Walks in 2019

During 2019, we completed the Wealdway in an enjoyable three-day break in April. In a later holiday in June, we walked about two thirds of the Cumbria Way before we were beaten by torrential rain. We returned to Cumbria in September and had two glorious days of walking. On the first, we crossed the ferry from Bowness-on-Windermere to the western shore of Lake Windermere and then walked to Skelwith Falls (and on to Ambleside) thus linking from the Dales Way to the Cumbria Way. On the second day we returned to the Cumbria Way, for its highest and longest leg, from Keswick to Caldbeck. We definitely made the right decision in keeping this leg for a fine day - it was magnificent walking but it would have been miserable in rain with limited visibility. The weather broke on our third day, but we still enjoyed the lower-level walk from Caldbeck to Carlisle, the end of the Cumbria Way.

Whilst staying with our daughter and son-in-law in Wiltshire in August, we walked with them on the final leg of their "Cranborne Canter", a route they have invented from their home in Downton to the Tollard Royal area and back. On this occasion, the difficulty was not rain, but rather extreme heat.

We got possession of our flat in the village of Simpson (Milton Keynes) in early January, and now we have a home right next to the Grand Union Canal, we'd like to complete the Grand Union Canal Walk, but this is complicated by the fact that the legs we still need to do are getting further and further away. Indeed, during 2019 we only managed one additional leg, from Hemel Hempstead to Tring. However we do walk short distances along the canal on a regular basis, including on my walk to work, which I manage whenever darkness, weather, onward journeying and the amount I have to carry permits. It is a real privilege to be able to walk to work, and I frequently have the company of herons, swans and ducks.

We have spent a fair amount of our spare time during 2019 in decorating the flat and, in particular over the summer, we also enjoyed our new membership of the Historic Houses Association, with (free) visits to a number of interesting houses, including Stowe House, which is in the National Trust's Stowe Gardens, so membership of both organisations has been useful! Richard's Mum is still living in a residential home near us in Norfolk and we have fallen into a regular routine, with Diana visiting us in Denver every Saturday. And I have had various trips away for work, most notably my "Grand Tour of Scotland" (looking for collaborations with colleagues there) which reminded me how much I love Scotland, and made me long for longer to explore (not to mention wanting to see St Andrew when it is not raining!).

All of these things - plus the usual pressures of work and inclement weather (the early winter has been particularly wet) - have somewhat stymied our "local" walking. However, vaguely en route from Denver to Simpson, we have completed the Three Shires Way and made a small amount of progress along the Nene Way. Over Easter in Norfolk we also followed the Peter Scott Walk, which links from the Fen Rivers Way/Ouse Valley Way/Nar Valley Way in Kings Lynn to the Nene Way at the Peter Scott Lighthouse north of Sutton Bridge.

In addition, a walking highlight of the year has been the discovery of the delightful Chiltern Way, around half of which is within an hour's drive of Simpson. We started walking the Chiltern Way in the spring, in preparation for the hills of Cumbria, the Nene Valley way not being known for its hills! However, we quickly fell in love with the glorious undulating landscape of the Chilterns, with hills topped with beech woodland, and we continued the walk through the summer and autumn and into the winter. We have now walked just over half of the "main" route (largely the part that is closest to Simpson) and we have also started the Bedfordshire Extension, which is rather more convenient for short walks on our regular Sunday journey across the country.

Walks in 2020