By Nick, in which we close the loop
So far our training walks - both of them: home to Market Harborough and Market Harborough to Welford - have been single day-walks with plenty of rest in between. Obviously, when we walk the Thames Path, we'll be walking one day then getting up again the next and walking again, and again, and again. So, to replicate that pattern a bit, we decided to do this double-day walk, and, at the same time, close the loop by walking from Welford to Watford on Saturday, followed on Sunday by walking from Watford back home again.
From Welford, following the Jurassic Way, we walked through some woods on the top of a small hill, then down, across a recently planted field to a bridge over the Old Union Canal, a few miles along from where we turned off on the Welford Branch last time, and followed it for the rest of our walk to Watford.
Along the way we saw more lovely countryside, adorned by those looked-forward-to markers of Spring: baby lambs, baby cows and baby rabbits. Actually, we saw this last baby animal on day two, but, as Juli would say, you have to have a list of three. Back on day one, we also spotted a narrowboat bearing the owner's name Woodhouse. Juli's best friend, Marion is Marion Woodhouse, and her father was apparently born (on a barge / narrowboat) to a bargee family. We wondered if maybe the boat we saw was owned by another branch of her family.
We seemed to be making excellent, even better than expected progress, apparently covering over seven miles in under two hours, so we stopped to have our lunch when we came upon a handy canal-side bench, feeling rather pleased with ourselves. However, as with most things that seem too good to be true, our too-good-to-be-true rate of progress turned out to be a miss-reading of my GPS route mapping gadget, which I had some how set to metric and was actually showing us that we had come just seven kilometres, or a bit less than five miles, with, therefore, about eight miles still to go.
In another three miles, we made it as far as Crick Marina, at which point we had to leave the towpath and detour through the town itself. This is because just ahead of us was the Crick Tunnel, through which there is no towpath. While we were there, we took the opportunity to whet our whistles at the Wheatsheaf inn before finding our way along a lane and a. Farm track back to the towpath on the other side of the tunnel.
After a bit more walking, we passed first under the mainline railway bridge, followed shortly thereafter by the M1 road bridge, before finally reaching Watford locks, a flight of seven locks that carry boats down hill from the Old Union Canal the same way that the Foxton locks carry boats up to it, and in fact there was to have been a similar inclined plane lift to the one at Foxton here too. From the locks, it was just a short walk to the pub where our wedding reception was held twelve and a half years ago and the end point of day one.
With that sorted, we drove back to the pub by the canal in Watford. When we got married, it was called the Stags Head. Shortly after it became the Thai Garden. Since then it's been the Mango Lounge and the Spice Lounge. It's closed at the moment, but a poster on the door advertises the forth coming opening of a future incarnation as an Indian restaurant.
Our route today was entirely on roads to get a feel for pavement pounding for a day. Unfortunately, this also meant that we didn't see very much of note, but we did pass through some very pretty little villages. From Watford we walked passed our old front door to Long Buckby, then, via a busy A road - rather too busy for our liking - to East Haddon, where we stopped at the Red Lion for a drink and to eat our packed lunches. We were impressed by the Red Lion, and before we left we booked in for lunch on May Day, when Juli's mum will be staying with us.
From East Haddon we moved on to Holdenby - pronounced Holby by the locals (but no one else) - home to historic Holdenby House and falconry. After Holdenby came lovely Teeton followed by Creaton then Cottesbrooke and home. Over the two days, we walked about 25 miles. Taking the four days of our practice walks together, we've walked about 50 miles and expended about 4,000 Kcals. To celebrate we ate cream cakes.
So far our training walks - both of them: home to Market Harborough and Market Harborough to Welford - have been single day-walks with plenty of rest in between. Obviously, when we walk the Thames Path, we'll be walking one day then getting up again the next and walking again, and again, and again. So, to replicate that pattern a bit, we decided to do this double-day walk, and, at the same time, close the loop by walking from Welford to Watford on Saturday, followed on Sunday by walking from Watford back home again.
Day 1
Well, we certainly had a lovely weekend for it. Our starting point was just over the road from the pub where we ended up last time. Making our way through the village of Welford, we noticed they have a sweet little Pocket Park featuring a number of carved statues including, for some reason one of Postman Pat.From Welford, following the Jurassic Way, we walked through some woods on the top of a small hill, then down, across a recently planted field to a bridge over the Old Union Canal, a few miles along from where we turned off on the Welford Branch last time, and followed it for the rest of our walk to Watford.
Along the way we saw more lovely countryside, adorned by those looked-forward-to markers of Spring: baby lambs, baby cows and baby rabbits. Actually, we saw this last baby animal on day two, but, as Juli would say, you have to have a list of three. Back on day one, we also spotted a narrowboat bearing the owner's name Woodhouse. Juli's best friend, Marion is Marion Woodhouse, and her father was apparently born (on a barge / narrowboat) to a bargee family. We wondered if maybe the boat we saw was owned by another branch of her family.
We seemed to be making excellent, even better than expected progress, apparently covering over seven miles in under two hours, so we stopped to have our lunch when we came upon a handy canal-side bench, feeling rather pleased with ourselves. However, as with most things that seem too good to be true, our too-good-to-be-true rate of progress turned out to be a miss-reading of my GPS route mapping gadget, which I had some how set to metric and was actually showing us that we had come just seven kilometres, or a bit less than five miles, with, therefore, about eight miles still to go.
In another three miles, we made it as far as Crick Marina, at which point we had to leave the towpath and detour through the town itself. This is because just ahead of us was the Crick Tunnel, through which there is no towpath. While we were there, we took the opportunity to whet our whistles at the Wheatsheaf inn before finding our way along a lane and a. Farm track back to the towpath on the other side of the tunnel.
After a bit more walking, we passed first under the mainline railway bridge, followed shortly thereafter by the M1 road bridge, before finally reaching Watford locks, a flight of seven locks that carry boats down hill from the Old Union Canal the same way that the Foxton locks carry boats up to it, and in fact there was to have been a similar inclined plane lift to the one at Foxton here too. From the locks, it was just a short walk to the pub where our wedding reception was held twelve and a half years ago and the end point of day one.
Day 2
Before we could start Sunday's walk, we had to sort out a problem left over from Saturday. When we went back to get my car from Welford, Juli noticed that one of its tyres was on the flat side. By the following morning, it was flat, so we had to make a quick dash to Halfords in Daventry for a foot pump.With that sorted, we drove back to the pub by the canal in Watford. When we got married, it was called the Stags Head. Shortly after it became the Thai Garden. Since then it's been the Mango Lounge and the Spice Lounge. It's closed at the moment, but a poster on the door advertises the forth coming opening of a future incarnation as an Indian restaurant.
Our route today was entirely on roads to get a feel for pavement pounding for a day. Unfortunately, this also meant that we didn't see very much of note, but we did pass through some very pretty little villages. From Watford we walked passed our old front door to Long Buckby, then, via a busy A road - rather too busy for our liking - to East Haddon, where we stopped at the Red Lion for a drink and to eat our packed lunches. We were impressed by the Red Lion, and before we left we booked in for lunch on May Day, when Juli's mum will be staying with us.
From East Haddon we moved on to Holdenby - pronounced Holby by the locals (but no one else) - home to historic Holdenby House and falconry. After Holdenby came lovely Teeton followed by Creaton then Cottesbrooke and home. Over the two days, we walked about 25 miles. Taking the four days of our practice walks together, we've walked about 50 miles and expended about 4,000 Kcals. To celebrate we ate cream cakes.
