Walks in 2014
I started 2014 with a month of study leave to write the covering paper for my PhD by published work. Almost inevitably it didn't get finished then, so I used a lot of leave and most weekends during the spring and early summer to complete the writing. Walking took something of a back seat. The good news is that I "passed" and my PhD was awarded on 11th September.
Having said that walking took a back seat in the spring and early summer, we did take some breaks. So... in the middle of May, we walked across Dorset to complete the Wessex Ridgeway (started last year), joining up with the South West Coast Path in Lyme Regis and thus walking the final stage of the route between our home in Norfolk and Land's End. This is quite an achievement, but more significantly, the holiday itself was wonderful; passing through beautiful, quiet countryside and picture postcard villages, and enjoying warm sunny weather.
Heading vaguely north from home, we had already walked as far as Rutland Water, and during the year we have walked the Viking Way, from Rutland Water to the Humber Bridge. We particularly enjoyed our walk from Lincoln to the Humber, through the Lincolnshire Wolds, in October. Do not believe that Lincolnshire is completely flat!
From the Humber Bridge, the Yorkshire Wolds Way goes to Filey, where it meets up with the Cleveland Way, which we walked in 2008. So that is definitely on our "to do" list for 2015.
In the meantime, we started the Ouse Valley Way in November. The rationale was that it passes close to both the accommodation that I rent Monday to Friday in the Milton Keynes area and to our home in Norfolk, so it seemed like a fun idea. The path starts in Northamptonshire before cutting through Buckinghamshire and we are currently somewhere to the north of Milton Keynes. It is all surprisingly quiet and pleasant.
And, in a completely separate adventure, we had a long weekend in April on the amazing Channel Island of Alderney, so walked the 11.5 miles around Alderney in a leisurely fashion, thereby making a start on the Channel Island Way. We'd like to return to walk more of it, though we feel that we may have "done" the island that is the most suited to us (i.e. not too touristy) first.
Page last checked 16th February 2020.
