Mixed fortunes Author at work It’s been very hot today, which drains the energy and burns the head, but as I had company for a change, the trials were minimised by sharing. My friend and neighbour Enid has joined us for three days and my son Terry came up from Nailsea to walk a day with us, before he flies out to Australia again. We were to start out from Towcester, where yesterday we enjoyed a really good mini Granny Trek. Colin Hull of South Northants Council had organised a health walk, so a number of regular weekly walkers turned up. We also had some ladies from the WI, which was great. I’d learned some months ago that the WI is celebrating its 90th anniversary and members are being encouraged to walk an extra 90 miles in the year. I thought this an excellent link to my theme of older people walking to maintain and improve their health while raising money for families with terminally ill children, but it was very difficult to get the idea across – I wasn’t seeking WI funds, just people. My daughter Sally and family live in Towcester, so the girls were allowed to miss an hour of school and join us for the walk. For once there was good attendance from the press and local radio, so reaching the halfway mark across England was celebrated very satisfactorily. It had been good to spend a couple of days with Tony, though I wasn’t feeling especially well with an unsettled tummy. However after a lovely soak in Sally’s bath and then a day’s visit from friends John and Doreen from London, my health and spirits were soon restored. We met John and Doreen about 15 years ago when we were backpacking the Cleveland Way – one of my favourite long distance footpaths. Over the years they’ve done an enormous amount of walking – putting us in the shade – so when their day with me proved especially difficult, through unsigned paths and added mileage, it was great to have the support of two such experienced and tough friends. Although we enjoyed, with some exceptionally nice people, a walk at the Millennium Park that has been constructed from old brick fields near Bedford, the county generally had not been kind to me. Paths were unmarked, no way left through massive fields of crops, miles and miles of boring cycle track going into Bedford rather than an anticipated walk beside the river, but as soon as the border was crossed into Northamptonshire the change was marked. Unfortunately the first camp site in Northants didn’t match this improvement. Being the only one we could find at Cosgrove, we had to expensively grin and bear it, but this has only served to accentuate the extreme kindness of Anita’s Caravan Park at Mollington in Oxfordshire, where we have now moved – a lovely peaceful site where we are guests of the owners. A huge thank you again for the generosity of most caravan park proprietors. As I had Enid and Terry for company today, I decided to rest both the dogs. Julia, Rudi and Fritz are obviously in love and they are already devoted to her. It’s wonderful for me to be able to trust her completely with them. In fact, Julia is the angel of the Granny Trek team. She sends me off with a packed lunch, is always there to meet me – often having to wait an hour or two while I wander about trying to find the right path – and when we get back to the motorhome, she completely spoils us – Enid included for this few days. We are told to rest when we get in, are given wonderfully refreshing hot tea, followed by a tot of something to revive us. Then it’s off to the showers while she prepares a delectable meal. There could be no better support for a Granny on a Granny Trek than Granny’s Nanny! Tomorrow we’re scheduled for a 15 mile day, so we hope it won’t be quite so hot. We’re approaching Stratford upon Avon, where a very kind lady has come forward to do a circular walk on Tuesday, but at the same time, the lady in Hereford has decided she can’t do one after all. However, now the ball is rolling I can’t worry too much about it. All the time money is trickling in to the fund and that’s what the whole thing is about |