The North Cheshire Way – My walk not without it’s challenges…
So, as most of you know I had planned the walk to start on July 6 th and conclude on the 14 th but slight mishap on the 2 nd day put those plans a tad awry…
The walk started off perfectly with two trusted Nordicers. We stumbled across the most amazing coffee stop on that first morning which lifted our spirits no end and we finished off the first day at Crabwell Hall Manor where I stayed overnight. And yes, you guessed it – we just had to have a swift bevvy before Marjan and Tessa made their weary way home.
The second day started off well. Weather was good and I was into my stride really quickly until facing a mountain of overgrown horrendous nettles, giant hogweed (yes I had the blister to prove it!) and brambles. I was ripped to shreds – pushed on as roadworks behind me left me with no option. I eventually crawled under a hedge to escape the siege of overgrowth.
Thereafter if anyone remembers the film ‘Field of Dreams’ I found myself walking through fields of maize which morphed my 5’6”+ and into more dense horrendous overgrowth. Could this day get any worse – oh yes it did!!
So thereafter, slightly off my route and walking innocently through a farm came across the owner and two dogs. One restrained and the other sheepdog collie barking madly at me. I checked I wasn’t trespassing – we got into a pleasant conversation and before I knew it… Yes – the bite! Ouch – put the end to that day’s walking. Ended up at Victoria Infirmary in Northwich (who are amazing by the way) having a tetanus injection and wound washed with Iodine – not nice. Bandaged up and sent home with instructions to keep it elevated for at least 36 hours. And it only occurred to me later that the owner never offered any help or support (apart from a plaster)…, so I had to soldier on to the rendezvous point where I was meeting a friend who had planned to join me in the afternoon.
Apart from that and several downpours (the weather really wasn’t very kind) I managed to
eventually complete the walk on 29 th July accompanied by Ian, Helen & Mary. The Zamir foundation having heard about my tribulations tried to persuade me not to continue – but I had made a commitment to my donors and it just wouldn’t have sit comfortably with me not to complete it and I did manage to have two bottles of champagne, the first on the ‘technically’ last day with one of my oldest and dearest friends (50 years!) on what should have been the last day, and a second on the actual last day – so not all lost.
So a great big THANK YOU to everyone who supported me financially and joining me on the
expedition. And of course a big THANK YOU to Bev who guided me through some of the pitfalls and taught me how to use OS maps – thank you again Bev. I’ve raised a stonking £2.5k+ – just waiting for JustGiving to take their cut – bast…s…, and I’ll round up the final tally and arrange to hand over the donation to Zabi, one of the founding brothers who just happens to live in Stoke-on-Trent now. The two brothers who run the foundation saw the writing on the wall and decided to leave Afghanistan and run their charity from the UK and the US before the Taliban takeover.
Your donations truly help to transform the lives of some very vulnerable children and Zabi has indicated that with this next donation they may be able to open a second orphanage – wouldn’t that be amazing!!
THANK YOU!!
North Cheshire Nordic Walking 