Day 19 - Bolsover to Sheffield

My dad thought it was very funny in a complete shift from ever that I was the one to say we were having breakfast at 7.30am and should be on our way as soon as possible after that and by 8.30am at the latest! Saying the timings out loud was mostly for me and I was just about ready on time! With 19 miles to walk to Sheffield where I was staying with my friend Katie we needed to get going. The cooked breakfast and coffee got us off to a great start, and we made more coffee to take in our flasks as it looked like the first part of our walk crossed quite a few fields, as well as the M1 so we couldn't count on passing a cafe.

There was frost on the ground and ice in places so we walked carefully leaving Bolsover. It felt colder than it had in a few days but another dry and sunny day so no complaints. It was lovely to have the company of my parents for the first 10 miles of the day to Eckington and seeing as we crossed a bridge over the M1 the sign saying The NORTH. My dad uses Komoot the app I'm using to navigate, and it has a feature where you can share a walk in live time, so they've actually been able to track my daily progress from day 1. 

This has been great for me, I feel reassured that someone knows where I am, especially during the occasional moments I've felt isolated or lost my confidence a bit, becoming aware of the fact that I'm on my own with a heavy bag in what can feel like the middle of nowhere. This happens for different reasons some of which are, if I'm tired physically or mentally, when it's getting darker towards the end of a day, if I haven't seen anyone for a while or sometimes if I have seen someone, also being at an overgrown industrial edge of a town/city. I talked about this with my mum as we walked, observing that if I'd been in those same places but at a different time of day, if the sky was blue and I wasn't alone I may have felt different. It's interesting.

With the live tracking it's also nice to receive encouraging messages during more challenging parts and celebratory messages when I reach a destination. It does have a drawback in that it is immediately obvious when I make a wrong turn or can't work out where I'm going and walk round in circles! Once I'm back on track I can see the funny side of the comments sent at these times!

My dad offered to carry my big bag I gratefully accepted and he set a good pace, my mum and I followed chatting! I grew up in Whitby from the age of 9 and many friends came to stay over the years including Ro who loved visiting. He particularly liked getting takeaway fish and chips from The Magpie and going on the tourist boat trips - speed boats and slower boats! Of course there was sea swimming and time on the beach, trips to local places on the coast and moors, along with plenty of coffee and cake in town! 

One of my mum's favourite memories of Ro is in Whitby when she'd made a crumble (with custard - Ro's favourite!). We had all previously been at Greenbelt festival where I'd been trading with Fair Grounds my fair trade business and my parents and Ro along with other friends had helped me set up and run the stall. Ro and I had been at a late night comedy venue and seen a musical performance by a Britain's Got Talent contestant called Lorraine. We had no idea who she was but absolutely loved her song about making crumble it got stuck in our heads and for the rest of the festival we sung it at anyone who would listen (and anyone who wouldn't) including my mum. When my mum brought this crumble to the table she started singing the song to Ro who was as taken aback as I was, and my mum's memory is of his face looking surprised then a smile forming which was given away in his eyes and the corners of his mouth followed by a full smile and laugh of appreciation! 

Ro had a great sense of humour and appreciation of comedy. One of the most precious things in our WhatsApp communication is a voice message of his laugh, I hope I keep it forever. It was in summer 2023 and he'd found a CD in packaging on a street in London, maybe the creator was wanting to share their music or couldn't distribute them any other way. Anyway Ro had picked it up and sent me a voice message as he was listening, so I heard some of the music (in my opinion it wasn't good!) and then he says "right that's enough of that" and laughs! 

One of my dad's favourite memories of Ro is when I was returning to Bradford for my second year of uni and on my Nokia brick phone received a text from him saying "I'm not coming back...." I was pretty upset by this message as we'd become friends and I was looking forward to the year ahead. I kept clicking the down arrow and 6 blank messages later read "....till Thursday!" He had managed to fool me, my dad appreciated the thought that went into the perfect delivery! I remember laughing with Ro about it on that Thursday when we were reunited. Also back in those days when you paid per text it would have cost a bit, but was obviously worth it!

Back to the walk and we needed to use our poles in certain places where the rain had made the gradients slippy with mud, we saw birds which we thought might be gannets. We came to a nature reserve and lake with a large variety of birds and ducks, deciding to sit at a picnic table furthest away from the geese for a coffee stop. The next part was an old railway line, busy with cyclists and walkers. We were almost in Eckington with self-cleaned boots when we crossed an old golf course and entered a horse field not walking far across but the boggy mess of dung and mud was enough to cake our boots in mud all over again! 

Melanie a friend from Manchester was meeting us for lunch, we ate together and then I said goodbye to my parents who got the bus back to Bolsover to continue their journey to the Midlands to visit friends. Melanie and I crossed some fields and then in a wooded area had to walk down the steepest hill of my journey so far. All the fallen leaves helped make it less muddy and a bit easier to get down on our feet! I was carrying both my bags again and Melanie offered to carry my smaller bag which helped a lot. In fact this was one of my longest days in miles but because of the company and not carrying both my bags it seemed to fly by easily. Melanie spoke about her friend Jo who had died and who she wanted to remember while we walked together. It's a privilege to learn about people's friends, listening to stories and hearing about the influence they had and still have in the lives of their loved ones. 

We got to a farm where my app was saying no entry and if I had been on my own I would have turned around and taken a long detour, which I didn't really want to do 16 miles in. This has been the nice thing about walking with others, making decisions I wouldn't have felt confident to on my own. Melanie's OS app showed there was a way through and we started walking, we saw someone working there who ignored us so it must be ok! There was a footpath sign further up but it was overgrown. 

At some point we crossed from Derbyshire into Yorkshire, and since the start of my walk in Brighton I'd been building this moment into a significant occasion as I've spent most of my life in Yorkshire - North, South and West and it feels like home! I don't know what I was expecting but disappointingly there was no big 'welcome to Yorkshire' sign, nobody giving out white roses and cups of tea saying "ey up love, ee by gum you've come a long way from't South!" 

We were on the outskirts of Sheffield as it was getting dark and the sunset was stunning this evening. We said goodbye as Melanie had to get back to Manchester for work and I continued to Katie's house and ate pizza with her, Philip, Arthur and Iris, and was introduced to their very cool pets! I've stayed quite a few times, we've been friends since secondary school and it's always so lovely meeting up and makes me grateful for friendships that go way back. We only had about an hour where it was just the 2 of us, but the catching up went deep which is possible with years of friendship and I really value this. We also laughed a lot too! 

Day 18 - Kirkby in Ashfield to Bolsover

It was nice to open the curtains and see that the rain had stopped, the wind had calmed down and there was blue sky! This far into my walk and with an adjusted reality of what's possible, today was what I now call a shorter day of only(!) 12.25 miles which meant I could enjoy a long sleep and get out of bed around 8am. I had Simon's porridge for breakfast, which was full of seeds and nuts and felt like a great way to fuel the day ahead. He made me an aeropress coffee, I didn't take any in my flask as I wanted to stop in the next town Sutton in Ashfield and buy one. I made myself a packed lunch of hummus salad sandwiches, put on my now dry boots and waterproof trousers for an extra layer of warmth and headed towards Derbyshire just after 10am. 

Another flat walk, partly along an old railway line to the coffee stop! I've been trying to go to independent coffee shops where I can and here found a spacious cafe, busy with local regulars eating and drinking. On walking in I felt the opposite in the welcome I received compared to Leatherhead many miles and blog posts ago! Everyone was very friendly, I had a black coffee and could have stayed longer but I'd only done about 3 miles! 

I really enjoyed the second part of my walk, I ate half my sandwiches on the move realising I'd taken the morning a bit too easy! There was lovely long-shadow sunlight and I was crossing fields and walking on tree lined paths. I decided to follow the map and rather than the road, taking the footpath to Glapwell which crossed 2 fields and was a very muddy mistake! I found a bench and ate the rest of my lunch and was then onto the 3rd route map for the day to my destination of Bolsover. 

I decided to not follow the footpath and instead stay on the road which was quite busy but had a wide grass verge that I could walk along safely. I hadn't been walking long when a car stopped and the driver said 'are you alright duck, do you need a lift or owt?' I said thanks but declined as I didn't have too far to go. The offer of a lift immediately reminded me of time spent with Ro in Ireland. 

Before he got his passport he found out he could travel to Ireland with his provisional driving licence and we went 3 times (it could have been 4 - all the trips blur into each other). A friend in Bradford, Chris, had good friends in Sligo and went often with his family Cat, Clara and Angela. He invited others to come along and I remember being there with Ro, Lavinia, James, Andrew and Helen at different times. Chris's friends were connected to the Methodist church and gave us the keys and free rein of the building which provide us with a perfect base for exploring this beautiful part of the west coast of Ireland! By day we walked, went to the beaches, swam in the sea, climbed hills and by night we went to the pubs to hear live music and once went to what was possibly the only nightclub in Sligo! We also took tents and camped, once in Donegal and once (because we hadn't checked the weather!) in a force 8 gale but then just after midnight the 5 of us got rescued by a woman called Fionnuala from a cottage down the road and it turned into a wonderful night that we never forgot! Ro was very touched by the hospitality from a stranger and even wondered if she was an angel! It made all of us want to be able to offer hospitality to others in the beautiful way that receiving kindness can make you want to pass it on, and we did back in Bradford.

When we were walking, cars sometimes slowed down and offered a lift even without us putting our thumbs out and if we'd walked far we gratefully accepted. One time we did have our thumbs out to hitch a ride back to Sligo but there were 5 of us so we had to split, a man stopped in what is a hazy memory but I think was an open top car and Ro and I took the lift. We got talking and he wanted to show us a stunning part of the coastline so made a diversion but it was totally worth it, we were both blown away by the rocky beauty we were seeing that seemed to stretch for miles, the sky and sea looked dramatic as a backdrop. One of those experiences you're glad someone is there to share it with and you talk about for years after. I feel sadness that I can't talk about it with Ro any more but grateful for the memory and the times we did talk about it. Our friends were worried because for some reason (either too immersed in the moment or more likely, phones with no battery!) we hadn't let them know about the detour and they wondered why we weren't back at the church when they arrived, as we'd taken the first lift. I remember trying with Ro to explain what we'd seen and not doing it justice. 

Part 2 of this story is a return trip to Ireland. I can't remember the details of how Ro and I ended up walking along the part of the coastline that had previously amazed us but there we were. Incredibly happy to be there, seeing it close up, until we reached a field of cows and calves, they however didn't look or sound happy as we started walking past. We made a quick decision that we both agreed was best to walk on the other side of the fence. It was difficult to climb over and the other side was a narrow ledge right on the cliff edge! Both options had risks but we didn't want to face the cows. We were glad when we reached the road to be heading back safely to Sligo. Just one of many Irish adventures!

I was now not far from Bolsover, I could see the M1 in the distance along with some mountain like clouds! I was meeting my parents Ian and Judy, who were walking with me the following day. My mum had booked a BnB and I arrived first. The owner knew about my walk as my mum had mentioned it and so she wasn't surprised to see me with a big bag and muddy clothes. I took my boots off outside and she took me up to my room. As well as running the BnB she is a podiatrist and in my room had left me an electric foot spa and epsom salts! She asked how my feet were doing and I said I hadn't really had trouble with blisters as I put plasters on anything that starts and then they don't bother me. At the end of a day walking 15+ miles my feet are tingling but then always feeling good to go the next day! 

I sat drinking peppermint tea with my feet in the spa and then had a shower. By that time my parents had arrived. It was really lovely to see them and to be able to walk some of this journey with them, as we've done quite a lot of walking together and they had known Ro for many years. They'd also brought some essentials - more coffee bags so I was never in the 10 miles before coffee situation again, dark chocolate and underwear! My sister had sent a gift of chocolate coffee beans and seaweed crisps with them as well! 

We went to a nearby pub for dinner and I ate 3 delicious courses, I'm really noticing how I'm needing to eat more for the energy required each day. We agreed to meet for breakfast at 7.30am as it's a long day of walking tomorrow and I will finally reach Yorkshire! 

Day 17 - Nottingham to Kirkby in Ashfield

As you've probably realised I've fallen behind on these posts, in the evenings I've been talking, eating, sleeping and each day I'm walking. No time for writing! 

I'm happy to say I have reached Bradford, I'm home! I'll be continuing to update the blog over the next few days with a post for each day of my journey because there are stories and memories still to share.

There were 14.5 miles ahead of me today and after my rest day and 2 nights in Nottingham I wondered how I'd feel walking again. It was the first day I'd set off with rain falling. I put waterproofs on, including covers for my rucksacks (first time on this journey) and headed out to walk through the city to the countryside. The first thing I noticed was how warm the air temperature was compared to the previous days walking, it was about 12 degrees and felt balmy! I very quickly had to stop and take some layers off. It also stopped raining before I'd even had a chance to put some music on to give me that boost on a grey day and put a spring in my step which I felt I needed to get myself going again. I had set off after 10am a bit later than planned but it worked out well rain-wise. 

My app told me to go West so of course I got the Pet Shop Boys in my head and walked through Nottingham listening to their music and remembering when Ro and I heard them in passing at Glastonbury and stayed to dance for a while.

My knees felt a bit stiff and I noticed the weight of my bags but I just needed to warm up and quickly found my rhythm again, happy to be back on the road and getting ever closer to Yorkshire. However today did feel like a day I needed to just get through.

After all the rain the previous day there was a lot of water at the side of the road and a few car drivers decided to intentionally drive fast through the water to splash me, it happened 3 or 4 times. I've experienced this before in Bradford and depending on how I'm feeling can make me angry or upset but also sad that people think it's ok or funny to do it. It's worse if I'm heading out somewhere, but today I felt I was one up on these drivers because I was FULLY WATERPROOFED! In my head, and possibly out loud I said (with some extra swearing!) 'bring it on, it doesn't bother me at all'

John had made me coffee before I left, one to drink with breakfast and one for the road. I was going to stop in a park for a drink but weirdly a large group of pigeons decided to start following me, even though there was someone putting food down for them a few metres away. I didn't want their company so carried on through the park and stopped on a bench near some shops just as it started raining again, but more like drizzle. Continuing through houses, I walked down an alleyway and suddenly was in fields. I passed a few dog walkers and asked one which path I should take as they were parallel. He said the left was the bridleway for horses and would be muddy so I should take the other. I hadn't gone far when a small fly flew directly into my open eye! I wasn't able to wash my hands and with no mirror didn't want to go digging around to try and get it out. I poured some water in my eye, but could still feel it in there, it wasn't bothering me much so I carried on. The paths were really easy to follow and a mix of open fields and woods.

At 2pm I realised I needed to eat lunch so found a wall next to a road that was low enough to sit on and ate the delicious leftovers from last night's feast! Some refreshment stops are picturesque and some are just practical. I couldn't spend too long there and I'm sure the location helped me move on quickly! I still had 5.5 miles to go and it felt like a day where it never really got light and would soon get dark. There was also some elevation which I was happy about but with my big bag could slow me down. I walked up quite a steep hill to a moor area then down and along an old railway line which was muddy in places. I listened to podcasts and music as I needed some external input today.

This was an old mining area and I passed reminders of the machinery, community and history of these places. I'm grateful that this walk has taken me through so many areas of the country I've never heard of and might never have seen. That's the beauty of Slow Ways, I planned my route based on 4 specific locations and the rest a random mix taking me North in the most direct off-road route possible .

For the final stretch into Kirkby in Ashfield I decided to change the route and stick to roads, and on reaching my hosts for the night - Janet, Simon, Heather and Abi - Janet told me I had made a good decision as she knew the path I would have taken and said it would have been very muddy! The last 3 miles I walked in heavy rain. Part of me regretted not setting off an hour earlier from Nottingham as I would have had more light rain in the morning but not encountered the downpour of the early evening.

I can't complain because having walked around 2/3 of my total distance and only had 3 miles of heavy rain is pretty incredible. Also on reaching my destination I rang the bell and entered the porch to a warm welcomed by Janet and Simon who before I'd even removed my boots had taken the rain covers off my bags and my waterproofs away to start getting them dry! Hot drinks, pizza and conversation followed, about sewing and knitting, walking, walking gear and the world in terms of travelling and politics. 

Before we ate I took a shower and remembered the fly in my eye from 8 miles ago! I looked in the mirror and it was still there! It hadn't caused any irritation and I removed it easily and slept well later that night.