Walking across Europe - 2013: Wainwright’s Coast to Coast Walk

Daily Information

Distance: 17.6 Kms [199.4 Kms]

Walking time: 3h 42m [49h 2m]

Avg walking speed: 4.7 Kms/hr [4.1 Kms/hr]

Elevation G/L meters: 305:(373) [5,945:(5,845)]

Total Daily Steps: 28,802 [284,042]

Another very easy sunny day and I was all ready to do battle with the rain with a renewed commitment to…the P*ck*.

Today was simply uneventful which was a welcome change 😊. Yesterday evening was not quite the same as it started off with a problem

No details here except to say that it became apparent that locking my credit card was the safest possible action to take. End result will have to work this out upon my return to Canada 🇨🇦. Should I need to charge something on credit…which I don’t expect will be required…Greg will gladly do so…I think🤔.

He may well ask for something in return such as a blogpost retraction of all blogpost remarks on System Architects 😂. No matter how well one tries to prepare sometimes things happen…when they do must find a solution 😪

On a positive note last evening had a great supper and conversation with Mark from the UK. My second and final fish and chips…same with beer. I find the UK cider to be the drink of choice…it is outstanding!

Fish and chips and 🍺

Something very good!

Mark is 53 and essentially retired. He was in the hotel and wedding business and sold everything off…he seems to be ok financially😂. His story is he weighed something like 300 lbs…working like a madman as he went 5 years without a vacation and decided he either changed or…

He is clearly very fit and we have seen him walking…a machine. Mark walked our crazy days 3 and 4 in one day!!! That seems impossible however we later found out the Johnny a young guy from Vancouver Canada did this also…walking with Mark for a good part of this marathon day!

Greg and I simply had fun talking and trading stories with Mark…he guessed we were younger and certainly was encouraging us on. I of course told Mark about Greg’s recent World Record to let him know that a celebrity was among us 😆

Earlier we met Allison and Lonnie from Victoria Canada…man Canadians are out here in force!

Again nothing of note happened today… it was likely one of the easier long walk days ever. Tomorrow though will be a touch longer at 37 kms 😏.

Met some folks walking from East to West…the opposite from us…and one fellow called tomorrow’s walk « boring ». No problem…while the scenery may not be great…I never find a walking day « boring ». It will however be a day to simply grind out the kms in an enjoyable manner.

Arriving in Richmond early we scouted out some shops while our room at Willance House was readied. While I did find some fleeces for our granddaughters and grandson I was surprised that no attempt has been made to produce merchandise specific to the C2C. Solid colours are great though…I think…I hope! 🥰

Had a late lunch…something different thin crust pizza!

Chicken and I forget what…very tasty!

In a concession to common sense I ditched all laminated sheets today. What was I thinking? Rather was I even thinking? Please no comments…😰

Some pictures from the day are included below however I wanted to include something a little different 😊.

I received what I consider to be a brilliant email from a long time friend (whom I will respectfully not name) and with his blessing thought I would simply share it. It made my day big time!

Your casual stroll across England

Hi Guy,

Well, I confess to being surprised about this latest manifestation of your worldwide-walkabout affliction. When you first announced your intention to walk across England, with a minimal amount of analysis I mentally decided that "Well, finally, Guy's decided to start taking it easy. After all, given his advanced years, he couldn't possibly take on anything like his past meanderings through Europe and Japan. And surely he learned his lesson with the PEI iteration--that even walks through tamer lands can be terribly tough. At last, he's going to simply stroll through long-civilized, almost-urban territory on a no-doubt well marked, pristine path that's probably shared with ample tourists. He'll probably even be able to stop regularly throughout each day at interesting places for a pint of beer or perhaps tea and biscuits."

As evidence that my assumption must be correct, I then learned that you'd have English Sherpas transporting your luggage for you. Clearly sanity had finally caught you as you slowed in old age. To be doubly safe, you'd even arranged to have a wise and battle-hardened System Architect along with you.

Oops. I was kinda wrong.

How in the world did you manage to find such a challenge in the middle of England? Wasn't this outing supposed to be similar to the nicely civilized stroll along the Thames that you and Dawn took with friends several years ago? Are you sure you're taking the right route? And who did you offend to warrant such weather? When we travelled through England, Scotland, and Wales a few years ago, every day was bright and sunny. On that point, beware: Superstitious locals might be looking for suspicious strangers to blame for the wild wind and rain.

Nonetheless, there you are, in the midst of another formidable walking adventure. I can only wish both you and Greg well and try not to strain my neck as I shake my head each morning while reading your latest post.

Take care