We altered course, and more and more frequently had to dodge round large puddles and soaked earth, which then turned into entire sections of path that were submerged. Our route-finding involved some creative clambering and fence-hopping, until eventually we were checkmated. Caught on a track between two walls in an abandoned farmstead, with no way round and twenty metres of water between us and the road, we gave up and sprinted through it.
Tag Archives: Adventure
Day 8: Apples, Pals, and Puddles
It was harvest season, and several of the farm houses we passed had tables set up on the roadside with honesty boxes, and great piles of apples for sale, along with chicken and even duck eggs. After passing a few of these we could no longer resist and got an apple each. We couldn’t guess what variety they were, but they were crisp and sweet. Duncan declared his the most delicious apple he had ever eaten.
Day 7: Coasting
They were the iron figures of Antony Gormley’s Another Place installation, of which there are a hundred dotted along Crosby Beach. Each of them gazes out to the horizon. They seemed wistful. I identified with them hard. I was also wet, stiff, and aspiring to something far away.
Day 6: You’ll Never Walk Alone
Maybe we should all just have “Sorry” printed on our passports.
Day 5: The March of Industry
In one day I had walked through thousands of years, from the Bronze Age into the Age of Steel.
Day 4: The Man in the Pub
“I just really want some chips. I’ve been walking for four days.”
Day 3: No Picnic
My breathers became more frequent. I really was finding this hard. At one point the trail had an option to go a few hundred metres out of the way to pop onto a hilltop and see the view. I shunned it; not worth the extra effort.
Day 2: The Stranger
I woke to a grey day, the first of many. Without much ado, I breakfasted, packed up my tent and set off. A couple of kilometres down the road was Plas-y-Brenin Outdoor Training Centre. A footpath took me through some of their grounds. Turning a corner, I encountered a curious sight. There appeared to beContinue reading “Day 2: The Stranger”
Day 1: Summertime on Snowdon
I missed the bus to Pen-y-pas (damn those Saturday timetables) and tried thumbing for a lift instead. I was picked up by a man who was tremendously excited to be in the mountains with his son (“There they are, Willoughby! Hee hee! There they are!”). It was, in fairness, a gorgeous day – Summer’s last,Continue reading “Day 1: Summertime on Snowdon”
Day 0: How do you get two whales in a train?
The kindness of strangers began to manifest itself straight away. Seeing my ungainly quickstep as I rushed for the bus, a woman pulled over and offered me a lift to the stop in the next town, which I gratefully took. On the bus an old lady struck up a conversation reminiscing about the days ofContinue reading “Day 0: How do you get two whales in a train?”
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