Chalklands Way Walk Cancelled

The Chalklands Way walk was cancelled due to the lack of teams signed up.

It is a disappointing end to what has been a very enjoyable challenge, with the team unable to commit to other dates.

Skidby to Eppleworth

Georgie and Amy

Today was another light evening walk, although it was a little grey and the forecast was showers, I convinced Georgie and Amy to do some team training. We got off to a good start, with me stepping in a hole and falling over, failing to notice I had dropped my bottle of drink in the process and Amy forgetting walking kit and going in gym kit. We were walking from Skidby to Eppleworth and back in a circular rout that meant a fair bit of time on a road, which was not very pleasant, with some very fast traffic and rough verges. As runners, Amy and Georgie found my pace a little slow going, but they stuck with me. I did run down that hill though.

Confidence in Captain Jim took a bit of a blow when I missed a sign and walked us on for about 1/2 a mile in the wrong direction. The golf course should have been a bit of a giveaway. Apparently it is the little flag on the map. After a wrong turn at the golf course, where Amy was right about directions again, it was a straight forward route.

There was a bit of woodland and some wild garlic, which smelled lovely, as well and some wonderful scenery. There were plenty of bunnies about as well, they were a little too quick for my camera though.

I stopped to check my compass where a couple of paths crossed, Amy was spot on again, but we were quite close to the finish at this point and I did not think that another detour would be appreciated.



We decided to cut the route a little short. The total distance walked would still be the 6 miles we were aiming for, but the rout we took cut back uphill towards Skidby Mill rather than passing through Skidby itself.

The walk took just about 2h and it was easy going. There were a few patches of mud and nettles to skirt around, but nothing  that held us up very much. The ladies thought it might make a decent running route and to prove their point a running group overtook us just near the finish.

Georgie and Amy - Smiling because we are near the end

We still need to raise sponsorship, so please donate to team summitPLOD & Action Medical Research and thank you for your support.

Skidby and Risby

Still sore from my 16 miles at the weekend I decided to up my training pace a bit and take some of the team out walking. Adam was the only person available on Monday evening, so we set off for Skidby, near Summit Media's North Yorkshire offices and walked a circular 6 miles via Risby.

Adam

Risby has the remains of earthworks that were part of a formal garden for a manor house. They must have been very impressive when they were still maintained. I didn't get a picture, so I will give you one of Adam, later in the walk instead.

Adam had some pretty good walking stories, including trips to Kilimanjaro and Everest Base Camp. We took a bit more than 2 hours to finish the walk, mostly due to my aches and pains. We also discovered that I have some rather optimistic estimates of distance and time. Asking if we were half way round around the 2 mile point. Fortunately Adam had the map.

Adam, despite being an experienced walker, recently had a brush with an enraged bovine, so here is Adam, cow dodging. Polé Polé Adam.

Cow

Adam

Hull to North Ferriby and back - 16 Miles

The Span of the Humber Bridge, as seen from North Ferriby

I walked 16 miles at the weekend, all the way from Hull to North Ferriby and back again. A personal best, but still a long way from the target of 40 miles for the Chalklands Way PLOD. I started off at a quick pace and managed to keep it up most of the outbound leg. I was aiming for Brough, but high tide forced me on to a less direct route at North Ferriby, so I turned back. I got a few good snaps of the Humber shoreline and the Humber Bridge.

Approaching the Humber Bridge from the North

As you can see it was a wonderful day to be outdoors, but by the last few miles I was starting to suffer. I was walking on some very blistered feet and my walking pace slowed to a crawl. I was glad to have my walking poles with me, which took a huge weight off my feet, but it was still hard going.

I was a bit pink and sore at the end, but still very pleased, with my new distance target to beat!

North Ferriby Shoreline looking North

Millington Wood to Huggate

I walked from Millington Wood to Huggate and then back again via a more indirect route down the Minster Way bridal path, with Rob, our girlfriends and a friend. There was a serious hill, almost a scramble and a few ups and downs. It was quite close to the Chalkland Way's path through the area.

Captain Jim

A bit steep

There are some lovely areas on this walk and the Millington Pastures are impressive tracts of open access land. Part way along the Route there is a waymarker for the Wolds Way, 35 miles to Hessle and 45 to Filey. Below is a photos taken there, with Rob (right), his partner Amanda (on the left) and their friend Amanda (centre).

Amanda, Amanda & Rob

10% Of Our Fundraising Target

Thank you very much to everyone supporting us, we are now up to 10% of our total fundraising target!

If you would like to see for yourself and some of the messages left by on-line sponsors you can visit via the ink or Google  summitPLOD and click on the first result.

Karrimor

The Chalklands Way PLOD has quite a long kit list for walkers, not surprising, considering the extremes we will be facing, from midnight cold, to (hopefully) sunny afternoons.

For me, most of my essentials are turning out to be Karrimor, because I have a pair of Karrimor mount mids walking shoes that I love and because I keep finding it really cheap via Sports Direct (who is clearing out their winter stock).

So far I have my trusty shoes, a pair of very warm waterproof gloves that are really for winter wear but are wonderfully comfortable and should see me through the worst Wolds weather, a Karrimor Urban 30 backpack, which has plenty of pockets and is a great day bag, although I find it a bit difficult to get at my water without taking the bag off and a pair of lightweight trousers that unzip at the knees to become shorts. I am not sure if I will use them as shorts, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Everything is holding up really well at the moment, but I will keep you posted on how my kit does through the training and on the PLOD itself.

The Deep, Hull to the Humber Foreshore

Hull Marina

Yesterday I walked the 12 miles or so from Hull to the Humber Bridge. The rout was flat, mostly paved and well maintained, with opportunities to stop at St Andrews Quay and at the Foreshore itself.

The walk is very close to the A63, so there is a lot of traffic noise and smell, but there is a fantastic view across the river towards Barton Upon Humber, which seemed to have all the sunshine I missed.

The three highlights for me where the bridge itself, which is always impressive, The Deep which was our start point and walking through the working port on the route, which I found very interesting.

The Deep

A floating platform by ABP

Sail Boats on the Humber

Remains of the bombed out pre WWII dock

The Team!

From left to right:

Mark Skinner, Peter Orange, Amy Todd, Adam Chard, James Dewes,

 Rob Barker, Georgina Bell, Lee Benecke

Please Give Generously

We are raising money for Action Medical Research, a great children's charity dedicated to improving the health of babies and children in the UK.

The team will be undertaking a gruelling 40 mile hike across the Yorkshire Wolds, following the Chalklands Way.

This doesn't just mean tuning up on the day, it is almost 2 marathons back to back, so there will be many hours of training and preparation as well as fundraising, from everyone involved.

We will be blogging about our experience and about the walk and our training.

Please help us in our challenge and make the lives of parents and children across the UK better by donating a small sum.

Please tick the Gift Aid box if you are a UK tax payer as the UK Government will contribute an additional 25% on the money that we have raised.