1 Million Step Challenge- week 2

Day 12, Tuesday, took me on a walk with the ramblers group, to the Chess Valley walk in Amersham Buckinghamshire. This was led by Raj and Joyce. There were only four of us on this walk, which was not that easy for me as we had to climb up and down a couple of steep hills. However, I did manage to complete the walk and felt proud to have achieved this. Some of the scenery of the woods and valleys was very nice.

Day 13 Wednesday. It was so hot today, that I did not leave the house until late evening and only went to the shops. Consequently the walking today was not my usual and the count was low. On Thursday 14th of July, the walk was arranged around the beautiful Virginia Water parkland and its large wonderful lake. Virginia Water has some very good paths to walk on a very nice cafe near a good picnic area under some large trees.

Friday, we rested. and On Saturday 16th of July, the Ramblers group had arranged a trip with two walks in Lymington, New Forest, Hampshire. It was quite a warm day after the end of term so the roads were extremely busy and so was Lymington. The town was very busy. But the walk that I went on was for about 5 miles around the salt flats and marshlands. This area is a haven for birds and sometimes, unusual species can be spotted here.

1 Million steps Challenge- Day 7

This is the pond at Burnham Beeches. It was part of our walk through this parkland which has a rich history.

We started our walk from the Beeches cafe and went north as guided by our very informative and knowledgeable Chris. She explained the route we were going to take and where there would be interesting sites to see and learn about. For me personally, the walk was a little tough because I am not used to hilly climbs, but did manage to finish the whole course. I will post pictures rather than words, which are self-explanatory about the beauty of this historic place. I also managed to add just over 10 thousand steps on this 3.8-mile walk towards my diabetes.UK challenge of a million steps by the end of September 2022.

From next week, I will do weekly postings so as not make this journey boring and too lengthy. I’m hoping that all my followers will keep supporting and liking the blog so I can grow and write about more diverse topics as well.

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/visiting-woods/woods/burnham-beeches/

1 Million steps challenge- Day 6

What a day. Today’s walk was a new area for me, which I was going to do with the Windsor & District Rambler’s Group. I have been doing these walks with the group since June 2nd 2022. We had a walk planned in Dedworth near Windsor, taking us into Fifield through fields and farmland with public access routes. The weather was just right. Not too hot and a slight breeze that kept us cool. We walked through fields of broad beans and also where some grains were growing, a variety that I am not sure of.

The above photos show some of these fields. There was a lot more to see on our 7 plus miles walk. We went through polo playing fields where quite a few polo ponies were grazing and some were being exercised. And also through a small pig and sheep farm.

As we went through all these wonderful open spaces, we came across a lane where there were some nice houses with wonderful gardens. And one of them, the owners were tending to their very large but well maintained garden, and were kind enough to invite us to take a look. They were an extremely nice couple and were very proud of the way they had kept their garden so well

.

And finally, before we made our way to the last stretch of the walk after more than two hours of traipsing through fields and lanes, crossing some roads as well. we ended up at Oakley Green Cemetary. This was a route through to the main road that would take us back to Tinkers Lane from where we had started our walk. More pictures …

Now, this was the final leg of the walk, no pun intended! After more than 7 miles, a little worn and with some of us with aching feet, we made our way to the starting point, from we said our good-byes and departed, each to their own, until the next walk. And not too distant either as it is taking place at Burnham Beeches. More on that tomorrow!

Harmondsworth Moor – A Rural Idyll under a Flightpath

I’m always on the lookout for new places to walk my dog. I have the attention span of a toddler and crave novelty. I am also an inveterate picker-upper of leaflets and at my library I took some about the Colne Valley Trail. I had been to some of the places before but hadn’t been […]

Harmondsworth Moor – A Rural Idyll under a Flightpath

1 million Step Challenge-Days 2-5

The Precipice Walk by Jeff Buck is licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.0

After my fruitful and enjoyable day 1, I had to take it easy and catch up on my life’s daily issues. But I still managed to walk 5383 and 8223 steps respectively. These were easy to achieve as I did some tending to the garden on a beautiful sunny day and caught up with tidying up.

Today, the 4th of July, American Independence Day. I decided to go on a walk near my house which I had wanted to visit many many times but never got around to it. And I was in for a treat. This place has been here since 2000 and was developed by British Airways, which owns Harmondsworth Moor. I have reblogged an article from Hillingdon Libraries to enhance the true essence and history of this beautiful parkland. I hope that the information and historical data are interesting for my readers.

As you can see, how beautiful the scenery looks under a shiny blue and white sky. This was my starting point and as walked along the paths, I saw unusual plants and grasses that grew wild all over. As I had never been here I was walking blindly as there were no clear signs or route markings. But discovering new places is a great feeling right?

and above is proof of that natural beauty. I was stopping intermittently to take in the sites and take photos, instead of walking the [aths for my step challenge. Who wouldn’t? I was awestruck by the beauty so I couldn’t help it. I have had a really great evening walk. My step count photo shows that I achieved my goal for today.

Also very happy to report that my total so far toward the million steps challenge is 43,063. Still on target and looking forward to discovering more of this beautiful country. Keep following for more of the same.

1Million Steps Challenge-Day 1

Photo by Quu1ef3nh Lu00ea Mu1ea1nh on Pexels.com

Today 1st July 2022 is the start of my walking back to fitness campaign by taking on the 1 million steps challenge for Diabetes UK. I walked with the Windsor and District Ramblers and today’s walk was at The Thames and Winter Hill trail.

Winter Hill has some spectacular views but before climbing the Hill, we traversed across a railway crossing and over a bridge crossing the River Thames at Bourne End, where our walk had started. The route was led by our very experienced leader Joyce. For me climbing the hill was a challenge that I did not relish, but I needed to do it to get some practice for future such walks. Although I managed to climb the Hill, with a few stops to get my breath back! Slowly but surely, I will get better at this.

The descent downhill was steep but interesting too with the views of all the hills beyond and trees all around. We ended up on a flat main road, that took us to Marlow Town. We walked over a bridge across the river Thames towards a Church from where we ended up in a local park for a brief stopover for bathroom breaks. After this, we walked past the Church and down to Marlow Lock, where we took a lunch break for about twenty minutes. We were fortunate enough to see the Lock operating, with a couple of boats passing through. We had been walking for about two hours by this time and covered about 4 miles.

From Marlow Lock, we made our way to the Thames Path through some fields with wonderful views of the river and the surrounding houses sitting nicely on the hills opposite our path. The final stage of the walk was on flat land through various gates along the riverside and this took us back over the railway crossing back to our car park in Bourne End. This was a beautiful walk, interspersed with interesting vies and conversations with the group members. I’m looking forward to my next walk, which is planned for 6th July, a Wednesday, in Dedworth near Windsor.