Tue 29th Dec 2009 - Leg 3 : Willian to Codicote 11.8 miles

This was the section of the walk for mud-larks. The day dawned wet with a bitter north easterly wind. It did not improve! However, full of Christmas cheer, Peter and Barbara Mitton, Guy Garfit, his daughter Helena, her boy friend Richard and the dog Ginny, Sandra Scott, John Kelly, Jim Webb, Neil Guttridge, Chris Hardy and me (David Izod) set off.

We got lost near to Cardinal Wolsey’s palace, who famously fell out with Henry VIII, had a dice with death crossing the A602 dual carriageway and pressed on regardless. Why the reference to mud-larks? Well, the farmers plant up their winter crops with scant regard to a public footpath expecting you to walk over the field in the right direction. Because it is newly ploughed each of picked up a hundred weight of mud on each boot by the time we crossed it!

We passed the church of St Paul’s Walden and later the ornate house of St Paul’s Walden Bury, where the late Queen Mother was christened and reputedly born, respectively. A little further on having ploughed our way through another obligatory mud bath where the River Mimram had overflowed its banks, we arrived at the village of Whitwell. We lunched at the Red Lion. We could not be served food in the pub because we had a dog with us but we were allowed to eat our own food sat outside in the pouring rain under the smokers canopy.

Suitably refreshed, we made our way onwards through fields and old parkland, crossed a classical bridge over a dried up ornamental lake then followed the Mimram through to Codicote, arriving just at sunset.

We certainly earned our sponsorship money this day but we had a lot of laughs along the way, observed huge piles of empty bottles outside houses indicating that they had had a good Christmas, and had the satisfaction of the achievement of another leg.

David Izod

St. Mary's, Great Wymondley

Ruins of Minsden Chapel

Built in 14th century as a chapel of ease for pilgrims going to St Albans.

More about this chapel may be found at

www.haunted-britain.com/Haunted_England_Home_Counties.htm

Grave of Reginald Hine, historian, buried at Minsden Chapel

Read more about him at the above link.

President David cleaning his boots in a puddle

Crossing the A602

Sun 29th Nov 2009 - Leg 2 : Wallington to Willian 11.4 miles

On Sunday morning at 9.30 a.m. President David and I with our leader Jim Webb and Sandra Scott returned to Wallington having parked one car at Manor Farm car park near Willian. On the way we picked up Sandra’s mum, Carol, near Sandon. The awful overnight weather improved so that we started off in the dry.

Underfoot we were constantly coping with sodden fields and pools.

We visited the churchyard at Weston to pay our respects to the legendary giant Jack-O-Legs whose remains rest in the graveyard. He was a robber of travellers who before he was executed by the men of Baldock requested to be buried wherever his arrow, which he shot from his bow, fell. His arrow glanced off the church tower at Weston and landed in the churchyard. Some feat as Baldock is three miles away!

Killing time in the churchyard allowed us to arrive just as The Red Lion opened at noon. Fortunately we were carrying our own vitals and only needed ale from this sad pub. We were its only customers.

There was little of note as we progressed from Weston to Chesfield except for-

Before Gravely we had great views of Stevenage and the Lister Hospital through the falling rain. It came down quite heavily for thirty minutes but after 2.00ish it eased up enough for us to be able to converse with one another again. We were relieved finally to reach the car at Willian at 3.45 in pretty murky weather. We had a sense of achievement and felt we had well and truly earned our sponsorship.

Only another 170 miles to go......

John Kelly