The South Cornwall Health Club ***with track and voice***

Tired of health clubs with extortionate membership fees? Tired of forking out for home exercise equipment? Here’s the solution for you: The South Cornwall Health Club.

The club specialises in cardiovascular fitness training. Its secret is that it makes you walk from A to B anywhere in southern Cornwall. This isn’t as simple as it sounds, as I’ve found out in the past eight days, for walking from A to B in southern Cornwall inevitably involves walking first to C (uphill), then to D (downhill), then to E (really uphill this time), and so on. Southern Cornwall is nothing less than a switchback, and it sure gets your heart and lungs working.

OK, I’ve convinced you, especially as all this cardiovascular fitness obviously is going to come for free. But you can’t see how you could possibly afford to come over to live in this idyllic but expensive place. Fortunately I’ve got the ideal business and lifestyle opportunity for you! Run a pub, in particular the one called ‘The London Inn’ in the charming village of St Neot, which went bankrupt three weeks ago. Bit of a nuisance, that, as I’d planned to get lunch there yesterday. You’d really think people would be more considerate in timing their bankruptcies.

How best to describe St Neot? It’s Midsomer without the murders. It’s the quintessentially English village. I wouldn’t have missed it, even though I did go hungry.

Nanstallon to Trenant

A voice recording can be downloaded at:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7dv534jl9au2rg5/Nanstallon%20to%20Trenant.mp3?dl=0

No, contact me THIS way please

Embarrassing isn’t it – when you don’t even know which country your phone comes from?

The number to reach me on is:

(+44) 778 430 6000

Sorry!

Contact me this way now

There seems to be a problem with several of my email addresses, i.e., anything with hotmail.com or outlook.com. That means that the email address I set up for people to use to contact me here on the walk (johntde@hotmail.com) is no longer reliable.

Please therefore contact me on my mobile number:

(+49) 778 430 6000

Go on, try it! Especially all you great people I’ve met on the walk so far who’ve said they wanted to keep in touch.

The living and the dead ***with track and voice***

First stop today was an ancient hill fort, Castle-an-Dinas, a couple of kilometres east of St Columb. ‘Fort’ is a misnomer, however, as the thing is massive: three earthen parapets surrounding a central area that would put many village cricket grounds to shame. This would-be David Lean attempted a 360 degree film of the view from the top, but sadly the result bore no comparison to Doctor Zhivago.

I left the fort wondering how many people had lived and died there. Wondering too about how that civilisation had met its end.

The rest of the day, with one exception, was full of the still-living. Everywhere I went there was life. Pheasants in the fields, seemingly with no worry that I was so close; a herd of Belted Galloways grazing quietly on a common (with a notice beforehand informing you that you should talk to them as you approached them, to avoid frightening them); grey squirrels chasing each other through the trees; the tamest of robins; and an enchanting little fieldmouse that came within an arm’s length of me as I was sitting having lunch at the side of a lane. The only sadness was a dead badger at the roadside.

OK, we established earlier that I’m no David Lean. Clearly I’m no David Attenborough either, but it’s the best I can do.

St Columb Major to Nanstallon

A voice recording can be downloaded at:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/0nj7zpiivxehg2c/St%20Columb%20Major%20to%20Nanstallon.mp3?dl=0

Waking up

Last night was under canvas again, at the campsite in St Columb. It was raining for much of the night, which meant that paranoid old me lay awake for long periods worrying that his ultra-thin tent would leak. It didn’t, but still I passed a relatively chilly night.

Again the dawn chorus woke me, but crows this time rather than blackbirds. I looked at my watch and sent myself back to sleep for another hour. The next thing I heard was a voice from outside the tent: “John, are you awake? I’ve put a mug of tea for you at the base of the tree trunk.” That was Carol, a permanent resident at the site (with partner Keith), from the pitch next door to mine. There can be no better way to be woken up after a cold and wet night’s camping. Thank you, Carol.

After a start like that, the day had to go well. More news will follow later…

Cornwall oder? ***with track and voice***

What an amazing county this is. The people as well as the countryside, I mean.

I’m now in St Columb, having come inland from Perranporth. First, every male in St Columb seems to be called Brian. That’s very practical, of course, because obviously you’re on first-name terms with almost everyone immediately. The only trouble is that 99% of them are not Cornish. Indeed it is very difficult to find a Cornish accent here. Aside from Christine and Roy at Marazion, I’ve heard only one native Cornish voice in the whole of my five days. That was at my lunchtime stop today for a pot of tea at the Pheasant Inn in St Newlyn East. I’d left my hat inside and was just getting ready to set off. Out of the pub emerges an obviously local lady with the words “You’ve forgotten your hat, my love”. Those last two words were truly Cornish.

I certainly can understand the non-Cornish coming here. There’s so much to see and do. Especially of course if you’re a surf freak like my Mancunian host at Perranporth last night. As he said, “Why come here on holiday every year when you can actually live here and surf whenever you want?”

Now where’s my wettie?

Perranporth to St Columb Major

A voice recording can be downloaded at:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/o13ggmbtt2eoll4/Perranporth%20to%20St%20Columb%20Major.mp3?dl=0

The first bouquets

As promised yesterday, here are the first three bouquets. Each one of these establishments is now entitled to style itself ‘by appointment to blogger’!

The first (in the order in which Flicka and I stayed on this trip) is Bleriots in Dover (http://bandbindover.mobi/). Martin is a great host, and his B&B is comfortable, quiet, conveniently situated for the ferry (with a magnificent view of the castle thrown in), and close to central Dover’s many eateries (of which India House deserves special mention). Flicka and I have taken to using Bleriots every time we come over.

In contrast to Bleriots, Cherry End (http://chichesterbedandbreakfast.net/), in Chichester, is for us completely new. We stayed there this time on our way down to start the walk. Small (but the room we had was palatial), comfortable, and within a stone’s throw of the centre of that wonderful city – yet with free off-street parking! Steve is really welcoming, even to the extent of downloading a favourite Status Quo track as my post-breakfast farewell. Recommendations don’t come any stronger in my book!

Finally a jewel: Chyvellan Cottage in Marazion, the B&B that Flicka and I used at the start of the walk (http://www.cornwalls.co.uk/accommodation/Marazion/chyvellan-cottage.html). Christine and Roy are the very definition of welcoming. They have a beautiful little place in a lovely rural setting. I know it’s not New Year yet, but one resolution is already fixed: we’re coming back!

This makes a change ***with track and voice***

What a marvellous day! It started early, at shortly after 5 to be precise, with another of those extremely intimate dawn choruses. This was at the campsite at Wheal Rose, not far from the Plume of Feathers, the hostelry where I had earlier found (1) shelter from yesterday afternoon’s rain, (2) an excellent steak, and (3) a charming Australian exile (aren’t they all?) who was overwhelmed that I’d actually heard of her birthplace – Dapto.

Anyway, it had been a good night’s sleep and the morning started dry. So a breakfast of bread and cheese, a muesli bar, an apple and some water set me up for the walk out to the coast at Porthtowan. A birdy walk too, with a magnificent buzzard soaring above my path and two low-flying geese honking their way past.

Porthtowan provided a cafe, as I’d expected it would, then access to the Coastal Path. This is hardly to be bettered as a scenic walk, but it’s a veritable switchback of ups and downs and ins and outs. You even get scenic-overload: “Seen one rocky cove, seen ’em all. That’s wot I say!”

Fortunately there are places to take breaks, and at least one or two people to chat to in passing. (Most people seem to manage a muttered ‘Hello’, but few go further.) One break was perfectly timed, at Trevaunance Cove, where I shared a pot of tea with Joanne (thanks!) before embarking on the last stretch to Perranporth. Birdiness continued, with once what looked like a kestrel diving down to grab at something at the side of the path only a couple of metres ahead of me.

Tonight it’s a B&B, with all creature comforts, including of course snooker on tv. Now that’s one thing my tent doesn’t have!

Porthtowan

Wheal Rose to Perranporth

A voice recording can be downloaded at:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4wtvxtnohutnk66/Wheal%20Rose%20to%20Perranporth.mp3?dl=0

Bouquets and brickbats

I suppose everybody who does this sort of thing has the feeling they should be telling the world about the places they’ve been and visited and stayed. A sort of ‘recommended by blogger’ list. I’m going to do it, but in a very-much-less-than-comprehensive way. If I think it’s great I’ll give it a bouquet; if I think it’s awful I’ll give it a brickbat; otherwise I’ll keep my blog shut.

The first bouquets will (D.V.) be handed out tomorrow. It’s really just like ‘Strictly’ but without Bruce.

That’s better! ***with track and voice***

Last night was my first night under canvas for 22 years. Everything went smoothly, rather surprisingly, and I slept remarkably well. Then there was the most impressive of dawn choruses, with me and my little tent right in the middle.

Up betimes and off by 0820. A day dominated by mining, because it was an old mining area that I was walking through – the Flat Lode to be precise. The walking itself was pleasant, with ruined old mine buildings along old tramways all well preserved by the local authority. And those guys are serious about who gets to get close to them! A notice along the trail reads: ‘No motorcycles. You will be prosecuted and your bike will be crushed.’

Anyway, the day finished well but damp.

Higher Trevaskis to Wheal Rose

A voice recording can be downloaded at:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4rghrmc44rgny4s/Trevaskis%20to%20Wheal%20Rose.mp3?dl=0

Obviously there was a problem there! ***with tracks and voice***

To clarify matters, I’m sitting in the bar of a very pleasant Cornish hostelry not too far away from the campsite where I’ve pitched my tent at the end of day 2. It’s about 1900, and it’s been beer-battered fish and chips accompanied by a pint of a very acceptable local pale ale. Unfortunately the hostelry specialises in Spanish flamenco background music, which means that my concentration is not the best. Also I can’t connect to the wifi network, so I can’t see what I’m posting. The result, of course, is that posts are liable to be released into the blogosphere whenever I happen to hit the ‘send’ button unexpectedly. So if there is a post before this one that looks a bit abbreviated, that’s the reason.

The first day was hard, the second day too. That leg was playing up horribly at times today, but then something close to miraculous happened! I had stopped for a pot of tea at the ‘Duke of Leeds’ in Leedstown. Three charming ladies there, the youngest having learned to walk only three weeks ago, and a warm fire. I left after a stop of perhaps 20 minutes and walked in the drizzling rain for about five kilometres to my campsite. And the leg worked perfectly! So what do they put in that tea in Leedstown? I recommend it. More news will follow. Running I am not, but I’m feeling much better than I was.

Lands End to Penzance

Penzance to Higher Trevaskis

Voice recordings can be downloaded at:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/9s0qkj8hqjd9aj8/Lands%20End%20to%20Penzance.mp3?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/54ed2osc03k2wj2/Penzance%20to%20Trevaskis.mp3?dl=0

 

Off and running – well not really…

First, the most important thing: the fantastic supportive messages I’ve got in the past few days. Some of them were texts, others were emails, some were cards, and one really inventive friend managed to message me a hug. Thank you all; it makes such a very big difference.

London calling

This is now a very strange time. Flicka and I came over here to England on Thursday and are staying for a couple of days with John and Mellissa in London. Then it’s down to Chichester for time with Karen, then off to Cornwall to start the walk.

The feeling in this time is two-sided. It’s of wanting to get going but at the same time of not wanting to – a feeling largely of apprehension of what could go wrong. Thus have I got everything? Have I done everything I should have done? Wouldn’t it have been better to have planned this instead of that? What happens if this or that doesn’t work? And so on…

There’s only one sure-fire cure for feelings such as these. It’s called soft-shell crab at a favourite Vietnamese restaurant at Clapham Junction. We’re just about to leave for there now!

Desert Island Discs

Times certainly have changed in Britain. For instance, there were days in the past when there was a very strict limit on the amount of recorded music you could find on the radio. There was always 208 of course – Radio Luxembourg – but mostly there was just the BBC. Auntie used to present recorded music in very strange formats, one of which was a program, Desert Island Discs, in which some celebrity was asked to name the 10 pieces of music they would take with them if marooned on a desert island. These were then played. (I’ve just had an awful thought! That program doesn’t still exist, does it?)

I think I only listened to Desert Island Discs once. However, I still remember the presenter’s final words: ‘And now, Mr So-and-So, you are also allowed to take one book with you, apart from the Bible [which, by the way, I shall be taking with me] and Shakespeare [which I shan’t]. Which book is it to be?’

My answer is The Joy of Clichés, a slim volume by Nigel Rees that I picked up originally in a remainder bookstore in Canberra. Clichés? Absolutely! I find there’s something truly magnificent about a well-turned cliché. You know, when you’re listening to someone making a speech and he comes to a bit where you and everyone else in the audience can predict exactly what’s coming next. And it does! You’re left thinking, ‘Did he really say that?’

Well, chaps, this is it. It’s time to get this show on the road!

The promised final updates, finally

The final updates of the route and the schedule are finally there, as promised. As usual, these are in the left-hand side pages of the blog.

Firstly, there is a new .kml file giving the route I intend to take; you can download this file using the new Dropbox link.

Secondly, there is a new ‘tentative schedule’. This now is the schedule I will try to keep to, but there is of course no guarantee that I can. I was reminded just yesterday of this by a man who runs a B&B I have booked into in Malham. I told him what I was doing – long-distance walking – and when I hoped to be there. His comment, put in a beautifully straightforward Yorkshire manner, was that I’d better phone him again a couple of days in advance of when I’ll actually be getting there ‘because now you don’t really know your time frame’. He’s right, of course.

Thirdly, there is a new version of the .gpx waypoint file.

As I said in a previous post, get back to me please immediately if anything doesn’t work or if anything isn’t clear or if you simply want more information.

Flicka and I will be heading off to England this coming Thursday. I’ll still be reading emails at all my usual addresses, but certainly not as regularly as usual. You understand, of course! This walk is important, but there are other things to do in life as well…

No posts recently! Has he gone to sleep or something?

No, I most certainly haven’t gone to sleep! Far from it, because there’s still a mass of things that have to be done before Flicka and I start off for England later this coming week. All of the big jobs have now been finished, but there always seems to be something still to do.

In the next few days there will be yet another revised version of the .kml file for you to download. This incorporates alterations I’ve had to make in the route to reflect accommodation changes. There’ll also be a revised schedule for you to look at, again reflecting accommodation changes. Don’t worry, especially those of you who are joining me at some stage! None of the alterations are really significant.

As promised, I’ve put together a list of the kit I’m taking with me. You’ll find this in one of the left-hand side pages of the blog. I’m just amazed at how light my load will be.

England, 0: Scotland, 1

The posts here are coming like Wayne Rooney now – you know, thick and fast. You’ll always be certain, however, that they’ll never have anything to do with football, despite what you’re thinking from this present post’s title.

I promised a while back I’d write something about one special problem I’ll be having on the English part of the walk but not on the Scottish part. It’s to do with the access walkers have to land. The legal situation in England is radically different to that in Scotland.

The law in England is old and complicated – rather like England itself in fact – and I don’t pretend to understand it. Fortunately there are some extremely helpful summaries out there on the web, for instance from the Cirencester Ramblers at http://www.cirencesterramblers.org.uk/footpaths/question-and-answer.html. It turns out that walkers in England have lots of access to privately owned land, however this access is everywhere rather tightly constrained. And some of the constraints are very strange indeed! For instance, look at the bit on bulls in fields crossed by public paths. It seems that a farmer can legally fill his path-crossed fields with old and vicious bulls, provided they are not of a recognised dairy breed and are accompanied by cows or heifers. (Clearly I must get up to speed on my breed identification.) ‘Ah’, you say, ‘but if any of those bulls did act in a way that endangered you, an offence may have been committed under health and safety legislation.’ Big deal! So I’m lying severely mauled in my hospital bed, thinking about the Health and Safety Acts.

Scotland is different legally, and proudly so. In Scotland I have the right to be on most land and inland water for recreation, education and going from place to place, providing I act responsibly. I can also camp wherever I have access rights, as long as I do it responsibly. You can download official introductions to the Scottish Outdoor Access Code at

https://www.dropbox.com/s/rphen4kcvclq6c5/Scottish%20Outdoor%20Access%20Code%20B621366.pdf?dl=0

and

https://www.dropbox.com/s/gzafvi7hbubqeas/Scottish%20Outdoor%20Access%20Code%20Camping%20in%20Scotland.pdf?dl=0

Which legal situation is better? For me it’s crystal clear – and as someone born in England I never thought I’d say it!

England, 0: Scotland, 1

Lots of important updated information for your reading pleasure…

It’s all really starting to come together now. That means among other things that the route and the schedule are becoming more and more fixed. There may of course still be further alterations, but hopefully not too many. I’m with dear old Burns on this one (http://www.bartleby.com/6/76.html)! “The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft agley.”

There are now some important updates on the left-hand side pages of the blog. Firstly, under ‘The LEJOG plans (version from 3 April)’, there is a new .kml file to download and view with Google Earth. This new file incorporates all the various route changes I’ve made, and also any changes to overnight stopping points. Secondly, under ‘The (even less) tentative schedule (version from 3 April)’, there is the updated daily schedule I hope to keep to. Once again, if you want to walk with me anywhere, or simply to meet up, get in touch as soon as possible! Thirdly, under ‘The waypoints and the screenshots’, there is a .gpx file to download for those of you who might like ever to think of doing this sort of thing yourselves – and I make no further comment about that! The screenshots of the OS maps that form my strip-map are of course nowhere on the blog for you to download, nor will they ever be. That would contravene the Ordnance Survey copyright, as I explained on my post yesterday.

Get back to me please immediately if anything doesn’t work or if anything isn’t clear. I do make mistakes!

Less than three weeks to go!

The navigation solution, at last!

The problem of navigating successfully along the various paths and non-paths I’ll be using on the walk was something I raised here back in late January. It’s a tricky problem, but at last I’ve found a solution I can work with. It’s reliable, usable, affordable, lightweight and legal. Sounds too good to be true? Read on!

First, however, the most important thing: Flicka is back!

The navigation solution has two components. The first is a set of waypoints for use in the Garmin; the second is a set of screenshots of maps covering the entire route – effectively a strip-map. The waypoints are stored as a .gpx file on the Garmin’s memory card; the screenshots – all 713 of them – are stored as .jpg files on the memory cards of the mobile phone and the mini-camera I’m carrying as back-up. The waypoints are based on the Talkytoaster maps; the screenshots are taken from the OS 1:25K maps accessible on the WalkLakes and WalkHighlands sites. Now comes your obvious quibble! ‘You’ve told us’, you say to me, ‘that only the OS 1:25K maps show the public footpath network in Britain. You’ve also told us that the Talkytoaster maps are not everywhere as reliable as they might be. Clearly it’s logical to want to have continual access to those OS maps throughout the walk, for times when the Garmin waypoints are not clear enough by themselves. Yet those OS maps are all copyright protected: you can’t simply copy them!’

Believe it or not, I also was concerned about that. Of course there’s only a vanishingly small chance of a walker being stopped somewhere in Britain by one of the boys in blue – ‘Excuse me, Sir, but I need to check your memory card’ – however I’d still be happier knowing I was legal. And it turns out that I am. Those OS maps, which are of course Crown copyright, are available to view in their entirety on the Ordnance Survey site (http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/). The fine print there is unequivocal: ‘You may print off one copy and may download extracts of any pages of the Website for your own personal use.’ That certainly includes screenshotting – or screenshooting, for those of you who want to be picky. The only remaining question has then to do with my taking the screenshots from the WalkLakes site (http://www.walklakes.co.uk/maps/) rather than directly from the OS site. The reason I’ve done this is that the WalkLakes mapping system lets me show my planned paths superimposed on the OS map. The resulting strip-map is thus one that is tailored specifically to my particular chosen route. I am therefore not contravening WalkLakes’ understandable prohibition on bulk downloading of mapping tiles. Phew!

It’s a reliable solution (firstly because I’ll have continual access to both the Talkytoaster and the OS 1:25K maps, secondly because the waypoints and the maps are on separate pieces of kit); it’s a usable solution (the Garmin has a battery life of about 26 hours, the phone and camera can each be used as high-magnification picture viewers for about ten hours continuously before recharging); it’s an affordable solution (the only cost involved is the one-off subscription to Talkytoaster); it’s a lightweight solution (all of the navigation kit together – Garmin+phone+camera+charger+etc – clocks in at comfortably under a kilo); and it’s a legal solution. Whether it’s a successful solution remains to be seen!