Twenty Walks, All Done
Wednesday, 26th September
Yesterday was a pretty good day. We did walk number twenty, the final walk, for my book of walks, and so we both feel pretty pleased with ourselves. It's been hard work, quite a few we tried were unsuitable for a variety of reasons, though the main reason in most cases was the state of the footpaths, particularly in the north of the county. The paths were overgrown, stiles broken down, fields planted all the way across without a path. We reported some of the worst problems to the Countryside Access team at Warwickshire County Council, so perhaps something will be done about them.
This barrel was placed on a farm track by a farmer, barring access to a public right of way.
It's a great feeling of success to have finished them all. Writing the book meant a change to our cruising plans; we've spent the summer in Warwickshire, either near Nuneaton or at the Saltisford Canal Centre in Warwick. The Saltisford Canal Centre is an excellent place to stay, friendly people, low cost, laundry facilities and close to the centre of Warwick. We've caught up with old friends and quite enjoyed our time here. But the thrill of seeing my name in print will more than make up for the rather static summer we've had.
I think I'm allowed one plug for my book, on my own website, aren't I?! It will be part of a series of books called "Drive and Stroll in...." in my case "Warwickshire". It is a book of twenty walks between three and six miles long, nothing too arduous--well I wouldn't have been writing it if it were! So do make sure you buy at least one copy when it comes out in April, 2008. End of plug!
Here are some pictures from our walks:
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It's not easy to write a book of walks when you don't have a car! We've had to hire one often through the summer and that has proved an expensive business, though not as dear as owning one, I'm sure. We also used buses where we could.
We had a week in Barcelona from September 14th to 20th. My brother and sister-in-law live near Malaga and so we met them and spent a holiday together. We had a great time, Barcelona is certainly worth a visit. The weather was so warm, we didn't need a jumper all the time we were there. We visited the Gaudi sites, spent a day on the Bus Turistic which went to all the interesting places, walked La Rambla--the place to be seen--ate and drank well and generally enjoyed each others' company.
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Now we're gearing ourselves up for a nice long cruise up to Llangollen for the winter. We shall leave this Saturday, 29th September, and a friend, Cherry who lives in Warwick, will come with us as far as Wolverhampton. On Saturday we shall go up the Hatton flight of twenty-one locks and moor somewhere out in the country. Cherry's daughter Hannah and her partner are coming to help with the locks. Then on Sunday we shall do the Lapworth flight of locks and moor somewhere beyond. We shall steam into Birmingham on Monday and stay for a couple of nights, and then move on up to north of Wolverhampton for a couple of nights, to see some of Trev's relations.