My Walking Journeys

2,000 mile challenge completed!!

Dec 17th, 2023

Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.

I am delighted to announce that, today, I have completed my last 7 miles which means that I have walked 2,000 miles in 2023!

I feel that this is a fine achievement for me and I am extremely chuffed to have done it. It has taken both determination and commitment to arrive here.

It was a nice sunrise as the day dawned on this auspicious of days.

OK, so you wouldn’t think that today would be a big deal, but it turned out, that for me, it WAS a big deal. The previous day I had waxed and polished my walking boots in readiness for my last walk on this challenge. As I stepped out of the front door I was definitely feeling emotional and a sense of occasion.

Coffee break on my walk

By the time I had reached The Viking Way I wondered why I had bothered to wax and polish my boots as it was in an atrocious condition.

Still, I waded through and before too long I had finished my last 7 miles and was ready to collect my finishers medal 😊.

The Latin inscription on the medal translates as ‘I walk therefore I am’. The medal was obtained from Country Walking Magazine who sponsor these walking challenges. https://www.countrywalking.co.uk/

Having finished this particular journey, I have to say that it is not arriving at the destination that is so important, but the enjoyment of the actual journey itself and I will talk more about this in a future blog to be released on the 28th December.

Happy Walking!
To Denton Reservoir via the Grantham Canal.

Dec 15th, 2023

Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.

Christmas is very nearly upon us and I guess that we are all looking forward to this special time of year and the magic of Christmas. I am hoping for a white Christmas but its far too mild!

This morning I met up with Mick to do an 8 mile walk along the Grantham canal to Denton Reservoir followed by a walk along the disused railway track back to Woolsthorpe-by-Belvoir.

It is very difficult at the moment to find walks that do not involve too much walking across mud laden fields. This walk was chosen because it mostly avoids poor footpaths although we did pass along side a very muddy bridleway.

It was a cloudy and dull morning as we set off close to the Dirty Duck pub at Woolsthorpe -by-Belvoir.

The Dirty Duck Pub beside a brimming Grantham Canal

The bridge at Woolsthorpe-by-Belvoir

The towpath was quiet all of the 3 miles to Harlaxton Bridge. There were a multitude of Swans along the canal. It is always a joy to see these majestic and beautiful birds.

We passed my favourite bridge – the Casthorpe bridle bridge – and noticed the cracks in the brickwork so this might need repairing in the near future.

An archive photo of the Casthorpe Bridge.

When we reached Denton Reservoir we took a seat and had a cuppa.

A tranquil Denton reservoir

The reservoir was the lowest that I have seen it so that was very surprising given the recent weather. We were also surprised to see a dead swan and 3 dead fish ( these were big fish) close to the edge – something that we have never seen before and wondered what had caused their deaths.

Leaving the reservoir it was a walk along muddy paths into Denton then along the road to pick up the disused railway line back to Woolsthorpe-by-Belvoir. This was a good dry path.

The disused railway line

A steady walk brought us back to our cars. A good stretch of the legs and we did’nt get too muddy!.

My 2,000 mile challenge is getting tantalisingly close now with only 14 miles left to walk to reach it 😊😊.

Happy walking!
Along the Bridgewater canal and through Dunham Massey.

Dec 10th, 2023

Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.

Storm Elin brought high winds and heavy rain to Manchester yesterday so no chance of getting a walk in.

This morning myself and Angela drove to the National Trust property Dunham Massey only to find that it was not open because they were inspecting the trees for damage from the storm yesterday.

We decided to park in Dunham Massey village and go up on to the Bridgewater Canal for a walk. The village has many lovely cottages – all painted red.

The canal was quiet – guess the rain had put most people off from venturing out. We had the towpath to ourselves as we walked along the canal looking at the many boats that were moored up. There was a mixture of very well maintained boats and some needing more TLC.

We walked from Dunham Massey towards Lymn passing a couple of busy Marinas.

boats moored up

We passed a small mechanical crane used for putting timbers into the canal when maintenance is being carried out on the canal.

Crane for lifting the boats out of the water

We headed back to Dunham Massey and found that the National Trust property had now opened so our first port of call was the café!

Suitably fortified we then went for a walk in the gardens and park – again it was nice and quiet.

The rear of the house

The Dunham Massey house

Empty footpaths

There were a couple of flooded fields from the river Bolin that looked like lakes now – when will the rain ever stop? The rainfall over the last 3 months must be a record?

Towards the end of our walk the sun made a very welcome appearance. We had walked just over 9 miles by the end of our walk – happy with that!

Happy Walking!
A super walk at Belton House

Dec 6th, 2023

Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.

This morning myself and Mick did a 9 mile walk in the ground’s of the National Trust property Belton House. It was a frosty but sunny day with no wind – just perfect!

Belton House

It was a real pleasure being out today and not have to battle the elements. There was plenty of evidence of the recent rain with the river Witham overflowing its banks and boggy fields.

Boggy fields

A picturesque avenue

Walking through the grounds we saw the Deer getting on with their day.

Everywhere was covered in a crisp coating of frost which when combined with the sun was just lovely.

Looking across the Golf course.

At a suitable vantage point we stopped for a cuppa and took in the views.

We did a couple of circuits of the grounds and then popped in to the gardens to look at the exhibits for the light show that is running in the evenings at the House.

We both enjoyed the walk and appreciated the beautiful weather.😎

An update on my 2,000 mile challenge – I now have only 52 miles left to walk, before the end of the year, to meet this challenge!
Completed The Grantham Canal!

Nov 29th, 2023

Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.

This morning myself and Mick completed walking our last section of The Grantham Canal in order to claim that we have walked the full 33 mile length. We had a nice sense of achievement.

We started at Woolsthorpe-by-Belvoir and walked to the end of the canal in Grantham and back – a distance of 10 miles.

It was a sunny but frosty start to our walk. There was ice on the canal.

An empty towpath

Once walking we started to warm up and enjoy the sunshine. There were a lot of Swans along the length of the canal.

A tranquil scene

The A1 was built over the canal so the canal stops on one side and then starts further along into Grantham.

The bridge carrying the A1

The start of the canal after the A1

We were now in urban territory passing by houses to our left and the canal to our right.

As we reached the end of the canal it was sad to see the shopping trollies, plastic bottles and general waste in the canal. An inauspicious end to our journey.

The canal stops here

However, all was forgiven when a very friendly cat came and said hello while we were sat on a bench having a cuppa 😊.

So having reached our destination we turned around and enjoyed our walk back along the canal. The Swans were sunning themselves.

Another lovely walk and no mud!

Happy Walking!