It's
been three weeks since we finished walking the Ridgeway Path. As Margaret
(Autumn Chicken) pointed out, the official length is 87 miles but with various
diversions to reach b&b's we ended up walking 92 miles in total. I suppose
I would describe the terrain as 'comfortably hard'. There were some flat
stretches and some wonderful ridge-walking (as you might expect from a
ridge-way path!). But there were an awful lot of hills and descents - some of
them steeper and longer than others.
We
were lucky to have good weather during most of the days we were walking. Apart
from the penultimate day that is, when I was out walking the path by myself in
torrential rain and strong winds - I just wanted that day's walking to come to
an end! On the good days, we revelled in the glorious views to be seen when we
reached the tops of the hills and walked on the ridges with scenery all around us. But the walk also had stretches through woodland, alongside the
River Thames and on occasions passed under motorways or across golf courses.
The variety of countryside and the ever-changing scenery made for a very enjoyable
week's walking.
Walking
those 87 miles, tiring as it might have been, would have been a lot harder if
it hadn't been for a 'backup team' who helped out in various ways and I want to
record my thanks to them all for their assistance ..
Ed
- who transported our luggage each day and helped us to and from our b&b in
East Ilsley; Joan - who collected us on day 1 and delivered us to the start of
the path; Alan & Diana - who met us on day 2 and delivered us to our
b&b in Woolstone; the landlord of the White Horse, Woolstone who drove us
back to the path on day 3 and saved us a 1.5ml uphill walk; the landlady of the
Cherry Tree, Kingston Blount who drove me back to the path on day 6 and saved
me a 1ml walk along a fast, straight race-track road); Julie &
Paul - who met us on the last leg of the walk (day 8), provided us with a
picnic lunch, met us again later in the afternoon and encouraged us up the
final hill, took some photographs to record the event, whisked us back home for
tea, cake and glasses of fizz, then delivered us to our hotel.
And
finally I want to say how proud I am of Margaret for having done the walk with
me. The pace was a little too fast for her - sometimes because my estimates of
the distance we needed to cover and the size of the hills were a bit ambitious!
But Margaret persevered with the walking, dealt with the blisters, didn't
complain, and kept me company on what would otherwise have been a long lonely
walk on the days when hardly anyone else was around. As she said herself, it
was outside her comfort zone and she could easily have decided it was 'too difficult'
and not tried.
So
.. do I have any other long-distance paths in my sights? Well, Margaret and I
have toyed with the idea of walking the Cotswold Way together. But we know that would be
an even tougher challenge than the Ridgeway so it’s currently on the ‘maybe’
list. However, I am considering walking Wainwright’s Coast to Coast Path in
2014. Since I first walked in the Lake District and discovered Wainwright, I’ve
always wanted to walk this route. It’s something I would need to get myself fit
for because it has some strenuous walking days. But there’s something very
appealing to me about a ceremonial boot-dipping in the Irish Sea at St Bees on
the west coast, then walking the 220 miles through the Lake District, Yorkshire
Dales and North York Moors to arrive at Robin Hood’s Bay on the east coast
some two weeks later before finishing with another ceremonial boot-dipping in the North Sea to mark
the completion of the path.
NB: I managed to take a few photos on the walk and will post them
here when I have had a chance to sort through them, tidy them up and identify
where they were taken! :-)
