Walk 2 - 13.7 miles - Total 31.2 miles - To Go 968.8 miles

London Loop Sections 17 & 18. Trent Park, Forty Hall, Enfield Chase,

South Africa v England cricket test match looks well balanced. The sun shining in Cape Town and the fine tans showing a sharp contrast to the frost outside and the expected shut down of the country tomorrow after the snow falls tonight. We start the London Loop today with Sou dropping us off at Cockfosters. Within minutes we are in hunting ground in Trent Park and ahead of us there is a scene that makes us rub our eyes and look again. We see a hunting party that has riden from Hatfield to Enfield Chase. All on their horses are 12 ladies in white satin, 120 yeomen in green and 15 archers in scarlet boots and yellow caps and each armed with a bow. Along with them is a lady of the dogs ready to retrieve the spoils of the hunt. A fabulously colourful scene from over 400 years ago is there for us to imagine as we look where Elizabeth 1st brought her hunting party for a fun day out on the chase. We walk on and talk about all the things that have happened over the years on this Chase and later Epping Forest and the exploits of Dick Turpin. A little further ahead near Forty Hall we notice a man throwing his cloak across a puddle to allow a lady to pass without wetting her feet. We approach and see it is Sir Walter Raleigh making this favour for the same Elizabeth. She looks so pleased and grateful and yet later we know she orders his head to be removed. As we approach Cuckold Hill we reflect on Elizabeth 1st and the complexities of relationships between men and women.

The walk is tough with a number of hills to climb and at the end our legs are weary. As we talk about the pain in our legs and look forward to the finish today we reflect that this feeling at the end of a walk is how some people with MS feel every day when they awake. We are lucky our weariness and pain will be gone in the morning. The pain for people with MS goes through the day and for many gets worse as time goes on. We really hope that with the steps we are taking we can increase the hope they can have for something better in the future.

We have agreed to rearrange our next two days walks so I don't get seperated from Karen for too long (our village will get snowed in tonight) and to be sensible about the weather. We will be making up the shortfall as soon as we can.