Uncategorized – Page 2 – Anthea's Amble for All Saints

Day 4 – Phoar

The temperature soared, so that it even felt hot when we were just starting out. Here’s the group for the day, posing at Pudleston;

Dave heroically signed on for another day of attempting to improve my woeful navigational skills, and we welcomed Ruth, who proved to be an invaluable asset of which more later.

So, once Dave had prevented me leading us all off in the wrong direction at the very start of the day, we were up and running heading off once more into the truly magnificent Herefordshire countryside. Ruth proved to be truly eagle eyed at spotting stiles way off on the other side of huge fields, which was a massive help, so, working as a team we made good steady progress. Even the field margins were co-operating with us until we found one which was slightly congested. We powered on through and decided that then was the time to take our break, in the shade, by the side of a country lane. The peace and quiet was wonderful, all you could hear was the sound of insects and birds – and Dave’s mobile phone as he did a bit of tent pole repair business…..

Up and off and at em once more we headed across more fields – oil seed rape and maize were the crops of the day with a bit of wheat thrown in. We also spotted some amazing patches of orange hawkweed which Dave expertly identified.

On through a lovely cooling patch of woodland, then through a field of maize, across a stream, up another couple of fields and suddenly we were alongside the A44 on the outskirts of Leominster. Luckily the path soon took us along the banks of the River Lugg which again was much cooler, along an impressively strimmed path. A couple of horses popped over to say hello to Ruth. Through some Woodland Trust land, under the road, past some truly beautiful underpass art;

Magnificent mosaics just outside Leominster

Then it was just over the river and over the railway and suddenly there we were – the White Lion at Leominster, an oasis on a baking hot day. Never has a pint of lemonade and lime tasted so good, nor a seat in the shade of a beer garden been so welcome.

Reluctantly we tore ourselves away to complete our journey in the heat of the day. The long walk out of Leominster was hot and sticky so we turned off down a lane in anticipation of a cooling time in the countryside on the Black and White Villages trail. Sadly the first track we were supposed to go down was so overgrown as to be impassable so we did a Dave detour and were soon back on track.

Whether it was the heat, the company or the fact that he had a train to catch back to Shrewsbury, but Dave was suddenly a man possessed, striding ahead, route finding for us all – Ruth and I by this stage were nothing but grateful. Particularly as he walked calmly through a field of stampeding heifers as if nothing was happening! This was our view of him as we approached Monkland Church – you can see the spire behind his head;

Once over the exceedingly bendy boardwalk at that stile, we finally made it out of the farmyard to find our faithful Skoda driver waiting our arrival. He’d brought along some sweet peas I’d picked from the garden that morning, and I left them on the grave of my Gran and Grandad, as he was an expert sweet pea grower;

Grandad was a great gardener, Gran was a great walker – in fact her walking pace was the equivalent of running for most people. We miss them very much and I think they would have equally bemused and amused by the Amble!

And so the end of day 4 photos – one of me resting on the magnificent lych gate, sweaty and unkempt in my ridiculous (but effective) hat;

and finally, the team, at last able to sit down in the cool of the All Saints Monkland porch at the end of a hot but happy day.

Huge thanks to Dave and Ruth for being such good company throughout the day and to Dave in particular, partly for enduring 2 whole days, but mainly for all the help, support and education – I owe you several pints of Butty Bach!

Day One – Done!

Well, we couldn’t have asked for better weather for this first day of walking, albeit it was a bit windy up on the tops of the hills. Cathy and I both lost our hats at least twice, but Simon’s cricketing hat remained impressively in place. Here’s a photo of us all setting off, accompanied as far as the Gullet by Simon’s partner Ness and their gorgeous dog, Sparky.

To illustrate the text — 4 people and a dog head for the Hills

A party of well wishers comprised of David, Libby, Rev Julie and Bob were there to see us off, and Julie blessed us with the lovely Celtic blessing. As we headed up hill towards the Hills, Liz and Derek whizzed past in the car and also wished us well – a good start!

For the first couple of hours, the skies were overcast, which was perfect walking weather, but as we came down off the first run of Hills into British Camp the sun shone and the sky turned blue and so it remained for the rest of our walk. Stopped for our first rest break on a bench looking out over Evendine and beyond, stunning views.

Carried on towards the Worcestershire Beacon, meeting along the way a stunning variety of dogs (and their owners), all very friendly. Through the Wyche Cutting we marched, and upward, ever upward to the Beacon where it really was remarkably windy. Down the other side and took our second break in the sun on a bench within spitting distance of North Hill. Discovered via a text from Mike that the Buddy Beacon wasn’t working, so needed to text him our current position.

Thankfully Simon took on the job of navigating us down from the Hills to pick up the Worcestershire Way and did it brilliantly. Having walked down Old Hollow – and passed the Grand Designs house, which looked great – we fought our way through a particularly jungly bit of footpath, being very thankful for the dry weather!!! Then it was onto the Worcestershire Way and wide open paths through orchards, which was lovely. Simon navigated us expertly to our final destination, pointing out geocache sites along the way and Cathy kept morale high with restorative conversation. I’m very grateful to both of them for accompanying me on Day 1, but was even more grateful to see the trusty Skoda awaiting us in a layby as we navigated the busy main road up to where Mike was waiting. Day 1 done and here’s the photo to prove it.

Now for day two……

It’s Nearly Time….

Four days to go before I head off across the Hills on the start of my 150 mile walk, so its just as well that I managed to complete a full 12 mile walk on Sunday. Weather was not as nice as promised, so didn’t really need the sunhat but all good, just a bit of mizzle at the end. Headed out up past the Gullet Quarry, then up onto Swinyard and on along the Hills til about Jubilee where I stopped for my first 2 hourly break. Sat down and enjoyed the quality of the peace and stillness, looking out across the view. Then headed down to Gardiners Quarry and the Kettle Sings. Shortly afterwards got kind of lost, although knew what direction I was heading in. Found myself on a path which took me very close to the gardens of Perrycroft and then down via a small wood with a stream running through it before I was back on course at Evendine. Heading up towards the main road and British Camp I approached a stile from one direction as a group of young lads with HUGE rucksacks approached from the opposite direction. Felt very sorry for them. Kept going along the back route at the bottom of the Hills, all the way to Hollybush and then home via the Millpond in Golden Valley. Didn’t feel too bad, although did plunge feet into iced water when I got home. Many thanks to the lovely Michaela from Balanced Massage who has come round to give me a couple of sports massages in the lead up to the walk – they seem to have helped a lot.

I’ve got a really busy few days coming up, so am actually looking forward to the simplicity of leaving All Saints Hollybush at 9am on Monday 1st July and then just keeping on walking (hopefully!). The amazing total raised so far via online and offline donations is £2,285 which is overwhelming and I’m so grateful to everyone who has given money. Watch this space for daily updates on how I get on!

Eastnor Adventure

It’s been a while since I’ve posted because it’s been a while since I did a training walk – Flower Festivals and other such things have intervened. I have, however, acquire a brand new pair of Mendel boots which I’ve slowly been breaking in and last Sunday was their first big walk. In fact it was my longest training walk yet, coming in at 11.8 miles. I left home with a rucksack packed as it would be on day one of the walk – waterproof, camelback, camera, notebook and food. Waterproof was deployed within the first half hour as the clouds gathered and it was as I scaled Ragged Stone that the storm broke;

Happily it didn’t last long and it stayed dry though cloudy for the rest of the walk. I headed up and over Chase End and down into Bromsberrow, and then taking a new path heading for Clencher’s Mill via the outskirts of a very impressive field of wheat;

Resisted the temptation to do a Theresa and run through it. Crossed the ford, and walked along the road into Eastnor. Through the village, across the road to the Deer Park, up to the Obelisk and then home via the Gullet Quarry. Got very tired as I started up to the Obelisk so had a brief stop to refuel and think I should do that more regularly on the real thing.

So, on the plus side I’ve now walked nearly as far as I’ll have to walk on any one day and survived, and my new boots are well and truly broken in and were very comfy. On the minus side, if doing this distance took this much out of me, am I going to be able to cope with walking this sort of distance every day for 5 days at a time? Only time will tell – watch this space….

Ragged Stone Ramble

This spectacular view comes part way up Ragged Stone Hill looking back to Midsummer and Swinyard Hills. The climb up Ragged Stone wasn’t quite as bad this time. I’ve adopted a new tactic of not looking up and so far it seems to be working. Climb down the other side still slippy and tricky, but the scent of those bluebells was still in my nostrils and got me through. Had been congratulating myself on there not being many people around until I hit Chase End where there were suddenly lots of people, dogs and grazing cows. Moved on to Bromsberrow and further than ever before, down to junction just before war memorial before turning back up to go past Toney’s Farm entrance, then back to White Leaved Oak via Howler’s Heath and High Hill. This lived up to its name as the descent down the slope was steep – really must learn to read contour lines on the map. Home via White Leaved Oak and the lower route round Ragged Stone. By now it was getting late, so phoned home to alert support team who was wonderfully getting tea ready for my return home at 9pm. Had done 9.5 miles and, though tired, felt that my world had been re-set by my time in the beauty of Spring – bluebells, cow parsley, hawthorn and wild garlic – amazing.

Beautiful Bluebells

Training is well underway and its a wonderful time of the year to be walking the Malvern Hills. So far I’ve walked from home, over to Hollybush, up Raggedstone Hill – steep! – down the other side – even steeper!!! – through the wonderful White Leaved Oak, up Chase End Hill and then done a loop on footpaths which run across the Bromsberrow Estate. Had never seen that amazing house before but one of the footpaths took me across a lake with a view up to the front of it which looked fab. Came back via the lanes into White Leaved Oak, then took the GeoPark walk route back round the side of Raggedstone and so home via Hollybush and the Millpond. Raggedstone is so steep, but on the way up the sheets of bluebells on its slope provided a welcome distraction from the noise of my own breathing.

On the way down, the phrase the slippery slope came to mind as I struggled with a steep stony descent but I kept going, one nervous step at a time which could turn into a metaphor for this walk!

On the way back around the side of the Raggedstone, the scent of wild garlic was almost overpowering, especially when I tried out a slightly new route which took me down an entire slope covered in it.

Chase End is fast becoming my favourite of the hills as the views from the trig point are truly spectacular especially at this time of year when the splashes of yellow oil seed rape contrast with the vivid blue of the bluebells – Spring in all her glory.

What on earth were you thinking???

May well be what those who know me well will be saying to themselves if they’ve stumbled across this blog…..I’m not exactly renowned for my love of exercise or my sporting prowess!!! However, it has been a long term ambition of mine to do a long walk. Various options have crossed my mind from time to time – Offa’s Dyke, The Wye Valley Walk, The Worcestershire Way – even the Via Francigena – but the problems were always twofold – partly logistics – organizing accommodation, working out break points on the route etc – and partly that none of these major long distance paths was personal to me.

That all changed during a recent holiday in the wonderful county of Dorset, when we were blessed with glorious weather and fantastic walking. I casually mentioned to Mike that maybe I could do a 150 mile walk to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the founding of All Saint’s, Hollybush. Within what seemed like minutes but was actually a few days, he’d come up with a circular route that involved starting at Hollybush, walking via places that were of personal significance to me and my family, and then returning to Hollybush 3 weeks later. Clearly the prospect of 3 weeks of peace and quiet were too good for him to pass up!

He’s continued to work on the route, breaking it down into sensible sections, and to do lots of other backroom stuff like setting up this website for me. I’ve managed to set up the JustGiving pages. I decided I wanted to raise money for All Saint’s Hollybush, but also for a wider cause. I chose Macmillan because I know what great work they do and so many people I love have suffered from and died from cancer.

So, I’m doing this because its a physical challenge and if I don’t do it soon I’ll be too old and creaky. I’m doing it to visit and pay my respects to the ancestors. And I’m doing it as a pilgrimage, and a meditation. I suspect I will learn a lot about myself in these three weeks – not all of it good by any manner of means. So I’m half looking forward to it and half dreading it. I’m planning to use this blog to record my training walks – just to make sure I do do some – and to share memories of those I’m visiting and those who have inspired me to do this walk. And if any thoughts worth sharing occur, I’ll bung those down as well. The plan is that when I’m actually on the walk, I’ll do a daily update here too, so that you can track my progress and my pain!

Hello!

Welcome to the website about Anthea’s walk in July, hoping to raise funds for All Saints Hollybush and Macmillan Cancer Support