We parked near the station and walked carefully down a road as some of the ground was icy, arriving at an old railway line, part of the Trans Pennine Trail which would take us most of the way to Barnsley. It was nice to be able to chat and walk without navigating. Hannah had really wanted to walk with me and we'd been determined to make it happen, so we were pleased to be there together. Ro and Hannah got on well, both with strong artistic ability and a passion for design, appreciating each others skills. Ro would always suggest Hannah if he heard of someone looking for a graphic designer, and Hannah would send online courses and programmes for Ro to develop in these areas knowing how he loved learning.
It was also Hannah and I who travelled with Ro when he finally had a passport and took his first trip which was on the Eurostar to Amsterdam in August 2014. We were going for our cousin's wedding and thought we'd make a few days of it and asked Ro if he wanted to come, of course he was up for it! After meeting at St Pancras, Ro bought strawberries and cream to enjoy on the train as he left the UK. We had a wonderful time doing touristy things, went on a canal boat ride, visited Anne Frank's house, worked out the difference between cafes and coffee shops and decided we wouldn't hire bikes that didn't have an obvious way of braking! But also as Hannah reminded me, one day we spent a couple of hours in a park just playing around and taking lots of photos, jumping off things, climbing things, having fun, enjoying each others company in the late afternoon sun. I'm glad we have that memory and the photos to bring it clearly back, I smile when I look at them. It could seem like a waste of time when there are parks everywhere but only certain things to see in Amsterdam, a place none of us had been to before. There's doing and there's being and in that spontaneous moment we were very much being and I consider it time well spent. Our trip was marred by the racism Ro experienced from UK border security in London as he re-entered the country he'd only ever left once, 4 days earlier. Hannah and I walked easily through thinking Ro was just behind us, we turned around and saw him still at the desk being questioned and having his passport carefully examined.
Back to the walk the sky was blue, there were patches of frost the sun hadn't yet touched, and we passed quite a few people on this well used path. It was an easy walk and we came off the railway line turning left uphill towards Barnsley. In places it became narrow and muddy and I appreciated the brick wall at the back of some houses which I leant on with both hands to move sideways with my feet stretched over the mud!
Hannah had wanted to come to the Sheffield evening gathering to remember her friend Sarah, but hadn't been able to due to work, so as we walked she shared the qualities she appreciated in Sarah, and the friendship she had shown to Hannah and what that meant. We discovered that Sarah and Ro had something in common, both liked watching Gilmore Girls! After the muddy footpath we crossed a road and walked through a lovely park with views down towards Barnsley. We arrived in good time for a Wetherspoons toilet stop and Hannah to catch the train back to her car. I had a quick pause, to enjoy the coffee in my flask and continued walking a couple of miles to the pub. On the way I listened to a song that has been with me on this journey, the lyrics resonate powerfully 'Song With No Name' by Johnny Flynn and Robert Macfarlane. It's so nice when plans work out perfectly, I arrived first and waited on a bench as Hannah's car pulled in just a couple of minutes later.
My lunch stops have mostly been quick, often outside on a wall or bench and even occasionally on the move. Sometimes I've eaten in but never let myself get too comfortable or stay too long, because there's always more walking to do and limited daylight. But today I'd decided lunch would take as long as it took and we'd enjoy it! This was good as it was busy, but worth the wait. I had a double falafel burger and chips which were very tasty and provided the energy I needed to power me on. I made a decision taking into account the time and the miles remaining to miss out the next section, instead Hannah would drop me at the end of that part and I'd walk the 5.5 miles to my overnight stop.
I gave Hannah a hug, put on my big rucksack which had been in the car boot all day, waved goodbye and hoped she had driven off and not noticed me taking a while to find the right path out of the shopping outlet car park! I decided I didn't like the way the map directed and could take a parallel route next to a beck so I wandered around looking for the path, after which it was straight forward. Entering Wakefield felt very familiar, although I hadn't walked from that side before I was soon at a place I recognised. I crossed a bridge over the river as the sun was getting lower and looked over to watch it for a moment and realised it was setting behind the Hepworth gallery.
My most memorable visit there was with Ro, and Lucy who had been visiting from Haywards Heath in 2018. We'd gone on one of the final days of the Anthony McCall Solid Light Works exhibition which was amazing, and again thinking of being in the moment and playing and having fun, the space leant itself to that.
I remembered Ro's wolverine photo and would like to mention here his love of superheros! He loved to watch, read or listen to anything about people with powers. I have his top 8 because one Christmas when Woody, Ro and I lived in Leeds, Woody wanted to get Ro a present of framed images of his favourites, and asked me to find out who was on his list other than Superman who we knew was his number 1. I told Ro there was something going round on twitter asking for lists and I was interested to know his:
1. Superman
2. Batman
3. Xavier
4. Wolverine (superhealing)
5. Magneto
6. The Sentry (like Superman)
7. Hulk
8. Spider-Man
I carried those memories with me as I walked through the city centre and out again to Terri's house. I worked with Terri in the Box Office at Leeds Playhouse and we became good friends and like so many people she was shocked and upset when Ro died despite only having met him a few times, she had really liked him. It's something I've heard a lot, he made a big impression on people who maybe only met him once and I'm not sure he always realised how much of a positive presence he had.
Terri was on her way home from work when I arrived around 5pm and had thoughtfully left me a key so I could let myself in to the warm and make myself a cup of tea. I haven't seen her many times since Ro died and it was emotional, but I was so happy to be there, and after 13 miles today I've reached West Yorkshire! We caught up and after I'd had a shower went to a vegan Chinese takeaway which she'd been wanting to try and thought this was the perfect opportunity. We ate and talked about grief, death, love, families, there was laughter and tears. We watched some TV, I ate a mince pie and went to bed.