Getting the lie of the land. Cotswolds Way day 1.
Roo and I are entering the unknown here. I don’t think I’ve ever been to the Cotswolds before, and as we didn’t really prepare for this trip (surprise, surprise!) we didn’t read up about it.
It’s beautiful. It is quintessentially English countryside. Rolling (sometimes steeply!) hills, quaint (with all that implies) villages and ancient, glorious trees. There are a lot of other walkers; mostly American, mostly from Kansas and all of them happy to talk to Roo while they (sometimes correctly) told them about birds. This area is very well served with cafes and ice cream shops and pubs and fruit farms and farm shops and… aren’t we supposed to be walking?!
We started at the north end, staying in between Binary Cottage (made Roo happy) and Controversy House. There’s probably a story there, but we were too busy eating the best dirty fries ever to want to find out.
Today was about enjoying views and getting used to walking in such a popular spot.
We had a long first day, which was maybe a mistake. But there’s so much variety on this trail. Long views and beautiful villages like this…
Then there was a tower, which apparently has a bathroom with a view on the roof…
Towards the ending the day we walked through a village that had really taken things too far…
They must bribe the owner to park that car there during tourist season! But there’s nothing else there, no people, no shop, no community. Waking through it feels just like visiting a museum.
Much more interesting and beautiful and worth protecting were the trees. Huge and ancient and alive.
By now it was almost 6pm, time to get to the B&B and prepare ourselves for the first cooked breakfast.
We’re back!
Roo: “Hello! Did you miss us?”
PDA has a particularly nasty trick up its sleeve for innocent PDA distance hikers with lots of plans. We start off with excited intentions, and even cover the first of many National Trails perfectly happily (except for tummy bugs - see previous blog!) But. Things that we do every day, or plan to do - even if we love them and want to - can become plans, commitments, or routines. All of which are demands. And those set off our fight/ flight adrenaline response to get out of them as soon as possible, for our safety.
One day something is possible, and enjoyable. The next day the same thing is a demand that has to be managed. Most of my adult life I’ve managed these by ignoring them and hoping they’ll go away. Fine if it’s a 5K training plan, much less so if it’s a three to five year plan to raise money for a vital charity while spending a lot of properly good time with Roo and seeing some of the best parts of the country.
And in the meantime, they’ve added another trail to the list of National Trails! Oops.
With a lot of support from the lovely, lovely Mr. Kanga I’m managing this one better. Hopefully. Which is a long winded way of saying WE’RE BACK and tomorrow we’re travelling down to the astonishingly named Chipping Campden to start the Cotswolds Way.
There will be blogs, and funding links to follow. The weather looks pretty good and Roo is “feeling nervous and excited because 100 miles is a long way.” It’s actually 102, but I’m not going to tell them that!
We did it!
In the way of things, my own PDA has prevented me from blogging our excellent Hadrians Wall adventures, here is a photo essay instead… it seems to be backwards, but you’ll get the idea!
This beautiful campsite at Green Sails had chickens! It was also where Roo was really sick, which threw a bit of a spanner into our plans.
They felt rough, and then I felt rough. We dragged ourselves to The Sill. Roo decided I was too old to pour my tea.
The next day’s walking is where some of the most beautiful scenery is. It was a perfect northern day with wind and blue, blue skies.
Countryside has no business being this scenic. And because we’d got there before the Bank Holiday, it was so quiet. Apart from Roo telling me about pet food brands, that is.
That night we camped at our favourite site so far. We shared a field with 4 lambs who were being hand fed. Roo was in heaven. The lambs were nervous. The extremely patient and friendly owner let Roo help with feeding them.
The next few days took us into Carlisle, which is pretty much where the Wall stops appearing. Instead we follow the route of the Wall along the Eden.
It doesn’t start off particularly scenic, but it gets there!
Most people do the stretch from Carlisle to Bowness on Solway in one day. We split it and stayed in some fantastic camping lodges at Beaumont. Roo has been helping me make plans to run a similar site ever since!
The next day’s walk was a revelation. Landscape I’ve never seen before, with marsh and tidal flats. There was just a bit of mist, which added to the atmosphere.
The actual ending is a little bit of an anti climax. Bowness on Solway is a very small village and we were starving. It took ages to find somewhere open for food. Once fed, we went to the official end of the trail, which really does feel like the end. There’s nowhere left to go!
[“It felt great to finish. But I wouldn’t do it again”.]
Despite that, we were damn proud of ourselves for completing our second hike. Another 84 miles walked, 184 so far in total. Please sponsor us!
Eric?! No!!!
Last night’s B&B was lovely, but we were not alone. I made the mistake of naming one of the spiders Eric, with the result that every twitch, scratch or funny sound was greeted by “Is that Eric?!” as Roo got more and more anxious. Eventually I “found” him and put him outside and we slept on.
Today is a recovery day, after clocking up 10 miles or so yesterday. We had just over 3 miles to cover to get to tonight’s campsite (which has a washing machine!!!) and we took it slow. The air was cool but not cold, the clouds were high, the birds were singing and the cars were still zooming past on the road that was still right next to the path! We had second breakfast looking at this view:
You can see the Vallum - defensive ditch - next to the dead tree. There were fewer stiles, but still some. We avoided them where possible!
We got to the campsite in time to wash, clean and then eat greasy takeaway in the laundry room. It’s a five star lifestyle for us!
An excellent day. Robin Hood’s Inn to Chollerford
The thing about writing a walking blog is that I’m always doing it when I’m sweaty and knackered at the end of the day. The good bits get flattened and the bad bits magnified. Having said that, though. Today was excellent.
This morning was STUNNING! Cool, calm weather, soft grass and lath underfoot and beautiful views. The air was clear and clean and (apart from the cars, coaches and lorries bombing down the Military Road) quiet.
There were also sheep and very, very, very cute lambs. Cute enough to convince Roo that eating them is a bad idea!They were pretty cute, though.
The path here is easy to follow, as it’s basically a green corridor next to the road. It avoids being dull by being nonsensically pretty and having awesome views (excuse the grinning loon! I was having a cracking time)
Such a tightly controlled route does pose a problem if you’re Roo sized: stiles. They are uniformly big and steep and there are a lot of them! A couple of times we had to walk along the road instead of on the path because the stiles were just too tall.
Sadly there was a lot of evidence of storm damage to the trees, but even this meant a lovely diversion through some lichen filled birch forest.
In other news, sensory issues mean that most of the food I packed is now unacceptable… stay tuned!
We found it! Heddon on the Wall to East Wallhouses
Today started off wet and grey and with a Very Good PDA Compromise, that allowed Roo and I to start, and keep, walking happily. Instead of insisting that we walk every single step, we agreed that the slightly dull miles between Newcastle and Heddon (where the Wall re-appears) could be taxi miles.
[Incidentally, without the good advice given by the PDA Society, I would have mistaken Roo’s insistence on autonomy for bad or spoilt behaviour and forced the walk. Which would have resulted in us just not finishing. Your sponsorship will help them help other families too…]
So we set off from Heddon, with wet weather and only one accidental detour. This part of the path is rolling hills, beautiful Northumberland views and farmland.
There are a lot of Roman remains, but they tend to be the “green bump on a hill with a sign telling you what was here” kind, rather than actual stone piles. Not entirely impressive for Roo… [“But I loved the views and the yellow fields, and not all of the walking was hard..”]
Yellow fields:
Chips and burgers before bed. We have a long day tomorrow.
Sprog on the Tyne.
Starting the Hadrian’s Wall Path on a beautiful sunny day. We got our stamp at Segedunum, posed for photos with a long suffering sentry and set off.
I grew up on Tyneside, including spending several years in St Anthony’s - part of Walker that was demolished and replaced decades ago. The first section of the path from Wallsend along the Tyne into Newcastle was a bitter sweet experience for me. The walk itself was lovely, leafy and beautiful and just enough industrial history to remind us where we are.
The young woods are thriving, birds and butterflies and beautiful views. It would be very easy to walk here entirely unaware of the industrial history of the area. The shipyards and other heavy industry are gone, as are the terraced housing and many of the tower blocks. This lovely photo is on a part of the Tyne so polluted by St Anthony’s Tar Works that there are still signs warning walkers to keep off the shore. I don’t mourn any of the changes; living and working conditions were often awful, but I feel slightly adrift from my past.
Two lovely cafe stops and a sweaty climb up to the YHA and we’re set for tomorrow.
How did the day really go? Ask Roo…
”Today was good. We walked past a market on the quayside, and we did too much walking. Last night we slept in a Premier Inn and we’re watching Food Network and an advert about Doritos. Put that in. It’s my blog too.”
Tomorrow I might ask more detailed questions…
Please, if you haven’t, do sponsor us:
Here we go again!
Post - Passover, post 10th birthday [“The best party ever!”] and hopefully past the coldest parts of spring, we’re starting off again! Tomorrow we’ll start the Hadrians Wall National Trail - 84 miles of history and sheep. What could possibly go wrong!?!
Me: Hey lovely, how are you doing with the start of our next trail?
Roo: Slightly nervous but quite excited. Hopefully it will be less walking. I own a Club Penguin toy where the trademark and copyright are from 2011. That’s a year before I was born.
Me: I’m not sure about the walking bit, lovely. It’s still a trail…
Roo: I know, but not 14 miles a day. Not as much as we did on the last trail.
Me: Certainly not as much. Sorry.
Roo: I’m sad that Club Penguin isn’t around.
Me: Anything else about the walking or the fundraising?
Roo: Yes! Fundraising!! Please donate. The PDA Society is small but they have helped us a lot. Make sure you add a photo of me walking.
It’s still a big challenge for a small person! Please donate and support us. It really helps Roo keep motivated.
Insert unsurprised face here…
You may have noticed that we’ve been rather… quiet for a week or two. It turns out that (2x PDA) + LEJOG + Blog + Fundraising = HUGE demands, for both of us. Such that the everyday demands of getting up, walking, camping, eating, washing became too much. And that’s recipe for misery.
I’m sorry that not all tales of PDA-ers taking on huge challenges always end in triumph. We’re often extremely restricted by our Neurodiversity in ways that we don’t always predict (maybe I should have seen this one coming…)
We’re not giving up (although I wouldn’t choose to frame it in that way - acknowledging limitations is good self care) but we are reframing this in a way we can manage. We’re still 100% committed to raising £1,200 for the PDA Society. We’re still going to do a lot of walking and camping and splashing in puddles and taking lunch breaks and posing for photos…
But instead of doing our 1,200 miles in one go, with one big aim, we’re going to do it over several shorter trails. We’ve done 100 or so thus far. I need a graphic for this! A distance thermometer or something.
Our next challenge will be Hadrian’s Wall Path - extended to go from Bowness on Solway to Tynemouth I think it’s about 90 miles. We’ll be covering no more than 12 miles a day, to keep in Roo’s comfort zone and we’ll be starting after Easter.
Please, please keep sponsoring, supporting and helping us, even if we’re not quite doing what we expected. PDA life means often changing plans, and making the best of those changes. Here we go again, again!
If you haven’t sponsored us yet, please do!
Porthallow to Falmouth
A day of huge weather contrasts. This at Porthallow (Roo looking rather Captain Scott-ish)
To this, pre-pizza at Falmouth:
The walking was mostly tarmac today. I made the terrifying mistake of assuming that B roads would be quiet…
We’re too early in the year for the ferry that takes you over the river (rather than all the way round and up to the nearest first crossing point) to Falmouth, so we took a taxi into town.
We’re tucked up in bed at a BnB above a pub. Roo is being very grumpy about “the noise drunk people make”. At 7:30pm. On a Tuesday..
Roo says: “We stayed at a good inn, took a taxi, stayed in another inn and had pizza at the best Pizza Express ever.” Glad the whole experience is really sinking in then…!
Porthleven to Porthallow.
Two long walking days and a Shabbat hunt for fish and chips.
By the time we got to Porthleven it was nearly dark and properly cold. The morning was cold and sunny and… smelly? We had assumed that the campsite had laundry. It didn’t. Ugh.
In our first trail magic, a good friend got in touch with a cricket playing friend who lived in the village and offered to wash our grebby kit.
The rest of the day was beach, ice cream and fish n chips; just what Roo ordered.
That night was another cold one, which really took a lot out of us. Mr K agreed that for this leg, we can BnB it from now on, rather than camping.
Sunday was cold and windy, but cheered up hugely when we met up with Roo’s godfather + the awesome Hattie, who walked and talked with us, and then bought us Sunday Lunch.
The coast path bits we walked have been ridiculously beautiful. A favourite today was this section where the path crosses a natural barrier between the sea and a lake. Hattie has a keen eye for wildlife and showed Roo seals bobbing in the bay.
We were in bed and asleep by 7! The winds have been hard, hard work. 40mph and seemingly in our faces the entire time.
This morning we started inland from Lizard. Lots of lovely lanes, muddy fields and really difficult Cornish stiles.
The wind got windier and the cold colder and after we’d been through a beautifully barren RSPB reserve, Roo was ready to give in. Luckily we were able to check in early to our BnB while the wind does its thing outside. Sleep well!
Roo says: it was really cold, but at least the BnB has Food Network and I’ve got Wolfie.
Penzance to Porthleven - still in progress!
By the time we’d usually write a blog today it’ll be Shabbat. So instead here’s a photo of the most amazing weather we’ve been having today.
Land’s End to Trevedra - 5 miles. Trevedra to Penzance - 10 miles.
This is a two for one blog because last night we were too frazzled and tired to write anything. Tonight, however, we are relaxing in Premier Inn luxury and are just about awake. Well, I am. Roo is bouncing on my legs so they’re recovered!
Day One started with lovely mild weather as we walked to the “official” Land’s End Signpost (note capitals) where some windswept tourists looked baffled as we stretched our T-shirts on and paid a nice man £10.95 for An Official Photo, thus:
We’re really not following the Coast Path particularly strictly; our goal is to get to John O’Groats, not to follow one path. So we walked “backwards” along the path to Sennen Cove, and up (and up) to our campsite. Enough to make me want to come back and actually do the Coast Path because, gosh.
I don’t have any photos nearly good enough to capture the luminescence of the sea, the sky, the brief highlights of sun. And the colours even on a wet spring day. [Roo says it was amazing]
Then there was lunch on a beach, sand in sandwiches and everything. By the time we got to the campsite it was raining and we were sore. Suddenly everything was just a bit difficult and there were too many flies in tent for Roo. [Roo: “It was windy, part of the tent kept smacking me in the head and there was rain. Rain, rain, rain.”]
Today was “Penzance the easy way”, avoiding the A30 as much as possible. We found a route along Cornish lanes, bird spotting and tractor dodging as we went.
Walking down to Penzance was a challenge [Roo: “Even the level ground was slanted.”] Mr K had booked us a Premier Inn room so we could dry the tent and gubbins out overnight. So far, so good I think. Roo is struggling with the “not just a day trip” of it all, and really isn’t sure Mr K is feeding Max the cat properly. But they said today that “there are good bits and bad bits always” and I think that’s a sensible place to be this evening.
Please sponsor us here: https://gofund.me/b0db710d
Start the journey the PDA way…
We’re writing this happily tucked into bed at a B&B near Land’s End. But it was tough getting here!
Last night was full of anxious packing and tidying and sorting, a late night and an early start today. I thought we might have got away with it… but no! The whole trip had become a demand, not a choice. Getting dressed took ages, and breakfast, and Roo’s legs didn’t work, and they couldn’t walk so the whole trip was pointless. And there were You Tube videos about the most nutritious cat food to be watched, and adverts from the 1990’s to be rated.
Underneath all of this was huge anxiety and panic. Familiar but still paralysing. Tears and shouting and hugs and reassurance.
And we made it to the station on time.
We talked for a long time before putting a description of this morning in, but it’s impossible to understand PDA without understanding that this morning is a daily experience for us. It might not be something big and exciting and sometimes (like today) it’s something we’re really looking forward to, but as soon as we see a demand, we panic.
The train ride was loooong and slow, though a lot of the scenery was beautiful. Roo had time to work through a lot of their panic and anxiety and worries about the trip. I am really proud of them; the walk is only part of the total challenge Roo’s facing and they are doing an awesome job at tackling it.
Here’s the link to our fundraiser for The PDA society. Please help show Roo this is worthwhile!
It’s raining right now. I hope it’ll stop by morning!
Roo says “I’m kind of anxious but also excited. I’m thinking about our cat Max and wondering if he’ll miss me. And cat food ads.”
Sleep well!
Fundraising for The PDA Society.
On Tuesday a small person and a big rucksack will make their way down to the South West corner of the British mainland. We’ll pose for our photos and take our first steps on a 1,200 mile journey. After months of planning and preparation we’ll actually be on our way!
I’ll admit to some last minute nerves. The train journey down to Cornwall takes over 6 hours. We’ll be walking all that way, and then an awful lot more. It’s daunting. Especially when PDA can mean that some days the distance from the front door to the car is just too far for us.
Without The PDA Society we’d be in a much worse position than we are. But they are a small charity and rely on fundraising like this. Please give, if you can.
Here’s the gear…
Those of you who enjoy this kind of geeky thing will enjoy this! Almost every long distance hiking blogger starts with a carefully curated display of their nice, clean gear. It’s nice to remember what it all looked like while it’s still shiny, I guess. Some of our stuff even smells new, and just how clean is that table?!
We don’t have a support car carrying our kit for us, so all our choices have been made with weight in mind. Roo’s not used to carrying a large rucksack so even though they are being Very Helpful and carrying some things I just can’t fit in, they’re not yet taking as much as I hope they will do in a few months… [you can imagine Roo grumbling right now!] If I was more geeky and less forgetful, I would have included the weights of things, as Proper Serious Hikers apparently go bananas for that kind of spec. In total I’m carrying about 23lbs and Roo has about 5lb (which includes the rucksack weight)
First off, the big two - Tent and Sleeping Kit.
The tent is a Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL2 in pretty much neon orange. It’s light, surprisingly big inside, double walled and very easy to put up.
Roo is sleeping in a Thermarest Hyperion 0C down filled bag, all snuggly and cheerful. I’m in a Big Agnes Sidewinder 20 because there’s more of me! Down filled bags are much lighter and fit into really small stuff sacks for carrying (it’s better for the down not to store them long term in the stuff sack). They really MUSTN’T get wet, though, so I’ve got them inside waterproof bags.
In an attempt at Hygiene, we’re both using Rab bog standard sleeping bag liners.
Big Agnes AXL Air pillows. I know some people don’t carry them, but these weight 46g each (oops! I geeked) and I need to sleep! Also Thermarest NeoAir XLite sleeping mats, which come with a PUMP SACK [capitalisation at Roo’s request, because it’s hilarious.] to inflate them. It’s a really clever bit of kit, and simple to use; I can leave Roo to inflate the mats while I’m sorting the tent out no problem.
Rucksacks…
Roo’s is an adult daysack. There’s a Chicken Tramper Gear bottle sleeve clipped onto one strap, and their own Kula Cloth. Somewhere there’s a sunhat too.
Mine is an Osprey Something Impressive, with Kula Cloth, sunhat, solar powered inflatable lamp and standard Jewish woo additions. If necessary, Roo can fit inside my pack, probably.
In the absence of Roo, these are some of the things we’re taking:
Heat and water. At the top there’s the MSR Pocket Rocket stove, plus fuel and pots, pot handle and titanium (!) mugs and spoons, etc. Bottom left is the Sawyer Squeeze water filtration system, with a bespoke Diet Coke Bottle accessory that stops me getting dirty water all over the filter bag. And some water bottles.
The value of the water filter, even in less rugged areas, is that I don’t have to start out carrying 2 litres of water. We can start with a little bit and usually find a source of water to filter later on.
This is Wolfy. No Wolfy, no Roo. I tried for a smaller toy, but here he is. He takes up half of Roo’s rucksack. Wolfpack, with a wolf in a rucksack, or something.
POWER! An ACER power pack, my old Kindle, some Dirt Cheap Bluetooth Headphones so that Roo can listen to podcasts and I don’t have to, our Pezl headtorches, plus all the charging cables we need. My Garmin should be in this picture, but isn’t.
The last picture should be captioned “Some other stuff I thought you’d be interested in.” This may be wishful thinking on my part.
Um. Crocs by Mario for Roo and something from Aldi for me as camp shoes. Smidge is probably the best insect repellent I’ve found. Camping towels, seat mats, a bum bag, a nice red first aid kit, some wipes for when we’re wild camping and That Black Thing. It’s the world’s lightest shovel for digging cat holes, which are not holes for cats. And a rainkilt; a much lighter and less sweaty alternative to waterproof trousers.
Not shown: clothes, toiletries, medications. Food, snacks, one pencil. A handkerchief. Dental floss in a pack smaller than a 10p. All carefully stored in waterproof bags.
It all looks like this in the end:
Roo’s burden on the left, mine covering most of the carpet. As long as I can remember where everything is, we’ll be fine!
What is PDA then?!
For a much better explanation of any of this, do look at the PDA Society website.
I have to explain PDA????
PDA - pathological demand avoidance - is an Autism spectrum disorder, but it’s an awkward one! PDA-ers aren’t “typical” autistics; you may not even notice that we’re Autistic. What you will notice is that the everyday social and personal demands of life are incredibly difficult for us. Any demand - from being asked to do something by a teacher; to eating or looking after our bodies; to being on time for work or following rules; to writing a blog that you chose to do and no one else is making you (sigh) - triggers feelings of loss of control, anxiety and panic.
Depending on how we’re doing, we can respond by managing the demand (that takes effort and energy), or being incapacitated by it, or anything in between.
If you’re starting to wonder how that’s going to fit with a walk of hundreds of miles where we have to get up each day and walk until we reach our next campsite, well. So am I. This far things are going really well; this is something Roo and I have chosen to do, together and everything we choose about the hike we choose together. I’m the supposedly socialised adult and can manage more demands that Roo, which helps. But there are compromises, which take time and energy and patience. And we haven’t actually started the hike yet.
A good example of this is this entire blog. The title, method of publishing, content of posts and photographs are all approved by Roo. Which will make for interesting reading…!
We’re still going…
I got tired just writing out so much of the route… Here’s the second half.
If Roo knows you, and it’s OK with them, we’d love to see you out on the route. Let me know when and where.
June 13 - July 8: Kirby Stephen to Fort William
The Alternative Pennine Way continues its alternative way up north to Jedburgh, where we’ll take St Oswald’s Way to Melrose. The Southern Upland Way leads us to Peebles (another Roo favourite), where we’ll hoof it through the Pentland Hills to the Union Canal, and so onto the Forth and Clyde Canal to Strathblane. Then we’ll join the masses on the West Highland Way and pause at Fort William.
Shabbat breaks: 17/18 June Haltwhistle, 24/25 June Peebles, 1/2 July Rowardennen.
August 23 - September 4: Fort William to Helmsdale
The Great Glen Way takes us to Inverness and then part of the John O’Groats Trail (nearly there!) gets us to a train station at Helmsdale.
Shabbat breaks: August 26/27 Drumnadrochit, September 2/3 Golspie.
October 19 - 25: Helmsdale to John O’Groats
*Drops mike
Shabbat break: October 21/22 Whaligoe.
Where are we going?
There’s no set route for a Land’s End - John O’Groats walk. Which would have helped, to be honest. Instead we had to knit together a lot of different trails, treks and paths to get us from one end to the other. Some trails - like the West Highland Way - are very commonly used by LEJOG walkers, one of them - the Alternate Pennine Way - is so out of use that the most recent guidebook is 30 years old, while for other sections there was no real path and we had to use local footpaths.
We tried to draw the route for you, but it’s a small map and we used a big pen and, really, geography is hard (if there is anyone who could produce an actual route map, that would be awesome!)
We’re planning the walk in sections, rather than all in one. Roo needs to keep seeing their friends and their tutor (Roo disagrees), I need to see the rest of the family and we have several Jewish festivals to fit in (Roo wants a wolf costume for Purim). We won’t be hiking on Shabbat (Friday - Saturday night).
March 2 - 15: Land’s End - Plymouth
This section follows the South West Coast Path It’s our first go, and I want the navigation to be as easy as possible so that we can focus on gear and food and sleeping outside and…
Shabbat breaks: March 4/5 Porthleven, March 11/12 Par.
March 27 - April 6: Youlgreave - Kirby Stephen
This is a section I missed out. Oops. Following the Alternative Pennine Way through some lovely countryside. With cheese.
Shabbat breaks: April 1/2 - Ilkley (really hoping we’ll be at home)
April 26 - May 27: Plymouth to Youlgreave
This seems a lot, now I’m typing it! This section follows the Two Moors Way onto Dartmoor, then meanders along a section of the Mary Michael Pilgrims Way to Glastonbury. Over the Mendip hills to Bath, then up the Cotswolds Way to Chipping Campden. Pop in to Stratford upon Avon, then join the Heart of England Way at Chadwick End (I love these names!) up to Rugeley. A short stroll on The Staffordshire Link (not actually an official trail, but a route worked out by a previous LEJOG blog) to Thorpe (which always amuses Roo as it’s their dad’s surname) and finally along the Limestone Way to Matlock. Phew!
Shabbat breaks: April 29/30 Chagford, May 6/7 Glastonbury, May 13/14 TBC, May 20/21 Chadwick End.
Welcome to the Wolfpack!
We are walking from Lands End to John O’Groats this year, writing about what we see and do and raising money for an important charity. If all goes well this blog will also cover our future trails. There’ll probably be some posts about PDA, or being Jewish, or Home Education, or cats, or wolves, or…
Formal dress required for Blog Opening.
We’ve chosen our own trail names (a much more US thing, really) because we think they’re a pretty good reflection of our attitudes to life. I’m Kanga, and I’ll be generally hovering around in the background and offering spoonsful of Extract of Malt.
“Hi everyone! I’m Roo, I’m 9 and I hope you like the blog. We have a 3 year old cat named Max. Thank you for reading our blog and please follow it.”
Max the cat.
“P.S. Max is the most affectionate boy and I love him.”