The Adventure of the Five Hundred Miles
At the start of the year I pledged to walk a thousand miles this calendar year. #walk1000miles is a challenge run by Country Walking magazine and I decided to only count 'boots-on' miles; I do a lot of steps at work so I'm only counting miles I do when heading out for a walk rather than the actual distance I walk in total.
This week I reached the half-way point of the challenge, having achieved over five hundred miles so far. It's been brilliant so far as I've rambled my way across the Hampshire and Dorset countryside. Whilst I've enjoyed walking for some time, my love for it has grown this year. Medical professionals are increasingly realising that spending time in nature can be excellent for your health, both physical and mental. The early part of last year was a really miserable time for me and as the new year began I couldn't help but be fearful that I was in for a repetition of it. Fortunately my work life was significantly better than it was in 2018 but I also think spending more time outside walking has contributed to an improvement in my mental health.
It was fairly cold at the start of the year but dress appropriately and it's perfectly comfortable to be out walking in nature. It appears that most people are put off by lower temperatures and whilst they are missing out it means that walking in winter is fantastic. There's a tranquility in walking around when no-one else is, wandering in the stillness and quietness of the season.
In February we even had some snow locally and I had a bonus day off work. Snow amplifies the feeling of quietness with the blanket of snowflakes silencing the noisy world. It's easy to see how C.S. Lewis created Narnia, the land of perpetual winter, as visiting a familiar area under snow cover feels like exploring a whole new world.
One of my favourite walks so far this year was actually city based. My father was doing something in Portsmouth and I took the opportunity to accompany him in order to walk in a place I wouldn't otherwise visit. I had a fairly negative perception of the city, imaging it to be run-down and unpleasant to be in. I walked seven miles through the city and along the sea front and discovered an incredible city full of history and character. I was wandering along the sea wall and discovered a former garrison tower, the Round Tower, which is open as a viewing point where I ate my lunch whilst watching the channel ferry glide by. I stumbled into an area known as Spice Island, an area that was once full of prostitution and crime it wasn't included in the city walls and found the remains of the stunning garrison church.
This week I reached the half-way point of the challenge, having achieved over five hundred miles so far. It's been brilliant so far as I've rambled my way across the Hampshire and Dorset countryside. Whilst I've enjoyed walking for some time, my love for it has grown this year. Medical professionals are increasingly realising that spending time in nature can be excellent for your health, both physical and mental. The early part of last year was a really miserable time for me and as the new year began I couldn't help but be fearful that I was in for a repetition of it. Fortunately my work life was significantly better than it was in 2018 but I also think spending more time outside walking has contributed to an improvement in my mental health.
It was fairly cold at the start of the year but dress appropriately and it's perfectly comfortable to be out walking in nature. It appears that most people are put off by lower temperatures and whilst they are missing out it means that walking in winter is fantastic. There's a tranquility in walking around when no-one else is, wandering in the stillness and quietness of the season.
In February we even had some snow locally and I had a bonus day off work. Snow amplifies the feeling of quietness with the blanket of snowflakes silencing the noisy world. It's easy to see how C.S. Lewis created Narnia, the land of perpetual winter, as visiting a familiar area under snow cover feels like exploring a whole new world.
One of my favourite walks so far this year was actually city based. My father was doing something in Portsmouth and I took the opportunity to accompany him in order to walk in a place I wouldn't otherwise visit. I had a fairly negative perception of the city, imaging it to be run-down and unpleasant to be in. I walked seven miles through the city and along the sea front and discovered an incredible city full of history and character. I was wandering along the sea wall and discovered a former garrison tower, the Round Tower, which is open as a viewing point where I ate my lunch whilst watching the channel ferry glide by. I stumbled into an area known as Spice Island, an area that was once full of prostitution and crime it wasn't included in the city walls and found the remains of the stunning garrison church.
There's also plenty of more modern additions to enjoy like the iconic Spinnaker Tower and Portsmouth is the only place I know of where you can walk past fairground rides and then see a hovercraft arrive on the beach. Seven of my five hundred miles were in this incredible city.
Another of my favourtie walks was in East Dorset around the villages of Holt and Horton. It's an are where no-one goes which is a shame because it's stunning from the magnificent folly Horton Tower which looms over the landscape to the stunning fields of oilseed rape. It's an area which quite a few people travel through but I wonder how many ever actually stop their car and take the chance to enjoy the beauty of the area.
All this time in the countryside has led to so many wonderful wildlife encounters from birds and deer to lizards, butterflies and beetles. It's only by being out there and looking that you spot the wonders that nature has to offer and I'm grateful to this challenge for leading me onto to see so many incredible things.
We're more than half way through the year so by rights I should be a bit beyond five hundred miles by now. The last month or so has really slowed my pace thanks to hayfever. I've found that countryside walks during the pollen season lead to days of feeling ill and the few hours enjoyment is not worth the days of suffering. Therefore most of my recent miles have been urban-based and I've not been going out as much as I would like. Fortunately though I am just a few days away from my long summer holiday, the benefit of working in a school, and that means I should have plenty of time to get out walking and greatly increase my total. I'm in no way certain that I'll reach the 1,000 miles target by the end of the year but at this point it doesn't feel beyond my reach.
I've walked five hundred miles so now I need to walk five hundred more...
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