Walking England six feet first

Left to Right: Bill Wichard, Jane and Steve Hindsman.

The group now affectionately known as " Whichard's Wanderers" recently returned from another trek in the Mother Country with Lord Winston's Walking Tours. Ken Ward, our guide on seven such walks, is writing a novel entitled Six Feet to Land's End. The book follows the adventures of three men ( hence, six feet) who for various reasons set for themselves the task of walking 250 miles from Cheltenham to Land's End, the most westerly point of England. Ken and his wife (and business partner) Margaret invited us to join them for a ten-day walk of approximately 75 miles that roughly follows the early sections of the route taken by the three characters in the book: Budge, Twirly and the Major.

Having walked with the Wards on six previous occasions, we were quite confident that joining Budge, Twirly and the Major for a portion of their

jaunt would be adventuresome, educational, and just plain fun. Thus, thirteen of us ( not six feet, but twenty-six) signed up, and we now have certificates stating that we " walked the Cotswolds, Mendips, and Dartmoor in 2007 with Lord Winston." Steve and Jane Hindsman were the only other Clay County folks who joined us for this one. Clem and Carolyn Patton, newcomers to our group but Lord Winston veterans with sixteen prior treks, hail from nearby Highlands.

Once again, the Sentinel has invited me to share some of our adventures with its readers, and I am happy to do so. Sunday, Monday, June 3-4, 2007 our daughter Ida and her family live about a ten- minute drive from Raleigh-Durham Airport. We left our car at their house, and Ida, accompanied by our granddaughter Thessaly, took us to the airport. We arrived at 4: 20 p.m. for a 6:35 p.m. flight. It was a leisurely Sunday after- noon at the airport, and the check-in routine went smoothly and quickly. Our over night flight to London was also routine.

We landed at London's Gatwick Airport on schedule at 6:55 a.m. Monday ( Their time, five hours ahead of ours). The Gatwick Express took us to Victoria Station; and a cab ride brought us from there to The Phoenix Hotel, a Best Western which would provide our overnight lodging. Fortunately, we were able to get into our room ( this is not always the case), and we took advantage of it for an hour and ten minutes " drop down". We then walked to the Paddington Station area for lunch at Garfinkle's, one of our favorite restaurants from our time in this area before and after our Exmoor walk in 2004.

London offers an abundance of two-hour ( approximately) guided walking tours, which are an excellent way to fill brief gaps in schedules. We had started toward the underground ticket window when a very nice young man handed us two one-day passes, stating that he was through using them and we were welcome to them. We used them to go to the St. Paul's Cathedral station, where we disembarked and had about an hour to wander around the Cathedral grounds and the general area. "London's Secret Village" was the title of our walking tour, led by a wonderful older ( by appearance, at least) woman named Jean. The pamphlet description of the tour depicts it well:

"The ancient hidden village of Clerkenwell clings to a hillside only stone's throw away from St. Paul's Cathedral. Its very name- the clerks' or students' spring- is redolent of antiquity; and this tiny hamlet serves up brimming draughts for the deep well of its history. Mystery plays and plagues pits; riots and rookeries; body snatchers and bombings; jousting and jesters; bloodshed and burnings; monks, murder and medicine; Clerkenwell has a tale or two to tell. Tracing its narrow alleyways and ancient squares, we take in here a Norman church; there a magnificent Tudor ( 1485-1603) gateway; round the corner a venerable charter house, London's only surviving medieval monastic complex, let alone Hercule Poirot's London flat.

Perhaps the most interesting part to me was Jean's lively rendition of Charles Dickens' account of the boy OLiver Twist coming to the area and falling into the bad company of The Artful Dodger. The tube that returned us to the Paddington Station area was crowded. From the Paddington tube station we walked to Darlington House, where Steve and Jane Hindsman were staying. We saw Jane Briefly and agreed to meet for dinner at 5:30 at the Nearby Aberdeen Steak House. Gary and Martha Clodfleter, Steve's sister and brother-in-law, also joined us. For Leona and me its was a 46th wedding anniversary dinner.

The Hindmans and Clodfelters had made their theater plans for the leaving before leaving the U.S. ( the play " Wicked") Wisely, Leona and I decided we should yield to the inevitable jet lag and not attempt that. I collapsed at 8:45 and quickly went to sleep. I awoke at 12:15 a.m., took a while to reenter the arms of Morpheus, but then slept soundly until 6:45 a.m. wake-up call. Next week: Cheltenham Spa.

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