One of my pals just bought a new Subaru Outback. Naturally when one buys an adventure mobile such as this, adventure is put onto the radar almost immediately. I was happy to oblige when she asked me to go for a hike with her, and we had plans to go for a mild, chill elevation […]
Mount Angeles
The challenge is still in full swing and I have managed to rack up over 250k steps in three weeks, which averages at 10k steps a day. That means I am on target to achieve over 300k steps by the end of July. The steps challenge is for between 500k to 1.7 million steps over a period of three months from July to September, which I am sure to have mentioned previously. I am feeling energetic and look forward to my walks with the Windsor&District Ramblers group. The walks are varied visiting all over Berkshire and beyond. The people I walk with are different on many of the walks so there is always the opportunity to meet new people and talk about different things. The age range is quite broad. Young and old alike, but some of the veteran ramblers’ fitness levels are way beyond mine, but I think I am getting there.
These past couple of weeks have taken me on many new and well-trodden walks from my previous ones.
I have walked in quite a few places in Berkshire and Buckinghamshire as well as a walk in the Hampshire town of Lymington, near the New Forest. Every time I went on a walk with the Ramblers or on my own, I felt I was discovering parts of the South that I never knew existed. I made mental notes about which walk would be my favourite, and quite often had to keep changing my mind as all the walks were in places I would love to visit again, going through woodlands and trails that have been rediscovered by the Ramblers all over the UK and made accessible to the public and I believe some 49000 miles of public access routes have been mapped through fields, private land, and the National Trust sites, gardens etc.
If it weren’t for the wonderful work of the Ramblers and other walking organisations around the UK, these paths and trails and wooded trail walks would not exist.
These are some of the photos that have helped me to reach the first milestone of 310k steps
I’m into August now. And the steps target of an average of 10k per day is still on. In my next instalment, I will cover the number of steps achieved and where I have been to reach the daily goals.
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.
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
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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!
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
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.
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.
My journey to walk back to fitness started in September 2021. I am on a mission to get my life back, enjoy every moment along the way and never give up. When a person becomes so ill, he or she may give up thinking they can’t carry on anymore. I probably felt the same in the beginning but I’m not for quitting. I always make an attempt at completing any task I take on and walking back to fitness to regain my life after getting Covid 19 was number one on my list.
Here I will tell you about my challenges and walks since September 2021 and then I will write about the first major challenge I took on in March 2022. I will share some pictures of some of the wonderful trails and walks that I have already completed. And then in part 2, I will write about my new challenge for Diabetes.co.uk where I will attempt to reach a goal of half a million steps between 1st July 2022 and 30 September 2022. The challenge is for a million steps, but I have chosen a realistic half a million steps. Anything I achieve over my target will be a bonus.
My first walk to get fit took place inside my house! Yes, I was able to walk from the lounge through in dining room and back via the kitchen into the lounge. I went round in circles walking as fast as possible and started with a five-thousand steps goal. It was difficult but I managed it and slowly moved into the garden where I did the same thing, creating a trail of circles on the lawn! This had to change so I started visiting the local Pippins Park where there was already a track laid out for walking or running. There is an outside gym which I also started to use. It was not long before I was achieving over five thousand steps during my walks. Somedays, when it was cold during the winter months, I found it difficult but not impossible, and I always had the house to fall back on.
My walking challenge took me to various National Trust sites and Runneymead and the Magna Carta park were my favourites. The paths are well laid out and walking beside the River Thames is always a great bonus. I visited Claremont Gardens in Esher and Bookham Common in Maidenhead. The one I enjoyed immensely was Cliveden House. This place has great gardens but the house and Thames Path behind the big house is a beautiful place to visit. There are 45-minute boat trips taking in some spectacular scenery of the tower on top of Cliveden House, which has a golden glow when the sun shines on it. I visited many places of beauty and interest. And during the final week of March 2022, I visited FAro in Portugal where I completed my 31-day challenge. Phew!
I have already mentioned my first challenge for Marie Curie Cance Care. That started on 1st March 2022 with 10k steps a day.
This is in Laleham near Staines where I walked along the Thames path towards Ashford Middlesex, where some of the views are really beautiful as well as the Riverfront properties which have some spectacular views.
The above photos are a sample of some of the places I visited. Walking not only improved my health with a significant weight loss but my mental health improved as I had the time for a lot of self-reflection and it gave me the opportunity to assess my then state of mind and where my life was headed. I would recommend walking to anyone that has the physical ability to do so. Although I started my walks alone with a good Audible book or some music, I found that joining a group called the Windsor and District Ramblers, which are part of the Ramblers.org site, gave me the chance to interact with like-minded people and have discussions along the way on many a varied subject. This made my walks interesting, and enjoyable. They recently celebrated 27 years as a local Ramling group.
Some more photos from Faro in Portugal.
From Tomorrow 1st of July 2022, I am starting my million-step challenge for Diabetes UK. I hope that my followers and new ones will support and encourage me along the way. See you all in the next chapter.
In September 2021, I decided to get my fitness back. I had contracted Covid 19 in January 2021 and had spent 10 days in hospital in an isolation ward. Let me tell you, it was scary and very unpleasant, especially since I didn’t know that I would go home. My only contact was by video calls and I found that despite spending a short 10 days in the hospital, they were like 10 years to me. It was a lonely ward. No one was able to talk to each other due to distancing rules. There were 4 separate side rooms and 3 beds. The side room patients were in a bad way and during my stay, 3 patients died.
So, upon my discharge, I was isolating for more than three months as my breathlessness was quite bad, but I was recovering slowly. I needed to get fit and be able to walk upstairs without getting breathless. By September 2021, the first jab had been administered and I was waiting for my second one. I started going out and began taking short walks. First a thousand, then two and so on until I knew that I could walk for at least an hour without stopping. And I began setting myself challenges where I would walk until I had to stop.
By January 2022, my fitness was back to the old days, but I also needed to lose weight. In my previous blog “New Beginnings” I mentioned my goals, which I am still in pursuit of. I started to follow strict eating habits and took control of my diabetes status, which wasn’t that good. Fast forward to March 2022 and I took on a challenge for Marie Curie Cancer care to walk ten thousand steps a day for the whole of March for 31 days, and I am very happy to report that I did this comfortably by achieving more than the 310k target. In the coming days, I will publish more stories on how and where I achieved the 10k-a-day step challenge. I hope that my loyal followers and some more new ones will stay with me and encourage me to achieve my next challenge, starting in 01July2022. More on that later.
This is my link to the million-step challenge that I will be taking on from 1st July 2022.
step.diabetes.org.uk/fundraising/anil757
Any donation however small will be appreciated greatly. Please follow my progress on the JustGiving page. Please share the link with your followers so that we can raise money and awareness for Diabetes. Thanking you all in advance…Anil
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