Update 16th September 2022 – Toby: My sincere apologies for taking so long to write the last three days’ posts. Returning home, I was immediately thrown into all sorts of things which couldn’t be delayed.…
23.1 miles – The shining perfection of a cloudless early autumn morning, the cloudy restlessness of a late summer afternoon, perfection again at close It was the most beautiful way to have started the last…
23.6 miles – Sunshine to the north and south but surly clouds and rain above; some shame-faced sunny moments brightening the final miles I set off full of warm breakfast and good cheer. The weather…
21.7 miles – Thick mist thinning, and clouds clearing towards noon to give a warm and sunny afternoon A helpful lady walking her dog told me what a wonderful view one gets from Truleigh Hill.…
27.6 miles – A thick mist, thinning towards noon, heavy rain in the afternoon A long and perhaps unexpectedly rather lovely day. I set off at 06:02, by a whisker the earliest start of my…
20.4 miles – blessed rain, soft mist, a little sunshine later I left East Meon as the first drops of rain began to fall. The scent of dry-baked road wafted up to me. I wonder…
19.1 miles – Misty to start with, dissolving into hazy sunshine with mushy clouds later I left Winchester while most of its inhabitants were still vegetating over their morning tea. A mist swirled its cloak…
I need to preface this post with the admission that its contents are my musings and guesswork while on the trail, not the result of research. I welcome comments from anyone who can add to…
When the sun sets on a conscious dream the moon rises to carry the traveller through. The dream was to walk from Cape Wrath to Hastings in one unbroken thread of continuity. The outward dream…
I slept for an hour-and-a-half in the afternoon and fourteen hours that night. I spare my delicate reader the description of the effects of this (as I soon realised it was) stomach bug during that…
5.1 miles – A comforting breeze, grey-flannels skies and caressing, light rain I slept appallingly. Perhaps it was the hard little flint stones which my camping mat couldn’t keep out, but I think it was…
19.2 miles – The sun valiantly vanquishing the drear clouds to leave a hot, dusty afternoon I would not have my readers be in any doubt; the doors of Clarendon Palace closed for the last…
19.7 miles – Grey-rinse skies, with occasional desultory rain, golden sunshine at day’s close On the map the Roman road, originally going to Old Sarum, looks ideal: a lovely straight bridalway – must be easy…
19.6 miles – old-floor-cloth grey skies, warm, viscous airs I decided to take the quickest and easiest route to Winchester, which I hoped to reach in three days. Lullington After four miles, at Lullington, my…
10.4 miles – A perfect lovely English summer’s day The sun shone piercingly from a bright blue sky as I set off; the air was light and clear: it was not possible to feel glum!…
19.3 miles – A typical lovely English summer’s day The glorious place names of yesterday and today are all genuine, and I genuinely passed through all of them. True, I have sometimes included small places…
17.8 miles – Militant clouds, troublous airs What a feast of place names! I was awakened at 6:00 by Archie, a young scots terrier, who took exception to my being bang in the middle of…
21.5 miles – Clouds with sun later but… …But it wasn’t about the weather today ut about the forrest. I adored this ancient woodland, apparently amongst the finest beachwoods in Europe. I had a sense…
17.2 – miles – Sun and clouds playing catch-me-if-you-can in a merry breeze The rain played catch-me-if-you-can too – and it caught me! It went like this: first there were a few spots of rain,…
15.1 miles – ‘wetting rain’ followed by forgiving sunshine. ‘Wetting rain’ is an expression my mum used to use. It sounds ridiculous, I know, because rain is intrinsically wetting. What she meant was that kind…
18.6 miles – Rolling, billowing grey clouds, which released a single golden egg of sunshine I was once given a birthday card with a cartoon depiction of Marie Antoinette being led away to the guillotine,…