More Mud than a Turkish Bath

4 weeks to go. We had been warned that this section was muddy, but nothing could prepare us for this! Walking 4 miles from Norton St Phillip to Wellow took us over 2 hours! At one point my boots were being pulled off my feet by the weight of the mud stuck to them. We found ourselves clambering up banks and into the woods to avoid wading ankle deep in pools of mud along the tracks, and at other times clinging to the branches of the shrubs alongside the tracks to try to swing from one lesser muddy tussock of grass to the next. At this rate our 26 mile walk will take 13 hours, without any loo breaks, and worse, without any FOOD breaks.

However, we stopped for food on this walk at our favourite place to date: the Fox and Badger at Wellow. They weren't at all phased by the sight of our extremely muddy boots and clothes and the fish finger sandwich was a gastronomic delight!

So who needs to go to Turkey for a mud bath when you can go down the road to Wellow for a similar experience?

This is me either in Wellow or Dalamar, I can't tell them apart!

Taking a Break

5 weeks to go... and my hip gave up! After the last walk I was tempted to think  "ah well, we tried" and the temptation to stop was there, dangling in front of me. This could be the perfect excuse.

However, a trip to the doc, a week of rest, and several packs of Ibuproen, and we are back.

And so is the blog. Well if I have to suffer, so do you!

Slip Sliding Away (in the mud)

6 weeks to go

Whose idea was this? Walking 26 miles in 1 day is just not funny. Today we walked 14 miles, being the first 8 miles of the Bath Beat and the last 3 miles with a bit of joining up in the middle. It took us 6 hours to walk 14 miles so that means that we walk at a speed of just over 2 miles an hour. Now I know that sounds really slow, and I won't argue, but seriously, you should try it. Maybe we should do 'The Norfolk Beat' instead because Bath is really hilly; we had lots of steep uphill climbs and slippery downhill footpaths with tree roots and boulders. Where are the Health and Safety Inspectors in the woods? There are hundreds of trip hazards to keep them busy. And the stiles - there are so many to climb over. And our boots became like platforms from the 1970s with so much mud stuck to them.

Now that I'm home there are more hazards in the house. Like, who thought stairs were a good idea? My knees certainly don't.

But it was a great walk. The jelly babies, sandwiches, Hope & Anchor pub and the jaffa cakes were all very supportive. As was the knee bandage.

However, today was tough, and the thought of doing a further 12 miles is pretty daunting. The cake stops on the Bath Beat better not run out before we get to them! And great big thank yous to the lovely people who have donated to our Just Giving page. So now we really have to do this! Here's our Just Giving page (hint!).

We passed this quirky little holiday home on our route, Midford Castle. Nicholas Cage used to live here, and viewed from the air it looks like the Ace of Clubs!