Kindness of friends

Day 2 Ogbourne St George to Woolstone.
11.5 miles and boy am I out of condition! However we made it and it was such a lovely day, with wonderful views and such a huge variety of wild flowers - bluebells, cowslips, violets, gorse, speedwell and lots more. Even Swindon looked vaguely mysterious through the haze. The best sight of all, when my poor old feet were ready to give out, was our friend Alan, who appeared in or path and carried our bags by car the last mile. Then when we got to the end he transported us a mile further to our b&b for the night. The White Horse Inn was a great find. The pub is old and full of character, but the accommodation is modern and extremely comfortable, which was exactly what we needed. A relaxing meal with Alan and Diana followed by deep dreamless sleep re-energised me for the challenge of day 3.

What larks!

A lovely start to our journey. Joan dropped us off at Overton hill about 11 and as we walked through the beautiful undulating chalk downs we were accompanied all the way by skylarks hovering and singing their hearts out. Good walking weather and apart from some very hostile bikers, it was all very peaceful.
The path is pretty poor in places - churned up by motorbikes and 4x4s so we had to be careful not to trip, but the views over yellow and green fields were stunning. No bluebells yet, but lots of cowslips at Barbury Castle. We walked just over 10miles which was quite strenuous and proved that we should have trained a bit harder. BUT we did it, and after a shower and a good meal I am pleasantly sleepy.
Longer day tomorrow - about 13 miles I think - but we'll take it steadily with plenty of stops to 'admire the view.'
No blisters yet.
And so basically it's all good.

Is it really a year?

Another year, another challenge! At 11o'clock this morning Mel and I will set off along the Ridgeway National Trail walking for the joy of it but also hoping to raise some money for Arts Together, the Wiltshire charity for frail and isolated older people. Sadly, we won't have Sue this year to deal with the cows and horses and generally lift our spirits, but Mel has been practising chatting to cows, so I'm sure he'll be able to persuade them to move out of our way and we'll be fine.
Not sure how I'll cope with the steeper hills and faster pace than last year, but I'm looking forward to passing through beautiful landscapes with late spring flowers still in bloom. The B&Bs all look great and this year we have some back up help, as some of them are over a mile from the path.
My joints are a bit stiffer and bones much creakier a year on from the Thames Path but I've packed plenty of painkillers and blister plasters and am ready for the off!

'Tisn't over till it's over

We're nearly at the end of July, over 7 weeks since we finished the walk, and I still haven't posted my last post - don't worry, I didn't rush off to the Caribbean to spend all the money I raised for Arts Together and BCRT, it's just that I've always found it difficult to draw a line under things I do.

The first 3 weeks went by in a sleepy haze. I was restless and unfocused and slept like a log each night. The last month has been predictably flat as I gradually got back into some sort of a routine, but punctuated by moments of exhilaration as memories came back of people and places along the way. It took a while to get all the sponsorship money in and I was delighted and humbled by the generosity of friends and family who contributed to the final total of £960 - far more than I dared to hope for. My most moving moment (among many) was when Helen and Ian presented me with an exceedingly generous cheque which included a legacy from Toby to be used for a charity of their choice. It still chokes me up to think that they chose to use it to celebrate my achievement!

So what do I make of it all? Firstly I was convinced I would barely scrape through the first week - yet I never once thought of giving up once I had begun - perhaps it has taught me that I am physically fitter and mentally stronger than I believed. More importantly the act of plodding on day after day, through beautiful scenery but in some very uncomfortable conditions brought an incredible sense of peace, which is still with me. Mary, my wise friend, called it something like 'meditation through movement', which sums up the experience perfectly. I was for the first time living 'mindfully' and in the present, with no headspace to think about the past or to worry about what might be ahead of us. I hope I will never lose the memory of that sense of oneness with my surroundings and with my companions, Sue and Mel enhanced by the spontaneous kindness of strangers along the way.

In a sense the walk mimicked the course of my life which started in London and the southeast and brought me here to the Cotswolds (very reluctantly) in the 1980's. Arriving back in the Water Parks I realised that I had truly come home and had finally left the southeast behind emotionally. So perhaps that's why it's so difficult to draw the line - walking the Thames Path was a wonderful experience but one which didn't end, just opened up new opportunities, new bridges to cross.
When we arrived back at the Thames Head it struck me how far I had travelled in my life since 2000, my lowest point, when I was faced with reinventing myself as a single person. Apart from Ed, everyone in the welcome party was part of my new life - and what a rich and rewarding life it has turned out to be!

Acknowledgements

To Toby who inspired me with his courage, intelligence and passion for fundraising
To Helen and all the family and friends who supported me and sent words of encouragement along the way (especially the mantra from Thomas the Tank Engine)
To Sue without whose determination, enthusiasm and commitment Mel and I would probably never have got round to doing the walk
And to Mel who organised most of our accommodation, read the maps more accurately than I could, lifted my rucksack and above all made me laugh

The Chicken has Landed

The final legg was so easy and there was only one boggy patch near to where the river emerged from underground - at least a mile from the source which was dry as a bone. it was a particularly joyful ending as we were joined by our dear friends Caroline (who lent me some very fancy wellies) and Alan. We dutifully took photos to record the event then wandered down to the Thames Head where we were joined by Diana, Gwyn, Ed, Bill and Tamzin and Karolyne, Asghar and Trevor from Arts Together which was a lovely surprise. We toasted our success and Karolyne presented me with a 'recovery pack' including a plant (joyous orange flowers typical of Arts Together), foot soak and foot creams, soft furry boottees for my tender toes and of course chocolate!

It was weird to arrive home and to be honest I am still sorting out in my head what it has all meant to me. Certainly it was the greatest physical challenge I've ever attempted and I was convinced I wouldn't make it past the first week. Yet once we were on our way I didn't long to be home and certainly never thought of giving up. Helen pointed out that we've both inherited our mother's stubborn streak and it certainly helped.
Still pondering .....

So near

Day 20 - Cricklade to Ewen. At last we are in Ewen, footsore and exhausted and I can still hardly believe that we're nearly home. It has been so exciting to arrive in the water parks and to feel 'at home'. I've walked here alone and with friends so many times that it was like returning to meet an old friend. The river is flowing fast and is much wider than it usually is at this time of year and the water is so perfectly clear that for the first time in this whole journey I actually wanted to touch it and even paddle. Most of the path here is clearly marked and easy walking. There are lots of flag irises, the dog roses are coming into flower and at last we've left behind the rapeseed corridors which have been so uncomfortable to walk through. The reports of flooded fields are all too true though and we arrived here with very wet and muddy feet from boggy water meadows on the outskirts of Ewen. Goodness knows what the fields will be like on the way to the source tomorrow, but remembering the video we saw all that time ago in London showing people wading above their knees in water round here just a month ago,I'm not too worried. Although the weather in the last couple of weeks has been unpleasantly hot for walking, it has at least dried out the ground most of the way, so we're unlikely to have more than wet feet to contend with. Tomorrow we will be back to reality and our own bed. What I've really missed has been friends and family. There's a lot of catching up to do!

nothing

One morning when we were still in London we met a rather self-important man who said he had driven down from Lechlade that morning. It has stuck in my mind that he referred to the Thames as a 'nothing river'. True there are no mountains, waterfalls or tidal surges endangering our progress. There's no major industry that i could see dependent on its waters and it's no longer a major transport route. However, having now reached Lechlade, I really think that the undramatic tranquil meadows we have been walking through provide nothing perfectly. And sometimes nothing is all I need. No kingfishers yet but we did hear a cuckoo and see and hear a curlew. Heard today that the area round the source is still flooded, so anyone walking with us on Saturday will need wellies