Kirklees Way #1: Marsden to Birchencliffe 03/08/14

Self at Marsden

August has to count, it's that simple, Summer has proved to be more climatically unpredictable than previous years and my motivation drop has had me having to reschedule most of the later part of the year, and what better way to focus yourself than to embark on a long trail, making sure that each coming weekend has another portion to draw you out, and so the Kirklees Way drops onto my schedule because I had wanted to see this district's high land and byways during the height of summer, rather than risking a conclusion during the seasonal turns of Autumn. Of course, I'd hoped to be on this 72 mile trail a month ago, and to be half way round by now, but there's not much point in further lamenting the failures of July, and we should instead look forward to this long tour of this district of marked contrasts, where the moors, towns and agricultural fields both pile up in close proximity and also spread out to provide a terrain that is both remote and crowded at the same time. Additionally, I'm on to Sunday walking again, not because I want to but because a Saturday that provides weather and moods that are distinctly uninspiring means my start has to get shunted so I can make hay whilst the sun shines, and with the trains landing right, the ride to Marsden is only 20 minutes longer via the crappy Sunday service on the Huddersfield Line, and I also get the bonus of a ride into platform 2 as well, the one that never seems to get used.

Kirklees Way #1: Marsden to Birchencliffe  12.2 miles

Hadrian's Wall Path #1: Wallsend to Heddon on the Wall 18/05/14

Self at Segedunum, Wallsend

Spring Jollies arrive and that's a cue to travel far from my normal walking comfort zone, and to utilise the generosity of my parents for travelling and boarding purposes, and it's to Northumberland we head, basing ourselves in Corbridge for my first National Trail, as I should feature at least one before my initial three year odyssey ends, and that is going to be the Hadrian's Wall Path. Established as a National Trail in 2003 and 73 miles long, it follows the coast to coast route of the Hadrian's Wall World Heritage Site, and as a geographical and historical feature, it really should not need an introduction, but I will provide one in case you haven't been paying attention. Constructed on the orders of the Roman Emperor Hadrian in AD122, it was an 80 mile long defensive border and customs facility between Roman Britannia and the troublesome provinces of Caledonia (subject of two unsuccessful military campaigns in the preceding century), marking one of the first established frontiers anywhere in the world and of the beginning of the end of the centuries of expansion of the Roman Empire. Now it endures as a fascinating historical curiosity which has left a band of remnants across a broad stretch of Northern England, which should demand the attention of anyone who has an interest in the ancient history of these islands.

Hadrian's Wall Path #1: Wallsend to Heddon on the Wall  15.8 miles

Rumination: 1,000 Miles Achieved!

Self, at Temple Mill, Holbeck, & at 1,000 miles

 763 days after starting out and by way of 97 separate walking excursions, my 1,000 mile target has been attained, with 7 whole months to spare before my 40th birthday. It seemed like a lot of miles when first planned in 2012, but now in 2014, it can stand as my proudest achievement since graduating from University, after I have blazed trails across the North country (and the Midlands), seeing this land in all its varied aspects and having taken an unexpected journey into my own psyche as I have gone on my way. I have taken paths through geology, geography and history, and now it's time to celebrate my achievement before the trail recalls me.

The 1,000th Mile: Morley to Leeds 05/04/14

The final straight awaits, and I feel like it was only a few weeks ago that I embarked on this walking scheme, and I can't believe the target is within sight at the end of only the shortest of ambles, and I've already stated my case for avoiding a dynamic finish, as I feel that my achievement needs to be engaged socially, but I also think that there is a good case for doing something really mundane. That thought needs some explanation, as travelling from home in Morley to Leeds City Centre is a route that has been engaged thousands of times but has only been walked twice, and I have never walked Chrurwell Hill in either direction, so going along the main road, shadowing the route of the #51 bus, will give me an opportunity to pay close attention to a landscape that I have passed so many times. There's a fascination in the everyday surroundings that many people will never notice, but it is something to get me excited and intrigued, a journey through the present to the past and to a goal that I would never have thought was so easily attainable, so it might not be the nicest day of the Spring, but it is the first weekend of the season when glumness does not bring the feeling that winter is still lingering.

The 1,000 Mile: Morley to Leeds, via Churwell and Holbeck  5.8 miles

Rumination: 1,000 Miles

The evening of 22nd June saw one of the most singularly extraordinary rainstorms I have seen since December of 1996 (when it rained solidly for a week, and the roof of my house leaked) the sheer volume or water that came down finished off just about any interest I might have had in walking the following day. It was also prudent to stay in that weekend as I might have been needed for emergency flood relief as my friends in Mytholmroyd had been updating Facebook with anxious reports of the river rising and then having a flood in their kitchen. It turns out that it was nowhere near as bad as it sounded, but 'kitchen under water' sounded immediately alarming to me, at least. So another weekend didn't get walked, and I felt pretty miserable for it, especially as the day turn out to be pretty nice after the deluge of the previous night.