Tag: Day out

A Journey Along the Wildlife Walk in Celebration of Richard Jefferies

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Route on Strava

The Richard Jefferies Museum by Coate Water in Swindon has initiated the Wildlife Walk in celebration of Jefferies’s life. This walk spans a whopping 175 miles, connecting various places that were significant in Jefferies’s life.

The Richard Jefferies museum
Start

Three weeks ago, I took on the challenge of walking the length of the ridgeway, a grueling 99 miles over 6 days, which coincides with some of the Wildlife walk. It was a test of endurance and determination, but I’m proud and glad to have accomplished it.
Today, I connected that path, by walking from the Richard Jefferies Museum to the Ridgeway. Despite it being one of the hottest days of the year, and having already run a Parkrun earlier this morning, the main challenge was indeed the heat. You can check out the stats of my walk on Strava.

Coate Water Nature Reserve

My friend Craig, who’s well-versed with the route, was my guide for the day.

A significant portion of our walk coincided with the National Cycle Route 45, leading us to the Three Trees Farm Shop. There, we took a much-needed break (mostly looking at all the goodies in the shop) and refreshed ourselves with cold drinks.

The curly-wurly bridge over the M4

Our journey was mostly smooth, except for a stretch of long grass that we inadvertently ventured into. But that’s the beauty of such walks, isn’t it? The unexpected turns and the surprises they bring! And the rash on my legs has almost gone by now 😀

We were also treated to sightings of squirrels, red kites, rabbits, and deer along the way.

Craig, ever the enthusiast, suggested we circle around Liddington Castle, which I was relunctant to because my legs were getting tired and it was so watm, but I’m actually glad we did (I just moaned a lot). The views from the trig point, overlooking Swindon, were absolutely breathtaking.

Never not funny…

Our return journey, though still under the scorching sun, felt a tad easier. Most of it was downhill, and we eventually made our way back to Coate. To mark the end of our 11-mile walk in the heat, we decided to treat ourselves to a drink at the Sun Inn.

Now, here’s where I urge all of you to get involved. The Wildlife Walk is not just a physical journey; it’s an experience, a tribute to Richard Jefferies. I encourage everyone to explore the route, walk as much (or as little) as you can, and share your experiences with the museum. And if you’re around on the 6th of November, do join in the celebrations of Richard Jefferies’s birthday and life.

The Richard Jefferies Museum is a treasure trove of events and exhibitions. If you can, drop by for the “Music and Cream Tea” afternoons held on Sundays( you might see me there volunteering). In fact, there’s one tomorrow, and given the sunny forecast, I hope to see many of you there!

Another recommendation from me is to buy and read this wonderful book Wildlife, to learn more about Richard Jeffries.

Lastly, if you’re in a position to, consider donating to support the museum. Every bit helps in preserving the legacy of Richard Jefferies.

As for me, I aim to walk the entirety of the 175 miles, though I will not be able to complete it by the 6th of November. My next segment? Joining the Ridgeway to Tolworth, Surbiton. Life is proving busy and a bit difficult at the moment, so I’m not sure yet when this will be, but I’ll keep you updated in this blog.

Until next time, happy walking!

Fighting the through-hike blues: a solo hike on the Ystradfellte four waterfalls trail

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The route

Just over a week has passed since my return from the Hadrian’s Wall Path walk, and I’ve been grappling with a weird sense of lethargy, perhaps a bit of post-hike blues. The thrill of the through-hike adventure had probably spiked my dopamine levels, and its abrupt end (+ a busy work week) left a void. To fill this, last night, I turned to the OS map, packed my bag, and decided to embark on another (smaller) journey – this time to Wales.

OS map for Ystradfellte area

After leaving the main road, the drive towards Ystradfellte was nothing short of surreal. The last two miles were through a landscape filled with low ferns and roaming sheep; it felt eerie. It was a scene straight out of a painting. It was starting to rain.

With a much smaller and lighter backpack than last week, I decided to hit the trail immediately, hoping for the clouds to part soon. My pack held the essentials – 1.5L of water, first aid kit, some food, spare socks, sun cream ( over-optimistic anticipation of the sun), and my battery pack. Equipped only with my fleece and cap for weather protection (I forgot my rain jacket), I stepped onto the trail.

Walking alongside a wall feels quite familiar 🙂



The trail to the waterfalls was a stark reminder of the impermanence of nature. The once healthy trees that lined the path looked damaged and diseased, a stark contrast from my visit almost two years ago. Their plight was painfully evident when compared to the picture that is on the main header of my site.

But the journey must go on, and it led me to the first waterfall, Sgwd Clun-Gwyn, just after 10 o’clock. A serene stroll through a valley and a charming forest lead to this stunning waterfall, where the River Mellte gushes towards a drop and disappears below the cliff edge.



The drizzle persisted, making the stones leading to the waterfall viewing spot slippery. But, it was warm, and the drizzle was strangely refreshing.



Next came Sgwd Isaf Clun-Gwyn, a charming waterfall, secluded amongst woodland. The journey to it involved descending several flights of steep, muddy stairs, leading to a river nestled on a bed of black rock.

Following a muddy trail over the river from Sgwd Isaf Clun-Gwyn, I reached the highest waterfall, Sgwd y Pannwr. The sounds of rushing water could be heard before the fall even became visible. It flows down elegantly, step by step into the riverbed, a sight that leaves you in awe of its beauty. I love being by water and this felt just right.

I then went onto Sgwd yr Eira, the final and the largest waterfall on the trail. The descent to this waterfall was steep but with steps so not as strenuous. It rewarded me with a stunning view of the waterfall rushing down, a bit like a white veil. You can walk behind the curtain of cascading water! It felt very special.I didn’t get to experience this last time I visited so this was great!

After the short climb from the top of the fourth waterfall, I returned to the car park. In total the walk was just under 3 hours, covering 8.5km. The grey weather persisted, with fog and mist still hanging over the valley. But it was warm, and the drizzle was not an issue.



Deciding to make the most of my visit, I then went down to the cave, from the car park. The shift in temperature was noticeable as I descended the steps, the cold air bringing back childhood memories of visiting caves. Although it was getting busy and the car parks were full for the waterfalls walk, I had the cave to myself, engulfed in silence. It’s likely a place more suited for experienced visitors and maybe I wasn’t allowed to be there.



As I drove away from the valley, the weather decided to surprise me. Just a mile from the car park, I was greeted with beautiful skies and lovely sunny weather.

My next stop was Penderyn, where I picked up a present for a friend’s birthday. For anyone who enjoys a good whisky, I highly recommend stopping here. The lady in the shop was very helpful, and they offer visits every open hour, seven days a week.

On my way home, I stopped at Merthyr Tudful to charge my car and grab lunch.

This trip was a much-needed respite, but the next few weeks are going to be busy. My next hike might not be until late July, but I’ll post again soon about my plans for my next through-hike. Until then, keep exploring the outdoors!

Dragon Hill, Uffington White Horse, Wayland’s Smithy & Ashdown House

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Today was the first hike in a month and it was a chilly one.

This is the route I walked. Loosely based on this All Trails route.

It was good to get out, especially as life is challenging at the moment. One of my favourite moments was watching the red kites, close up, while by the Uffington White horse, on the hill.

Here are some photos of the walk.

In May, I’ll need to walk up to double this distance, every day for 7 days, with a 15kg backpack.
More training needed…

Next walk will be in a couple of weeks, still along the Ridgeway but further away, near Barbury.

Hackpen Hill Circular with Andrea

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Hackpen Hill Circular on Strava – 22 January 2023

Today I had a great winter walk with Andrea.

The scenery was so beautiful, almost a winter wonderland at times.

The route was good. We used this All Trails route but we did it backwards which I was glad about as it would have otherwise started along the main road. It was nice to start the walk on the Ridgeway.

The All Trails red route isn’t easy to follow as it’s not on the actual paths so if you decide to do this walk, follow the closest (marked as a dashed line) path to the red line.

It took us 2h40 to walk the 11.5km, a little faster than the average time published on All Trails. That’s also a little longer than the All Trails map but only because we kept walking at one poi t while chatting and drinking coffee from Andrea’s flask. It wasn’t hard to get back on track and in terms of elevation the hardest part was the hill back towards the road in the last 30 minutes. So no massive challenge.

Just sharing some photos below.

Looking forward to the next walk. Hoping to do the Stanton St Bernard, Woodborough and All Cannings Circular.

Happy New Year: Coate Water and the South Swindon green trail

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This is probably going to be a fairly short blog post because it’s my first time walking in quite a few months and it’s a short, straight forward loop.

It’s based on the Coate Water and East Witchel Circular on AllTrails.

Here’s my version from today.

Check out my activity on Strava: https://strava.app.link/e8DtDC8Rqwb



I decided that in 2023 I will do as many miles as I can but I know that I can’t plan too far ahead without a chance of it being cancelled, because my mother has been taken ill in the last few weeks, and I may have to go France at some point during the year.

Having said that I’m now planning some walks twice a month, on weekends, trying to train through the winter so that I can hopefully do a longer walk later on in the late spring or summer.

I’m still not sure whether to do a portion of the South West coastal path (which is a dream but also very hard) or maybe I should leave it for another few years…
Another consideration is whether I should walk the Cotswold Way which is more local but very difficult to find accommodation along, and I don’t really think I’m not ready to do wild camping quite yet!
Finally I could do Hadrian’s Wall. I’ve looked up a company who can support and provide accommodation or I’ve looked up the logistics of doing it by myself, but it’s about the same cost so it’s something you’ll have to consider.

Today, the walk started with the heavens opening the second I parked. It’s was wet and windy on)off the whole way. On the way I managed to somehow lose my backpack rain cover before Broome Manor. It was a slow pace walk because of the dog stopping to sniff everything and mostly because my fitness levels have gone downhill since my last walk, but I’m not happy with it.

It’s a pity that the rumbling M4 noise was in the background pretty much the whole walk but otherwise the walk was great, despite the wind and rain. Missy got super muddy especially in the fields South of the M4 at Wroughton. They were saturated with water and I wished I’d got wellies at that point. My boots held ok, though and Missy got a bath as soon as we got home.

In summary, I’d do the walk again. It’s a really pleasant walk especially with the dog.

Some pictures of the walk:

I look forward to another walk in a couple of weeks hopefully, weather permitting.

Thames Path – Newbridge to Lechlade (section 12)

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Beautiful pink and red skies greeted me as I left Swindon on the bus this morning.
Transport was a little stressful as I was quite close in connecting buses in Swindon but managed to get onboard. Then the bus towards Oxford was over 20 minutes late and I was close to miss that last connection but made it so that all turned out to be a good start.

Today was the first day in all 12 days so far on the walk when I had no idea where and what sort of time I might finish. The original plan was to walk to Lechlade but as I was so tired yesterday, I gave myself an option to end at Radcot and either walk 40min or take a taxi to the closest bus stop.

Spoiler alert: I made it to Lechlade!

It felt colder today and the wind and rain were already pretty awful when I left Newbridge , so I decided I needed to keep my head down and enjoy the views as much as I could, when I could.

I did take a smaller lighter backpack today , and I already had my rainproof trousers on from the start.

Since I left Newbridge, it was windy and rainy. Then I went through some woods that were practically impassable, having to walk through huge amounts of mud; I made myself some poles out of wood and basically sort of ice skated through the mud. It was pretty horrendous.
It took me 45 minutes to do the first mile of the walk! Then as I left the woods, I was exposed again to the elements.
I just put my head on and took a step at a time. What was nice was to see a lot of birds.

In the whole 30km today I’ve only see one person on the Path, all day. There were people at places where I stopped but no walkers at all. It is a very lonely and removed part of the walk, not helped in my case by the bad weather.

When I thought things were bad… I accidently then got my ring finger whacked between the wooden post and a metal gate! What an idiot! Suddenly it took my mind off the weather and any other struggles!

I managed to go wrong along the water at a footbridge before Chimney Meadow, as I failed to cross the footbridge. You can probably see that on the Strave map as a bleep 🙂
The riverside was treacherous so I had to be super careful. The waters were high as you can see in the photos so I went very very slow again.

The rain hadn’t stopped in hours. I found a bird observatory and stayed there for a bit of respite from the rain and wind, for about 15 minutes.

I found a hide and stopped for a few minutes

I eventually reached the Trout at Tadpole Bridge. I was hoping to dry a little bit get a restful 30 minutes, but it was closed! I stopped under a platform/shelter in the pub garden there for a few minute. I had a snack but I was getting cold. Everything was really really wet; my backpack was wet and even my waterproof gloves were wet.
I wished for a little bit of a break in weather for five minutes…and when I set off again at about 14:00, the rain stopped!

The Trout at Tadpole Bridge was shut – no lunch break / no chance to dry for me.
Plane from Brize Norton
Lock

Past Rushey Lock and Weir, I saw cows in the field and I walk past them fairly close but quite peacefully. I was brought up on a farm and never have had issues with cows. Then, as I went to exit the field, I took a bit of a wrong turn while struggling my way through the muddy field and carried on too far past the gate. At that point, I stopped to check my map and I heard a noise…I lifted my head an I saw them, all of them, running towards me. I hurried through the mud towards the gate to the corner of the field, closed the gate securely and then took a video (below) of them coming towards me. They obviously wanted food, but it was a little bit tense!

Before / After
Herd of cows coming running towards me

Snow drops at the lock
Another plane from Brize Norton
Eek – at Radcot

Radcot

I arrived in Radcot around 16:00 and was offered a cuppa tea by one of the locals in the pub who were there and chatting with me about the walk. I dried my coat a little bit in front of the fire, put my gloves and hat on the radiator; I did change my socks, so I got fresh socks for a fresh start.
My snood got dry so that was nice. I decided to carry on.

The sun set around 17:20. I walked in the dusk after Kelmscott Manor. There was a memorable moment when I heard a lot of crows: hundreds, I’d say, in the trees near Kelmscott Manor. It was very impressive. As I came closer, just at once, as if I’d dreamt it, the cacophony stopped abruptly. Not a single kraa to be heard!

The wind had died down, it was getting very dark and the river is very quiet there. I kept walking.

The Thames at dusk by Kelmscott

I arrived near Lechlade at St John’s lock in the dark, after 9h30 of walking.

Night pictures. Kelmscott to St John’s Lock.

That always a bonkers day of walking by my standards: somewhere between a nightmare, an adventure and a pilgrimage! I managed to make it to Lechlade after 1h30 in the dark.
I was very glad I decided to press on after Radcot!

The Thames Path – Osney bridge to Newbridge (section 11)

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It’s been a difficult start of the day as I realised my top backpack pocket was open on the bus. My key was hanging out (luckily it’s strapped in with a hook) and my wallet was missing! I’d not slept well and with accumulated fatigue for days, it was starting to have an impact. I was very annoyed and getting upset. I stopped at the next possible stop and ran back to my bus stop. The wallet wasn’t there. And walked back home where I found it.
What a panic.
At that point I know I’d missed my train and I wouldn’t start on time (by 07:15) so I had to re-plan.

I headed for the next possible bus and train. And rescheduled my day, then making it very difficult to plan a lunch break. It also meant later finish and likely missing dinner time (it’s Valentine’s Day!).

Leaving Oxford, I could see allotments the other side of the Thames. It was paved yesterday until Osney bridge but this side of the bridge it is a track. There were clear skies apart from some clouds. It was quite cool to start with.

After a while I could feel the sun behind me streaming light and tiny bit of heat through the trees. It was a much nicer day to walk than yesterday with lovely colours, warm light and nice shadows, as well as lovely bird songs.

Just by Fiddler’s Island, I saw a woman in a bikini who was going for a swim without a wetsuit – that was very brave. It was only six degrees and a little bit windy out there.

The path was clearly signed which is lovely.

I then saw more people who were swimming!

Just before that I was playing puddles-slalom as there were a lot of puddles from yesterday’s rain mainly I guess. I saw quite a lot of people going past, walking and on their bikes probably going to work in school.

It was just really nice to see some geese landing in sync on the Thames, making a lot of noise and splashing.

I went past Godstow abbey, before crossing under the A34.

After I crossed under the A34 the Thameside felt much quieter.

The paths became very muddy again after some time, quite slippery. Then it’s started raining.

I had to walk through flowing water as I couldn’t balance on muddy piece of wood alongside the Thames and couldn’t risk falling. So I went through the water as safely as I could, and then just after that I crossed another muddy of water, more standing water to that time so that part is almost not passable now.

I spent a few minutes getting my rainproof trousers on, gloves and hat under the Swindord bridge.

At exactly 11am, after crossing the under the footbridge, the heavens opened.

Diversions from the side of the Thames are never very pleasant when they go past roads. And this one was no different but the good thing about it is I was behind the trees away from the wind and rain for a few minutes.

The river coming off the Thames looked like a chemical pollution as I cross pink Hill lock. The rain had mostly stopped.

The rain stopped. When I approached Bablock Hythe, I walked through muddy fields and a group of people on horses went past.

I had lunch at the Ferryman Inn in Bablock Hythe. After that my pace really slowed down.

My feet were very tired but I made it to the Rose Revived, in Newbridge, waited a couple of hours for my bus(es) home to get there in time for Valentine’s dinner.
15.78 miles (25.40 km) in just under 7h30.

Barbury Castle & Rockley loop – remembering Judith

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As I posted earlier, I couldn’t be on the Thames Path this weekend, so yesterday, I went to walk on the Ridgeway, locally from me, away from everything and as an opportunity to remember Judith.


Judith is my friend Richard’s wife. I first met Judith when they both came to see me at the finish line of a triathlon I did where they lived, years ago. Then I met Judith and part of the family again when Richard cycled a Sportive with me in 2013. She absolutely loved walking and is a great inspiration to me. She walked on the Ridgeway many times, including taking groups of students for the Duke of Edinburgh award. She passed away a year ago today. I thought of her on this walk.

So here are some sights from Barbury Castle yesterday morning and the White Horse trail, between fog and sun. I spotted a fog bow (white rainbow) over the Ridgeway. I didn’t know they were a thing until I saw one yesterday! It was a little surreal and very cool!

I cut the route short as poor Missy (now our dog – you may remember us taking her on the Waterfalls walk in Wales) was freezing and wet. I don’t think it was fair on her to try another 6 miles with her feeling cold.

That was just over 11 miles (18 km) in just under 5 hours’ walk. After that I went back in the warmth at home and sat with a cuppa coffee and some bara brith, which I baked on Saturday (if you haven’t had bara brith yet, I recommend trying – it’s a welsh fruit bread ).