Saturday, July 07, 2012
Tough Training Weekend Continued...
So last Saturday I decided to park at Gunthorpe Locks, follow the River Trent to Fiskerton, include a loop further along the river and back towards Fiskerton and make my way back to Gunthorpe along bridlepaths. I tool my trusty Garmin with me and can accurately report I did 19.25 miles with a pack that was heavier than it is going to be on my walk.
My trusty camera, however, decided to stop working three quarters of the way round- the flash goes off but the shutter does'nt seem to actually open and so there is no picture. Although I was going to take my DSLR on my walk and my compact camera isn't needed, this means that I will still need to buy another at some point as I take it with me when I do the challenge walks.
Anyway, I set off along the river- mostly walking, and trying to set a good pace. The weather was mainly dry with a few showers, but I underestimated the sun and burnt my arms... even though I carried my sun cream with me all day and didn't use it. My right sole was a little sore from where my sock rubbed the day before, but I reinforced the compeed with some zinc oxide tape to keep it in place... and remembered that I had actually been carrying two pairs of spare socks with me the day before and so could have changed them at any point... can you see a theme here!!
The River Trent Before Hoveringham
I made it to Hazelford Ferry in quite good time, but after this the paths became very muddy and slippery and I was quite glad not to be retracing my steps.
The Weir At Hazelford Ferry- With Cormorant!
I passed a bench at Fiskerton and decided to complete the loop and then sit down and have my sandwich. This next stage was more difficult- my legs had already started to ache, my foot was hurting, the paths were rough and ill defined and it seemed to be a real struggle!
Eel!
I passed this strange looking beastie, which looked like an eel with a broken neck (assuming they have necks!)
I was mightily pleased to see my bench again and had a welcome sandwich. My legs were aching quite a lot now and my feet felt in need of a pumping up, so I explored Fiskerton and found a lovely little village shop that sold me painkillers and a Feast lolly!
This fortified me nicely, and I returned through fields to Hazelford Ferry and picked up the bridlepath across fields to Hoveringham. I decided to extend this further and pick up another, well maintained, bridleway to Hoveringham Mill, and turn down a footpath by the river to Caythorpe. However, the footpath was not maintained at all- I entered a field of sheep, saw a footpath and stile sign into the next field and noticed with some dismay that there was no path- the crops were right up to the field edge. I could see the road to Caythorpe to my right, so abandoned the path, walked down the sheep field and climbed out onto the road.
Caythorpe is a lovely little village- there was an old red telephone box which had been turned into a book library. I reached the point where the footpath I tried to follow met the road, and it looked as though I would still have been hacking my way through now!! It's a shame but I have emailed the rights of way devision at the Council who have agreed to look into this.
My legs and feet were really shouting at me now, luckily there was just a short hop (limp more like!!) through fields to Gunthorpe and the car- I did get some strange looks from all the day trippers when I crawled back to the car looking like nothing on earth!!
So I have now officially started to taper... I just hope I have done enough to complete the Peddars Way and Norfolk Coast Path!
My trusty camera, however, decided to stop working three quarters of the way round- the flash goes off but the shutter does'nt seem to actually open and so there is no picture. Although I was going to take my DSLR on my walk and my compact camera isn't needed, this means that I will still need to buy another at some point as I take it with me when I do the challenge walks.
Anyway, I set off along the river- mostly walking, and trying to set a good pace. The weather was mainly dry with a few showers, but I underestimated the sun and burnt my arms... even though I carried my sun cream with me all day and didn't use it. My right sole was a little sore from where my sock rubbed the day before, but I reinforced the compeed with some zinc oxide tape to keep it in place... and remembered that I had actually been carrying two pairs of spare socks with me the day before and so could have changed them at any point... can you see a theme here!!
I made it to Hazelford Ferry in quite good time, but after this the paths became very muddy and slippery and I was quite glad not to be retracing my steps.
I passed a bench at Fiskerton and decided to complete the loop and then sit down and have my sandwich. This next stage was more difficult- my legs had already started to ache, my foot was hurting, the paths were rough and ill defined and it seemed to be a real struggle!
I passed this strange looking beastie, which looked like an eel with a broken neck (assuming they have necks!)
I was mightily pleased to see my bench again and had a welcome sandwich. My legs were aching quite a lot now and my feet felt in need of a pumping up, so I explored Fiskerton and found a lovely little village shop that sold me painkillers and a Feast lolly!
This fortified me nicely, and I returned through fields to Hazelford Ferry and picked up the bridlepath across fields to Hoveringham. I decided to extend this further and pick up another, well maintained, bridleway to Hoveringham Mill, and turn down a footpath by the river to Caythorpe. However, the footpath was not maintained at all- I entered a field of sheep, saw a footpath and stile sign into the next field and noticed with some dismay that there was no path- the crops were right up to the field edge. I could see the road to Caythorpe to my right, so abandoned the path, walked down the sheep field and climbed out onto the road.
Caythorpe is a lovely little village- there was an old red telephone box which had been turned into a book library. I reached the point where the footpath I tried to follow met the road, and it looked as though I would still have been hacking my way through now!! It's a shame but I have emailed the rights of way devision at the Council who have agreed to look into this.
My legs and feet were really shouting at me now, luckily there was just a short hop (limp more like!!) through fields to Gunthorpe and the car- I did get some strange looks from all the day trippers when I crawled back to the car looking like nothing on earth!!
So I have now officially started to taper... I just hope I have done enough to complete the Peddars Way and Norfolk Coast Path!
Labels: Norfolk Coast Path, Peddars Way, river trent
