DAY 42: Bollington to Buxton (13.06m)

Aunt Alison and Barney the dog joined me for the first part of today's walk - through Bollington and to the base of the Saddle of Kerridge.

I leave Alison and head up hill to White Nancy. This folly, which was built in 1817 to commemorate the Battle of Waterloo, looks down over Bollington and features on the town's logo. Whilst normally painted white (as the name suggests), it is periodically repainted to commemorate particular events -  the Jubilee, Olympics, Christmas etc.

The walk up is steep but rewarding with a fantastic view. Reaching the top I see White Nancy itself has just been repainted in solidarity with those affected by the Manchester terror attack.  

I move along, walking atop the Saddle towards Kerridge Hill.

I drop down into the village of Rainow and then another hill.

Up and down hills and tracks and then I have to tackle the ascent up to Pym Chair - I'm definitely in the Peak District now!

And then downhill to Errwood Reservoir.

Then a final ascent to my campsite outside Buxton for the night. 

DAY 41: Jodrell Bank to Bollington (16.03m)

I'm at the Jodrell Bank as soon as it opens for the day. The observatory, founded in 1945, hosts a number of telescopes and is part of the University of Manchester. At it's heart is the giant Lovell Telescope, named after Sir Bernard Lovell, the founder of the observatory. This is the third largest steerable radio telescope in the world and is absolutely beautiful. I've wanted to visit here for quite some time. 

Actually you are allowed them on airplane mode. 

Having wandered around Jodrell Bank for a while I realise that I've got quite a bit of walking to do so better crack on. I walk through the Dingle Bank quarry walking over a seemingly never ending conveyer belt of sand. 

Through the village of Siddington which takes me to Reeds Mere.

Then a bit dollop of very pleasant Cheshire countryside. 

To the fancy village of Prestbury which reminds me a bit of East Dulwich. Current and past residents of Prestbury include Wayne Rooney, Peter Crouch, Carlos Tevez, Michael Carrick, Wes Brown, Owen Hargreaves and Robbie Savage - I think I can see a pattern emerging. 

Cross a few more fields. 

Then after a quick pitstop for a pint sitting outside in the evening sun, I arrive to stay with my Aunt Alison, Uncle Rory, Cousin Edwina and Barney the dog.

DAY 40: Great Budworth to Jodrell Bank (13.75m)

Leaving Great Budworth I past Pick Mere.

Then through well kept villages, over the M6 motorway and past the course of gas pipelines. 

An intriguing sign takes me to the village of Lower Peover.

It has been a day of walking long roads so it's good to have a bit of woodland walking to take me next to Jodrell Bank for the night.  

DAY 39: Runcorn to Great Budworth (13.61m)

Runcorn is a funny place but I like it. A friendly community getting on with things with a tangle of concrete flyovers and bridges looming over their town centre. It's a bit rough round the edges with the centre of town having quite a few boarded up shops.

I leave town along the canal stopping for a rest in joined by a coot family.

The canalside is dotted with wild flowers - Red Campion, Hedge Bindweed, Foxgloves and Brambles. Swans and their cygnets glide by. 

I manage to avoid the threatening weather as I leave the canal. Taking country roads across Cheshire to Belmont Campsite for the night where the owners donate to my fundraising.

DAY 38: Liverpool to Runcorn (20.98m)

I spend three nights in Liverpool exploring the city, visiting the wonderful Catholic Cathedral, wandering around art galleries and staying up to watch the general election results. 

Liverpool - Election Night - 2017

After a night of some drinks in Albert Dock with my pal Laura I'm off.

It's tipping it down when I set off and I clamber into all of my waterproofs but happily after twenty minutes the rain stops. I'm following the path along the Mersey - past the Albert Dock and the Echo area and along a long promenade at Otterspool.

After a good morning's walk, and with a couple of small diversions away from the Mersey, I arrive at the Speke Hall. This Tudor manor house is hidden away right next to the airport.  i wander round the gardens for a while and then go to follow the path which runs between the airport and the water. However after a couple of hundred yards the path is blocked and I turn around to go back to Speke Hall and plot a new route. 

After some deliberation I decide to go north of the airport and through the Speke housing estate, childhood home of Paul McCartney and George Harrison. Speke was built as a new town in 1936 for people from the slums of the south end of Liverpool. However Speke turned out to be a bit of a failure - soulless and cut off from the rest Liverpool by a large induatrial estate and the airport. By the year 2000 it was the second most deprived ward in England and Wales (out of 8414)

Leaving Speke I come to the village of Hale. The contrast within a few hundred yards is astonishing. From the near-identical red brick houses of Speke to the comfortable houses of Hale sitting behind their large gates. Wandering onto the village I stumble across the annual Hale Village Carnival. Having paid my £2 I have a mooch around. 

Hale was home to the legendary John Middleton  (1578–1623) who is reputed to have grown to 9ft 3in tall. The village seems rather fond of their giant ancestor, with a "life-sized" statue and railings around his grave in the churchyard. 

After Hale i cut back onto the coast, joining part of the Trans-Pennine trail. I find evidence that another End-to-Ender has taken this path before. 

I reach the town of Widnes and cross the old bridge to take me into Runcorn. The end of a long, grey but enjoyable days walking.  

DAY 37: Ellesmere Port to Liverpool (13.29m)

I leave the Gladwin's early, heading up the Wirral. Through the residential areas of Great Sutton, Childer Thorton, Hooton and Eastham.

I leave the main road to explore Port Sunlight which was built by Lever Brothers to accommodate workers in it's soap factory. William Lever had a rather paternalistic attitude to his workers saying he wanted to share profits with them but that "It would not do you much good if you send it down your throats in the form of bottles of whisky, bags of sweets, or fat geese at Christmas. On the other hand, if you leave the money with me, I shall use it to provide for you everything that makes life pleasant – nice houses, comfortable homes, and healthy recreation". To be fair though he did build them a lovely village with lots of green space and beautiful Arts and Crafts houses.

At the heart of the village is the Lady Lever Art Gallery - a magnificent showcase for William Lever's extensive collection of painting, sculpture, ceramics and furniture.

I leave Port Sunlight and head further up the Wirral towards Birkenhead. 

As i approach the Mersey at Birkenhead the hunched brick figure of the ventilation tower for the Mersey Tunnel looms ahead. 

I'm at the ferry terminal ready to make the trip across to Liverpool. The ferry has had a repaint designed by Sir Peter Blake as part of the First World War commemorations. The design is inspired by dazzle camouflage (strong complex geometric patterns) painted on ships during the First World War.

WW1 Dazzle Ships

On the PA system a blast of Gerry and the Pacemakers is played and we past the shipyard building Boaty McBoatface (now called RRS Sir David Attenborough). We swing round to face Liverpool and head towards Pier Head and the three graces - the Liver Building, Cunard Building and the Port of Liverpool Building.

A ten minute walk from Pier Head I reach my hostel (£8 a night!).

DAY 36: Chester to Ellesmere Port (9.28m)

A short walk today - a hop, skip and a jump along the canal.

Not so idle! 

I'm walking two days before the general election, through the City of Chester constituency which at the time is the most marginal in the country with a Labour majority of just 93 votes. It's looking good and the canalside properties have come out strongly for Labour (Labour went on to increase their majority to 9,176!).

It's a really blustery day on the Shropshire Union Canal.  

I leave the canal and cut across the M56 to take me into Ellesmere Port. I'm staying with the our family friends the Gladwins - I love the message waiting for me at the house!

DAY 35: Farndon to Chester (10.23m)

Leaving Farndon I pass a massive obelisk commemorating local landowner Roger Barnston. Major Barnston, whose family owned land in the area for more than 600 years, served in the Crimean War. He died in India, at the age of 31, on 23 December 1857 from wounds sustained at the Siege of Lucknow in the Indian Rebellion.

I soon realise that my planned route for the day follows chunks of the Deva Triathlon - I dodge speedy cyclists.

I reach the village of Aldford, passing Blobb Hill, I cross the River Dee at the iron bridge which goes across to land owned by the Duke of Westminster. The current Duke, the 9th richest man in Britain, largely avoided paying inheritance tax (on a fortune of 9 billion) when his father died last year - which prompted calls for a review of the law around inheritance tax. The footpath doesn't venture very far onto the large estate. 

The footpath runs along the river. 

I leave the river at Eccleston, taking the route of the old Roman road into Chester. 

Reaching the city itself and passing the triathlon finish line, I wander through the centre - part historic, part Victorian invention.

The Roman amphitheatre  

DAY 34: Dobson's Bridge to Farndon (16.93m)

I leave my campsite and skirt the edge of the Meres and Mosses wetlands.

I cross a wheat field (so I'm at least as naughty as our Prime Minister). 

The early morning dew soaks my trousers and fills my boots and I squelch along a short section of canal 

I take back roads, past a field of blood red poppies, to the village of Hanmer and it's mere. 

I head north from Hanmer and just outside the village of Tallarn Green I reach exactly 500 miles of walking from Land's End!

The 500 mile point

Over the course of the day I cross the English/Welsh border six times. I'm heading towards the twin settlement of Holt and Farndon for the night (Holt in Wales and Farndon in England, separated by the River Dee).

DAY 33: Shrewsbury to Dobson's Bridge (19.22m)

After a great evening with Nan, and with a hearty breakfast inside me, I set off for the day - first heading into the centre of Shrewsbury.

I head north out of the centre and through a couple of miles of housing, industrial parks and out-of-town shopping outlets. I walk through an underpass (painted with positivity) and I'm into the countryside.

I reach the green fields near Battlefield - the site of the defeat of Henry "Hotspur" Percy's rebel army by Henry IV in July 1403. The battle, the first in which English archers fought each other on English soil, features in Shakespeare's Henry IV, part 1.

Then along back roads to the village of Clive where I stop off for some lunch. 

I then motor on, in the rain, to the small town of Wem (home of the modern sweet pea!)

Leaving Wen it's 4 miles more to my campsite for the night. With the on-going drizzle I'm not looking forward to setting the bivy up. But at the campsite I find a covered BBQ area - a nice dry place to sleep and it's got a TV!

DAY 32: Coalport to Shrewsbury (20.61m)

I retrace my steps along the gorge to Ironbridge, crossing into the town itself then picking up the Severn Way.

As I follow the river I see the lovely red power station towers from the other side.  

Leaving the river I walk up through a small wood called Piner's Coppice, full of the smell of freshly cut wood. 

As I walk I can usually see The Wrekin rising up from the Shropshire plane in the distance. 

A Shropshire phrase goes: "If you can see the Wrekin, it's going to rain. And if you can't see the Wrekin, it's already raining". I can see it but the rain holds off!

Carrying along the Severn Way down quiet country lanes.  

Then, not far from Shrewsbury, a proper riverside walk. Peaceful with a late afternoon sun.  

Into Shrewsbury itself. Passing Lord Hill's Column (taller than Nelson's) and the beautiful Shirehall building designed by Ralph Crowe, the county architect in the mid 1960s. To my Nan's for the night.

DAY 31: Wilderhope Manor to Coalport (14.21m)

For most of the day I am following the Wenlock Edge. This narrow escarpment cuts through the countryside for 19 miles from Craven Arms to Much Wenlock. It was created from a coral reef formed in shallow subtropical seas about 425 million years ago.

I drop off the path to walk into Much Wenlock. 

Dr William Penny Brookes & Baron Pierre de Coubertin (photos: Wikimedia Commons)

This market town is famous for the Wenlock Olympian Games. These games, founded by local boy Dr William Penny Brookes, were the forerunner of the Modern Olympic Games. Baron Pierre de Coubertin visited the Wenlock Games in 1890 and went on to form the International Olympic Committee which created the modern games. One of mascots for the 2012 London Olympics was named Wenlock in honour of the town. 

Selfie with Wenlock

And then through Benthill Edge Wood on the edge of Ironbridge. As I walk through the woods I see glimpses of the red towers of the riverside Ironbridge Power Station. 

"Power Station at Ironbridge 1"  

"Power Station at Ironbridge 2"  

Leaving the woods I arrive at the iron bridge (at Ironbridge), but don't cross it. Follow the gorge to Jackfield.

Then across the footbridge to Coalport and my hostel for the night. 

DAY 30: Ludlow to Wilderhope Manor (16.03m)

After a great Yorkshire wedding weekend I'm back on the road from Ludlow.

"Trout and Tories" (Apperson, English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases: A Historical Dictionary, 1929)

Tories

Trout

I reach the village of Culmington planning to take a rest. Then a guy pops up (who I later found out is called Dennis) who offers a tour of the church.  

Dennis unlocks a door and I half climb, half crawl up a narrow step of stairs. I find myself at the top of the rood screen - the carved wood screen separating the nave from the chancel of the church. At Easter the priest would preach from the top of the rood screen, flanked by choir boys.

Dennis as seen from the top of the rood screen stairs.

Bidding Dennis farewell I head across Corvedale taking a winding road between hills.  

Heading towards the Wenlock Ridge. 

At the ridge I follow a path - all the time with woodland around, or next to me.

I reach the Youth Hostel at the Elizabethan gabled manor house of Wilderhope. A fine hostel.

DAY 29: Leominster to Ludlow (13.28m)

Early morning dew on the fields as I leave Leominster then onto roads heading north. 

When I reach the village of Luston I leave the roads, taking the Herefordshire Trail across farms, churchyards and railway tracks. 

Passing a wireless transmission station in the distance. 

I take part of the old stage coach road (now a footpath), to the outskirts of Ludlow. This road wad replaced by the turnpike road (now the B4361) in 1756.

Across the 15th century Ludford Bridge into the town itself. Then to the railway to catch a train to Yorkshire (via Birmingham) to my friend's Nick & Amy's wedding.

DAY 28: Hereford to Leominster (19.01m)

Rest day in Hereford - washing clothes, sleeping and an organ recital at the cathedral (I lead a rock and roll lifestyle). Mainly stopped in Hereford so I could see the Mappa Mundi - the largest medieval map still in existence.

The Kappa Mundi (photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Detail of Mappa Mundi (photo: Telegraph)

The Chain Library, Hereford Cathedral

An early start on a perfectly shiny May morning. I'm zig-zagging across the countryside, mainly avoiding the two A-roads which head North from Hereford.

I stop for a rest at the village of Burghill with it's memorial to a tragic wartime accident. 

The airmen earlier in 1944 (photo: BBC) 

The walk after Burghill takes me through commercial orchards.

Across more countryside to the village of Canon Pyon where I picked up some local strawberries for lunch. 

A quiet road follows the contours around Burley Hill and then to my guesthouse at Leominster where I meet and chat with Louise and Ashley over cheese and wine. 

DAY 27: Hoarwithy to Hereford (14.66m)

After a few pints the night before with some friendly locals at the New Harp Inn (and a delicious free curry - cheers Adrian!) I have a bit of a lie in. The beginning of today's walk was a difficult one. I head along the footpath beside the River Wye but have to give up pretty soon when my arms and legs get covered in painful stinging nettle rashes. This is obviously not a well-trodden path and I head onto the road.

When the path becomes clearer I follow the river around to an old dismantled railway viaduct.

This is where I face my second issue of the morning: COWS. On my walk so far I have successfully overcome any fear of cows having walked through hundreds of fields of them. However this morning was different, or rather these cows were different. Usually cows just look at you with mild curiosity however these cows started following me and herding around me. I backed away pretty sharpish and retraced my steps back to the road. 

Having not had much success on the riverside path I cut inland and have a much better time of it.  

 And I get a military plane flyover. 

And meet a very friendly little pony.  

And into Hereford. 

DAY 26: Welsh Bicknor to Hoarwithy (10.89m)

A short walk today. I head to the village of Peterstow where I pick up supplies, including homemade samosas, for lunch.

Everything is very neat and ordered around here.  

Lunch itself I have in the churchyard at the deserted little village of Sellack. The church here is the only one in England dedicated to Saint Tysilio (another dedicated church is in Wales at the famous village of Llanfair­pwllgwyngyll­gogery­chwyrn­drobwll­llan­tysilio­gogo­goch). I pop in to have a mooch around. 

Leaving Sellack I cross the, rather bouncy, late 19th century suspension footbridge to take me to King's Caple.

It's been a pleasant but unremarkable days walk until I cross the river again, into the village of Hoarwithy, my destination for the night. Here I see the church of St Catherine's. This is, by far, the favourite church among many that I have visited on my walk. Variously described as Romanesque, Byzantine and Italianate it sits perched on a hill above the village. The open cloister around the side of the church is carved with an array of beasts and patterns. Inside is marble, gold mosaic and a window by William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones.

Postcard of window by Morris and Burne-Jones  

DAY 25: St Briavels to Welsh Bicknor (21.53m)

A day spent in the Wye Valley crossing back and forth between England and Wales.

I walk through large patches of ancient woodland with Yew, Lime and Whitebeam. 

With the River Wye never far away. 

Passing a log with coins embedded in it - perhaps a wishing tree. 

It's League One play-off finals day and I'm gutted not to be at Wembley. The sun is starting to shine and I'm only twenty minutes from the youth hostel so I lay down in the field and follow the match.

Buoyed up by the fantastic result I wander over to the last footbridge to take me across to the hostel at Welsh Bicknor. 

I can see the hostel, it's right across the river. But the footbridge has become unstable and is closed off. So despite being a hundred metres away I have to take a 2 hour/6 mile diversion to reach it!

The broken bridge

DAY 24: Aust to St Briavels (14.45m)

As a teenager I had a picture of the old Severn Bridge on my wall. I recently visited an exhibition about bridge building at the Institute of Civil Engineers to see a massive Lego model based on the old Severn Bridge. So I have been looking forward to walking across this beautiful bridge for a while. 

It's a perfect morning for it. 

Before you reach Wales the bridge crosses a spit of Gloucestershire land housing an army base. The soldiers run around far below.  

And then after a mile I'm in Wales! 

I walk through Chepstow and pick up the Wye Valley Walk. This is, for me, perfect walking. A woodland walk, up high above the river and following the contours (there is even a section which runs through a cave).

And then coming round a corner on the road, in a deep sided wooded valley sits the 12th century Cistercian Tintern Abbey.

I leave Tintern hoping that the coming storm won't break on me.

And then up into the hills heading for Camp Hillcrest in the village of St Briavels, on the edge of the Forest of Dean.  All day I have been hearing the forester accent - a mixture of West Country and Welsh (you can hear some examples here).

Camp Hillcrest is great. Loads of interesting people hanging around; goats, chickens and dogs; an indoor skatepark and loads more. I even chipped in to help paint one of their bunkhouses before settling into my caravan for the night. 

DAY 23: Bristol to Aust (16.55m)

The rain has stopped and the sun is vaguely shining as I leave Clifton, passing the elegant modernist Cathedral, heading into the centre of Bristol.

After a catch up with my pal Alicja I head towards the River Avon to follow it out of town. 

Today is a walk dominated by three bridges and I'm heading towards the first: The Clifton Suspension Bridge. Completed in 1864, to a design by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the bridge sits high spanning the Avon Gorge. 

Passing under the bridge I carry on, River Avon on my left and the constantly busy A4 on my right, until I reach Sea Mills. A short section of suburbia then I reach the liminal landscape between city and estuary. A landscape of light industry, mini wind turbines, flytipping and sewage works. Of power stations, wide grass verges, distribution centres and logistics companies. 

Finally I'm out onto the Severn Estuary. A long walk along the estuary is taking me to the second and third bridges of the day.

Firstly the Second Severn Crossing, inaugurated in 1996, which carries the M4 across to Wales.

I carry on along the estuary.

Keeping sight of the third and final bridge of the day: The Old Severn Bridge. One of my favourites, this Grade I listed bridge was opened by the Queen in 1966.

I cross a couple of fields and through a village and then suddenly I'm crossing the approach road to the bridg,e above the toll booths, to reach my destination for the night. 

Bridge construction