Gary's Coast to Coast Walk 2012

Sunday, 29 July 2012

Twitter helps publicise walk

A BIG FAT MASSIVE THANK YOU to everyone who has tweeted about my walk and donated today! Andy Nyman, Faisal Islam, Al Campbell, Dan Roan, Kate Silverton,

Robin Ince, Emily Maitlis, Rebecca Front, Helen Keen, and many anonymous others - THANK YOU.

Some of you I can't thank personally as I don't have your details, but your donations and support is very, very much appreciated!

God bless Social Media!

Sunday, 22 July 2012

Itinerary Map and final route

Here is a map which shows where I will be stopping each day, and gives you a rough idea of where I am walking to each day.

And here is the final route with stops. I know the mileages probably don't work out exactly but it gives you an idea.

I have also finalised all the arrangements and am ready to go. Going to try and fit one more practise walk in before I leave. Two weeks to go . . . .

Sunday, 8 July 2012

Training Walk White to Dark Day 2 01.07.12

Today was a day I approached with excitement and a small amount of trepidation. I knew I was going to miss Dave's company on the walk, but I was really excited about bagging Stanadge Edge and seeing the views from the top of Win Hill.

Here are some pictures from the day :-


The view as I started my walk across the fields towards Hathersage.

The walk across farmland and through grassy fields was fun, with some mild ascents and descents. I could soon see Stanadge Edge in the distance, and the imposing edifice got closer and closer as the path became steeper and steeper. Sheep crossed the path as I came out of the trees and made my way across the last road before the Edge itself.

Animal enjoys the view from just below Stanadge Edge.

I kept stopping on the way up as the sun was shining and the views were epic, and it seemed like the whole of the peak district was opening up behind me. After much huffing and puffing I made it up onto Stanadge Edge itself. As soon as I broke over the top of the edge the wind hit me. I consulted the map and quickly decided on my path. It was at this point that the wind really got up, the temperature dropped and the rain set in (you know, that fine rain that soaks you through). This rain accompanied me for pretty much the whole of the rest of the day.

As I made my way along the edge I decided to walk down to the path which runs just beneath the edge itself to take some shelter from the weather. As I walked along I spotted hundreds of millstones, dotted about the landscape. I had read that the edge was used a quarry for millstones in the 18th century and these must have been left when the quarry stopped production. It was certainly an unusual sight as they were scattered about all over the place!

One millstone near here had been turned into a picnic table!

I also passed groups of what must have been DofE kids climbing the side of the edge. The walk down off Stanadge Edge was long and more difficult than I thought it would be. The weather, coupled with the extremely boggy ground meant it took a long time to get to the road. Once on the road I met up with dad and sat in his dry and warm car to eat some lunch. By the time I got down to Ladybower Reservoir the rain had cleared and the walk round the lake side and across the dam wall was very pleasant. I could see Win Hill in the distance.

Win Hill ahead - last summit of the trail!

The trek up Win Hill was easy to follow but was the steepest trail of the walk, and with the wet conditions making it slippy, I had to take my time. The forest broke near the summit and a stepped path led up to a craggy peak steep on all sides. You could see for miles, and as I took it all in I could see the cloud descending and the spit spot of rain heading my way! The wind whipped round me as I took in the view for a brief minute before heading off the top and making my way down the path. The weather had closed in again just as I made it to the peak and the views were rapidly disappearing.

The path down from Win Hill was so steep in parts that I was not sure I could make it down without sliding down on my bottom! I regretted deeply not bringing my walking poles, but carried on cautiously making my way down until I hit the road just outside Hope. Then it was just a case of walking the road (which was ankle deep in water in some places) until I made it to the agreed rendezvous with my Dad at the Cheshire Cheese Pub on Edale Road.

We both enjoyed a well earned pint, before packing up and making our way back home.

Find the route plan for today's walk here White to Dark Day 2 Route Plan

Thanks to Dad for the bacon and eggs each morning and thanks to Dave for his support and excellent map reading skills!

Training Walk White to Dark Day 1 30.06.12

And so it begins . . .

The day we started the epic traverse from the White Peak to the Dark Peak, Bakewell to Hope in two days.

My old friend, Dave Padgen, accompanied me on this day. Check out his website here, he is a very inspiring chap! He is extremely supportive about my charity walk, and knowledgeable about the outdoors and has given me many tips which will benefit me when I complete the actual walk in August. It was great to walk with someone and due to us both falling on our arses towards the end of this first day, he did not accompany me on Day 2. I missed ya Dave!

The campsite was OK, with good facilities, but noisy up to 11pm at night due to groups of DofE kids getting their awards and the many families stying on site. The site had a 'No noise' after 11pm policy, which most people seemed to obey.

The route was beautiful, we passed through some amazing countryside, rugged and desolate cliffs and valleys, and rolling farmland, criss-crossed by roads and dry stone walls.

We left early and started walking from the car park in Bakewell at about 7.45am. The weather was generally good, but changeable, and there were many occasions where we stopped and took on / took off our coats / layers etc. To quote Dave, "We caned the first 6 miles" and had to ease up on the pace a little for fear of 'running out of energy' at the end.

The pub at Foolow, The Bulls Head Inn, is a good quality pub, and do a nice line in cask ales and sandwiches, which we sampled for our lunch. We met up with Dad at Eyam, by the museum, and after a few minutes rest continued our steep and arduous climb up to Eyam Moor.

The last push over Eyam Moor and the heaving great rainstorm we walked through meant that the steep downhill descent that followed resulted in both of us falling on our behinds within the space of two minutes! Dave bruised his hip, and after some considerable consideration and discussion, he decided not to come on the next day's walk - Dave is in training to climb Mount Elbrus in August and I did not want to jeopardise his expedition.

Here are some pictures from the day :-

The trail was well marked - good job as occasionally the map didn't exactly match up with the landscape!

The Monsal Trail - an easy path to walk, pretty flat, and stunning views. This is the main reason we 'caned' the first few miles!

The Monsal Trail was probably the busiest trail we walked - plenty of serious walkers, dog walkers and cyclists.

The Headstone Tunnel - the path actually runs underground for a considerable distance. Amazingly atmospheric!

. . .and 487m later, coming out the other side to emerge on . . .

. . . The Monsal Viaduct, some 40 feet above the ground - amazing views.

We followed the path off the Monsal Trail and down into Cressbrook Dale, past this great weir! Check out Dave's pictures of this water feature on his blog.

This was the gate we climbed over as we 'left' the field! Thank god we didn't see the bull!

The view across the fields between Foolow and Eyam. We passed through twelve small gates and eight squeeze stiles!

The instructions for the route, by Country Walking Magazine, can be found here White to Dark Route Plan

One thing I feel slightly disappointed about is, if the route mapper is to be believed we did not walk as far as I had planned each day. However, the ascents and descents were much more challenging that I had anticipated.

There were no MP3 tracks listened to on the way round, but I did play 'Raining in my Heart' on the Ukulele back at the campsite.

Dave has written an excellent blog about the first day with some cracking pictures. Link below

http://stumbling.co.uk/bakewell-to-highlow-hall/

The map of the route, including elevation diagram, can be viewed here White to Dark Day 1

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Thanks for taking the time to visit my website.

So why am I raising money for the Miscarriage Association?

Someone has to. They need a relatively small amount of money to keep going every year, and the work they do is really essential.

In 2009 and 2010, Helen and I lost 2 babies in the space of 5 months. The loss we felt was immense and still is.

So, in 2012 I will be completing Wainwrights Coast to Coast walk, from St Bee's Head on the Cumbrian coast, to Robin Hoods Bay on the North East coast, a walk of approximately 200 miles.

It should take about two weeks and I will be camping whenever possible to keep the costs down.

You can donate by jumping to my JustGiving page

Don't feel you have to give lots -

every penny really does help.

Send the website address to everyone you know - all I need is for 1000 people to give £1 each and I've made my target.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.

Thank you so much.

So Who's the Fat Bloke?

Hi. I am a 38 year old primary school teacher who lives in Cropston, just north west of Leicester with my wife, Helen and 5 year old son, Lachlan. I've been walking in Leicestershire, Yorkshire, the Lake District, Cornwall, Derbyshire and the Malvern Hills, and love being outdoors. I've been camping in most of these places and in Norfolk and Devon. I enjoy playing the Ukulele as often as I can, singing, darts, golf and growing my own veg.

I'm looking forward to completing the walk, blisters and all, and being able to say that even while enjoying a great outdoor experience, I can raise money to help others who have been through the same experience as Helen and I. And yes - I will be taking my Ukulele with me and I'm hoping someone might sponsor me for a song played at each stop along the way!

What is Wainwright's Coast to Coast?

The Wainwright Society says this about the Coast to Coast:

'A Coast to Coast Walk was devised by Wainwright himself, and set out in his 1973 guidebook to the route.

The route is a 192-mile (although according to a recent re-measuring the real distance is almost 220 miles) unofficial, long distance footpath in Northern England. It passes through three contrasting national parks: the Lake District National Park, the Yorkshire Dales National Park, and the North York Moors National Park.

Wainwright suggested a way of breaking the walk miles into stages, each of which to be completed in a day. With one or two rest days, this makes the route fit into a two-week holiday. However, Wainwright explicitly stated that he did not intend people to necessarily stick to these stages or even to his route: for example, by reducing day-lengths to 10 or 12 miles, the walk becomes a much easier three-week trip with time to 'stand and stare'.

In 2004 the walk was named as the second best walk in the world according to a survey of experts.'

I'll be breaking the walk into 14 stages, walking an average of 14 miles a day. However, this varies a lot - my shortest day is only 8 miles and my longest day will be 20 miles.

Whichever way you cut it this walk is one of the best long distance walks in the world and I'm very lucky (as well as a bit bonkers?) to be attempting it this August. Let's hope I enjoy walking it as much as I've enjoyed organising it!