The 50,000 – 7 sep, 2018
Day 31 Land’s End to John O’Groats – Tiverton Hall to Warrington
Distance: 38km
Cumulative distance: 797km
I had yesterday off to give my knee a chance to rest up, and spent most of it in the library trying to catch up on these updates. I spoke to auntie Ruth and uncle Huey on the phone to wish Ruth a happy birthday, and thoroughly enjoyed Richmond’s qualifying final win over Hawthorn, even though it was only via updates on my phone.
While I was in Whitchurch I spoke with Canberra Times reporter Megan Doherty about the walk I was doing, and they plan to run a story to usher in Steptember. This all came about thanks to Blocka, who had decided to recruit me into his Steptember team. The idea is for each member to take 10,000 steps per day and raise as much money over the course of the month for the Cerebral Palsy Alliance. I read on the website that the average office worker only takes 3000 steps per day! Here I was knocking out 40,000 plus with semi-regularity so bringing me on board was a pretty decent signing by Blocka, (and I’m pretty sure our team ended up finishing first amongt the Canberra Times entrants). Megan’s story was a double page spread in a weekend paper using a photo Bird had taken when he, Ams and I walked together a couple of weeks earlier and it all looked absolutely magnificent. But there was another element to this Steptember thing. Once Blocka had recruited me, it unsurprisingly awoke my competitive streak which had been lying dormant for far too long. And I figured 50,000 steps in a day was a milestone I had to achieve at least once over the course of the journey. With a day’s rest under my belt, my knee feeling quite a bit better and a section of canal walking looming, I subconsciously figured today might just be the day.
Although things didn’t start as smoothly as we’d have liked. Mum dropped us back at Tiverton Hall and soon enough to Sandstone Trail took us onto some farmland and inevitably I managed to take us the wrong way. I knew something was amiss when we’d walked about 200m through a cornfield and realised I would’ve needed a chainsaw to go any further. We turned around and hacked our way back down to the fence, which we hopped over to resume the trail. The towering stalks of corn were soaking wet so by the time we emerged back into clear air we were both fairly sodden and my feet were already soaked through. We made up for it during the rest of the morning and Dad was setting a breakneck pace which left me huffing and puffing just trying to maintain stride. After successfully traversing some more farmland we made our way into the delightful Delamere Forest and found a brilliant wooden sculpture of a two headed pig indicating the direction of the Sandstone Trail. Upon entering the forest there was also two little water bowls laid out for canine travelers and a wooden sign above which read:
‘Drink doggie drink, man is your debtor and you never present your bill
But faithful server, for worse or better, drink doggie drink your fill’.
Yes, I agree with what you’re all thinking. Dogs are better than cats (sorry Mum!!).
The forest was a little muddy but not too bad and not too hilly which meant Dad kept up his unwavering walking speed all the way to lunch. We’d arranged to meet Mum in a little carpark ensconced within the forest and we actually beat her to the spot thanks to Usain Bolt out in front. As is so often the case, the rain waited until we were stopped and bereft of shelter before it decided to start falling. Fortunately Mum wasn’t too far away and when she arrived, we sat in the back of the hire car as we wolfed down our lunch. I decided while tucking into another scrumptious midday feast that we’d be better off stepping away from the Sandstone Trail at this point and taking a more direct approach to Warrington and Britain’s industrial heartland, rather than following the path all the way to Frodsham and then heading east. It wouldn’t be as pretty but it would save us several hours and keep me just about on track to reach my pipe dream which was to walk into Preston on Monday.
Step one of the revised plan meant walking along a B road, but only for about half a kilometre or so before we turned off onto some country lanes. We came to a river and were greeted by some super friendly horses that crossed their field to come over and say hello. Beyond that we strolled under a towering railway bridge, then went through Dutton Locks and crossed the river before meeting Mum a little bit further along. She had the next set of maps I needed, and since I was feeling pretty good at this stage I decided to push on even after Dad and I had already done about 25km for the day. I waved goodbye to Mum and Dad and took myself down a busy road before turning off and picking up the canal. These canals have been around for centuries I’m pretty sure, and provide an incredibly convenient option for the walker looking to pick his way through one of England’s greatest conurbations. I followed this particular waterway for a little while past a series of narrow boats before coming to a deep, dark tunnel which prevented me going any further. This is the Preston Brook Tunnel, over a kilometre long and utterly pitch black. For northbound traffic it’s open on the hour, every hour, for 10 minutes. For the boats heading south they’re allowed a 10-minute window of passage from the bottom of the hour. I was hoping there’d be a little footpath beside the canal through the tunnel – I figured it wouldn’t been like walking through the Queanbeyan storm water drain – but I received no such luck. That meant I had to jump back onto the main roads and navigate my way through a bit of heavy traffic and industry before reconnecting with the canal.
Once I did rediscover the canal after almost an hour, it was much more peaceful going barring the heaving nuclear power plant to my left off in the distance, which I think was in Runcorn. Otherwise this was a pretty nice section and it allowed me to really stride out despite it being quite late in the day. I knew Warrington was near (that’s where we are staying tonight) and I wanted to make as much of a dent in that as possible while I was in good form. Along I went, passing underneath picturesque stone bridges and by endless canal boats until the outskirts of Warrington became apparent. I pushed all the way to a little suburb called Stockton Heath and met Mum and Dad at a pub on the other side of the canal. As I jumped into the car I looked at my phone – the moment of truth had arrived. I’d done it! Total steps – 50,875. Time for a beer.
