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Mr B's 620m Coastal Walk - Cancer Research UK
BrettieAngell
THE ROCK GOD
Hull to Grimsby, lucky *******!
Mr B reports:
Ok, so an eventful day today! Had my rest day yesterday which was massively needed. Original plan was to walk down to Bridlington and jump on a train from there however I'd had a look at the map and that walk wasn't especially friendly plus that train line only ran once every two hours so instead I got the train from Hunmanby and arrived in Hull fairly early. Couldn't check into the TL till 3 so instead of the Bridlington walk I took a walk down to Ferriby and back for FM reasons such is my geeky nature. Then spent the rest of the day chilling and despite a poor nights sleep due to traffic noise vs room temp I felt refreshed and ready to go. My mood was dampened (literally) somewhat when I opened the curtains and it was ****ing down however the forecast was good so after some hesitation I headed out with my rain jacket on.
Fortunately the forecast proved to be right and it quickly brightened up. I reached the Humber Bridge and crossed which was a very nice walk, it's about a mile across and the view inland is very nice, albeit the wet weather had left a haze in the air so you could only see so far. Once across I dropped down onto the road that ran beneath it, stopped off at a Tesco to get some supplies and headed up towards the Estuary Bank to start the Lincolnshire leg of the walk. Unfortunately this was where the day started to deteriorate, the view ahead was pretty depressing with industry everywhere and the walkway, whilst not overgrown, seemed to be teeming with insects which got very annoying after a while. About 15 miles in I found myself looking across to the point I'd just come from which was barely a mile away! Should have swam across!
I plowed on through what was a really dreary section, either industry or marshland and found my spirits starting to flag somewhat. It was at this point my phone decided it had had enough and the screen went white. I left it for a while, no change. Took the battery out and replaced it, no change. Took the battery out for about 20 minutes and replaced it, no change! I figured it was dead and I have to say at this point I got quite angry and upset. I know we all used to cope without phones but on this trip it was very important to me as my paper maps weren't great so I was using the phone a lot and being able to keep in contact with everyone when you're in the middle of nowhere helps keep you sane. I was a bit reticent about moving on without the back up of the phone but there was no point in heading back and nowhere else really to go so I continued with my paper map. Fortunately the route was fairly easy to follow.
A bit further down the route I had another issue. Firstly, despite the rest, my feet were really hurting no matter whether I rested or not. They seem to have a 20 mile limit now and don't want to go any further. I've been trying to block this out and just get on with it but today another issue arose from an area I wasn't expecting. I know they say you use your good old Gluteus Maximus more when walking than in anything else but I wasn't expecting the sharp twang I got! For about 3 miles I was walking very uncomfortably, I'm sure people looking at me probably thought I'd shat myself. It went away a bit after a while but I can feel it isn't comfortable now and I need to be wary that any part of my body could give in at any time.
As I neared Grimsby I noticed my phone buzz, I excitedly looked as I assumed it was working again however I still had a white screen. I realised it was the screen that was the issue and the rest of the phone was fine so I speculatively tried to blind unlock it and call work and luckily it worked so fingers crossed I will have a replacement with me in Boston on Thursday. This does mean I'll have two days walking without a phone though and both walks are in pretty unpopulated areas so I will need to be careful. Tomorrow's leg should be ok, it's a relatively short one (especially as I ended in Cleethorpes tonight rather than Grimsby as mapped) but the Boston one has a long stretch of unpathed road to travel and I'm seriously considering cutting some miles from it for safetys sake. The way my feet are feeling right now I doubt I have too many more 30 mile legs left in me and sadly if I'm going to complete I may well have to drop back to my original 520 mile distance. I feel bad taking the miles off but it's still equivalent to 20 marathons in 20 days which was my original plan.
Rain scheduled for tomorrow afternoon so need to be up and ready tomorrow. Fingers crossed for a better day.
Ok, so an eventful day today! Had my rest day yesterday which was massively needed. Original plan was to walk down to Bridlington and jump on a train from there however I'd had a look at the map and that walk wasn't especially friendly plus that train line only ran once every two hours so instead I got the train from Hunmanby and arrived in Hull fairly early. Couldn't check into the TL till 3 so instead of the Bridlington walk I took a walk down to Ferriby and back for FM reasons such is my geeky nature. Then spent the rest of the day chilling and despite a poor nights sleep due to traffic noise vs room temp I felt refreshed and ready to go. My mood was dampened (literally) somewhat when I opened the curtains and it was ****ing down however the forecast was good so after some hesitation I headed out with my rain jacket on.
Fortunately the forecast proved to be right and it quickly brightened up. I reached the Humber Bridge and crossed which was a very nice walk, it's about a mile across and the view inland is very nice, albeit the wet weather had left a haze in the air so you could only see so far. Once across I dropped down onto the road that ran beneath it, stopped off at a Tesco to get some supplies and headed up towards the Estuary Bank to start the Lincolnshire leg of the walk. Unfortunately this was where the day started to deteriorate, the view ahead was pretty depressing with industry everywhere and the walkway, whilst not overgrown, seemed to be teeming with insects which got very annoying after a while. About 15 miles in I found myself looking across to the point I'd just come from which was barely a mile away! Should have swam across!
I plowed on through what was a really dreary section, either industry or marshland and found my spirits starting to flag somewhat. It was at this point my phone decided it had had enough and the screen went white. I left it for a while, no change. Took the battery out and replaced it, no change. Took the battery out for about 20 minutes and replaced it, no change! I figured it was dead and I have to say at this point I got quite angry and upset. I know we all used to cope without phones but on this trip it was very important to me as my paper maps weren't great so I was using the phone a lot and being able to keep in contact with everyone when you're in the middle of nowhere helps keep you sane. I was a bit reticent about moving on without the back up of the phone but there was no point in heading back and nowhere else really to go so I continued with my paper map. Fortunately the route was fairly easy to follow.
A bit further down the route I had another issue. Firstly, despite the rest, my feet were really hurting no matter whether I rested or not. They seem to have a 20 mile limit now and don't want to go any further. I've been trying to block this out and just get on with it but today another issue arose from an area I wasn't expecting. I know they say you use your good old Gluteus Maximus more when walking than in anything else but I wasn't expecting the sharp twang I got! For about 3 miles I was walking very uncomfortably, I'm sure people looking at me probably thought I'd shat myself. It went away a bit after a while but I can feel it isn't comfortable now and I need to be wary that any part of my body could give in at any time.
As I neared Grimsby I noticed my phone buzz, I excitedly looked as I assumed it was working again however I still had a white screen. I realised it was the screen that was the issue and the rest of the phone was fine so I speculatively tried to blind unlock it and call work and luckily it worked so fingers crossed I will have a replacement with me in Boston on Thursday. This does mean I'll have two days walking without a phone though and both walks are in pretty unpopulated areas so I will need to be careful. Tomorrow's leg should be ok, it's a relatively short one (especially as I ended in Cleethorpes tonight rather than Grimsby as mapped) but the Boston one has a long stretch of unpathed road to travel and I'm seriously considering cutting some miles from it for safetys sake. The way my feet are feeling right now I doubt I have too many more 30 mile legs left in me and sadly if I'm going to complete I may well have to drop back to my original 520 mile distance. I feel bad taking the miles off but it's still equivalent to 20 marathons in 20 days which was my original plan.
Rain scheduled for tomorrow afternoon so need to be up and ready tomorrow. Fingers crossed for a better day.
Davros
The Whippet
common Zoners, B sounds to have had a tough day yesterday. Less than £200 short of the £5k mark, if we can get him over that line, i'm certain that will help spur him on... http://www.justgiving.com/B620Miles
Mr B Reports:
Well well, another very eventful day! A rather problematic leg but I did my best not to let it get me down after yesterday being so rubbish. The day started on a bright note, the landlady of the guest house I stayed in in Cleethorpes gave me a tenner for the charity which was very kind. It was a comfy nights sleep though I was woken a lot earlier than I'd have liked as I think she had a load of contractors staying there who were up crashing about really early!
Had my breakfast and set off, the first part of the journey was pretty simple, straight along the seafront at Cleethorpes. The seafront is as tacky as you'd expect however the beach is surprisingly nice, all sand with barely a stone or any seaweed in sight. I considered walking along it but the sand looked too soft which would be slow going so I stuck to the Promenade. This eventually ended and I joined a cycle path which ran further alongside the beach and once that ended I joined a marked trail. Eventually the trail turned inland as there was a nature reserve on the shore so I followed this and was sticking to the mapped route. A few miles along I crossed a bridge on an inlet and headed out on the flood ridge thinking it was all going quite smoothly. This was where my first issue arose.
I could see some fenced area in the distance but assumed it was just to stop vehicles getting past however as I got closer I could see that the whole way forward was blocked, no particular explanation but there were a couple of vehicles further down with men working on something. So I was forced to head inland again, something i was hoping to avoid as i was now off my mapped route with no phone maps to consult! I picked up a path with warnings about it not being a public path and no liability being accepted. I couldn't see that I had anywhere else to go so I plowed on anyway. Eventually I worked out that I'd stumbled into North Coates airfield! I scanned the area and worked out I had nowhere else to go but to the exit which led me into the small village of North Coates. I was hoping to see a shop as I hadn't taken any food with me and was getting a bit peckish but there didn't seem to be one. I had a hunt around but could only find the village exit road which seemed to lead in the wrong direction. There was an old lady doing her garden so I stopped to ask her if there was any other way out and she pointed me in the direction of a small alley that led to some farmers fields. We had a quick chat about what I was doing and she very kindly gave me £2 to add to the pot! Buoyed by this random act of kindness I went to the alley and headed through the farmers fields and this eventually connected to a small road on the other side of the airfield which after a while turned back towards the coast. I'd estimated that the detour had added a good 3-4 miles to my journey and I was now running behind slightly as well as getting very hungry.
When I reached the flood defence again I was gutted to see more fencing, though this time it was far more informative. The environment agency were doing some sort of work on the flood defences and so the marked path was cut off and they'd diverted it down the side. I set off and quickly realised that the diverted path had not been walked much as it was overgrown and hard to walk, especially as it was mostly on a slope which wasn't helping my ankles. The fencing went as far as the eye could see and I was getting a bit naffed off with it, especially as the marked path was about 10 feet to my right with nothing of note seemingly happening! Eventually it ended and I was able to rejoin the main path. A quick glance back showed me I'd been diverted past a very innocuous looking cornfield with no noticeable work happening. I shook my fist in a 'Why you little' gesture and continued along the path. This eventually led to a car park and the way forward was blocked as it entered RAF Donna Nook so I took the road South from the car park and headed to the town of North Summercotes.
By this stage I was getting rather famished so I picked up my pace despite not really having rested as I was aware that I was behind time and also that moody clouds were starting to mass, I knew it would rain at some point but had hoped it would hold off till later. I arrived in the town and picked up some more water. I didn't want to linger too long but I was too hungry for just a snack and it had started to rain so I ducked into a pub. It was just gone 2 and they'd just stopped serving lunch but fortunately the barman recognised the pitiful look on my face and rustled me up a pizza which was much needed! The rain unfortunately had not abated but I set off anyway as I didn't want to lose anymore time. I headed on the main road out of town which quickly became unpathed, my mapped route (and that of the coastal guy) headed out to the past again at this point but I couldn't for the life of me find the route he'd taken. His route was done in 2002 and as I've discovered a lot has changed. The road was definitely I walkable so I walked up a farm track and wandered about a bit not really getting anywhere. A farmer appeared and I asked him the best way for me to go and he reckoned I couldn't get past Saltfleet which was MoD land now and that the road wasn't walkable and to my shock he kindly offered to drop me a bit further down the road. Having lost time earlier I gratefully accepted!
He dropped me the other side of Saltfleet where I was able to pick up the beach and the rest of the route was straightforward from a map point of view. The rain had abated slightly and I headed along the beach however the wind was incredibly strong and direct in my face which made walking tough. The wind was picking up the sand which was swirling past my feet in fascinating patterns which I used as a distraction and pressed on. Walking right by the sea I had a surprise when a strong blast of wind blew a bit of salty sea froth into my face which,whilst acceptable on an SZ weekender (especially if your name is George Brounos), it wasn't welcome here! A short time later the rain returned with a vengeance, heavy and horizontal with the wind battering into me. I knew I only had about 6 miles to go so tried to ignore it, though when I got to Mablethorpe I went up to the promenade to get some respite. The promenade continued all the way to Sutton so I stayed on it and eventually arrived at the hotel which was easy to find just off the seafront (which was lucky as I'd forgotten to look it up the previous night!) and I got into my room in a very sorry state but uplifted that I hadn't let the conditions get the worst of me. I quickly sank into a much needed bath!
I have to say that despite everything I quite enjoyed today. Not having the phone made it a bit of an adventure and I tried to look at the problems that came up as challenges. Even the rain didn't seem to bother me that much for some reason! I think the help I'd received along the way did wonders for my motivation and I have to remember that you can't always do it all on your own! Nothing hurting too badly tonight, my feet coped ok, probably as very little was on road. My ankles hurt from the sloped part next to the fencing and the backs of my knees are also a bit delicate but happily my bum cheek seems to have calmed down!
The non phone issue looks like it may continue, our wonderful IT department haven't come up with another one yet so it's unlikely I'll be getting a new one tomorrow now. Glad to know my company is behind me when a problem occurs! Our team PA Sally is on the case so fingers crossed.
Am reducing the length of tomorrows walk, the route into Boston is too risky to walk so I'm going to get to the other side of Skegness and bus it across, especially as I don't have a phone! Will check routes fully tonight.
Weather looks better tomorrow but not looking too hot for the weekend.
Well well, another very eventful day! A rather problematic leg but I did my best not to let it get me down after yesterday being so rubbish. The day started on a bright note, the landlady of the guest house I stayed in in Cleethorpes gave me a tenner for the charity which was very kind. It was a comfy nights sleep though I was woken a lot earlier than I'd have liked as I think she had a load of contractors staying there who were up crashing about really early!
Had my breakfast and set off, the first part of the journey was pretty simple, straight along the seafront at Cleethorpes. The seafront is as tacky as you'd expect however the beach is surprisingly nice, all sand with barely a stone or any seaweed in sight. I considered walking along it but the sand looked too soft which would be slow going so I stuck to the Promenade. This eventually ended and I joined a cycle path which ran further alongside the beach and once that ended I joined a marked trail. Eventually the trail turned inland as there was a nature reserve on the shore so I followed this and was sticking to the mapped route. A few miles along I crossed a bridge on an inlet and headed out on the flood ridge thinking it was all going quite smoothly. This was where my first issue arose.
I could see some fenced area in the distance but assumed it was just to stop vehicles getting past however as I got closer I could see that the whole way forward was blocked, no particular explanation but there were a couple of vehicles further down with men working on something. So I was forced to head inland again, something i was hoping to avoid as i was now off my mapped route with no phone maps to consult! I picked up a path with warnings about it not being a public path and no liability being accepted. I couldn't see that I had anywhere else to go so I plowed on anyway. Eventually I worked out that I'd stumbled into North Coates airfield! I scanned the area and worked out I had nowhere else to go but to the exit which led me into the small village of North Coates. I was hoping to see a shop as I hadn't taken any food with me and was getting a bit peckish but there didn't seem to be one. I had a hunt around but could only find the village exit road which seemed to lead in the wrong direction. There was an old lady doing her garden so I stopped to ask her if there was any other way out and she pointed me in the direction of a small alley that led to some farmers fields. We had a quick chat about what I was doing and she very kindly gave me £2 to add to the pot! Buoyed by this random act of kindness I went to the alley and headed through the farmers fields and this eventually connected to a small road on the other side of the airfield which after a while turned back towards the coast. I'd estimated that the detour had added a good 3-4 miles to my journey and I was now running behind slightly as well as getting very hungry.
When I reached the flood defence again I was gutted to see more fencing, though this time it was far more informative. The environment agency were doing some sort of work on the flood defences and so the marked path was cut off and they'd diverted it down the side. I set off and quickly realised that the diverted path had not been walked much as it was overgrown and hard to walk, especially as it was mostly on a slope which wasn't helping my ankles. The fencing went as far as the eye could see and I was getting a bit naffed off with it, especially as the marked path was about 10 feet to my right with nothing of note seemingly happening! Eventually it ended and I was able to rejoin the main path. A quick glance back showed me I'd been diverted past a very innocuous looking cornfield with no noticeable work happening. I shook my fist in a 'Why you little' gesture and continued along the path. This eventually led to a car park and the way forward was blocked as it entered RAF Donna Nook so I took the road South from the car park and headed to the town of North Summercotes.
By this stage I was getting rather famished so I picked up my pace despite not really having rested as I was aware that I was behind time and also that moody clouds were starting to mass, I knew it would rain at some point but had hoped it would hold off till later. I arrived in the town and picked up some more water. I didn't want to linger too long but I was too hungry for just a snack and it had started to rain so I ducked into a pub. It was just gone 2 and they'd just stopped serving lunch but fortunately the barman recognised the pitiful look on my face and rustled me up a pizza which was much needed! The rain unfortunately had not abated but I set off anyway as I didn't want to lose anymore time. I headed on the main road out of town which quickly became unpathed, my mapped route (and that of the coastal guy) headed out to the past again at this point but I couldn't for the life of me find the route he'd taken. His route was done in 2002 and as I've discovered a lot has changed. The road was definitely I walkable so I walked up a farm track and wandered about a bit not really getting anywhere. A farmer appeared and I asked him the best way for me to go and he reckoned I couldn't get past Saltfleet which was MoD land now and that the road wasn't walkable and to my shock he kindly offered to drop me a bit further down the road. Having lost time earlier I gratefully accepted!
He dropped me the other side of Saltfleet where I was able to pick up the beach and the rest of the route was straightforward from a map point of view. The rain had abated slightly and I headed along the beach however the wind was incredibly strong and direct in my face which made walking tough. The wind was picking up the sand which was swirling past my feet in fascinating patterns which I used as a distraction and pressed on. Walking right by the sea I had a surprise when a strong blast of wind blew a bit of salty sea froth into my face which,whilst acceptable on an SZ weekender (especially if your name is George Brounos), it wasn't welcome here! A short time later the rain returned with a vengeance, heavy and horizontal with the wind battering into me. I knew I only had about 6 miles to go so tried to ignore it, though when I got to Mablethorpe I went up to the promenade to get some respite. The promenade continued all the way to Sutton so I stayed on it and eventually arrived at the hotel which was easy to find just off the seafront (which was lucky as I'd forgotten to look it up the previous night!) and I got into my room in a very sorry state but uplifted that I hadn't let the conditions get the worst of me. I quickly sank into a much needed bath!
I have to say that despite everything I quite enjoyed today. Not having the phone made it a bit of an adventure and I tried to look at the problems that came up as challenges. Even the rain didn't seem to bother me that much for some reason! I think the help I'd received along the way did wonders for my motivation and I have to remember that you can't always do it all on your own! Nothing hurting too badly tonight, my feet coped ok, probably as very little was on road. My ankles hurt from the sloped part next to the fencing and the backs of my knees are also a bit delicate but happily my bum cheek seems to have calmed down!
The non phone issue looks like it may continue, our wonderful IT department haven't come up with another one yet so it's unlikely I'll be getting a new one tomorrow now. Glad to know my company is behind me when a problem occurs! Our team PA Sally is on the case so fingers crossed.
Am reducing the length of tomorrows walk, the route into Boston is too risky to walk so I'm going to get to the other side of Skegness and bus it across, especially as I don't have a phone! Will check routes fully tonight.
Weather looks better tomorrow but not looking too hot for the weekend.
Mr B Reports:
Day 12 done, 60% there. Today was a pretty ordinary day but ended well when I got my phone couriered to me late on thanks to great work from Sally!
I allowed myself a small lay in given that I was cutting plenty of miles off today. I headed straight back to the beach where the vast majority of the walk would take place. The tide was out so I was able to walk along the mudflats, ideal walking as hard enough to keep a decent pace but soft enough to not stress the feet too much. My boots were still damp from yesterday's deluge and they weren't really drying out here as there was a lot of standing water in the mudflats to bypass. In fact, at one stage the dry areas became very patchy and I found myself having to jump from patch to patch and felt like I was crossing the Vortex in the Adventure Game! For the younger ones among you the Adventure Game was a forerunner of shows like Crystal Maze and The Cube featuring dodgy clothes, dodgy haircuts and a talking plant called Uncle (not voiced by Colin Hulmes to my knowledge!).
The weather was mixed, very windy again and a mix of sun and cloud. There were occasional showers, one especially heavy one however with the wind and sun it didn't take long to dry off. There went really much to report all the way to Skegness other than a massive wind farm just off the coast and a fat fella running past in a small pair of speedos that were fairly absorbed into his body, not a pleasant sight! I headed up to the promenade as I passed Butlins which brought back a lot of memories of trips there in my youth (though these were to The Bognor site). I also passed a rather dubious karaoke session occurring on the beach and managed to resist getting involved!
When I got to Skegness seafront I moved up to the road and found some wifi so checked on the status of my phone and it looked good for receiving it later on which cheered me up. I grabbed a chocolate bar and drink, despite not having breakfast I wasn't feeling that hungry and had a rest as I was already feeling tired and achy. The walk on to Friskney was mainly beach based again and it was pretty boring having already done 12 miles of beach. By 16/17 miles I was really feeling it, I think beach walking takes more toll than you realise. I was relieved that I had shortened the walk down and I found the bus stop easily and headed down to Boston.
Once there I popped into Argos to get a replacement charger and also got some new socks and shorts. Have been binning my socks as I go as they're pretty rank by the end of the day, my boots also smell pretty rancid and I need to pick up some odour eaters! I then got a cab out to the Premier Inn which was on the edge of town and after chatting to the cabbie he gave me the fare free and added a fiver on top for the charity which was very kind. The pub next to the hotel had a curry buffet night which was a touch after hardly eating all day and I gorged on three plates worth!
So 12 days in, as an estimate I'm about 330 miles in so 190 miles left to make my revised target so I'm going to aim for 25 miles per day. I don't think I can physically do anymore in a day now, I'm getting all sorts of pain in my feet and legs once I get to the 20 mile marker so will chop bits off where I can. I have a bit of a dilemma tomorrow as my mapped route is main road again. I know why I picked that as the coastal route round the wash is too long to get me to Kings Lynn in time. However the road isn't really walkable so I think I will take the coastal route and see if I can find a bus route at some stage so I can get my 25 miles in. Looking forward to seeing my sis Hayley tomorrow night who is putting me up in Kings Lynn.
8 days to go! X
Day 12 done, 60% there. Today was a pretty ordinary day but ended well when I got my phone couriered to me late on thanks to great work from Sally!
I allowed myself a small lay in given that I was cutting plenty of miles off today. I headed straight back to the beach where the vast majority of the walk would take place. The tide was out so I was able to walk along the mudflats, ideal walking as hard enough to keep a decent pace but soft enough to not stress the feet too much. My boots were still damp from yesterday's deluge and they weren't really drying out here as there was a lot of standing water in the mudflats to bypass. In fact, at one stage the dry areas became very patchy and I found myself having to jump from patch to patch and felt like I was crossing the Vortex in the Adventure Game! For the younger ones among you the Adventure Game was a forerunner of shows like Crystal Maze and The Cube featuring dodgy clothes, dodgy haircuts and a talking plant called Uncle (not voiced by Colin Hulmes to my knowledge!).
The weather was mixed, very windy again and a mix of sun and cloud. There were occasional showers, one especially heavy one however with the wind and sun it didn't take long to dry off. There went really much to report all the way to Skegness other than a massive wind farm just off the coast and a fat fella running past in a small pair of speedos that were fairly absorbed into his body, not a pleasant sight! I headed up to the promenade as I passed Butlins which brought back a lot of memories of trips there in my youth (though these were to The Bognor site). I also passed a rather dubious karaoke session occurring on the beach and managed to resist getting involved!
When I got to Skegness seafront I moved up to the road and found some wifi so checked on the status of my phone and it looked good for receiving it later on which cheered me up. I grabbed a chocolate bar and drink, despite not having breakfast I wasn't feeling that hungry and had a rest as I was already feeling tired and achy. The walk on to Friskney was mainly beach based again and it was pretty boring having already done 12 miles of beach. By 16/17 miles I was really feeling it, I think beach walking takes more toll than you realise. I was relieved that I had shortened the walk down and I found the bus stop easily and headed down to Boston.
Once there I popped into Argos to get a replacement charger and also got some new socks and shorts. Have been binning my socks as I go as they're pretty rank by the end of the day, my boots also smell pretty rancid and I need to pick up some odour eaters! I then got a cab out to the Premier Inn which was on the edge of town and after chatting to the cabbie he gave me the fare free and added a fiver on top for the charity which was very kind. The pub next to the hotel had a curry buffet night which was a touch after hardly eating all day and I gorged on three plates worth!
So 12 days in, as an estimate I'm about 330 miles in so 190 miles left to make my revised target so I'm going to aim for 25 miles per day. I don't think I can physically do anymore in a day now, I'm getting all sorts of pain in my feet and legs once I get to the 20 mile marker so will chop bits off where I can. I have a bit of a dilemma tomorrow as my mapped route is main road again. I know why I picked that as the coastal route round the wash is too long to get me to Kings Lynn in time. However the road isn't really walkable so I think I will take the coastal route and see if I can find a bus route at some stage so I can get my 25 miles in. Looking forward to seeing my sis Hayley tomorrow night who is putting me up in Kings Lynn.
8 days to go! X
Mr B Reports:
Day 13 done, one week to go! Today was a good day as for once I made the right decision about a route! The day started with a slight mishap though. I couldn't leave early as I needed to call into work at 9 and get my new phone synced to the network. I was awake though so I got up and got myself ready and whilst I was waiting I decided to dry my still damp boots off using the hairdryer in the room. The hairdryer was pretty potent and my boots dried off in no time however I was somewhat taken by surprise when the smoke alarm in my room starting bleeping which triggered the fire alarm in the hotel! Clearly the heat was a bit much!! The staff quickly came to my room and were able to signal it as a false alarm before everyone was evacuated fortunately however anyone hoping for a lay in will have been disappointed, oops! Another side effect of the industrial strength hairdryer was that the inner sole of my right boot had shifted in shape due to the heat. Didn't really notice it too much but there's definitely some rubbing so I'd be surprised if a blister doesn't appear this week!
After apologising to the hotel staff on my way out I sheepishly set off for the town centre to grab the bus down to Spalding. I decided to leave the all you can eat breakfast buffet after my gluttony the previous night and figured I would grab something before setting off from Spalding. Just about made the bus which was lucky as it only ran every hour. When I got there I popped into Sainsburys and got my first feeling of being nearer to home. It may sound a bit silly but the Sainsburys in Fenchurch Street does a hot southern fried chicken fillet that I love and I'd been in numerous so far and not found them however today I struck lucky so bought two. A familiar taste made me feel like normality wasn't now far away.
I set off from Spalding and quickly realised I'd made the right call in coming down rather than trying the other two planned routes. The main road out was pathed and from what I'd checked this would continue for the remainder of the route which was a godsend as it meant I could just relax and walk without having to think too much. The whole walk was basically in one direction along B roads that ran alongside the A17 passing through a number of villages. The highlight of these was the wonderfully named 'Whaplode' which had me sniggering like Beavis & Butthead. I passed the Princes processing plant in Long Sutton which as an avid tuna fish consumer was exciting, never would have known that they are owned by Mitsubishi!
A bit further down the road I arrived at the Crosskeys Swing Bridge which crossed the River Nene. It wasn't marked but this was clearly the border to Norfolk as the precious village of Sutton Bridge had proclaimed itself to be the 'Gateway to Lincolnshire'. After crossing the bridge I felt I could truly state that I was back in THE SOUTH and I now only had two counties between me and Essex! The rest of the walk was fairly straightforward towards King's Lynn crossing the river Ouse and into the town centre where I am now writing this before I head to the outskirts to Hayley's (figured it would be rude to disappear off and do a write up having just arrived!). Looking forward to catching up.
Looking forward to tomorrow, I was worried whether there would be any mental effect arising from the fact that for the first time I'll be heading further from home but I've accepted the route now so it should be fine. No way I can manage 33 miles now but my bro-in-law Carl is going to drop me a few miles up the road at Dersingham so i can keep it to 25 miles and I'll be meeting up with David Gracie in Thornham and doing the last 12 miles into Wells with him before meeting up with Heather in the evening at Wells. Weather today was pretty gloomy, seems the South East got all the good stuff, got rained on a few times but nothing too heavy. However the weekend looks glorious!
A week to go, counting down now! — in King's Lynn, United Kingdom.
Day 13 done, one week to go! Today was a good day as for once I made the right decision about a route! The day started with a slight mishap though. I couldn't leave early as I needed to call into work at 9 and get my new phone synced to the network. I was awake though so I got up and got myself ready and whilst I was waiting I decided to dry my still damp boots off using the hairdryer in the room. The hairdryer was pretty potent and my boots dried off in no time however I was somewhat taken by surprise when the smoke alarm in my room starting bleeping which triggered the fire alarm in the hotel! Clearly the heat was a bit much!! The staff quickly came to my room and were able to signal it as a false alarm before everyone was evacuated fortunately however anyone hoping for a lay in will have been disappointed, oops! Another side effect of the industrial strength hairdryer was that the inner sole of my right boot had shifted in shape due to the heat. Didn't really notice it too much but there's definitely some rubbing so I'd be surprised if a blister doesn't appear this week!
After apologising to the hotel staff on my way out I sheepishly set off for the town centre to grab the bus down to Spalding. I decided to leave the all you can eat breakfast buffet after my gluttony the previous night and figured I would grab something before setting off from Spalding. Just about made the bus which was lucky as it only ran every hour. When I got there I popped into Sainsburys and got my first feeling of being nearer to home. It may sound a bit silly but the Sainsburys in Fenchurch Street does a hot southern fried chicken fillet that I love and I'd been in numerous so far and not found them however today I struck lucky so bought two. A familiar taste made me feel like normality wasn't now far away.
I set off from Spalding and quickly realised I'd made the right call in coming down rather than trying the other two planned routes. The main road out was pathed and from what I'd checked this would continue for the remainder of the route which was a godsend as it meant I could just relax and walk without having to think too much. The whole walk was basically in one direction along B roads that ran alongside the A17 passing through a number of villages. The highlight of these was the wonderfully named 'Whaplode' which had me sniggering like Beavis & Butthead. I passed the Princes processing plant in Long Sutton which as an avid tuna fish consumer was exciting, never would have known that they are owned by Mitsubishi!
A bit further down the road I arrived at the Crosskeys Swing Bridge which crossed the River Nene. It wasn't marked but this was clearly the border to Norfolk as the precious village of Sutton Bridge had proclaimed itself to be the 'Gateway to Lincolnshire'. After crossing the bridge I felt I could truly state that I was back in THE SOUTH and I now only had two counties between me and Essex! The rest of the walk was fairly straightforward towards King's Lynn crossing the river Ouse and into the town centre where I am now writing this before I head to the outskirts to Hayley's (figured it would be rude to disappear off and do a write up having just arrived!). Looking forward to catching up.
Looking forward to tomorrow, I was worried whether there would be any mental effect arising from the fact that for the first time I'll be heading further from home but I've accepted the route now so it should be fine. No way I can manage 33 miles now but my bro-in-law Carl is going to drop me a few miles up the road at Dersingham so i can keep it to 25 miles and I'll be meeting up with David Gracie in Thornham and doing the last 12 miles into Wells with him before meeting up with Heather in the evening at Wells. Weather today was pretty gloomy, seems the South East got all the good stuff, got rained on a few times but nothing too heavy. However the weekend looks glorious!
A week to go, counting down now! — in King's Lynn, United Kingdom.
East Green I 83
Schoolboy⭐⭐🦐
Unbelievable effort mate, you are raising money for a cause that effects everyone of us either directly or otherwise.
To our shame very few of us achieve anything to the same degree!
God bless mate.
To our shame very few of us achieve anything to the same degree!
God bless mate.
David Gracie Reports:
Day 14 - B walked 12 miles to Thornham, then met me. Her's how my version of the day went:
Well today I arranged to meet up with Mr B for the last 12 miles of his walk, hopefully to provide a bit of support as he ended the day further from home than he began it. Also with it being the hottest day of the year, at least Libby could help out by taking his bag from our meeting point at Thornham to our end point at Wells-next-the-sea.
Anyway, the day began in Gorleston (nr Gt Yarmouth) with Libby taking part in the weekly 5k parkrun, whilst I took the kids to the beachfront cafe for a nice bacon sandwich watching the runners sweat it out. I was certainly glad not to be running in that heat, but did make me slightly wary for the walk later that day.
We managed to find B just after 1pm suitably relaxed in the beer garden of the village pub - can't be that tough a life I thought! We started walking from there and it wasn't long until we came across the problem of national speed roads with no pavement - thankfully there was a walkable trail alongside it which we stuck to for a couple of miles taking it in turns to lead the peloton of 2 to give the other a break from the headwind!! We then took the coastal trail ( I am now very familiar with the relief you get on finding the wooden stake with an acorn indicating you are on a proper trail) along to Burnham. Apparently this is one of the easiest trails B has been on, with the long trail of sleepers leading the way. We went merrily on our way and then we could see Burnham in the distance just a short way in the distance - lovely, a nice pint in the shade will go down very well! Unfortunately these trails have a tendancy not to go in a straight line and we looped back on ourselves for a bit before hitting the road into the village! That pint went down even nicer!
So we had walked at least 8 miles by now and had at least 5 to go. After the break B was up for the charge and we set a good pace onto the coastal path, which took us well away from the original mapped road route, but at least was safer. The signs of the north norfolk trail had disappeared by now but we plowed on across the sand dunes, the sweat dripping off us by now! I joked to B that when Libby and I walked from Perranporth we stumbled across a nudist beach, well 5 mins later we also stumbled across a nudist beach - either that or the rather overweight floosie was wearing a very skimpy bikini underneath the rolls! The naked man with the backpack confirmed it was definitely a nudist beach. We carried on across the desert and finally hooked up with a proper trail alongside the forest which gave us much needed shade. We were on the homeward stretch now with just a couple of miles to go - at this point there was good news and bad news. The bad news the road was closed to Wells was closed to cars because of a motorbike accident. The good news, we had the freedom of the road to wander along.
No further adventures we met up with Lib and the two kids, and then B met up with Heather at his overnight stop. We regrouped at the nearest pub for a couple of pints before heading our separate ways - B and Heather to a romantic dinner for 2 at a restaurant, my bunch to the fish n chip shop on the seafront before heading back to Gt Yarmouth.
Some final thoughts - I do a lot of running and will be doing the Great North Run next month so consider myself to be reasonably fit but after walking with B for an estimated 14-15 miles I feel exhausted so how he manages to do a minimum of 25 miles everday I just can't fathom it. Not just the mileage he does, but the constant worry of where does the trail go to, is it passable, the despair when you have to walk further than you think etc... And all whilst you're on your own!
I had a lot of respect for B for attempting this, and that respect has soared after today. Tomorrow, I hope to get out for a shortish run first thing, and then laze around the outdoor pool and get a suntan. Mr B on the other hand will be walking another 25+ miles, and the next day and the day after that. If you haven't already done so then please get onto the justgiving site and do so, and encourage others to do so, because this really is a mammoth effort by him.
Good luck to you B on the rest of your journey!
Dave
Day 14 - B walked 12 miles to Thornham, then met me. Her's how my version of the day went:
Well today I arranged to meet up with Mr B for the last 12 miles of his walk, hopefully to provide a bit of support as he ended the day further from home than he began it. Also with it being the hottest day of the year, at least Libby could help out by taking his bag from our meeting point at Thornham to our end point at Wells-next-the-sea.
Anyway, the day began in Gorleston (nr Gt Yarmouth) with Libby taking part in the weekly 5k parkrun, whilst I took the kids to the beachfront cafe for a nice bacon sandwich watching the runners sweat it out. I was certainly glad not to be running in that heat, but did make me slightly wary for the walk later that day.
We managed to find B just after 1pm suitably relaxed in the beer garden of the village pub - can't be that tough a life I thought! We started walking from there and it wasn't long until we came across the problem of national speed roads with no pavement - thankfully there was a walkable trail alongside it which we stuck to for a couple of miles taking it in turns to lead the peloton of 2 to give the other a break from the headwind!! We then took the coastal trail ( I am now very familiar with the relief you get on finding the wooden stake with an acorn indicating you are on a proper trail) along to Burnham. Apparently this is one of the easiest trails B has been on, with the long trail of sleepers leading the way. We went merrily on our way and then we could see Burnham in the distance just a short way in the distance - lovely, a nice pint in the shade will go down very well! Unfortunately these trails have a tendancy not to go in a straight line and we looped back on ourselves for a bit before hitting the road into the village! That pint went down even nicer!
So we had walked at least 8 miles by now and had at least 5 to go. After the break B was up for the charge and we set a good pace onto the coastal path, which took us well away from the original mapped road route, but at least was safer. The signs of the north norfolk trail had disappeared by now but we plowed on across the sand dunes, the sweat dripping off us by now! I joked to B that when Libby and I walked from Perranporth we stumbled across a nudist beach, well 5 mins later we also stumbled across a nudist beach - either that or the rather overweight floosie was wearing a very skimpy bikini underneath the rolls! The naked man with the backpack confirmed it was definitely a nudist beach. We carried on across the desert and finally hooked up with a proper trail alongside the forest which gave us much needed shade. We were on the homeward stretch now with just a couple of miles to go - at this point there was good news and bad news. The bad news the road was closed to Wells was closed to cars because of a motorbike accident. The good news, we had the freedom of the road to wander along.
No further adventures we met up with Lib and the two kids, and then B met up with Heather at his overnight stop. We regrouped at the nearest pub for a couple of pints before heading our separate ways - B and Heather to a romantic dinner for 2 at a restaurant, my bunch to the fish n chip shop on the seafront before heading back to Gt Yarmouth.
Some final thoughts - I do a lot of running and will be doing the Great North Run next month so consider myself to be reasonably fit but after walking with B for an estimated 14-15 miles I feel exhausted so how he manages to do a minimum of 25 miles everday I just can't fathom it. Not just the mileage he does, but the constant worry of where does the trail go to, is it passable, the despair when you have to walk further than you think etc... And all whilst you're on your own!
I had a lot of respect for B for attempting this, and that respect has soared after today. Tomorrow, I hope to get out for a shortish run first thing, and then laze around the outdoor pool and get a suntan. Mr B on the other hand will be walking another 25+ miles, and the next day and the day after that. If you haven't already done so then please get onto the justgiving site and do so, and encourage others to do so, because this really is a mammoth effort by him.
Good luck to you B on the rest of your journey!
Dave
Mr B Reports:
Day 15 complete. 3/4 done now and god I can feel it!!
Firstly a quick catch up on yesterday. A big thank you to Hayley and Carl for putting me up on Friday night, was so nice to have a night lounging on the sofa in a home rather than a hotel room! Hayley rustled up some rather tasty Fajitas as well. The day was a good one, though scorching! Setting off as early as I did allowed me to get to Thornham in plenty of time to have a nice long rest before meeting Dave which split the day nicely in two. Dave has summarised the walk nicely, though only thing I'd add is that the difference walking with and without the backpack is phenomenal so I was grateful to Libby for taking it to Wells!
Heather had booked a table at a restaurant as we'd been warned that it would be hard to get in anywhere (apparently in Wells there are 3,000 permanent residents but in the summer there are 10,000 people in the town!). Unfortunately when we got there we found out that the meat and fish restaurant we thought we were going to had changed to 'The Capuccino Bar' and we quickly realised we weren't going to get a proper meal here. We tried a few other places with no luck and the fish & chip shop had a queue a mile long but then we spotted the Wells Tandoori. It seemed nobody wanted a curry in this weather so we strolled straight in and stuffed our faces before returning to our glamorous youth hostel.
In the morning I set off out of Wells and rejoined the coastal path which was pretty straightforward. There were quite a lot of villages along today's route and knowing what the temperature was going to be like and having my bag back I knew I would need frequent stops to rest if I was going to finish. I first stopped off at Cley which was about 9 miles along, from here the coastal path headed North and started directly on the coastline as cliffs started to develop for the first time. I followed this all the way down to Sheringham where I had another stop.
I considered joining the beach but I remembered that the guy had said this was only possible at low tide and as I hadn't been paying much attention as to whether the tide was coming in or out I went the safe route and rejoined the cliff path up a steep slope. This was fine until I got to a sign saying that the path was closed due to cliff erosion and so I had no choice but to rejoin the road at East Runton. Fortunately it was pathed and so the walk down to Cromer was easy, though at one stage it started raining heavily so I ducked into a pub and caught a bit of the Wigan v Chelsea game.
I reached Cromer (a place I will forever associate with my old boss Sean who I don't think went anywhere else on holiday in the 8 years we worked together) and here I did drop onto the beach. It wasn't as easy to walk as other beaches as the mudflats were very soft and the beach very stony. There were barriers at intervals down the beach which weren't a problem at first but eventually they were running full length so you either got wet walking round the bottom or went over stairs at the top. I could also see what looked like some impassable rock in the distance so I decided to leave the beach at Overstrand.
Unfortunately I couldn't find the coastal path again and suspected it might have finished as I now reaching the East side of the coastline so I had to rejoin the main road. By this time my feet and legs had just about had enough, this was about 24 miles in and I'd been feeling them for a while. There was only 5 miles left so I tried to just ignore it and get done but the road quickly went to my arch-nemesis - the unpathed single lane NSL road - so with about 3 miles to go, having passed the 25 mile mark, I decided to grab a passing bus the rest of the way into Mundesley. This was a blessed relief for my feet and also my calves which after 15 days have finally started to cave in and feel constantly on the verge of cramp! I had to be very careful not to stretch too much in bed last night as they felt like they would twang at any moment!
Tomorrow I have company from Frank and Ciarin who are joining me for the whole leg down to Yarmouth. Annoyingly there's no wifi at the hotel which is frustrating as I want to get a good look at the maps before we leave as I've had trouble loading the maps on the phone due to the poor signal. May wander to the town and try somewhere else but it's a small place!
5 days to go and the rest is all Southwards now so every step definitely is a step nearer home!
Day 15 complete. 3/4 done now and god I can feel it!!
Firstly a quick catch up on yesterday. A big thank you to Hayley and Carl for putting me up on Friday night, was so nice to have a night lounging on the sofa in a home rather than a hotel room! Hayley rustled up some rather tasty Fajitas as well. The day was a good one, though scorching! Setting off as early as I did allowed me to get to Thornham in plenty of time to have a nice long rest before meeting Dave which split the day nicely in two. Dave has summarised the walk nicely, though only thing I'd add is that the difference walking with and without the backpack is phenomenal so I was grateful to Libby for taking it to Wells!
Heather had booked a table at a restaurant as we'd been warned that it would be hard to get in anywhere (apparently in Wells there are 3,000 permanent residents but in the summer there are 10,000 people in the town!). Unfortunately when we got there we found out that the meat and fish restaurant we thought we were going to had changed to 'The Capuccino Bar' and we quickly realised we weren't going to get a proper meal here. We tried a few other places with no luck and the fish & chip shop had a queue a mile long but then we spotted the Wells Tandoori. It seemed nobody wanted a curry in this weather so we strolled straight in and stuffed our faces before returning to our glamorous youth hostel.
In the morning I set off out of Wells and rejoined the coastal path which was pretty straightforward. There were quite a lot of villages along today's route and knowing what the temperature was going to be like and having my bag back I knew I would need frequent stops to rest if I was going to finish. I first stopped off at Cley which was about 9 miles along, from here the coastal path headed North and started directly on the coastline as cliffs started to develop for the first time. I followed this all the way down to Sheringham where I had another stop.
I considered joining the beach but I remembered that the guy had said this was only possible at low tide and as I hadn't been paying much attention as to whether the tide was coming in or out I went the safe route and rejoined the cliff path up a steep slope. This was fine until I got to a sign saying that the path was closed due to cliff erosion and so I had no choice but to rejoin the road at East Runton. Fortunately it was pathed and so the walk down to Cromer was easy, though at one stage it started raining heavily so I ducked into a pub and caught a bit of the Wigan v Chelsea game.
I reached Cromer (a place I will forever associate with my old boss Sean who I don't think went anywhere else on holiday in the 8 years we worked together) and here I did drop onto the beach. It wasn't as easy to walk as other beaches as the mudflats were very soft and the beach very stony. There were barriers at intervals down the beach which weren't a problem at first but eventually they were running full length so you either got wet walking round the bottom or went over stairs at the top. I could also see what looked like some impassable rock in the distance so I decided to leave the beach at Overstrand.
Unfortunately I couldn't find the coastal path again and suspected it might have finished as I now reaching the East side of the coastline so I had to rejoin the main road. By this time my feet and legs had just about had enough, this was about 24 miles in and I'd been feeling them for a while. There was only 5 miles left so I tried to just ignore it and get done but the road quickly went to my arch-nemesis - the unpathed single lane NSL road - so with about 3 miles to go, having passed the 25 mile mark, I decided to grab a passing bus the rest of the way into Mundesley. This was a blessed relief for my feet and also my calves which after 15 days have finally started to cave in and feel constantly on the verge of cramp! I had to be very careful not to stretch too much in bed last night as they felt like they would twang at any moment!
Tomorrow I have company from Frank and Ciarin who are joining me for the whole leg down to Yarmouth. Annoyingly there's no wifi at the hotel which is frustrating as I want to get a good look at the maps before we leave as I've had trouble loading the maps on the phone due to the poor signal. May wander to the town and try somewhere else but it's a small place!
5 days to go and the rest is all Southwards now so every step definitely is a step nearer home!
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