LEJOG day 25: Penkridge to Abbots Bromley

At Cambridge, amongst the undergraduates, there is a widely-recognised phenomenon known as the "week 5 blues". Terms are 8 weeks long so this is the equivalent of Wednesday being "hump day" for all those lucky people who work Monday to Friday. Basically it was the point in term everything just felt a bit rubbish: last vacation was a distant memory, the next one was only dimly visible on the horizon, work was piling up and, for me at least, this was the point in term where the homesickness really kicked in. All the novelty of eating whatever and whenever I wanted would have worn off and I'd just really want something my Dad had cooked for me.

Turns out I get the same thing walking from one end of the UK to the other. I've been on the Staffordshire Way for most of two days of walking now, and it's principally been a walk through damp farmland. Mark Moxon, whose route I'm following, was happy at this point because his parents picked him up from Penkridge for a weekend at home and then the walk I did today was a happy stroll down memory lane. I am not local to Staffordshire; there are no memories; Cannock Chase AONB is a brown-and-camouflage-green moor; my foot still hurts; and I'm only going to see my parents for half a day on Sunday. I want to go home. The trouble is, if I do (and my parents would quite happily pack me in the car on Sunday evening and take me back with them, unlike any of my other visitors so far!) then I'll have to tell the story of my Summer Off like this: "yes so I set off to walk the length of the UK but then after about a month I got bored and chucked it all in without even making it to the Pennines", which, let's face it, isn't a great story.

I crossed a rifle range on Cannock Chase; "I set off walk the length of the UK and got shot in a rifle accident on Staffordshire" would be a great story, assuming the injuries weren't too dramatic, but it was all quiet and uneventful, except I walked into an overhanging tree branch which snuck up on me.

Tomorrow is the last day of the Staffordshire Way, and I'm quite glad. After my Big Day Out with my parents on Sunday, I'll be walking up to the start of the Pennine Way along the Limestone Way, over the course of a couple of days, and soon after that I'll have a whole week of company for my walks, which I'm very much looking forward to- if my foot will get me there!

Distance walked: 16 miles, ish?
Time taken: 5h04
Percentage completed: 35.4%
Miles per £1 of boot: 3.65
Lunch: tomato, basil and mozzarella salad, and cheese. I love cheese.
Last night's accommodation: The Bridgehouse, Penkridge: clean but basic pub room


 No, Staffordshire Way, I'm declining your offer of a stile in the middle of a nettle bed, thank you
 If you walk 400 miles from Land's End, you too can enjoy such spectacular views!
 Oh
 It's a MOOR.
 More Moor
 Yes please!
 Goslings! Blurry because I had to zoom in- I'm not messing with Mama Goose, thanks

Comments

  1. Nell - Gardening in Wales19 May 2017 at 22:57

    What you need is the hot chocolate ... you post "Training Walk: climbing five mountains is ok as long as there's hot chocolate - February 28, 2017" still keeps coming up as the first in the list of "Popular posts from this blog"

    ReplyDelete

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