"I have trod the upward and the downward slope;
I have endured and done in days before;
I have longed for all, and bid farewell to hope;
And I have lived and loved, and closed the door."
| Walk | Approximate Distance | Days Taken |
|---|---|---|
| The Dyke | 180 miles | 12 |
| Cotswold | 102 miles | 10 | Test Way | 44 miles | 5 |
| Clarendon Way | 24 miles | 3 |
| Avon Valley Footpath | 34 miles | 4 |
| Mallorca | ? | 5 |
| Itchen Way | 37 miles | 4 |
| Two Moors Way | 102 miles | 10 |
| Yorkshire Dales | ? | 6 |
| Wessex Ridgeway | 126 miles | 16 |
In the beginning was Offa's Dyke which Harold and I walked over 12 days in 1983.
 | and here is a waterfall that I cannot remember seeing. I cannot even think where it might have been. I lifted it from a site devoted to the Offa's Dyke Path. Of course, it may be a winterbourne which was not flowing at the time that we were passing, but as we were walking in April/May, that is unlikely. |
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Begun in 1984 and done in the company (at various times) of Pollyanna, Peter Pugh and Todd Jones.
 | And this is me somewhere near Hetty Pegler's Tump. |
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Walked with Sybil and great delight in 2004
 | And here are some unfortunate folk walking in Longparish. The picture is cribbed from the Hampshire website and shows these unsuspecting innocents embarking on the only unpleasant part of the walk - from Longparish to Stockton, crossing the A303 (if they survived it), getting lost in a sprawling pig farm and trudging for 5 miles along an old railway track next to a road. |
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This has the added advantage of starting almost at my door and ending at a place with a good bus service home
 | This was great fun. It was my first serious walk after recovering from the quacks' attempts to kill me with Beta Blockers. |
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And here is one I did earlier, maybe in 2001:
 | On the first day of the walk, I saw for the first time the Great Crested Grebe. |
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Not strictly a walk but rather a series of walks undertaken in the company and under the care and guidance of Harold in September 2004.
 | And here I am resting awhile on the first day. This was quite typical of the terrain, although Harold had promised a level walk on the Sunday. Level, My Old Boots! |
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If you would like to view the photographs taken (mainly by Harold) please have a look at my album
Done in October/November 2004
 | Unlike the Test Way, on which we (Sybil and I) didn't see the Test for three days, the Itchen was hardly ever out of sight. Here it is near Winchester. |
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Walked with Sybil in June 2005:
 | The Way is remarkable for its waymarking. Signs are plentiful when there is no doubt where the path lies but are absent or cunningly hidden once there is doubt. The upper photograph is of the Barle valley between Tarr Steps and Simonsbath, in Exmoor. Dartmoor had largely lived up to expectations - wet and shrouded in mist. We did, however, get an occasional glimpse as in the lower photograph, of South Zeal, although this photograph was taken on a subsequent visit to Dartmoor in April 2006. The stretch between the moors and all of Exmoor were great.With two exceptions, the standard of B&B was very high but pride of place must go to Linden Spinney. Of the two places which we would recommend only to our enemies, one was damp and the other resembled a construction site. It may be worth a visit when complete but I doubt that I will live to see it. For those of you who are contemplating the walk, the "Packhorse" service is very valuable, especially on the longer and more strenuous stretches. |
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Like Mallorca in that it was a series of walks that Sybil and I did in May 2006
 | and here is an example taken from Parcevall Hall gardens. |
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This, in my opinion is the best so far. Sybil and I did it in daily or two-daily bites over the course of some 12 months 2005/6
 | I propose to devote much more space to this walk but in the meantime, here is a photograph of Sybil about to cross the road on the last leg into Lyme Regis |
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But for a further touch of my self-agrandisment please visit my other blog
