An alternative route – found!

August 24th, 2010

After an early birthday celebration with my sister’s family (tasty cake made by Kate and Anna, two of my 3 gorgeous neices) I headed off to Kingston to try the alternative route suggested in my last post.

happy birthday to me!

I had taken the car this time and was on my own so was not able to walk the entire route, but I gave it a pretty thorough checking over and walked most of it, including all the bits that looked a bit dodgy on the map, such as crossing the A31.

I also bought the missing map (OL118) which meant I could figure out how I got lost last time on the Castleman’s Trailway.

There are 2 paths to Corfe Castle from Kingston – the Purbeck Way, or a footpath which is signposted about 50 metres up the road from the Scott Arms. I walked both: I parked at Corfe and walked up to Kingston on the Purbeck Way, and then back on the other footpath. Either route provides spectacular views, but I think the more direct route from the Scott Arms has the edge because it is so obvious where to go:

...just head for the pointy thing

The weather that morning was a treat – strong winds and a heavy drizzle, but it did bestow Corfe Castle with a good sense of foreboding.

Corfe Castle, somewhere near Mordor!

Photographers beware: this stretch of the walk is likely to take longer than normal because the temptation to stop and take pictures is huge, irresistable, and fortunately very rewarding. At least the damn thing stays still! There were several large flocks of crows which took flight as I approached them and filled the moody sky with their spiky silhouettes -it looked amazing but sadly my photos were dismal – just a few dismembered wings and heads.

another one of Corfe Castle, with rare sunlight

I did however find some massive mushrooms, about 10 inches in diameter:

Mushrooms the size of a plate

I haven’t identified them yet, but they smelled incredible and I’m pretty sure they would have been good to eat. Better check first though or the walk could be cut short!

The Fox Inn, Corfe village

Corfe is a very pretty village with the houses built using the local Purbeck stone. I managed to find a lovely pub – the Fox Inn with a small but perfect beer garden; and a bakery that does a decent pasty and some very tasty ginger cake. From the castle the route follows the Purbeck Way, initially west and then north towards Wareham. It is all countryside walking until about a mile or so out of Wareham where you need to walk down a very quiet road, which brings you out at Redclyffe Sailing Club, just over half a mile from Wareham, and then you follow the river Stroud into Wareham.

Redclyffe Sailing Club, near Wareham

I think Wareham would be a good stopping point on the route – there are lots of campsites and guesthouses. The Wareham Forest campsite would be perfect but it might be a bit too far on the day, having started at Lulworth. This is where trying it for real helps.

Heather in bloom at Wareham Forest

Wareham Forest is a lovely walk with all the heather and gorse in bloom. The route goes past Woolsbarrow hill fort, an ancient earthworks which gives a spectacular view across the forest. It is obvious why Wareham is such a popular spot for active holidays on bike or foot.

Hmm, I think I'll build my hill fort ....here!

The Wareham Forest Way continues out of the forest to Sturminster and then across to the Stour Valley Way which broadly follows the river Stour although there is a bit of road walking (again very quiet roads). The dodgiest bit is on the approach to Wimborne where you cross the A31 at a roundabout. From there you walk down a small road (Willett Road – 3 cars went by in 15 mins) and pass under the A35 to join the river before a short walk through some housing to Wimborne where you pick up the Castleman Trailway. It felt much better than either of the other routes.

The Stour Valley Way

Ah, the Castleman Trailway and its daft signing. Evidence in the picture below – the sign says straight on, but the route actually turns sharp right. Once you pass under an old railway bridge you can either stay on the tree-lined, shady, bullet-straight track, or duck off to the left and walk by the river’s edge which is definitely more pleasant if the weather is on your side. It also has the massive advantage of revealing the bridge you need to cross just after the boathouse, which is totally invisible from the track and there are no hints from any signs whatsoever. This, it turns out is where I went wrong last time. Bitter, moi?!

Castleman trail-off... ignore the arrow, turn right!

Nice bridge though…

Bridge over the river Stour - near Canford Magna

…but a bit wobbly! Highlight of the day was seeing a lady one side of the bridge and her terrier the other side, resolutely refusing to cross over. In the end the dog won, but in case there was any doubt about his courage he gave me a serious barking at when I crossed over. So chastised, but delighted that the route seems to work pretty well, I headed back to the car.

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Alternative route?

August 21st, 2010

Many thanks to stourvalewaker who has suggested an alternative route for the tricky bit between Swanage and Ringwood.

You may remember from previous posts that I am not overly happy with this leg of the walk. Felix and I tried continuing along the coast to Boscombe and then cutting up the Avon Valley Path to Ringwood in January. There are a few issues with this route:
1. Booooooooooooooooooooring walk along the beach for hours.
2. The cut-through to AVP is fiddly and involves a fair bit of walking by noisy traffic.
3. There is a death-defying stretch of 60 mph roadside walking for about a kilometre. It is exhilarating, but not in a good way!

When I did the full walk2012 route at the start of August, I tried another approach, this time going into Poole and following the Castleman Trailway to Ringwood. This also had problems:
1. The walk through Poole to Upton Country Park is unattractive and noisy (though Upton Country Park is amazing).
2. Castleman Trailway is also pretty dull, being essentially 16 miles of disused railway line.
3. I got lost. I know this is my fault and not the Trailway’s (and its stupid signs inviting me to jump off a bridge) but it took hours to get back on track.

So I am excited to hear from someone that there is an alternative route involving the Purbeck Way, Wareham Forest Way and the Stour Valley Way, picking up the Castleman Trailway at a later point. I need to weigh up whether to keep the route as far as Swanage/Studland and cut-back on ourselves, or whether to stop at Kingston/Worth Matravers and cut-off the Swanage bit, which will mean missing out on Old Harry rocks. My gut feel is to do the latter – the new route will go past Corfe Castle which I am sure will add to the drama of the route.

Corfe Castle. photo: www.infobritain.co.uk

I am going to Weymouth this weekend to visit my sister and her family so there’s a good opportunity for me to check out this route. Fingers crossed!

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Walk 2012 route on Google maps

August 14th, 2010

Hopefully this will work magnificently and you’ll get a sense of the route:


View walk2012 (aug10 route) in a larger map

Many thanks to KnitNurse who pointed out the glaring hole in my stats – miles walked! This map is a reasonable approximation of the route, and Google makes it 170 miles. My feet are sulking at Google’s rather stingy assessment – they still reckon 180 miles is more likely, and would point out that Google’s world is flat and smooth, which bears little resemblance to the south west coast path cliffs.

Unresolved issues:
1. Poole to Ringwood – is there a better way or does it just have to be a bit boring?
2. St Swithun’s Way v Three Castles Way – which is the better route?
3. Chafe-free pants – do they exist or should I resign myself to the joys of vaseline?

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Walk2012 – Hants to the finish! part 3/3

August 13th, 2010

St Swithun’s Way works pretty well as a route, but it lacks any kapow! moments if you know what I mean. The Itchen Valley is pretty and then there is a *lot* of farmland to cover which I enjoy, and many little churches and huge houses to marvel at along the way. I am currently wondering whether the Three Castles Path from Winchester to Windsor might give more of a thrill.

St Swithun's Way

…that isn’t to say St Swithun’s Way is dull – I can honestly say there was a real heartstopping moment about half way between Alton and Farnham. I had just stepped out of the woods to march up a harvested field when a gunshot went off just a few feet a way. Once I had jumped back into my skin I started singing very loudly to alert any gunmen that I most definitely was not a game bird. Sure enough, a camouflaged figure (face mask and everything) came out of a camouflaged tent/hide for a chat. He was a friendly enough chap, chuckling to himself that as long as I stayed on the ground I’d “probably be ok” …but then I expect it’s easier to be light-hearted if you are the one holding the gun. He told me that his mate was in the next field and he could be “a bit lively.”

Give me a field of bullocks any day.

blue sky - what a treat!

Once out of range the walk became a bit more relaxing up and down the hills towards Farnham which is a pretty town with many guest houses and seemingly no campsites, although there is a lovely green bit near the river and the A31 which I think would be a convenient and quiet place if you need to camp. I stayed at the Mulberry by the station which was fine for £35 and perfectly sited for meeting my friend Debbie and taking the North Downs Way to Guildford.

Debbie's new place on the edge of Farnham

For such a well-known path I expected better waymarking, but alas no. Consequently we took a few alternative routes here and there but as the NDW basically travels east there isn’t a lot to worry about. It is an easy 11 miles or so to Guildford with a stop at Puttenham for lunch in The Good Intent. There are a few decent hills along the way and some cracking views, although better weather would have enhanced them. As with all the walk so far we met very few people, just a couple of billionaire dog-walkers on the outskirts of Farnham and the kind of youths Enid Blyton wrote about – making shelters in the woods instead of smashing up bus shelters on the roadside. Where’s my Daily Mail…

Is this the magic faraway tree?

We broke with tradition in Guildford and had wine instead of beer by the Wey – well we’re in sophisticated Surrey now, and beer is so …rural!

Having had a short and easy day to Guildford and a good old natter with Debbie I was in good spirits and set off up the Wey navigation which runs from Goadalming via Guildford to Weybridge where it empties into the Thames. It is a surprisingly pretty walk (given that it goes under the M25!) and for once ever so slightly downhill. The morning was mostly ducks, swans, and narrowboats with the occasional cyclist, but after lunch at the Anchor (Pyrford Lock) the number of people increased dramatically as I got closer to Byfleet and then Weybridge itself. The route is a doddle with no thinking required until Weybridge where there is a small stretch of road to follow until you reconnect on the Thames Path.

ducks on the Wey

Now in my mind, Weybridge or nearby Walton on Thames are a good stopping point for the walk. However I was feeling pretty good so decided to press on, not least because my brother lives just north of Kingston and had offered me a bed for the night. Fact: Weybridge to Kingston is a lot further than it looks. There is a never ending bend in the river that eventually gets you to Hampton Palace, and then another longish stretch to Kingston. Bit far from Guildford in a day it turns out, and by the time I got to Dave’s house I was hobbling quite badly and hungry and a bit dishevelled all round.

boathouse at Weybridge

Bless my brother. Dave could hardly contain his delight as he opened the door: a quick look at me, quick look at the street, and in the tone of voice normally reserved for a dog that has rolled in something unpleasant said “(sigh) Get in. Quick before anyone sees the family resemblance.” Thankfully his “lucky” wife Yvonne was more welcoming and I was soon tucking into an amazing pasta dish and fruit crumble – result!!

I had decided that the next day would be the day I completed the walk. Don’t try this at home kids – Guildford to Stratford is a 3-day walk, especially having walked from Weymouth beforehand. Nevertheless I had done a good day and a half’s worth yesterday and the end was in sight so after breakfast Dave and I set off across Richmond Park towards Putney. It was lightly raining at this stage which kept the people away and allowed us to get very close to some of the local deer:

two fine young stags in Richmond Park ...take a photo of some deer

From Richmond Park the route is still to be decided – I think the best (but longest) idea is to follow the Thames round towards Putney, however on this day we took a more direct route. It involves a few noisy roads, but does take in a shrine to Marc Bolan where he died near Barnes Common. Then it’s over Putney Bridge through Chelsea, back across to go through Battersea Park, and back again through virtually pub-free Pimlico where we parted after lunch (having found *the* pub). This bit of the route need ironing-out, but then its back across Vauxhall Bridge to the South Bank and everything gets better again. I love the South Bank with its views across Westminster and street performers and hustle and bustle. Even in the rain. Lots of rain.

the seat of power

At Tate Modern I crossed over again and walked past the Tower and on towards Limehouse. It is this stretch where you can see Canary Wharf and know that the end is within limping reach. It was longer than I remembered and the wind had picked up and was now blowing the rain into me. In good news there were no longer any crowds to thread my way through. The weather abated at Limehouse and slowly started warming up as I made my way up Regents Canal. It is an easy walk although I felt the path was a bit narrow for me and all the stealthy high-speed ninja cyclists, fat men in running gear and local youths trying to tip each other into the water!

40 minutes later I was sat in beautiful Victoria Park by the pond, willing my feet to keep going for the couple of miles left. A very tall man with a leggy greyhound pointed me at the right exit from the park and a couple of hundred metres of road later and I was on the Greenway - a walking/cycling path that goes right past the Olympic stadiums. When I was here last year the path was under construction but now it looks brilliant. They have built something called ViewTube too, but by the time I arrived (around 6:30pm) it was shut, so I don’t know what wonders it contains.

made it!

I think because I had arrived a day earlier than planned there was no tickertape parade or fanfare for my arrival. Still, there was a nice man in a reflective jacket to direct me to the tube station, and I think I can claim to be the smuggest chap on the central line that evening (and there was plenty of competition!)

London 2012 Olympic Stadium: end of walk2012 (and home to a bit of sport)

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Walk2012 – New Forest to Winchester part 2/3

August 12th, 2010

After a quick waltz round Sainsbury’s “just add water” food aisle for Ainsley goodies and a swift restorative pint in Ringwood we marched off to the New Forest, following the Avon Valley Path past some boating lakes/gravel pits before turning right up over Bigsbury Hill and on past Waterslade, down through some gorgeous woods towards the friendly Red Shoot pub and extortionate campsite (£24 is a joke). On the plus side it did mean I could have a shower, which after the bad-tempered slog I’d had from Poole was rather overdue come the evening!

photo: Terry Laud

After a fabulous dairylea and ham roll (yes – I am expert in “glamping”!) we set off on a pretty unstructured meander through forests and heath towards Fritham. Of all the legs of Walk2012 the New Forest is the area I am least happy about prescribing a route. There is so much to see and it is all beautiful that it feels wrong to say take this path or that. I think people should take their time and enjoy the forest. Personally, I’d say if you want a campsite then camp at Oknell rather than Red Shoot – it is a much nicer site. Do visit the Royal Oak at Fritham – simple, local food and fantastic beer. Otherwise just enjoy the amazing sense of space and the wild ponies.

me, feasting on the space and peace. photo: Terry Laud

After lunch we strolled north-east through Bramshaw woods where despite map and compass I managed to get us properly lost. This is all part of the fun, and we had a good laugh as Terry clambered around a fallen tree looking for the perfect photo.

Terry up a tree

Eventually we emerged from the woods and wiggled our way to Plaitford Common where we spent a night camping out amongst the ponies.

noisy neigh-bours (sorry) at camp Laud-Stanley

Who knew that the horses could be a) so nosey, and b) so noisy? So much for their fear of man and fire – bloody things turned up with marshmallows on sticks and a set of bongo drums! At around 3am a couple of them started whinnying and galloping around the tent like a pair of bickering teenagers rolling home at the end of a heavy Friday night. I think I disappointed Terry with my reluctance to go out and tell them off – “they’re just kids mucking about, go back to sleep”

Typically, after a night of 1000 horses circling the tent, come dawn there were none in sight and the whole thing felt like a surreal dream – must have been the cous-cous!

morning at camp Laud-Stanley. photo: Terry Laud

After breakfast (Mulligatawny soup!) we set off and walked to Romsey. The route is pretty good but there’s a bit which bothered me last time where we ended up walking down the verge of the A36 for half a mile or so. This time we cut across a golf course and walked down their road which was much better (if a little bit naughty). I will try to get their consent for the actual event in 2012. We walked by a Premier Inn so stopped for a 2 for a tenner lunch before taking the Test Way into Romsey, where Terry got the train home.

I checked into Bertie’s Restaurant/B&B and waited for Felix who had managed to escape her PhD write-up or radio show or conference paper or whatever it is she should have been doing to catch up with me. The bedrooms are too expensive (£85) for the walk in my view, but Bertie’s is a fantastic restaurant and Felix and I had a happy chatty meal followed by a cathedral hush as we nommed our way through the cheese board. The people working there are really friendly and knowledgeable and we will definitely be back to eat again…

After a hearty breakfast Felix and I said our farewells and I headed off to Winchester using a shortened route to the one I took earlier this year. It worked very well and it might become the official route because it means you can easily get beyond Winchester, or spend half a day in Winchester if you prefer – which is a beautiful city.

The Itchen Way at Shalford, between Romsey and Winchester

I met a lovely couple in Winchester whose names I forgot to ask (to my shame) and we chatted for a good few minutes about the walk and the joys of a merino wool base layer. Doing this walk end-to-end has really brought home to me the importance of good company on the walk. I really enjoyed the solitude and beauty of the southwest coast path but once I had got “work” out of my system the walk was much more enjoyable when I could share the experience.

Winchester Cathedral, start of St Swithun's Way

Before leaving Winchester I bought a guide to St Swithuns Way (I think this is essential, from the tourist information office for £4), a spork (Terry had taken mine with her – grr..) and some bread pudding (Greggs!!) and headed of to Alresford. St Swithuns Way is a bit fiddly in parts as you leave Winchester, but then gets more straightforward. It is fairly well waymarked although more guesswork is required east of Alton.

beautiful Itchen valley views ...if only it wasn't raining!

Unfortunately the weather took a turn for the worse and I was soaked by the time I reached Alresford, and not best pleased when the campsite owner told me I couldn’t pitch my tent because they weren’t licensed for tents (seriously). Then it turned out that the 3 B&Bs in Alresford were either full or the owners were on holiday. Harrumph! Luckily Carla and another of the bar staff at the Cricketers were able to find me a room through the powers of Yellow Pages, 118 118 and ultimately Google.

Alresford is the home of the Watercress steam railway line, which if you like this kind of thing (who doesn’t?) is well worth a visit. On the day I was there it was a Thomas the Tank Engine day where you could ride on Thomas or one of his friends on the train line which runs from Alresford to Alton with stops at Ropley and Four Marks (as does St Swithun’s Way). On other days they have the RAT – Real Ale Train (Alresford is also home to the Itchen Valley brewery).

All aboard! Alresford station on the Watercress Line

I’ll post more of the walk tomorrow. Toot toot!

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Made it! Weymouth to London in 11 days

August 11th, 2010

The first end-to-end test of the route is complete!  Here are some stats:

Start: Weymouth, Dorset, 31st July 12:30

Finish: Stratford, east London, 10th August 18:38

Elapsed time: ten days six hours and eight minutes*

Number of pubs visited: 16

Fluffers (to keep me perky): 4 – Dad, Terry, Debbie and Dave

Blisters: 2 worth mentioning (left heel, right little toe)

Best kit award: Chocolate Fish base layer – incredible

Worst kit award: all my pants – things have to change

Unused kit in pack: 1 pair socks (wasn’t confident they’d be kind to feet); 1 Berghaus paclite (it only rained when I was walking and therefore too sweaty to benefit!);  1 supernoodles (beef); 1 Ainsley soup; 1 little gas canister (the other one is lasting for ever)

Most beautiful spot: tough choice, but I’m going for Swyre Head

Here are some photos from the journey, starting with Dorset:

view from Osmington to Weymouth and Portland

Dad (and Milly his nutty Springer) joined me for the first bit of the walk across Bowleaze Cove in Weymouth and over the cliffs to Osmington and Ringstead. It was perfect walking weather and the ground much better than when Felix and I did this bit in January.

Bat hole (other end of Durdle Door)

I left Dad at Ringstead and carried on over the steep cliffside to Bat Hole and Durdle Door, and on into Lulworth. Worth noting that the great campsite is not as far as Lulworth – I left it to Lulworth until checking the map! It’s about 20 mins from the campsite down to Durdle Door.

me getting a foot in the door

Bright and early (7:30) the following morning I was off across Lulworth Cove (walking round the beach, not over the hills – tiring lesson from January) and made time to scramble down amongst the Fossil Forest, which is amazing. I can’t explain the feeling of sitting on a Jurassic treestump, but it set my imagination on fire.

beautiful Lulworth Cove

fossilised tree stumps in the Fossil Forest, Lulworth ranges

By far the hardest bit of the walk is between Lulworth and Worbarrow Bay – the climbs are incredibly steep but the views are sensational. In January Felix and I continued along the coast to Worth Matravers, but Dad and Wendy had told me of a higher, easier route slightly inland towards Kingston. It is definitely easier but stil has a good climb in it. Before the descent into Kingston you reach Swyre Head. This is *the* most stunning place on the walk in my view, and that is saying a lot. There is a burial mount at the top, and I think whoever is buried there picked well indeed.

breathtaking view from Swyre Head

Kingston is a pretty little village with a pub (The Scott Arms) that overlooks Corfe Castle. It is a great lunch spot – my advice is to dodge the food queue in the bar and visit the two Jamaican ladies selling jerk chicken instead – fantastic food in the most unexpected place.

Corfe Castle from the gardens of the Scott Arms, Kingston

The other legendary pub nearby is the Square and Compass at Worth Matravers, and I was delighted to be able to stop here for a pint before carrying onto Swanage.

"lay down be cider" and me at the Square and Compass, Worth Matravers

Having survived a couple of cattle incidents including a very amorous bull blocking the gate, resulting in a cliff-edge diversion, I camped on the east side of Swanage.

God's glitterball at the sea disco

The following morning I was breakfasting at Old Harry rocks and then strolling along the sandy beach at Studland. The far end of Studland is a nudist beach, and it was a bit busier than in January!

self-publicity and skinny dipping at Studland

ice cream boat

yes it still plays the ice-cream van music!

If you’ve been keeping tags on the route you’ll know that I didn’t really like the Poole-Bournemouth-Ringwood route, so this time I tried a different way, incorporating the Castleman trailway which allegedly runs from Poole to Ringwood. It requires a ferry into Poole Harbour (via Brownsea Island), and then a fairly noisy bit of walking by the harbour and the A35. You are rewarded at Upton however with a beautiful country park with a lovely teashop (mmmm apple pie)

upton country house

Upton House, Upton country park

From the country park you follow a shady path north alongside Upton Heath which is a nature reserve for about a mile where it bisects the Castleman trailway. I camped near here in a very friendly campsite, which gave me opportunity to stroll through the beatiful heathland.

Upton Heath - a nature reserve

a hungry young bird I met on the way back from the pub

As for the Castleman trailway – given that it is a disused railway line and therefore pretty straight, it takes a “special” kind of walker to get lost. That’ll be me then! My feeble defence is that the signs ran out at Wimborne and I couldn’t work out where to go. There is one OS map I didn’t buy because it had a tiny amount of my route on it – and this is the spot! Sods Law in full effect – I march off at almost exactly right-angles to the direction I needed, and about an hour or so later end up at a private girls school in Canford Magna. With the summer holidays sadly I wasn’t even greeted by private girls, but by a big-bellied man in gren overalls cleaning drains. Things got worse as I made a pitiful attempt to recover and ended up some time later being gently mocked by a few truckers and the owner of a layby burger van. Marvellous. On the plus side – MC Catering does an amazing bacon and egg roll, and thankfully the guys did point me in the right direction (flashback to me as a teenager “helpfully” directing holidaymakers around Weymouth!!)

I was a cross bear by the time I got here, miles off track!

I did eventually get back on track and rejoined the Castleman trailway in Ferndown. Even if I hadn’t got lost it would be a dull day’s walk so I am currently pondering a route from Corfe Castle.

Thankfully my friend Terry was patiently waiting for me at Ringwood and with my spirits lifted we set off for the New Forest. I’ll write about our adventures next…

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Mark’s adventures so far, via Felix

August 3rd, 2010

This is Felix making a very sedentary report from the house, while Mark makes his way across the walk2012 route. This is Mark leaving for the start of his epic walk, on Saturday morning.

And here is the itinerary so far as I understand it:

Saturday: Weymouth – Lulworth
Sunday: Lulworth – Worth Matravers (for happy pint at Square and Compass pub) via Swire Head – SWANAGE
Monday: Camped near Castleman Way

…not certain where Mark – AKA Stan or Stanbear – has gotten to so far today, but I thought you would appreciate updates on the mileage so far!

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Gone walkin’

July 31st, 2010

Survive the week – check

Get embarrassed at leaving card presentation and fluff speech – check

Get drunk with work colleagues – check

Fall asleep on train and get woken up at last stop – check

Wake up hungover and panicky – check

Pack stuff into rucksack.  Unpack cat.  Feel dizzy – check

…ok then, off to Weymouth!  This is the first attempt at completing the entire route.  Fingers crossed!

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Sounds from the Nightwalk…

July 12th, 2010

Felix here, just writing to link to some of the sounds Mark mentioned in the last post.

Rave/Owl sounds

Mystery Bird sounds, heard by the banks of the Thames near Wallingford, around 3am

Also, I recorded this bee finding his honey who was visiting every flower on a tall stem of some Rosebay Willowherb and I thought you might all like it…

… and finally, I thought you may enjoy The amazing morning song of this bird, who was singing on the Old Reading Road, which is being slowly overtaken by nature now that the new road has replaced it.

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Me and my girl (nightwalking)

July 11th, 2010

First confession – when I thought of the title of this blog I had in my head Nightclubbing by Iggy Pop which I thought would be pretty cool.  However a swift check on google and YouTube reveals that I really meant Me and my girl (nightclubbing) …by David Essex.  For those of you tou young or cool to remember, David Essex was a proto-David Hasselhof kind of hunk.

Anyway, having scraped off any residue of cool that I may have accidentally stepped in, here’s the blog entry.

A couple of weeks ago Felix did an all-night walk from Oxford to Reading, some 35 miles or so door to door.  She came back with tales of owls, badgers, teenagers and other creatures of the night.  I was unable to join her on that trip because it was a Monday night so we went for a repeat performance this Friday evening.

It gave me the opportunity to try out my new rucksack so I filled it with far more stuff than I needed to put a bit of weight in it, and off we went to catch the train to Oxford.  Once at Oxford we had a romantic 2pc chicken and chips dinner (I know how to treat a girl) and then set off south down the Thames path just after 9:30pm.

The start of the walk, on the Thames at Oxford

After about an hour or so we veered off of the Thames at Sandford Lock and headed out across fields and through woodland.   There was no moon on Friday night and no streetlights in the fields, so I found the going a bit tricky.  Felix it turns out has bat-vision and used her ultrasonic clicking to navigate us under a pylon and through the darkest copse to…  …an illegal rave!!  Yaaay.  This wasn’t here last time she went this way, but it added to the surreal nature of the walk, and the wildlife seemed quite happy with a barn owl making some interesting screeches to The Prodigy.  As we left it looked as if the party might be brought to a premature end or a new high point  as 30 or so cows trundled towards the field!

Felix was trying out her new recording equipment for a radio show she is putting together and I hope she’ll post the raving owl sounds up here shortly.

Party field with raving owls and cows

It is amazing how much you *can* see in the dark once your eyes become accustomed.  Many leaves and flowers stand out quite brightly with the notable exception of nettles, brambles and thistles, all of which like to lurk just over the edge of a barely distinguishable footpath.  Shorts seemed like such a good idea at the time, and although I pulled my 1000-mile socks (amazing) up high they offered little protection.

The walk continued and we zigzagged across the A4074 a few times which is the inspiration behind Felix’s radio show.  She has regularly commuted between Oxford and Reading on this road for several years and realised she knew very little about any of the points inbetween.  I can’t give too much detail about the route I’m afraid because it was mostly across fields and one dark field with silhouettes of horses, cows, lions, is pretty much like another.  I have no idea whether Felix really knew where she was going or just fronted the whole thing out, but she strode forth with me stumbling in her wake.

Felix: sounds of the A4074

Our first human contact came just outside Benson where the youth were gathered as a welcoming committee for us.  Another milestone reached as I got heckled for having my socks pulled up nice and high.  Brilliant, I am my Dad.  I could have explained about the thistles but frankly I don’t think they were terribly interested in a function over fashion discussion :-)

It wasn’t all plain sailing for Felix.  I have never walked with anybody who takes the unwanted attention of flies and bugs so personally.   Poor flies, not so much swept away with a sweep of a hand as verbally waterboarded with an unending torrent of  abuse!  They do love her though Felix the fly magnet, as this picture shows.

Felix and the ****ing flies

The world was slowly waking up:  2 or 3 anglers were setting up, and a goose made a graceful landing onto the water.  The walk into Wallingford was beautiful as the dawn chorus started.  We listend for ages to this beautiful conversation between two birds hidden in the bushes by the river’s edge.  The variety of song and the sense of dialogue was magical.

Just past Wallingford we crossed a poppy field.  There were no flowers but the naked poppy heads were a morning glory of their own!  We encountered a deer who eyed us carefully for a few minutes before leaping off through the fields with a friend.   Just afterwards we saw two hares trot down the road and then race across a field past grazing sheep.  Hares are odd creatures aren’t they?  So much wilder and more aloof than rabbits.

Roe deer in the poppy field

Cars started appearing on the roads and people were walking their dogs as we approached Mapledurham.  We met a gorgeous black labrador puppy  as we crossed a barley field, and found ourselves in a field that was absolutely fizzing with life amongst the long grass.  So many bees, grasshoppers, crickets, flies, beetles…  all too much for a sound artist so I lay down whilst Felix recorded.

Barley field near Mapledurham

The rest of the walk is fortunately fading from my mind.  My feet hurt, my right knee ached, I was tired, hungy, thirsty, hot, covered in spider threads, Felix was babbling incoherently, my rucksack was squeaking, grrrrrr…  Anyway, a quick bath and 6 hours sleep later all was good in the world again.  All I need now is a new knee!

little buzzing bees, jet planes, all meat to a sound artist

And so the second confession of this post – there is NO way I would have done the walk on my own as Felix did.  I am full of admiration for her determination and courage.  It offers some small comfort to a mere mortal such as myself that she still occasionally gets beaten by the little things – like midges and wind on a microphone!

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