouldn't judge people by their appearance.

1/3rd distance in 5 hours - shame the South Downs aren't as flat as the Fens.

Pip.

Ryan is a 27 year old sales professional...

Date: Sunday 15th June 2008

Distance: 40kms (25 miles)

Location: Royston, Cottered, Watton-at-Stone, Hertford

Conditions: Mainly flat, some poor quality / non-existent footpaths

Weather: Dry, Cloudy with some some sunny spells

Participants: Pip, Nik, Wol, Gee, Lurch

And so onto our longest walk to-date as we enter the last few weeks of intensive training before the big event. Today we planned to walk from Royston back to Hertford. We also used this as an opportunity to practice the deployment of the support crew and vehicle. so the whole team were in action (including a few youngsters for good measure).

We arrived at Royston for an 8am start, the support vehicle (the Wol bus) dropping everyone off in the bus-station car-park. It was quite nice to leave half our stuff in the car and contend with lighter ruck-sacks, however Lurch was clearly uncomfortable with the idea of being separated from his sandwiches for 3 hours...

Anyway, off we set, up the hill to the hospital and then hitting the footpaths of the Chain Walks. Once again, some new accessories were being aired, my Buff being a classic addition to the Wol-wear collection (an item which I believe other members of the team secretly admired, but were afraid to admit). Anyway, it helped pass a few minutes, as I demonstrated its various uses...

The going was pretty easy to start off with and the time of the first meeting with the support crew never seemed in doubt, however, the poor quality of some of the footpaths, the non-existent re-instatement of paths across fields, and locked gates had a detrimental effect on our pace and after cheerily phoning through some requests for additional snack items, we then had to sheepishly admit to being nearly half an hour behind time - a great test for the adaptability (and patience) of the support crew...

It was definitely a case of "more haste, less speed" as I became the first official faller of our trailwalker challenge. When climbing over one of the locked gates, my foot slipped off the metal bar and in an instinctive manoeuvre to avoid crushing my crown jewels, I rather un-gracefully tumbled over - thankfully into long clean grass - no damage done.

We eventually made our rendez-vous with the support-crew and tucked into our supplies. The creative talents of the kiddy-winks had been put into action and had adorned the Wol-bus with various posters - fantastic. We could sense that Lurch (as chief support vehicle decorator) was feeling a little under pressure, and I did wonder for a moment how good a job he'd be able to do in the rather restrictive Pink Panther suit he'd be wearing on the day...

Anyway. after a decent break (and being chivvied along by an officious pub employee who wanted us out of their car park - not as though they were open or anything!), we reluctantly parted company with the support crew and headed-off for another 3 hours before we'd meet-up with them again (after making some tongue-in-cheek requests for Angel Delight at the next stop). This section was bit more on track as regards predicted pace, but still threw up some challanges, especially when we encountered the quagmire on the Roman Road near Moor Green. This proved to be rather tricky and we all got quite muddy - some taking on water in their boots, which could have been the cause of some foot-discomfort later...

We passed the time by chatting, eating lots of sweets and also "helping" Pip with some ideas for a presentation that he had to finish preparing for Monday - not sure we helped much, but it provided some entertainment, drew a cracking Lee "that's what I'm talking about" McQueen impersonation out of Pip and helped pass the time - that, along with providing Lurch with a ridiculous "rider" of food items for the big day (including Earl Grey in china cups and cream teas - the scones freshly baked in a travel oven).

So, nearly 7 hours after starting we had our second meeting with the support crew, had a quick break (which included Angel Delight!) and steeled ourselves for the final couple of hours. Eldest son joined us for the final leg (seemed a nice gesture, given it was Father's Day, but then realised he was meant to be at home, revising). Through Watton to Stapleford where we hit very familiar ground and realised we weren't too far away now. The usual last half-hour psychological melt-down kicked in, legs started getting a bit cranky and the feet were getting sore, but eventually the pub-sign was in sight, and 9 hours after starting out, we were slumped in the beer garden, kicking off out boots and knocking back a cold lager.

I think most of us are experiencing some stiffness, blisters, etc today, but it was a great effort and achievement by the whole team - well done to Gee for route-planning and map-reading. Big thanks to the support crew, and to Lurch for the lollies. Also, extreme gratitude to the other halves and kids for letting the Dads disappear for most of Fathers' Day.

Wol.

Tomato wheat crunchies filled with cheese. That's what I'm talking about...!

Date: Sunday 8th June 2008
Distance: 20+kms, took 5½ hours
Location: Edale, Peak District
Conditions: Hilly
Weather: Scorchio
Participants: Pip, Nik, Wol, Gee

After a not so great night's sleep we were all up early for a nice cup of tea, bacon sarnies and porridge. I'm sure the jazz festival didn't finish at 11 o'clock as we informed it would do. They were definitely still going at midnight, only to be followed by some bloke in the opposite tent talking for hours in a Brian Blessed booming voice.

We packed up our tents and squeezed all the luggage back in the car. Seemed a bit more space this time, less food and beer cans I guess but still Wol's unfeasibly large sleeping bag taking up the rear parcel shelf. Leaving the car park at the bottom of Edale, we set off up the first ascent to Mam Tor. This got us all blowing and the legs felt a little stiff after yesterday's walk. By the time we reached the top though we had all loosened up and were admiring the views. The dizzy heights of Mam Tor must have gone to my head as I decided to give everyone a rendition of a tongue twister, and some voice projection exercises. Luckily nobody else was around.

Onwards and downwards this time heading south towards the limestone way. Time for the first snack break and a quick patch up with some zinc oxide tape before a blister could get hold of my heel. Second attempt at Delia's flapjacks and still not good. There's either too much butter in her recipe or our oven cooks too high, either way I'm not making them again. Think I'll stick to the apple cake.

At this point Phil did a quick tot up and decided we'd be finished by lunchtime at this rate so decided to include one of his now infamous detours. So off we went to some trig point in the distance, passing through a field of long grass, disused mine shafts and several sheep skulls. After 20 mins we made it to the trig point and were rewarded with 360 degree views. Quick stroll back down and we were back on to the limestone way. There seemed to be a lot more walkers around and passed a small group where by one of the woman commented that we were doing it the easy way round! Tut, how dare she, easy my @$*£!
Then we reached the slippery rocky descent into Castleton and thought that actually she was probably right. It would have been extremely hard going if we attempted this the other way round. God only knows why one girl was attempting to get up the hill in ballet pumps! Hardly the best choice of footwear, what an earth made her think they'd be suitable? Mind you she comes a sorry second compared to some of the footwear choices I have seen on walks before and the top prize must go to the Aussie guy descending 300 metres down a slippery, rocky rainforest path wearing a pair of flipflops. What was he thinking that morning as he was getting dressed - 'now let's see, there's going to be rocks, mud, steep paths, leeches, spiders and snakes. I know, I'll wear my flip flops, they'll get me through it....'

Anyway moving on from my rant about unpractical footwear, we continued through Castleton via the toilets whereby I managed to trip up a curb and went flying into the wall of the toilet block nearly knocking myself out. Luckily I had sensible boots on or I'd have broken a toe. (Can you see a theme forming here?) Through Castleton towards Hope where Phil pointed out Lose Hill where we'd be stopping for lunch. There were a few problems with this, firstly we were all starving and the hill was about another hour away (not helped by passing a sweet shop with lots of lovely fudge in the window) and secondly we seemed to be going in the opposite direction to the hill.

We managed to prize a quick pre-lunch snack stop out of Phil and then continued along the river to Hope. Crossing over and up towards our ascent of Lose Hill. I'm not sure if it was the hunger, the heat or the sheer steepness of the hill that got to us but we all struggled to get to the top. Even Gee mountain man didn't race up the hill like he normally does. My previous thoughts of 'Tut, how dare she, easy my @$*£!' reappeared at this point. We eventually made it though and found some shady trees to sit under and have our lunch. A very well earned rest.

Onwards for the last section of the walk and a packet of gummy sweets to get us through the last hour. Along the ridge from Lose Hill to Hollins Cross where the boys decided they wanted a photo taken on a balancing rock. It seemed like a good idea so I volunteered to take the photo (I had seen how precarious the rock looked). A few photos later of 3 men looking very nervous and we were on on way down the side of Mam Tor and back to the car park. 20kms in about 5 hr 30 so not bad at all considering the terrain, hills and the energy sapping heat.

The journey back took a bit longer than on the way up so we amused oursleves with 2 hours of the name game. There were some themes forming and basically if we disallowed footballers, most other sports stars, comedies from 1970's (all of The Goodies made an appearance) and political figures between the years 1960 to 2000 we wouldn't have been able to come up with any answers. Gee eventually won the game but a big apology goes to Wol for not letting him have Dom Perignon, which we unfairly disallowed. By the way Phil, Wolf Blass is actually a real name....

Nik

A cheeky Peak or two, day one...

Date: Sat 7th June 2008

Distance: 20+kms, took 5½ hours

Location: Edale, Peak District

Conditions: Hilly, not meaning to state the obvious

Weather: Cloudy, with wind

Participants: Pip, Nik, Wol, Gee

The next part of Mrs Pot’s training plan involved somewhere more challenging than flat Hertfordshire, so we decided on a weekend trip up north to the Peak District, to go head to head with some proper hills.

The four of us left Hertford early on Saturday morning, destination Edale in the Peak District. Itinerary for the weekend entailed a 6 hour hill walk on Saturday, camp in Edale, then throw in another 6 hour-er on Sunday.

After just about managing to squeeze everyone’s gear into the Robbo team bus we headed off, up the M1, then across from Chesterfield, over to Edale. 3 hours later, we arrived in a somewhat overcast Edale. On driving through the village Gee was aghast by the sign we past. ‘Edale Jazz Fest, Saturday 7th June’. Unbelievable...anything, please, but Jazz. Rooty Toot Smokin Jez McGoogin can take his slide trombone and stick it right up his loft hatch.

After that initial bombshell we headed off to the campsite, we then set about erecting the tents, Mr & Mrs R in one, the Brokeback brothers in the other. Don’t worry Paula, Carl’s industrial sized duvet-in–a-bag meant there was very little chance of me getting within 5 yards of him, even if I wanted.

Walk #1 of the weekend involved a loop around the north side of Edale. We headed off down the valley, motoring along at such a pace that it was looking that 6 hours may become 4. However, this cavalier optimism was dampened somewhat when we reached Jacob’s Ladder, a steep incline up the side of Kinder Scout.

Due to the later than normal start we stopped for lunch at the rocky outcrop called Swine’s Head, by which point the wind had picked up & things had turned decidedly cooler. Donning fleeces all round, we headed off on Pip’s hastily arranged add on, in order to extend the length of the walk. This was supposed to be up around the rest of Kinder Scout, but we inadvertently seemed to have been transported onto the moon. A lunar type landscape spread out before us, somewhere you wouldn’t want to be lost, on a less then clear day. We continued on, heading off into the peat areas of the hillside. It was this sight of peat that Wol felt inclined to issue the statement ‘it must have been a right pain lumping up all those bags of peat up here’. Townies, don’t you just love ‘em.

Pip’s navigational sat nav skills, normally so reliable (except when there’s a quarry to investigate), seemed to go slightly wonky at this point, as we trekked along & through streams for a while, with only Wol’s favourite geological material as scenery. We finally got back on track, slightly off RobboNav’s estimated position of latitude & longitude, continuing around the ridge. In the valley below, the Jazz tent seemed in constant view, a reminder of what we had to look forward to later...mmm, groovy.

After negotiating the descent back down to Edale, we stopped off briefly at the local church, for the obligatory church photo. Gee, official motion photographer, armed with brand spanking new camera, took the photo, but then managed to drop said camera. Luckily, no serious damage, but lose it, have it stolen, drop it, he continues to prove that a disposable camera has to be considered the safer option.

We arrived back at the campsite, where we took a breather, helped by a couple of cheeky beers. A quick shower then it was off to the pub for food & a few more carb loaded drinkipoos. Based on a democratic group vote we decided to wander down to the Jazz Fest. However, the Jazz seemed more like rock, with swarms of local teenage hoons buzzing around. Deciding that paying an ayrton (that’s 10 pounds of the Queen’s money if you’re not Vornie) each for an hour’s ropey entertainment wasn’t particularly good value, we headed back to the Rambler’s Pub for another drink. Not the most attractive of hostelries but gave us the chance to pontificate on such issues as ‘what annoys you most’ & ‘where is the oldest pub’? By this time everyone was starting to feel the effects of the day, so it was back to camp for a bit of shut eye, in preparation for another day tomorrow....Over to you, Mrs Pot.......

Gee

Red Bull gives you wings (and a sticky backpack)...

Date: Sun 1st June 2008
Distance: 30km (18.6 miles)
Location: Dunstable, Whipsnade, Dagnall, Ivinghoe Beacon, Edlesborough, Eaton Bray, Totternhoe
Conditions: Mixed terrain and some some decent ups and downs.
Weather: Cloudy but dry
Participants: Pip, Nik, Gee, Lurch, Wol

For the first time in a little while, five of us managed to walk at the same time and in the same place. We set out from Hertford just gone 8am and headed off to Dunstable where we started our walk near the Priory at 8:45. Some early chat revealed that there were some new accessories and foodstuffs on trial today, the most pertinent being Lurch's choice of drink - 1 litre of RedBull - we all wondered how appropriate the hydration properties of this caffeine-laden liquid would be, and probably more worrying, how he'd cope with the caffeine buzz and subsequent come-down on a 6 hour walk...

Anyway, it didn't take long for the Red Bull to make its mark, as it had leaked out of Lurch's drinks bottle and seeped into half the team's kit on the way over - made for a very sweet-smelling start to the walk. On top of that, we'd only got as far as the golf course that proceeeded heading out on the Dunstable Downs, when someone noticed that Lurch's ruck sack pocket was carrying about 1/4 litre of the sweet sticky stuff. After he'd emptied it all out and we'd all concluded it was time to invest in a new drinks bottle, we carried on.

Over the Dunstable Downs we went, passing the Visitor Centre at the highest point in Bedfordshire and headed off towards Whipsnade. On the way we passed through the Tree Cathedral - although Gee and Lurch tried to sound positive about this afterwards, the look of disppointment on their face was obvious - I think they were expecting a vast wooden construction full of pews and altars...

The walk took us alongside the boundary fence of Whipsnade zoo, which gave us sight of a few animals - there's not many walks in the UK that give you the opportunity to spot wallabies, elephants and camels...

Arriving at another golf-course, we had our first snack-stop and enjoyed some lovely cake, courtesy of Nikki. At this point, some new walking accessories were revealed. The first being Gee's fushia flask (that'll go nicely with his new hairdresser's car), and Lurch produced what he described as a "banana holder". Nik couldn't wait to get her hands on it (apparently, a bruised banana is a common walker's affliction)...

Onwards, through the golf course and heading down to Dagnall, we then spotted where we would be heading off to have our lunch - Ivinghoe Beacon. As the crow flies, this wouldn't have taken too long, but our walk would get us there in about an hour. At this point we also spotted the Whipsnade White Lion on a distance hillside (carved into the chalk). Before getting confirmation of this from the map, most in our party were convinced it was a monkey (but then we were looking at it from a strange angle).

We passed some deer and a few sheep, and as is now customary on these walks, Gee took the lead on the hills and powered ahead (Red Bull would give him a run for his money later though...). After a few ups and down that got the heart pumping and the lungs blowing, we arrived on the top of Ivinghoe Beacon and stopped for a bite to eat - taking in the great views from our vantage point.

After Lurch had bolted down his 6 jam sandwiches, we were soon on our way again, slipping and sliding down the footpath and then alongside some fields up to the impressive Edlesborough church, continuing on our way to Eaton Bray past the not-so-impressive baptist chapel and futher onto Totternhoe. Here we attacked the steep incline to get to the remains of Totternhoe motte and bailey castle, and another snack-stop. This gave us the final boost of energy we needed to head-off back towards Dunstable.

One final long hill on the approach to Dunstable gave the caffeine-fueled Lurch the desire to take Gee on, and whilst others looked on in wonder, Lurch powered onwards and upwards (no doubt, his ticker fluttering away trying to cope with the heavy doses of stimulant and an unusual period of extreme exertion).

Discussions in the last few kms concluded that we all felt pretty good about this walk - no major aches, pains, blisters etc. and Lurch was still eulogizing the use of Red Bull as a important element of his good performance. Pip had done a great job navigating (only later letting his guard down and missing some turnings on the car journey home).

Well done team.

Wol.