A Bit of a Walk

Of all the insane things myself and Steven have done, what we did on Sunday probably ranks fairly highly. In order to get myself out of having to do the London to Brighton Cycle ride, which Steven helpfully volunteered me to do, saying he'd see me off and pick me up at the end, I decided to find us something we could do together. So, when somewhere around Christmas, we had a batch of leaflets advertising The Sarsen Trail walk in Wiltshire, it seemed ideal.

The Sarsen Trail is a 26 mile walk from the stone circle at Avebury to Stonehenge, through some of Wiltshire's most beautiful scenery and across parts of Salisbury Plain owned by the Ministry of Defence and not normally open to the public. That was enough to get my interest and make it worthwhile, and at some point I managed to persuade Steven it was a good idea and so we sent off our entry money.

It's quite an undertaking. I tend to have to walk everywhere as I don't drive, but that usually consists of the mile walk to work every morning and lots of running around while I'm there. For Steven, who works in the middle of nowhere and has a rather more sedentary job than I do, this isn't an option. We tried to go for a few longish walks over the past few weeks, but with the weather being predictably dire, we didn't have much success. So we weren't all that prepared, but we were still going to give it our best shot.

So Sunday arrived. We were up very early, as we needed to be at Stonehenge to catch the coach to Avebury at 7.30 (thinking we'd need all the time we could to get this done!). There was thick fog all the way, which worried us. The weather had been wet and cold for most of the previous week, so we'd packed waterproofs and umbrellas just in case. The fog was so thick at Stonehenge that as we pulled into the car park we couldn't even see the stones, which lie just across the road. It was cold and damp out, and we were both feeling some trepidation at the expedition ahead of us. Still, we signed in, got on the coach, where Steve took the last opportunity to have a bit of shut eye before it all began.

We arrived at Avebury (which is a pretty village and the stones are far more accessible and less exploited than those at Stonehenge) at 8.10. We took the opportunity to go to the loo while we could and bought ourselves a pack of Polos and a hat each as the sun began to peep out from between the clouds. We signed in at 8.18 and set off on our way.

The first few miles were deceptively easy. We picked our way through the other walkers, overtaking a lot of them and setting a good pace. The first part of the course up to Redhorn Hill was by far the most varied of the day. We walked through villages, across fields and up and down some hills. There were some spectacular views to be had that made it worthwhile. Just being out there looking out across a vista of fields that rolled on as far as the eye could see, with just the bleating of sheep and the chatter of the other walkers nearby to be heard was bliss. Its certainly very different to the places we both live. We'd walked 6 miles by 9.45 when we got to the first sign in checkpoint and it still felt good as we tried not to slip down the wet grassy hill.

After this we eat the cookies we'd packed. This might have been a mistake as it meant when we got to the next village, where there was a barbeque set up cooking bacon rolls we decided against them. We debated whether that was wise for the rest of the day! Anyway we carried on through the muddy fields trying to avoid the ever present ruts and twist our ankles, over styles, across a railway track (which wasn't even fenced off which surprised me somewhat. Maybe things are different in the country after all) and then along some single track roads towards Redhorn Hill.

You could tell were coming up to the military owned land, as there was the ever present sound of guns being fired. This, of course, inspired the Doctor Who fan to mutter in my best Scottish accent "blowing the occasional chunk out of the earth keeps them amused." Well it helped pass the time. The miles were counting down backwards, which pleased us immensely; it matched our curious decision made way back to watch Doctor Who backwards together. You know what its the simple things that make you smile some days. Anyway, the sun was shining down on us by now and we were really thankful for the hats and getting to the top of the hill was a bit of a struggle, but we got there and that marked the halfway point of the course. 11.35 and we'd done really well, even the marshal told us so. We had a sit down and ate what little food we'd brought with us (we stupidly hoped that there'd be a pub or a shop where we could buy something to eat, but we were mistaken) and then set off for the last half.

We'd guessed that the last half would be more difficult. We were right in every way. The scenery was less varied that in the first half for a start. We were well into the MOD land now, and on a long stony track. The land was just as hilly, but the scenery didn't seem quite as stunning. Maybe it was just the fatigue setting in. We got through for many miles by playing silly games and one long round of I went to the shops and I bought... lasted us a mile, and made us laugh when the woman walking in front of us remembered the 2 lamb chops Steven had forgotten!

We'd done another 5.5 miles by 1.20, taking us to 17 miles. We had to stop for a while at the checkpoint and then again at the next water stop which came a couple of miles later (spookily Steven had predicted its location a couple of hours earlier!) and another sit down was required. We hot our stride for a couple of miles after that. Despite the sun and the fact we were getting a bit burnt by now, we were in good spirits and the nineteenth mile was a breeze comparatively. We were very fond of the nineteenth mile as it was possibly the last of the good miles. Everything after that was a bit of a chore. We had to have a few more breaks as our joints became more and more weary.

The final check in point was at 20.5 miles, which we'd reached by 3.23pm. 5.5 miles to go. The last few miles hurt and I mean really hurt. We trudged up yet another hill and my hips were beginning to really ache. Its bizarre. I expected my feet to be sore (which they were) and maybe my calves and thighs but I didn't expect the searing pain in my hips. Ah well, it was a surprise if nothing else. There was always the possibility that we'd be get to the top of the next hill and spy Stonehenge, but it didn't seem to come. We weren't happy and humming Air songs and half hearted attempts at banter weren't much use now.

The last two miles were the killers. It was great to finally see Stonehenge in the distance, but Steven was wearing his sunglasses and couldn't see it. We trudged on together, both wishing for a hug to buck up our spirits which we couldn't share. Only the thought of the free drink and cake at the end kept us going.

And come it did in the end. With relief we reached the finishing line at 4.48, meaning we'd done the walk in 8.5 hours. We were really pleased with that! It was quite an achievement that didn't really sink in for a while. it was such a relief to be tucking into the cake (well Steven had a muffin and I had some flapjack) and not having to walk that not even the medal really helped much that point!

Well despite the crippling agony in our legs and on our sunburnt arms, it was more than worth it. We had a great day and the stunning scenery for the first miles was fantastic. It was a wonderful thing to share and we'd do it again next year. But next time we'll be stopping for the bacon rolls!