Rumination: The Conclusions of 2014

Once again the concluding thoughts of the year come along after the business of the 2014 walking season has receded to be replaced by the surprisingly involved festive season that has absorbed most of the last 5 weeks, I might not have had any self-powered excursions to fill my days, but it feels like I have barely had any time to relax since celebrating my 40th birthday. The conclusion of 2014 feels a whole lot better than the similar end a year previous, 2013 ending with me feeling mentally drained and physically exhausted, whilst this time around I'm already looking forward to what 2015 might bring and seeking out the new trails to occupy my legs as there are still so many routes to walk, around West Yorkshire and beyond. Still, nearly half way through this particular Dark Season and at the end of the 1,000 Miles Before I'm 40 odyssey, and we have to wonder it once again, What have we learned this year?

Wear Your Achievement with Pride.

First up, I am thrilled and baffled by my mileage total, as 1,000 miles seemed like such a lot when I started out but has turned out to be an easily attainable total, and as the distance has gone on to pass 1,400 miles, I realise just how mobile we can be as a species. Consider that my total only includes weekend and holiday walking, and does not include any of the daily strolls to work, the regular mileage I put down pushing a barrow or pacing the library at the hospital, and none of the necessary trips made around Leeds and Morley. If you start to add those total up, and I wish I'd been wearing a pedometer so that a rough figure could be given, you would start to realise that travelling huge distances is entirely plausible in a short period, but we choose to not do this, constrained by homes, family and employment, and bounded by borders and languages. The distance that I have put down, when expressed in lines drawn across Europe brings this home, in a big way, and if you consider my original plot, going south from Morley, via London, Paris and Marseille, and heading into Italy, I might not have made it to Rome, but I have passed all the way through Tuscany, and rind myself in Pescia Romana, on the outer edge of Lazio district, only 73 miles short of the Eternal City. If my route had been charted directly for Italy though, Rome is somewhere in my wake, as I roll up at Torre del Greco, on the Bay of Naples, below the slopes of Vesuvius; meanwhile I course set to the East would have had me pass through all of Poland and have me on the road through Belarus between Kobryn and Pinsk, whilst going towards Spain on a southerly course would place me in San Javier, not far from Murcia. Additionally, if I'd been aiming towards Istanbul, at the south-east corner of the continent, I would be just past Belgrade by now, and if I'd aimed for Cap Finisterre at the bottom corner of Portugal, I would be in Abrantes, just across the Spanish border an 87 miles shy of Lisbon. And yet, most of those miles fell within the bounds of the West Riding, now neatly expressible courtesy of Google maps, leaving me with a huge sense of achievement and joy at my capability to exert myself, but also the realisation that the Ancient Humans must have been easily capable of crossing continents within a single generation, making my attainment seem very small indeed.

All of West Yorkshire seems
to lie below Castle Hill.

Secondly, I have done West Yorkshire proud an my travels over these last three years, and am much happier with my list of attainments this year. Putting down ten brackets back in February, I can now look back to see that seven of them were completed in full, namely Hadrian's Wall path, the route to the five major town of West Yorkshire, the Woodhead route, Railway walking, venturing through Kirklees and Wakefield districts, attaining my three well-observed landmarks, and social walking. Two can be claimed as half successes, as the Kirklees Way went down, but the Wakefield Way didn't, and whilst I did get over to Lancashire to get walking with my nieces, I failed to get anywhere near the Witton Weavers Way at all (aside from a snow bound stroll for some sledging after Christmas), whilst my only utter failure was to get out to Mallerstang, as both FOSCL trips dropped from my schedule. So that's an 80% success rate this time around, as well as getting in a personal best on the year, just one trip shy of breaking the 500 mile barrier. What really makes me happy is the fact that most of it was done along fresh paths, making fresh acquaintance with the lands south of the Colne and the Calder, and whilst I had feared that the landscapes might not have been equal to the lands of Calderdale, Airedale and Wharfedale, I have found so much to see in terms of history and the paths of industry that it has proved just as rewarding, and the insights gained from taking in the viewpoints and absorbing the local history has just intensified my love of this land. West Yorkshire really does have it all, from high moorlands to bustling cities, quiet waterside paths to tracks through the heart of industry, striking viewpoints to the peace of agricultural land, and I have gained a appreciation of this county because I have found so much to see and to find interesting, and I've still got so much of it to see, as new vistas and trails await among the ones that I have already walked, and having met its many edges and looked south towards the Peak District, north into Nidderdale, east to the Humber and west across Lancashire has me aware that I might be in the heart of the most interesting part of the entire country. Sharing my enthusiasm at work, my colleague observed 'Well, this is God's Country, after all', and whilst I may have parted from religion a long time ago, I am inclined to agree, as the territory of the West Riding is a gift for all of us to enjoy, and it is surely one that I have been particularly fortunate to receive.

The trails lead Eastwards in 2015,
from Wooley Edge. 

Thirdly, I know what my walking future holds, but am uncertain whether it will be recounted, as the walking is going to continue for the good of my mind and body, thought the blogging has become such a drag I'm pretty certain that it is not going to continue in its current form. I certainly know that I walk for the good of my mind rather than my body, as getting out at the weekends is essential to prevent cabin fever or dark moods setting in, whilst it's essential for my body, though I have ended up heavier at the end of my three year trip than I was at its start, so once again thoughts turn to healthier eating and more focused exercise in 2015. Checking out my spread of trails on my map, I see that I have crossed so many different paths around the county, with only a few small towns having had no visits at all, with only two corners of the county having been missed over these three years, and it'll be towards the North-East and South-East that I will be heading in the coming year, into the flattest lands of this county. A long bracket of lands from Harrogate, through Wetherby and Tadcaster, and down to Selby will be my immediate focus, as well as striking towards York and making further inroads into Wakefield district, and the major plan is to strike for the coast, surely no more than four days away from West Yorkshire, in either direction. However, this blog is done, as writing out every trip has become a bind as inspiration for writing never comes to me that easily, and this three year tale has become something of an albatross to me as my lack of concision and regular attacks of verbal diarrhoea have caused my blog to become long-winded and cumbersome. Still, the tale of 5,000 Miles Before I'm 50 will continue, but I'm not certain how, probably with more pictures and a lot fewer words, and the wanderings have no reason to stop, as there are still so many paths to blaze along, and it will be a while before I need to start retracing my steps. After all the trail has no end, as every journey leads you somewhere new and each destination brings a new perspective on these lands and suggestions of where the paths of life might take you next.

There's a lot of Family History
in Forden Chapel Graveyard.

Finally, 2014 is not just the end of my 1,000 mile odyssey, it really is the end of an era too, as 5th December brought the death of my Mother's cousin RT at the age of 96, the closest of the many relatives of the Welsh branch of my family, and notable as being the point of contact in Powys for family visits for over 70 years. You may recall that on my last excursion before the start of the 2012 walking season, I made a trip to the Welshpool area to give her a visit on the occasion of another family funeral, as well as having a stretch among the hills that my relatives have farmed for well over a century, and now the conclusion of 2014 marks the occasion of her funeral, with the passing of the cousin whose home was virtually our second for much of my lifetime, and my Mum's too. It provided a chance to for the four of us Wrens to travel to the Welsh Borders for one last time, to pay our respects to her, and to the many other relatives buried in the graveyard of Forden chapel, where nine siblings of my maternal Grandmother are buried, as well as my Great Grandparents and other first cousins (once removed). Of course, there's still plenty of family remaining, Mum's calculations suggest that seven (or eight) of her cousins still remain, but none were as close as RT, and my generation of second cousins is scattered with some faces familiar and others being folks that I have never met. So, with RT's passing, I doubt I'll be making another trip to Forden or Welshpool again, at least until Offa's Dyke Path comes calling in the future, an idea that I pondered for 2015 as a seemingly appropriate tribute, but one soon junked once the logistics of doing it were properly considered, it's just too long and too remote to fit into my plans, sadly. I'll admit that this has little to do with my wandering tales, but RT always took an interest in my walking odyssey, despite her fragile health and diminished capacities, and my last visit to her, and her final passing book-ended my three year tale, so it's worthy of a public tribute here.

So, that's the end of 1,000 Miles before I'm 40, getting a final post, unlike so many blogs that just seem to stop with their tales still in progress, the new season will be coming on in less than six weeks, as I commence my excursions to the north and east of Leeds, first footfalls due on 7th February once the nasty, brutish and altogether too long month of January is out of the way. Pictures and words will show up somewhere, a link will surely show up over there to the right once I've worked it all out. Also, take note of those words in the headline too, as my promise to raise money for charity was never taken seriously whilst the 1,000 mile trail was blazed, but be warned that a charity drive will be coming as 2015 rolls around. Thank You for your interest, and Thank You for allowing me a forum to witter to my heart's content, but it's all done now, aside from having my closing music on to play me out, See you all again in 2015 on the 10 year trip to 5,000 miles!

If you would please, Fats...

and Next on the Slate? - The Trail Never Ends!