Endurance Adventures

It's been ages since I last did a challenge walk, so I decided it was about time I did one again, and as the Dave Lewis Challenge is only 20 minutes drive away this seemed like a good one to do.

Judging by the amount of water in the fields as I drove there I was expecting it to be really muddy but it wasn't actually as bad as I thought it would be. I parked up at the impressive Kellam Hall, said Hi to Stuart, organiser of the Ponton Plod who was doing the walk for the first time, and made my way to the start. I had just enough time for a coffee from my flask before we were off.

I think there were about 36 of us doing the long route and the same number again doing the 11 mile route, although they were setting off half an hour later. I was pleased to see that the route had changed from when I did it two years ago- the previous route had seemed rather endless and we had to retrace our steps at the end, which I had found rather demoralising.

Although cloudy, it remained dry all day as we set off into the mist on our way to the hamlet of Little Carlton. After this we were in the fields, following tracks and walking through farmland.

I was leapfrogging two walkers, a man and woman, and there were two girls just behind. We had to walk through quite a few ploughed fields throughout the day, which made for pretty tough walking!

We reached checkpoint one, where drinks were being served, and the route then went through Norwell.
                                          Norwell Church
We were to see various St Johns Ambulances stationed at various points along the route.

A walk through fields brought us into a field full of dairy cows. I had caught up with the couple at this point, and me and the other lady were rather apprehensive when they all started walking purposely towards us but luckily they were distracted by the food in their manger.

We were in a bit of doubt as to the path to take out of the farmyard, as the track we chose did not look like a right of way and we set off an alarm as we walked around the barrier, but it turned out to be right. It was quite entertaining as we could hear the alarm go off in the distance everytime other walkers came through.

                                                   Wind Turbine Near The Farm
I was now faced with a lot of road walking; through the village of Ossington, then 2 1/2 miles along minor roads to the next checkpoint.

As I reached the top of a hill I was rewarded by a marvellous view, which included a couple of cars parked by the road, boots up, which just had to be either a mirage or the checkpoint.

I jogged, well lurched down the hill to find it wasn't a mirage and that they had some cake and biscuits on offer. I ate one of my sandwiches and had a coffee whilst we watched a lone figure running down the hill and debated whether he was doing the event or was just a local out for a run.

It turned out he was walking and running the event, and he grabbed a drink and some biscuits before carrying on. I left soon after and the couple left a few minutes later. We followed some huge fields before finding a hidden grass track to Caunton.


                                          Fields And Tracks Near Caunton
Caunton seems a picturesque little village, we passed a ford with some ducks who must have wondered where all the people were going.

                                         Ford On Ford Lane, Caunton
After Caunton, the route passed through the grounds of Caunton Manor. The couple had caught me up and we had also caught up with another walker who seemed slightly unsure of the way. I spotted the gate we were supposed to go through, but from this point onwards route finding became rather tricky as the route description didn't always appear to bear any resemblence to the actual route!

The description told us to pass Knapthorpe Manor Farm and turn left onto a footpath. We took that to mean turn immediately left after the farm (which we weren't sure if we had found as the building we had passed was called Knapthorpe Manor).

Myself and the other couple felt that we needed to go further up the road, whilst the other walker and the walker/ runner we had caught up with appeared unsure.

We eventually found a footpath which appeared to match the route description, and the walker followed us. However, the runner/ walker didn't and that was the last we saw of him all day!

I fell foul of the route description myself a little later. According to the description we should turn right at a junction of tracks, walk 150 yards and turn left towards Averham Park Farm cottages at another junction. Sure enough, we reached a track junction after 150 metres, which I felt we should take. The others, however, weren't convinced and opted to carry on up the track.

I set off alone and my track petered out into a hedge. Damn. I was feeling pretty tired by this point and really did not want to be lost. I cursed myself for not sticking with the others, but over the hedge I realised I could see the cottages in the distance, and figured that if I turned right and followed the edges of the fields I would eventually reach the track.

To my relief I was soon back on track (literally!) and could see the others just ahead. I caught them up and was quite glad to follow them for a bit!

We stopped at the next checkpoint at Hockerton and I finished off my sandwiches and coffee and took advantage of the cakes on offer!

As we set off again I realised that this bit seemed familiar- we had walked this way 2 years ago although where we had turned right at a brick bridge we now carried straight on through a golf course and along a stream, with views of Southwell Race Course.

                                         Southwell Race Course
We passed a pretty water mill before passing through Rolleston village and following a rather uneven little track to checkpoint 4 where there were cornflake crispies and chocolate fingers much to our delight! We were even more pleased when we were told we had only 5 miles left.
                                         Pretty Water Mill At Rolleston

The official told us there were 5 to come through, but the two girls who had been just behind us earlier had not arrived at the last checkpoint so I hope they found their way back okay.

I had felt my right sock rub under my big toe so removed it and repositioned it before setting back off.

I knew this next stretch as I have done it a few times although in the opposite direction. A bridleway took us to the River Trent, and I caught up with the others as we turned left to follow the river. To my relief we didn't turn off through the endless fields we had traversed two years ago but carried on following the river past a power station. I was tempted to poke my camera through the railings and take a photo but saw the security cameras and decided to photograph the river instead.
                                         A Blot On The Landscape!
 The last checkpoint was in the village of Averham, we could see the church beckoning us as we followed a track towards it.
                                         Averham Church
We now had only two miles to go which was a relief as the blister on my right foot was now quite sore. We could see Kelham in the distance, and more tracks and fields brought us to the finish line. One of the walkers I finished with was using this as a training event for an organised trek through the Indian Himalaya, which sounds amazing.

We finished in 9 1/2 hours, which wasn't bad considering my lack of fitness and route finding difficulties. Plus the chap who checked us in stated that it appears that the route is really 27/ 28 miles. As this route seemed quite popular (I found it a lot better than the previous route) they were planning on keeping it and advertising the long route as 28 miles.

As I walked back to Kelham Hall there appeared to be an incident going on. I could see a mass of people on the grass outside and a fire engine in the drive, lights flashing. As I drew closer I could hear an alarm going off inside the Hall, it appears that an Asian wedding party had been evacuated due to the fire alarm being activated.

I did something very naughty. I was desperate for a wee, and dodged unseen into the hall to use the toilets, with the sound of the alarm ringing in my ears!

The wedding party seemed to be taking everything in their stride, taking it in turns to pose next to the fire engine and remaining cheerful. I was waved through and set off for home; 5 minutes into the journey the heavens opened and it started to pour so I hope the wedding party all managed to get back in before the rain hit!

I am really aching today, I knew I would suffer! My next plan is to work on regaining fitness...

Labels: Dave Lewis Challenge