Trailwalker - Mnemosyne's View

The team and (most of) the support crew met up early friday afternoon about an hours drive from the start of the event. After getting our fantastic minibus, donated to us by some utterly lovely people, all lovingly badged up. The amount of kit was colossal but somehow it all fitted in and we were off.

Our Bus

An hour later and we'd made camp, feeling grateful to have arrived early enough to get all our tents pitched together. We got ourselves registered, organised and fed (thanks to the Gurkhas) and heard the safety brief - alas due to the fantastic weather (for wellie and waterproof manufacturers) checkpoints 3 and 6 were closed; unfortunate but  we figured we could work around it. Soon it was time to try and sleep (some were more successful than others in this), the rain helping some to sleep and keeping others awake.

The morning was a little drier than the night and in true style team ouch got to the start line thirty seconds before the off. The first checkpoint was made in good time (127 minutes).

We were still early to checkpoint 2. This was a long checkpoint to make up for the lack of support crew at checkpoint 3. After a little rest we kept going. The weather looked set for the day and our waterproofs only came off when overheating became an issue.

At checkpoint 3 we just decided that our break would be to sit in a muddy field rather than walk across one. Its a surreal experience watching people, covered head to toe in waterproofs, all decided that this slightly downhill field would be the ideal spot to have a quick brew and a snack in the pouring rain. Any other day you'd think they (and yourselves) were just plain barmy but it felt like a really normal thing to be doing.

At checkpoint 3 we found that checkpoint 4 had reopened and we were all much buoyed up by this news. We'd done the muddy hill out of checkpoint 3 in the 'dry' part of the year and found it boggy, today it took that reputation to new levels; but after a while it dried out.

A not so muddy part of the trail

At checkpoint 4 our support crew swelled to 6 and cake was eaten. The crew were great to see and provided a real boost of energy to my flagging reserves of energy.  On leaving checkpoint 4 we were greeted with yet more mud, but previous experience of the route made the going easier.

A little over halfway between checkpoints 4 and 5 I started to struggle to find the energy I needed, and started getting cold. I slowed down and slowed everyone else in the team. At the checkpoint and 3 cups of tea, a jumper and change of clothes, I was still cold and I couldn't get my boots on. It was all over for me and I felt terrible for forcing the rest of the team to stop for so long and not going with them. For more about the rest of the route you'll have to ask them. Prometheus got to checkpoint 7 before his knee said no more. Theia and Medusa reached the end and we were all there to cheer them across the finish line.

The end

Our support crew was amazing and its hard to thank them enough. So again THANK YOU; you are amazing. Also all our family and friends who've had to listen to talking and planning and us missing things for this walk for the best part of a year. And everyone who sponsored us, without you we'd never have been able to raise £2000 for Oxfam and the Gurkha Trust, thank you for your generosity. Not forgetting the Gurkhas and volunteers at the crossings and checkpoints with their smiles and encouragement.

It's been a fun and interesting experience, which I'm grateful to have had on, it was good to have friends with me (walking, supporting).

I'm not thinking of doing this again (but never say never...) but if there were three things I would advise

1. Support crew are vital. Remember to thank them often.
2. Walk the route before hand - it's easier when you know where your going.
3. If your a light/bad sleeper find a hotel, not sleeping/not sleeping well before the event means your energy is already low.

Blown Along the South Downs

The time had finally came along for Team OUCH to do their last training session together. After reports of bad weather and flooding in their first and second choice locations they decided if they were going to get wet and blown away they might as well do so on the route they'd be walking a month later.

So off to checkpoint 1 (South Harting) they went, their first destiation was checkpoint 2 (Cocking). In record time (~30 minutes) Mnemosyne managed to miss a turning so a small scenic detour was added to the route. But then they were on their way. There wasn't the number of cyclists on the route this time so a hobby was made of working out who on the trail was there training for Trailwalker, any team of 3 or 4 was a likely contender...

Checkpoint 2 was made in reasonable time given the detour and then the route was done in reverse, but without the detour. The wind was a steady 25 mph with the odd gust of far more, well we wanted a cooling breeze... Beacon Hill, hard on the way out to checkpoint 2 was worse on the way back, thankfully we never have to do it that way round again, Mnemosyne was doubly glad after seeing it closer up...

On returning to checkpoint 1 Medusa's parents surprised the team with rock cakes and tea :D. Revived and refreshed it was onwards to the start. On the way the promised rain decided to make an appearance and the team got reacquainted with the sideways rain concept. However their route was soon tree lined and sheltered. Another short detour amongst tall trees and we were at the start. Medusa's parents met us again, a friendly face at a checkpoint works wonders on morale, and then we were heading back to checkpoint 1. This was our fastest stage, knowledge of the route helping keeping the momentum up.

That's a raindrop and camera flash not a metorite

 
By the time we were out of the shelter of the trees the weather had eased and stayed that way until we got to the cars at checkpoint. It was a great days walk, even with the weather against us, and more knowledge of the route was useful.

Not long to go now...

Peak District Day 2 - Good weather, Good walking, Good Company

Although overcast as we set out the day soon turned glorious and waterproofs were packed away, not to be unpacked again that day. After walking into Edale the walk up Hollins Cross beckoned and upon reaching the top the view was admired by all.

The delights of Castleton called to us and downhill we headed where a swift half (of lemonade) was enjoyed by all before heading along Cave Dale with its high limestone cliffs. After a while of gentle uphill walk the route switched back and we saw Peveril Castle from above.  And then we saw the route down hill...

Sometime later Arthurs way was reached and it was decided that the walk up Winnats way would do rather than over the hill top. Afterall there was still Mam Tor to wanderover.

 With the hill top ticked off it was back to the hostel, a quick change and back to the pub for a well earned dinner.

A wet day in the peak district

For what was supposed to be a refreshing change from the rolling hills of the south of England the titans headed north to the slightly less gentle rolling hills of the peak district. The weather had gone from glorious at the beginning of the week to steady rain as the OUCHers headed in to what was going to be the first of three walks.

 Heading towards Jaggers Clough the stream turned out to be a little bigger than expected and the everyone's boots were tested for waterproofing; all passing at this point. Onwards to Haggwater Bridge, passing round fallen trees, jumping 3ft drops (called infinite drops to make a mist covered, wet, windy walk seem more epic).  Mnemosyne had taken to calling her left ankle C.a.U.B by this point, since it wasn't in the mood for all this walking (the rest of her was more of the opinion of 'better a wet day walking than a day indoors' and wished her ankle would just get a grip and stop whining).

Next it was on to Bridge-end Pasture and what should have been lovely views of the reservoir. It was occasionally spotted between breaks in the mist.  It was a quickish walk to reach the reservoir and the loop back to woodland valley was quickly made.  The route was quickly altered to stay out of the worst of the weather. Walking through the boggy woodland provided a further test of the footwear - this time things weren't so good (much re-proofing may be need for a couple of OUCHers).

Once out of the woods it was a short(ish) walk along the least straight roman road Mnemosyne has ever seen and a jaunt back to the hostel. The other two walks planned for that day were abandoned, too much wet kit, but a useful test of kit in the wet. Hopefully the weather the next day would be better.

Amberley to Truleigh Hill YHA

Plan of the day: checkpoint 4 to 3, 3 to 4, 4 to 5 and 5 to Truleigh Hill of the beautiful South Downs Way and beautiful it was!

After dropping off our bags with Medusa's parents and loading ourselves with energy supplies at Amberley the four of us went forth in earnest. The walk from Amberley to checkpoint 3 quickly showed us what the South Downs had to offer, LOTS of amazing scenery! We were also met by poo and mud which kept our spirits high because of course.....a walk isn't a walk without poo and mud!

This section stayed nice and flat, nothing too strenuous and we all rejoiced when we saw the support crew in sight. Theia was especially rejoiceful at the fact that she hadn't got the OUCH'ers lost, map reading skills were never her strong points. On reaching the support crew we had been happy that we had made good speed, however, we were aware that too long of a stop would put us behind schedule, something we discovered later.

With our hydration packs refilled we continued onwards, heading back to Ambereley.
Our first mission was to climb the everest of mud  that we had so carefully just come down on, oh how that was fun.Throughout this section the views never disappointed us which took everyones breath away, particularly Theia's as she exclaimed a lot!

A few more hills compared to the last section, some woodland and dancing on the move!.Lots of giggling occurred when we talked about 'classics' that we could dance to, such as YMCA, Tragedy (very fitting i thought) and The Macarena.
This section took longer due to the girls of the group needing a toilet stop and after a (not so) brief stop, i blame the ice cream shop, we made our way into Amberley to meet our support crew and lunch!

Amberley to checkpoint 5 and our legs were starting to feel weary. The route was reasonably flat, emphasis on the 'reasonably', it is the South Downs, of course there were hills.
The fantastic scenery remained with the addition of rather lovely views of the posteriors of passing cyclists which the girls particularly enjoyed.

Throughout the day the weather had been very kind to us, dry with sunny spells, however, those sunny spells became more prolonged and 'sunny' and the OUCH'ers became tired. We headed downhill to the outskirts of Washington and met the support team. The decision was made to head to Trueleigh Hill YHA via car to get some rest before another day of walking awaited us...........

Nervous...

It's the Tuesday before our first walk on the actual course and I have to admit, I'm feeling a little nervous. We've been training, but has it been enough? Have we built up enough muscle to be able to deal with a continuous parade of hills? How will we cope if this "drought" continues and we have to do the entire weekend in  waterproofs? I'm not sure.

The one thing I am feeling confident about is that we are going to be accompanied by some of our support team for the first time too. It will be great to have some back-up and it will help to break up the long days.

Either way, once we're through this weekend our legs will be stronger, our lungs a bit more open and we will all be more familiar with the route and just what exactly we have let ourselves in for....

Some walks weren't meant to be

On a soggy bank holiday Monday Theia and Mnemosyne set off on a walk that took in a bit of incline and a bit of riverside walking. As they set off the riverside walking was looking questionable, although the flood warnings had been removed and the environment agency said levels were dropping the continuous rain suggested otherwise, but they had a backup plan.

The incline was found to be gentle, you can't expect much else in Oxfordshire, and soon they were walking back downhill and through a wooded glade with a carpet of bluebells.

Afterwards the mud began, well its not a proper walk without mud, then came the first detour. Now neither Theia or Mnemosyne minds walking through a field with livestock, although both would prefer not to but the view over the first stile looked a little closer to nature than either of the titans want to get...

The next path to get them back on course looked waterlogged, although the inhabitants were further away. The titans decide to take this as a sign to change course and go to the backup plan. Things went OK for a while but after following the next path they'd found the landowner had replaced the stile with a barbed wire topped fence. An alternative exit was found but by this point our titans had been rained on and thwarted for a couple of hours and with one set of boots found to be having issues with water, enough was enough. There will be more opportunities for training...

Cambridge

The Fleam Dyke and the Roman Road (17 - 20 miles)

Easter Monday saw all the Titans gathered together again, this time in Cambridge. The plan was to have a long flat walk stringing together the two landmarks, which are designated as both Scheduled Monuments of great historical and archaeological interest and Sites of Special Scientific Interest. (The Titans' interest was mostly brought about from the flat bit.)

The grey sky and drizzle gave us all a chance to have a good look at our rain gear. Mnemosyne and Prom took the opportunity to try out their full wet weather ensemble, Medusa realised her trusty old walking boots  had holes in them and decided to take a gamble and packed her waterproof trousers at the bottom of her bag.

Starting in the little village of Balsham, which lies south east of Cambridge, the team headed south along the fields until they reached the Roman Road, where they headed westwards. Happily, it lived up to its reputation, being lovely and straight, keeping the need for navigation skills to a minimum and very good progress was made along it.

Titans modelling wet weather gear

In time, (and after a few slugs of weird tasting isotonic drinks - orange flavour seems to be favoured at the moment) the group headed back up north, towards Wandlebury Country Park. Turning east, they soon came across a flight of stairs leading up on to the Fleam Dyke. It turned out to be quite a narrow path, high above the rest of the fields, with a slight tilt to the path . We even got some regular ascent and decent as the path often dropped to the level of the fields then went straight back up to it's former height. (Not always so flat, then!) 

The flatlands of Cambridge

At about mile 17, the constant drizzle, weird camber and a mud bath (wouldn't be a walk without it...) saw Mnemosyne and Medusa heading for the pub in Balsham, happy with their efforts for the day. Prom and Theia battled on bravely for another few miles to make it to the magic figure of 20 miles. Luckily M&M were on hand with the car to pick them up and the team headed off for a nice hot meal. 

Medusa modelling mud

....and from behind.

Worth noting.... After the walk, very few aches and pains were felt by anyone on the team, even a day or so later. Things are improving!!!

The Devil's Punch Bowl and Black Down (Haslemere)

18 miles - ( maybe not quite the 18 we were intending, but still 18 miles :) 6.5 hours


A beautiful, bright, sunny day welcomed myself and Mnsemonye  to Haslemere in April. It is an area not far from where we both went to college, but of course in our teenage years we'd managed to miss some of the beautiful places on our doorstep.

The plan was to combine two walks, taking in the local land marks of the Devil's Punchbowl and Black Down, so we would end up walking a sort of figure of eight, with Haslemere at the centre.

Taking the loop around the Devil's Punchbowl first, we headed north, up towards Gibbet Hill, a lovely spot, where apparently they used to leave criminals to die in Iron Maiden cages hanging in the trees. Once this practice had ceased, the locals were still a little fearful of the place, so a large Celtic cross was erected and  the site was blessed in the hope of quietening any unhappy spirits still lurking nearby. We used the area to break out the cereal bars, apply sunscreen and Compeed.

Leaving Gibbet Hill behind, we started around the punchbowl itself. I had hoped that it would be particularly easy to wonder around a big hole in the ground without getting too lost..... however, there was a bit of confusion caused by having walk instructions a bit older than the new new tunnelled bypass. Luckily we figured it out and found our way around the punchbowl and were able to stop at handy cafe to re-hydrate before heading back into Haslemere town, where we stopped for a bit more lunch.

Weird conjoined trees

Map of three counties seen from Black Down

For the second leg of the walk, we headed south. After climbing stairs and then entering a wooded area we passed over a marshy area with the help of several short boardwalks. There were a few more climbs before we reached Black Down, the highest peak in the South Downs. The best views of all though came from a point called "The Temple of the Winds" which gave us clear sight out across the South Downs.

The view of the South Downs (in the distance) from the Temple of the Winds on Black Down.

After drinking in the natural splendour for a few minutes, we realised that we had to be at a dinner with friends in a very short period of time. I think it is probably the fastest either of us have moved on a training walk! Flying back to the car, as we retraced our steps, we realised how beneficial it is to actually be familiar with your route. It made life so much easier not to have to consult the map at every other junction because we had already made the mistakes on the way out. The way back was much faster and easier, allowing us to arrive at our friends' house just in time for celebratory bubbles!

P.S. Here are the links to the walks we used:

http://www.walkingbritain.co.uk/walks/walks/walk_a/1514/

 http://www.walkingbritain.co.uk/walks/walks/walk_b/3228/

Salford

4 hours (ish), about 12 -14 miles.

Whilst the rest the team threw themselves into (or rather up and down) the Malvern Hills, I headed north and grabbed a few hours walking taking in the the industrial chic of Salford in Manchester. Having run out of time for planning (and not really fancying heading out into the Peak District on my own) I based my walk along the Salford Canal, starting at the newly re-developed Salford Quays area, new home to the BBC, heading into the city.

The terrain was mainly flat and it was a bit of a road walk, but I did get some grass under my boots when the canal split in two and I must have taken the "road less travelled".

On the way, I passed Old Trafford, a sculpture trail dedicated to Salford's industrial past and lots of opportunities to try my hand at a few arty pics. Walking through the city centre and out to the west, I stopped for lunch by Salford Catholic Cathedral and called the other Titans to see how they were doing. They were having lunch too ....and were rather unimpressed at my canal walk, as they were sat on one of the Malvern Hills.

The journey back was nice and easy as it involved mostly re-tracing my steps, with a few slight improvements to the route. (There was a lot less scrambling up muddy embankments or climbing over broken fences anyway...) The rain very kindly held off for the entire walk, the Heavens waiting until I was safely back to Salford Quays before unleashing a downpour, as I smugly finished off my fruit pastels in the car.

                       

 

Malvern Link to Great Malvern the long way round

Soon enough it was time for another walk. We decided to do as the pet shop boys suggested and went west. In that direction we found the Malvern hills. We thought the walk between the two stations would do, although our route took us 17 miles instead of the usual 1.

Although the week before suggested rain for the weekend we arrived to find the weather was in our favour

The first three hilltops, (North Hill, Sugarloaf Hill and Worcestershire Beacon) were reached in quick succession. And the titans were impressed at their progress. However the joy of hills soon abated and the pace slowed.



Next came Summer Hill, Perseverance Hill (where we did as the name suggested), Jubilee Hill (ok to call us jubilant at the top of this one might have stretched the definition somewhat), Pinnacle and Black hills(? shrugs shoulders) before heading downward to the crossing before British Camp.

At British Camp, we realised none of had a tent so we kept going to Millennium hill and Hangman's hill where in our rush to get down to lunch we never played a game of hangman.



We headed down to Gullet wood and the Gullet Quarry after lunch before tackling Midsummer Hill. This satisfied the usual OUCH rule that its not really a walk unless there's huge mud puddles somewhere. With this requirement satisfied it was time to start heading back. We went up the missed Swinyard hill but otherwise kept to the not so low lower paths before heading into Lower Wyche then Malvern for the train to somewhere somewhat less hilly...

Aldbourne Circular - Part 2

...an extra 7 miles

After waving goodbye to Theia and co. at mile 12 ( I think) the remainder of the group sat down and ate cake. Very good cake too - poppy seed.

We then set out again, heading a little further east of our original route and eventually followed a nice quiet and fairly flat road back towards Aldbourne. There we made a stop at a local pub for "possibly the best Pepsi in the world!" before finally hauling ourselves out of our seats and persuading our stiff legs to start working again for the final stretch on the Ridgeway.

We were treated to beautiful sunsets and good weather as we retraced our steps back to our start point and even found time to pose for a few photos. Prom's other half was particularly impressive, keeping pace with us all the way round and smiling even though I'm sure the full distance of the walk hadn't been really been properly realised until about mile 15!

 

Back at the car, we piled in and set off to find a pub. Within 20 minutes, we all felt as if we had aged 60 years and found that staying still in one place was going to be the best option for the rest of the evening.

Aldbourne walk on a sunny day!

The weather was definitely on our side as we set off for what turned out to be a sunny, picturesque walk starting on the outskirts of Aldbourne. Us greek titans were joined by two other mortals (we did know them, honestly) which was a nice change to just the four of us. So with our rucksacks on our back we ventured onwards and uphill, very uphill.........

Once we had all caught our breath, hydrated ourselves and removed a layer or two (sweaty bodies is never an attracive thing) we continued ahead with beautiful views of rolling hills all around us and the sun continued to shine bright allowing us to appreciate what the countryside offerred us.

Eventually we reached the pretty, quaint village of Aldbourne where we met some very friendly locals, one even offered us a walkers special-buy one bacon butty and don't get another one free! Declining his very generous offer we ventured out of Aldbourne and turned onto a track near some barns, more 'steady climbs' and mud! (a walk isn't a walk without mud).


Not ones to be fazed by mud & hills we remained in high spirits and soaked up the outstanding views, passing landmarks such as Snap Village-a village abandoned in 1905. Up until now we hadn't walked much of the Ridgeway but as we continued ahead we met signposts for the Ridgeway in question and, of course, another 'steady climb'. Theia was very pleased in telling everyone that we were about to reach the highest point on the whole of the Ridgeway National Trail-a whole 276m above sea level! And the views? Fantastic!

Aldbourne Circular Video

Our latest walk, the write up will follow but here is the video.

Happy watching.

The music is by DUDELDRUM and can be found here.

Thames Path - Richmond to Hammersmith

Yawn, got up too late, had to curtail the distance so as to meet friends.

8 miles, 3.7 miles an hour average speed. Fairly dull walking.

Biscuits

Or words to that effect.

I was supposed to go on a 50km walk with some friends today. Alas I'm at home, coughing and spluttering; catching up on dvds and books. Don't get me wrong I like books and dvds, albeit without the nose blowing and the falling asleep but I'd been looking forward to that walk for a while now. And to be beaten by a cold, well, its as boring as some of the books I've discarded after the second chapter today.

That's not to say that there hasn't been some funny moments, I mean someone had to tell me that the 6 nations had started, someone else told me on Thursday it was supposed to snow that day otherwise that would have been a bit of a surprise. hmm anyway I need more hot chocolate and to go snuggle up with a good book.

There will be other walks...

Training in Bishop's Stortford with "Are We There Yet? 1, 2 & 3"

15 miles, 5 hours

The lovely ladies of teams "Are We There Yet? 1, 2 and 3" answered my plea for training buddies a little bit nearer to Cambridge, so I met them at 6 am at the Village Hall in Birchanger. Wrapped up warm and with head torches lit, we headed out into the darkness for a very brisk, flat walk. 7.5 miles out, (...break for chocolate...) 7.5 miles back. The round trip took us 5 hours. Job done!

Snowdon

Like Medusa, I also decided to set off without the rest of the team. However my journey was not alone but with other friends, they'd had the marvellous idea of walking up Snowdon. Great I thought, that'll be great practice of walking up and down hill, plus I may have new material (jokes/insults) for the next time the team walk together. I also thought I could recycle the jokes I had but found I still got the same groans, somethings never change.

So off we set from Llanberis heading towards the ranger path. The first bit of ice was quickly found at the first stile however the crampons were kept in their bag the next time we set foot on snow/ice would be when we got on the ranger path a couple of hours later.

After a quick stop for a sarnie and a brew (this team brew en-route - warning fellow OUCHers we may have just been out-geeked here). Also after the last team hike it was nice to actually be able to see your food, actually scrub that thought who really needs to see a jam sandwich?

The mountain beckoned as soon we were in the snow. Snow angels were discussed but after the first not so soft landing one was decided to be the ideal number. This was a little unfortunate really since everywhere else the snow was so fine and powdery we couldn't even make snowballs.

Mnemosyne clearly unaccustomed to such continuous assents was thoroughly grateful when the top was finally reached. She skipped out on the last dozen steps to the trig point, promising to run up the stairs an extra time when back at the hostel (well it was more of a walk than a run).

Now it was time to head down the mountain via the Llanberis path. The views were lovely there were pretty icicles (but not enough for ice climbing (well if you have an ice axe and crampons...)) and the air force were training in area so there was plenty of opportunities for photos.

By the time dusk was falling we were back in Llanberis, a little tired but ready for the next stop, the pub!

Hexton Hills - The Return

12 miles - 5 and 1/2 hours (...ish)

Seeing as the navigation managed to baffle me when we tried this route as a team, I felt I had some unfinished business, so on the first weekend of January, I decided to have another shot at it. As the rest of the team usually train in the Abingdon area whilst I live in Cambridgeshire and we only all get to meet up about once a month, this was going to be a solo expedition. It also meant that I left a bit later than previously, as obviously there was no rush and I wasn't in any danger of keeping anyone waiting.

The first section of the walk was easy and I quickly ticked off the first of the hills in the Barton Nature Reserve. When I came to the place where it had all gone horribly wrong before, I made sure I followed what the compass was telling me and headed south. This time the map, compass and walk directions all stayed in agreement and I was able to relax and enjoy things much more, especially when I finally found the real Barton Farm and, more importantly, the next small footpath leading up to Galley Hill.

Heading south.....

....and getting it right this time!

Slowly, I made it up one hill after another: Galley(186m), Warden(195m), and Telegraph(184m). There were some terrific views of Northamptonshire and even Luton along the way. Over a very late lunch, I got chatting to another walker who was training for a trek up Kilimanjiro in a few weeks. He was carrying what looked like a heavy pack but his pace was impressive when we got walking, so I let him speed on whilst wondering if a Cornish pasty was really the right choice of high energy food.

Galley Hill

By mile 10, my feet were beginning to hurt and I was missing the rest of the team, who would normally keep me distracted. I can see why Trailwalker is a team event as the route passes much quicker when you're chatting to (or taking the Mick out of...) someone.

Dusk began to fall as I made my way to Deacon Hill (172m), the final hill for this route, (should have left earlier!) but I still managed to catch the satisfying views across the area I had just walked before the sun set properly. I did begin to think that I had messed up the navigation again, missing the peak of Deacon Hill, and was resigning myself to heading back to the car when I came across one more climb that looked worth doing. The peak was not visible at first but slowly, out of the darkness, I began to make out the shape of a trig point and I was able to finish the day with all the peaks on the route ticked off.

Trig point at Deacon Hill.

(Don't worry Dad! It wasn't as dark as the photo suggests!)

If anyone's interested, here is a link to the walk description I used for this walk: Hexton Hills

Stupid Oclock

The first walk of the year and the chance to test out the new bits and bobs that were picked up at the outdoor show.

To make the most of the abundance of darkness we decided a nice walk around Woburn Abbey but in the early hours of the morning.

So as everyone was leaving the clubs/pubs for a taxi home the team set forth for a nice walk at 4am, a lot of people would question our sanity of this but we had good reason to start early.

After a quick injection of caffeine the team set off, 8 miles isn't a huge distance but having to figure out the walk in the pitch dark made things a bit more challenging.

Everyone was in good spirits (sleep deprivation has some interesting side effects)

But as you can see below we were smiling away.

As we ventured round admiring the night sky (if only the aurora wasn't a few days earlier)

Part of the walk involved walking alongside the local safari park. This was eerily quiet but at least we wouldn't of seen anything that wanted to creep up on us. But we were fortunate enough that all the animals had a bit more sense than us and were tucked up in bed for the night.

The night navigation was difficult and we even missed a gate when the path veered off which made the team almost continue up a stream instead of sticking to the path.

Half way round we decided to stop off at a local pub for breakfast in their beer garden.

After breakfast the sun was now beginning to rise and the visibility had increased dramatically.

this allowed the full view of a lovely muddy field to march through.

But as we hit the 3/4 of the way round marker the sun finally popped its head up to say hello.

As the walk was coming to an end the final stretch took us alongside a deer sanctuary where there were numerous herds basking in the morning sunshine along with a rare black squirrel dashing between trees. It was a nice finish to the walk however everyone was looking forward to being back in bed by the end of it.