Walk 22 -15.5 miles - Total 289.9 miles - To Go 710.1 miles

Boscombe Pier to Poole and Turlin Moor.




Ouch, ouch, ouch and ouch as I walk across the carpet. Our feet are tender after our 15 miles today. The accumulated effect of 65 miles in four and a half days and 13 of our miles today on roads are beginning to tell. The good news is we do feel remarkably good in the mornings after our exertions of the day before. Also Rob's back is benefitting from the walking and is now feeling great.

This morning is sunny again with a crisp breeze. The beaches are empty after the weekend as we start out. We revise Roman Key Card and agree to use it in a match we are playing this evening. We work on Rob's next article for Citywire where he has a reqular column. I play the role of the man in the street to which Rob will apply the analysis of 'one of Britains leading economic commentators' as Citywire call him. This is a myth I say...you are just my mate Rob. The question is how does the man in the street relate to the ideas of tax and spend being put over by the parties wanting your vote. I give my views which go in to the great brain of the 'foremost leading economic commentator in Britain' and out comes an article that will be published next week. There are a few edges to round off to make sure the article is not politically biased and gives advice to investors. The long and the short of it is it seems the country's finances are in a mess and whoever comes in Government Bonds are going to get hit so sell em before the election if you have some in your portfolio. For the longer description read Rob in Citywire next week.


This takes up the first four miles and we stop at the Jazz Cafe for a coffee and where we can catch up on the Sunday newspapers. There is something fun reading interviews about events yet to happen after they have happened. So the big story in the Sunday Times of Peter Crouch having no sympathy for Portsmouth and looking forward to an FA Cup Final against Chelsea is fun to read after you know Portsmouth beat Spurs 2-0. Rob finds more material for his article in the Mail on Sunday....yes I know...I have told him to raise his standards but he enjoys it. He actually mentioned his regret that in this part of the world with your posh Redknapp residences (did I mention Spurs lost to Portsmouth yesterday?) people do not leave copies of The Sun lying around for us to keep up on Cheryl and Ashley. Rob still believes in Cheryl and the seperation. I still think they will be back together again. We shall see.

As we walk along the front towards Poole Rob draws my attention to a great missed photo opportunity and the possibility of more readers for our cause. As we pass a couple and have walked on about 30 yards Rob says with a big knowing grin on his face 'who was that then Len?'. I have no idea so I say 'no idea'. 'That was none other than Tony Pullis, manager of Stoke City'. Again with the big knowing grin. By now Tony is a hundred yards away, gone from our blog and our great opportunity to talk to a Premiership Manager and get insight on who is going to win the league. After giving Rob an earful about grabbing opportunities when they arise we then continued our conversation trying to work out who Tony played for and what was he doing down here on a Monday. Answers on a postcard......but did he play for Southampton and does he have a house down here?


We continue on around Parkstone Bay and meet Lynne from Christchurch down for the day taking her grandson Jackson out for a walk. She guides us in to Poole. Lynne works as a carer in the New Forest and has looked after a number of people with MS and knows the horrors of the disease. She wishes us well with our campaign and hopes we are successful raising the funds we are targetting.



As we walk on we stop and watch crows searching for clams in the seaweed and when they find one they fly to a great height and drop the clam on to the path to break the shell and get the flesh inside. Fascinating.


We approach Poole Quay and find a wonderful sun trap that invites us for the afternoon. We stop for about twenty minutes talking to people fishing for crabs and I am jotting notes for a poem. Rob gets going and offers his first two lines for our readership.....
Children clambering over rocks and sand
Filling buckets with mussels and clams




.........Rob also is beside himself with excitement as we wander round Poole. We come upon The Royal Oak and Gas Tavern with a For Sale sign up on it and closed. This brings memories of London Loop flooding back of closed pubs, for sale pubs and a great opportunity for Rob to continue his social history in photographs of 'THE END OF THE ENGLISH PUB'.


We lunch in Poole at the Poole Arms. As it is a monday the nice restaurants are shut. Having got used to having Sea Bass, Dressed Crab, Fresh Anchovies and Mussels/Prawn Marinara at less than £5 a plate we balk at £15 a plate for very average English pub food. Maybe there is a reason they are going out of business.
After lunch we view the Sunseeker stockpile. Millions of pounds worth of boats piling up in the recession. A great success story for Poole and hopefully once the election is out the way and our superhero politicians have secured the recovery this pile of Sunseekers will be on their way to the sun.




Our last five miles is around Turlin Moor. It is five miles of walk offered up by the Poole tourist board which has two stunning views in a couple of 100 yard sections and the rest is like the worst parts of the London Loop.


We go by bus back to Boscombe which is when we notice how tender our feet are and groans of pain annoy passengers on the bus. There is one understanding passenger Poppy who is interested to know what we are doing and again gives us tremendous encouragement. Poppy is 78 and still walking seven or eight miles every day. She has some great tips on reviving your feet after a tiring walk. I am going to collect these tips and after we complete our 1000 miles I will publish the secrets of foot recovery in a very expensive book.
We got back just in time for our bridge game. 18 hands and not a single opportunity to try out Roman Key Card and we got thrashed by players much better than us and some signs of tiredness on our part. Hopefully tomorrow we cross 300 miles!