Day 40, first half. Farewell to Beaudesert (sounds like a Mills and Boon!)

I wasn’t supposed to be walking today, and my leg would have preferred the rest. But in order to give myself a chance next week in the heatwave I needed to do a bit of Monday’s walk today. So David nobly drove me to where I got to yesterday, and at 6.45am I started another 5 or 6 miles. Because it was going to be such a short distance, and David was nearby, I only took my hat and my phone. It was very strange but lovely to be walking unencumbered.

The blackberries here are coming on apace, the warm weather has obviously given them a kick start. The skies were blue, the temperature was cool, and as before on these early walks, I enjoyed the peace and the feeling that the world was all mine.

When I planned the walk I’d been looking forward to exploring Cannock Chase. A former royal forest, it is an area of outstanding natural beauty, and is big enough to still feel wild and unspoilt.

I met almost nobody walking, though the forest road I had to take for the last mile was busy with testy drivers who objected to my presence on the tarmac. I ignored them, concentrating on sorting a rendezvous with David when without signal. We were back at our B and B by 8.30, still in time for breakfast. I plan to do a couple more miles on Sunday afternoon, and then it’s a 5am start on Monday. Not ideal, but it will hopefully mean I can do the distance I need before the heat makes it too unpleasant and unhealthy to walk.

We spent a bit of time in Lichfield before driving to the wedding venue near Cardigan, calling in at Aberystwyth en route to see the house I lived as a baby.

No blog tomorrow or Sunday, I’m going to spend time catching up with family and friends. And hopefully giving my troublesome leg the time to repair. Fingers crossed.

Stats

Distance travelled: 5.5 miles

Total ascent: 775 feet

Calories burned: 685

Video of the day

https://www.relive.cc/view/vxOQoWo122q