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2020 was the year when most of our plans went out of the window, because of the Coronavirus Pandemic. However, I don't want that to be my starting point. As a result of the Pandemic, during 2020 I also came to appreciate how much I enjoy my home in West Norfolk, and how much I like being there with my husband rather than working away from home. From March to December 2020, I was working at home in Norfolk whilst still being Head of the Open University's Head of Physical Sciences and I expect this to continue well into 2021. I have been hideously busy and I worry about some of my colleagues for whom this way of working is challenging for a variety of reasons - but I love it for myself. From the middle of 2021 I will be in a more conventional academic role and from 2023, I might even be retired. I am no longer scared of retirement, indeed I am rather looking forward to it.
However, I really want to remember 2020 because of Albert Leonard ("Bertie") our first grandchild, who was born to Helen and Tom in October. In the midst of the horrors of the Pandemic, Bertie has been a ray of sunshine. Even better, he was born during one of the less bad phases of the pandemic, so Richard was able to get to Wiltshire in order to take Helen and Tom to hospital and to bring the three of them safely home later the same day, we have visited together a couple of times, and I spelt a very special week with the little family at the end of October, just before England headed back into lockdown. During this week I was also able to see my sister Chris, whose husband Derek sadly died on Christmas Day.
So, what were our walking aspirations, and how did it all work out? Late in 2019, Richard had succeeded in bringing the wonderful map for "Linking it all together" up to date, and it became much clearer where there were parts of the country we might want to spend some time exploring. The ideas that were particularly attractive to us were either continue north from end of the Heart of England Way with the aim of linking to the Dales Way, by way of the Staffordshire Way, the Limestone Way and either the Pennine Way or the Pennine Bridleway, or to return to Scotland to coninue north from the end of the Berwicksshire Coastal Path (probably by way of the John Muir Link, the John Muir Trail and the West Highland Way). In the end it didn't matter that hadn't made our minds up, because we weren't able to advance on either route. Some modest progress on the first named is now on the plan for the second half of 2021.
Our plans for shorter walks nearer to our homes in Norfolk and Milton Keynes focused on progressing along the Grand Union Canal Walk, the Chiltern Way and perhaps returning to the Nene Way. We managed one walk on the Grand Union Canal Walk between Watford and Hemel Hempstead in January and two days in Warwickshire in February. But to progress further we are now reliant on public transport at both ends and a probably a night away from home in the Birmingham area, so we had to put those plans on hold for now. We made some progress on the delightful Chiltern Way; we have now walked all the sections that are within an hour's drive of Milton Keynes, and we continue to love the Chilterns. If we are not able to stay overnight, we will probably accept that we just have to drive a bit further (once we are allowed to stay in the flat again). The real discovery of the summer was the Nene Way which we have now completed, in the process discovering how lovely Northamptonshire is.
For much of the year, we didn't venture beyond Norfolk at all and over the Christmas break we walked short legs of both the Norfolk section of the England Coast Path and the Marriott's Way, in the centre of the county. following our earlier completion of the Nar Valley Way and the Wensum Way. In the spring we couldn't even leave our home viillage, other than for essential shopping - and as far as our legs would carry us. We are so fortunate to have such beautiful countryside on our doorstep, and to be able to get out without encountering too many people, and during the year we re-discovered some lovely walks and even found some which we had not walked before, despite living here for more than 30 years. I've put maps and brief descriptions of these walks here, with links to photographs. We continue to walk these routes regularly, and it is a joy to see them through the changing seasons. All in all, despite all the difficulties which 2020 has brought, we have much to be grateful for.
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