Yesterday was Sunday and I got absolutely drenched walking ten paces to my car. Knowing we had planned a 12 ish mile walk for today I was weighing up the possibility of a game of Bridge at Welwyn instead. I couldn’t call and make the first move. That would appear wimpish and show a lack of commitment to the preparation for 1000Miles4Hope. So I waited for the call that never came. Rob is committed and inspires me to be the same. This morning the sun rose for a beautiful autumnal day. You could not ask for better walking conditions. Off we set along the Icknield Way (the oldest road in England), over to Luton, round back to the village of Lilley (where Peter Lilley is the MP), lunch on the Green Man at Offley and 17.5 miles later, that is 12 ish miles, we are back in Pirton. At that rate 1000 miles would become 1458 miles so we are going to have to get better at planning and map reading. By the time we are back, the sun has set and our feet are crying out for a massage and telling us we need to get fitter.
We discovered an early secret from the first leg of our walk. We talked about what Rob had learnt on a photography course he had been on over a recent weekend. Things like get close, then get closer and most important of all get closer still. When you are close enough make sure you have got rid of any zoom lenses in your bag and replaced them with ones that are five times the price. Then capture the moment when it comes. Not before or after but make sure you snap at the precise instant it is there. At a junction we stopped to take a pause and I asked Rob how far he thought we had walked. ‘I’d say a couple of miles’ he said. We had completed 3.8 miles. So the secret is to make sure we have fascinating subjects to talk about as we walk. If we can do this then 1000 miles will feel like 526 miles. However, we will also need to measure what we do walk or, with this error of estimation, the 1000 miles we are planning could become 1900miles.
We walked on and were on the lookout for unexpected sightings for a walk in the Hertfordshire countryside. We did not have to wait long when we came across a herd of elephants. There were between eight and ten of them proceeding in a line up ahead of us. You will agree this is a surprising sight in Hertfordshire on a sunny autumn day in November. Further along we came upon a formula one race track with the most amazing bend you wanted to take on at full speed in your fastest car. These sightings passed the time and distracted us from any aches trying to make their presence felt as the miles built up. Looking back who would have thought that asking Rob to describe some clouds in the sky would conjure up the image of elephants. Then a little later seeing the bend in a field as something like a great bend on a formula one track that you want to take at full speed.
On our final leg we came upon a curious pile. There were seven crushed Carling Black Label cans piled on charcoaled branches and one sitting alone a couple of feet away. We wondered what story went with this gathering. Speculating on the conversations round this now cold and finished camp fire we wondered what sect or plans were conjured here. Why seven cans neatly in a pile and one off to the side. Was someone spurned from the group or did a weasel come along and play football with one can? We will never know but like the idea of the weasel the most. Later on we passed a deep tunnel and imagined this might be his hole. Hopefully he is snug in his bed resting after his game. Just like we will be tonight after our fresh air, surprising sightings, conversations on many subjects and our 12 ish mile walk.
Len, 2 November 2009
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