Walks of 2024

Obviously the year is not over and I walk year round but I have finished my 'challenge' walks for the season.

I have been doing The Conqueror Challenges since 2020 and the year after I opted to walk a Marathon (aptly for the Marathon to Athens challenge) and then various Stupidly Long Walks out in the wild to make things more meaningful and more of an *actual* challenge. This year was no different although I mixed it up a bit.

Previously I have chosen to walk distances around the 20 mile mark, overnight. I like walking at night for several reasons: less risk of dehydration or heat exhaustion, I sunburn badly and my eyes are very photosensitive, less people which make an emergency pee in the bushes less of a problem, less traffic and the advantage of headlights making approaching vehicles easier to spot.

Slough to Ascot

My first walk of the year was a fairly modest 13 mile walk to do a section I'd had to re-jig on the aforementioned Marathon to Athens walk - I had intended to take The Long Walk into Windsor Great Park and along the edge of Virginia Water but Google Maps had failed to tell me the park closed at night!

This walk was consequently a daytime one and exceedingly painful as I had made a rookie error with my new hiking trainers but I'm glad to have done it.

The White Cliffs Of Dover

My first mini-break of the year was three nights in Dover to do my English Channel challenge. I'd rather have swum it but having to book swimming sessions just doesn't work for me. I had hoped to wild swim it in my local river until a pollution event put me right off the idea. As it was 2024 really didn't have enough 'summer' to make that workable.

The first walk was a yet more modest 8.3 miles from my hotel in Dover to Folkestone Central passing Samphire Hoe and Abbot's Cliff Sound Mirror. I was a bit peeved that the cliff path I had intended to take had been permanently closed off. Despite the lack of summer this was during a heatwave and I was melting when I set out before dawn!

The second walk was 9.7 miles from Deal Station back to my hotel via the Dover Patrol Memorial, St Margaret's Bay, and Foreland Lighthouse. This was a tad more comfortable as it was less insanely hot... or I had aclimatised.

In between I walked up the Dame Vera Lynn Way to Langdon Bay for a mooch around, and after both 'major' walks I mooched the marina and the New Pier.

Not only were the walks daytime AND rougher terrain than I am used to (absolutely LOVING my hiking poles!) but I had not before committed myself to do two challenging walks on consecutive days. It went pretty well overall but I gave myself such terrible blisters that I had to buy some Barbie Pink sandals from a nearby Poundland so I could get home again!

Cotswold Adjacent

Last year I ended up doing part of the Jurassic Coast Path (toward my Jurassic Coast challenge) from Weymouth purely because I couldn't make a decision about the Cotswold Way challenge.

I chose Chippenham because it is near the Cotswolds, the hotel was affordable, and on the Intercity line. The Cotswold Way proper is not easy to get to if you're dependent on trains as I am.

My first walk was 15.7 miles from Bath Station (the finishing point of the virtual challenge is in Bath) to my hotel in Chippenham. As I have already walked the Bath Road between Newbury and Twyford I have decided to challenge myself to complete the whole thing.

As the actual Cotswold Way was unavailable I looked to Cotswolds-set detective dramas - and that section crosses Box Hill. The Brunel-built Box Hill Tunnel featured in an episode of Macdonald & Dodds.

That first walk went okay. A few more shoe-based issues and some pretty torrential rain on the final stretch but no real dramas. I did the walk the first night of my stay, getting back to the hotel about 5am.

There was however, one problem: the final stretch of that walk would be repeated on the next... and it would be clearly impassible in daylight hours. There were no paths, overgrown verges and even at 3am there was more traffic than I cared for. The second walk *had* to be after dawn so, to quote Hercule Poirot, this caused my furiously to think.

In the end my daughter helped me re-jig the second walk which was a 10.5 mile loop from hotel to Yatton Keynell (purely because I had to visit Tiddleywink), South to Biddestone, North again to Giddeahall and then back into Chippenham. I set out before dawn - sunrise hit a little south of Yatton Keynell - and was back by 9am. That way I was able to avoid encountering much traffic on the roads while still being able to get photos of Biddestone - which is Carsley in the TV adaptation of Agatha Raisin.

Yatton Keynell and Biddestone ARE in the Cotswolds proper, but only just... so my third and final walk of this mini-break aimed to avoid any ambiguity. I took a couple of trains to get to Kemble (no connection with the fictional Kembleford of Father Brown). From here I did a very short 4.5 mile loop up to the Thames Head (source of the River Thames) back down along the Thames Path (even though there was no river to be seen) and back into Kemble.

Southampton

I'd booked a single night in a hotel for a gig that got postponed so naturally I went for a walk!

7.4 miles took me across the Itchen Bridge along to a park called Miller's Pond - I wrote a book called The McKerrows of Miller's Pond on Wattpad - from there up Kathleen Road (my younger daughter's name) along to a 'Spoons where I ate and drank entirely too much, and then back via Northam Bridge.

I got lost twice! Firstly I managed to take a wrong turn out of the 'Spoons, then later I almost ended up in St Mary's Stadium!

That got me back to the hotel around midnight and then in the morning I mooched around Southampton taking in a selection of Titanic memorials. On my way back to the station I got DRENCHED! Even my undercrackers were soaked. I had to change back into my previous day's clothes in the loo on the train which were still somewhat moist from being in my backpack!

Slough To Twyford

My final 'big' walk of the season was a fairly simple overnight stretch of the Bath Road - 13.7 miles. I'll have to revisit Maidenhead sometime - it looked very nice! Unfortunately I really buggered up my left knee on this one. No idea how but it caused me issues almost from the get-go. I had hoped to walk all the way home (a total 17.2 miles) but by Twyford it was excruciating so I sucked up the expense and caught a train and bus home even though I had to sit at Twyford Station for almost two hours waiting for the first train of the day.

Verdict

I still have one more mini-break this year - my first ever visit to Derby - but being December I am unlikely to stray far. 

I may not have done any really big walks this year but I certainly feel that I have succeeded in getting out of my comfort zone with back-to-back walks, off road routes, and daytime walks. 

2025

I intend to walk Nine Mile Ride (14.7 miles) toward one of my Harry Potter challenges - taking in the real-world location of 4 Privet Drive before walking home.

I'm hoping to do some more of the Bath Road - perhaps Slough to Houslow with a detour up to St Dunstan's, Cranford where some ancestors are allegedly buried. That'd be about 12.9 miles. I'm also trying to work out the logistics of the central Chippenham to Newbury section - hopefully breaking at Avebury and Hungerford (Chippenham to Avebury - 13.4 miles, Avebury to Hungerford - 16.7 miles, Hungerford to Newbury - 9.5 miles).

I have a load of challenge codes banked including London which I'd like to at least partially complete real-world.

As for mini-breaks the Southampton gig has been rescheduled for January which is not very conducive for walking and the only other thing I have booked is a gig in London in March... and I haven't even booked accommodation!

The Circle Of Life

As part of my OU classics courses we touched on ring composition - returning to the opening idea at the conclusion of a tale.

I rather felt that idea was represented in the gig I went to last night; a bunch of coincidences that seemed rather circular in nature.

First, the obligatory overview for non-regular readers:

I've blogged before about my love for the band Fearless Vampire Killers who I saw a not-to-be-sneezed-at 21 times* between April 2013 and their farewell shows in October 2016 (following the official disbanding several months earlier). *including the Kierless Vampire Killers show in Bridgend

It's been a helluva three years from my side of things, which I have also blogged about. The first year after FVK did the thing was dominated by me completing my degree (inc. my last ever essay - on the lyrics of their song 'Neon In The Dance Halls') and prepping for the move back to Reading. The second year started in a new home, new job, newly graduated - and then, midway through, my mum had a severe stroke and everything changed. I gave up my hopes of financial independence (let alone a career) and my personal freedoms to bring my mum home and be her full-time carer. The third year has been more of the same - dealing with my own depression about the situation as well as the deterioration of her condition.

So yeah, it's been rough.

In some ways it's been a bit of a blessing, from my POV at least, that my FVK boys* have been pretty quiet because if the split hadn't happened and I was missing tours and festivals I'd be coping far less. *Kier has gone onto his Inklings solo project - no idea how that's going cos I am still mad at him for ditching his bandmates the way he did (he had every right to choose his path but the way he did it was out of line imho 😡), Shane is working in the arts, while Drew, Luke and Laurence have formed a new bad - The Broken Kings.

That said, the quietness - on social media especially, which is my lifeline - is not a good thing, especially with worrying how they're coping as they were heart, body & soul into that band. Although I'm also hoping that in the long run the re-branding of two thirds of FVK as The Broken Kings will be a good move as they have previously said the band name and image had worked against them. They deserve commercial success.

But here we are, three years on, The Broken Kings have released a handful of tracks and, on Thursday 12th September 2019, played their first ever show - supporting Steven Battelle at the Boston Music Rooms, Tufnell Park, London.

So there's the first circle: in at the death of FVK and at the very first show of TBK :) The circle of life. Straightforward enough. *Ba-dum-tiss*

The second circle is how I ended up there. Back when FVK did the thing I had a double room booked for the Kierless Vampire Killers show - the only booked date they played before the farewell - only the girl I was going with dropped out and so I offered up the twin bed if anyone wanted to be there and felt they could tolerate my snoring. Another friend took it and, when the farewell shows came up we bunked in together again. When I saw this show announced I just took it for granted that, what with my mum's situation, I couldn't go but a few hours later this same friend messaged me to ask if I was going. I damn near replied "Of course I can't go!!!" but it made me think - my youngest would be home from uni for the summer, she should still be here...why COULDN'T I go?! I asked my mum if it'd be okay and booked it, rather rudely without checking it'd be okay with my daughter but I got carried away! It just seems quite the coincidence that it was the same friend who made me realise I could go after all - together at the end and again at the beginning, round in a circle.

The third circle is the venue. The last gig I went to was around 3 weeks before my mum's stroke - and it was to see Ashestoangels at the exact same venue - the only other time I'd been to that particular venue before, although I had been to its sister venue The Dome* *their doors open onto different roads but they pretty much back onto each other There was something both strange yet comforting to be back in that space after nearly a year and a half. A bit of a flavour of picking up my old life where I left off if that makes any kind of sense.

There's a possible fourth circle - I think* the first time I met the friend of circle 2 in the real world was at an FVK gig at The Dome! *It's all got a bit lost in the mists of time, my memory is atrocious

There were circles for the artists involved too - FVK had supported Steven Battelle's former band LostAlone before...also, despite the new projects all former members were present - Shane & Kier for FVK as well as Mark & Alan for LostAlone.

Maybe this is all a bit weird but last night's gig aside from being AMAZING just felt like everything was coming back around to the beginning - it marked a beginning for TBK, it was coming back to the dear friends I've made who're practically family.

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Anyway, I ought to include something about the show itself. 

The Broken Kings' set was six songs - four of theirs, one old FVK track and what I am reliably informed was a Bee Gees cover (my knowledge of 70s music is a bit more glam rock based). After a three year break they got back into the swing of things really easily and just as I thought FVK were destined for great things TBK show all that promise.

Aside from being worried I wouldn't get there I was also haunted by an experience from 2014. I'd gone to Birmingham to see New Kids On The Block. They were my 1st concert in 1991...and my 2nd, in 2009. Waiting 3 years to see Laurence, Luke & Drew again was kind of peanuts in comparison to 18 years and then another 5! Anyway, my 3rd and final NKOTB show was good in itself but I went back to the hotel room and had a good cry because I realised that part of my life was over. Over these past 3 years I've worked on getting my Laurence Beveridge crush under control (which is a good thing) but I was really worried that between that and all the shit I'd been going through I'd look up at them and realise it was over. THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN and the relief is HUGE. If that day ever comes it's gonna hurt like hell. Falling out of love with a band can happen of course but that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt - you can still miss the way they made you feel and the friends you made along the way (who often disappear when you move on).

I had not seen Steven Battelle, or LostAlone, before but I had bought some of LostAlone's music back in the day and I had very much enjoyed his latest solo album 'Midnight Between Months' so I had high hopes and was not to be disappointed. Despite not having a regular live band you wouldn't know and they played a tight show. If circumstances allow I would definitely be up for seeing him play again which is actually quite a thing for me - most artists I'm happy to see the once.

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As a footnote of sorts I have to record for posterity just what a palaver I had getting home. My own fault for bad planning...and for lurking to see the boys off after the show.😉

I got as far as Embankment intending to take the tube to Paddington from there but while I was checking which train I needed I missed the last bloody one of the night. Having next to no idea where in hell (or more specifically, London) I was I headed out into the night. I love a good night walk, the weather was fine and I was in sensible shoes. I rarely get the wiggins about being out alone / late, probably because I am the sort of female who has never attracted any unwanted (or wanted, for that matter) attention so I have a tendency to feel a bit invincible. I failed to find Waterloo (and I was doubtful about a connecting service anyway) so I struck out for Paddington with minimal confidence of finding my way (especially as I couldn't find a huge bloody station like Waterloo when I must've been right next to the bloody thing!) but an air of 'how hard can it be?!' 

The answer to that is very. The route included many useful landmarks but having no idea of their relationship to each other it really was no help at all. I took a selfie outside Buckingham Palace at about 01:40 and posted it to Instagram with the words "simultaneously lost and found" because I knew exactly where I was (being outside the best landmark in the country) but with next to no clue how I was getting from there to where I needed to be!

In all honesty my life was saved by a £16 Power Bank purchased part-charged from Primark in the morning - it charged my phone while I was actively using it for Google Maps and PokemonGO (I find PokemonGO very useful for getting around).

I walked from 00:40 to 02:45. I'd have been better off walking from Tufnell Park! I got disoriented a few times, missed any number of opportunities to make it a shorter route, discovered the route Google Maps provided me through Hyde Park was impossible because it's gated & locked, and got approached by a random taxi driver trying to pick me up but by then I was in my final approach to Paddington...which I also managed to overshoot and was guided in by a janitor!

I had to buy a new ticket home as my Travelcard had expired. Got into Reading about 04:30 and went in search of change for the bus before remembering they take contactless! Caught the first bus of the day (on my route at least) and rocked up to the house like a proper dirty stop out at around 05:30. Oh, what a night!

Absolutely Hegsausted but would do it again in a heartbeat.