From: Colton to Rocester
Distance: 13m / 20.8km
Cumulated distance: 462m / 743
Percentage completed: 44.9
Today I did not want to get up. The combination of wind and driving rain at the window and every little bodily niggle competing for attention pulled against setting out for the 15 mile walk. I’ve also come to the conclusion that measuring distances on a map is not my strongest point. Almost every day since leaving the national trails, the number of miles I thought I should be covering has been wrong .. and wrong in the wrong way. Gentle reader, you’ve probably realised that I put in the stats for each day before even leaving Sydney. The route wasn’t going to change so I felt comfortable doing that. All the accommodation had been booked, so I have no choice in my journey each day. And as I really don’t know how to change the stats in real-time, so that they roll over into the following days, I have to stick with the figures that were initially recorded .. not what they actually are! Appears Nigel was right .. I will end up walking closer to 3000kms!
The upshot of this technical error is that each day I feel distrustful of the distance I’ve planned to walk. It makes for quite a negative feeling. Once I get to the Pennines I know that I’ll be fine as I’ll be using the distances carefully recorded by the good National Trail people. Not long now but it does mean that I was very reluctant to leave the breakfast table this morning. As well as my creaking knees, my dodgy Achilles playing up, the tendonitis in my fingers, tight calves, aching feet .. all saying they deserved to stay in bed. Ugh.
When we arrived in Colton yesterday evening we had a fabulous welcome. There were swathes of daffodils absolutely everywhere. When I mentioned it to the people at Ye Olde Dun Cow this morning, they told me that for several years two of the villagers have made it their mission to make Colton known for having the highest number of daffs of any village in the country. They haven’t hit Wikipedia yet but I can’t imagine it will be long. Wished I’d taken a photo. Instead I’m treating you to what greeted me this morning as I started walking.
More rain .. more mud
Colton is a very doggy village .. it’s home to the Border Collie Trust GB, a registered charity rescuing and rehoming Border Collies and Collie crosses throughout the UK. They take on 400 or so dogs a year and try their hardest to find loving new homes for all the Sheps that are brought to them. http://www.bordercollietrustgb.org.uk
Colton also has a nice connection with Sydney. Charles Bonney was a celebrated explorer of Australia, establishing new tracks across the country and often pacifying hostile Aboriginals by his ‘cheerful demeanour and the music of his flute’. He was a capable and intelligent bushman and was also respected for his honest and practical ability. All this meant he was in constant demand for parliamentary committees as an expert witness in subjects relating to mining, land and railways. His nephew, Frederic Bonney was born in Colton. He followed his uncle out to Australia where he used his skills in the new profession of photography to document the lives of the Aboriginals for the first time. In recognition of all his anthropological studies and photos he was made a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. For decades to come, his photos and observations were used in schools across the country to educate school children about their homeland.
There’s a very limited number of photos from this morning as I was afraid for my phone’s survival in the pouring rain. I followed several roads, wanting to bash out as many miles as I could before lunch. It wasn’t particularly pleasant but it did the job.
Rather dull walking
Cooling towers at Rugely Power Station in the distance
Evidence of Swampy moonlighting ..
Even the lambs were hiding .. these 2 under an abandoned caravan
The benefit of the road walking came when I reached Uttoxeter by lunch time, well befoe schedule. I grabbed a sandwich and an update on the Commonwealth Games from the tv at The Plough. The landlady Sue, was extremely welcoming and made a terrific donation.
I quickly wrapped up the outskirts of Uttoxeter, by which time the rain had more or less stopped. There’s a rather wonderful growing trend for the commissioning of sculptures for roundabouts in UK. I loved the one in Westward Ho! and today enjoyed Andy Scott’s ‘Centaur’, outside Waitrose, next to the station. It makes reference to the nearby racecourse, while his ‘Bull’at the other end stands sturdy and strong, celebrating the town’s agricultural history.
Centaur
By the time I joined the Staffordshire Way all my various grumbles had disappeared, along with the rain. Using the downloaded OS map to compliment my paper one, I had a bit of a break-through with my navigating today. Together with the excellent waymarking of the Way, I started to really enjoy negotiating my route through fields, past farms and by the river-side. It didn’t mean I encountered less mud but I made no mistakes .. NO mistakes .. which made me very happy.
Water-logged sheep pastures
Water-logged trees
Water-logged me
The afternoon passed very comfortably as I listened to The Archers and map-read my way to Rocester .. did I tell you I made NO mistakes?! There were no villages along the way. But I did meet a bunch of working labs with their master. They had no eyes for me .. no matter how much I tried to engage them. You can see who they all would lay down their lives for ..
Loyal labs
There wasn’t much else that was blog-worthy along the way. A haunted house, a bemusing sign and one of the many stiles I crossed are about as much as I can offer you.
Slightly creepy ..
Sorry, are dogs allowed or not allowed .. on or off the lead?
Stile number 23
Towards the end of the afternoon I started to follow the River Dove. Like other rivers I’ve seen over the past few weeks it was swollen and very fast-flowing. Eventually, Rocester came into sight across the Dove .. my stop for the night.
The old Arkwright mill
Nowadays, Rocester is known for being the HQ for JCB. But in years gone by the place was famous for being transformed by Richard Arkwright, who converted the old corn mill into a water powered cotton mill. His name brings images of my school classroom and history lessons flooding back. Richard Arkwright was the Richard Branson, the Steve Jobs and the Alan Sugar of the Industrial Revolution .. all rolled into one. He was massively important in combining power, machinery, semi-skilled labour and the new raw material of cotton to produce yarn on an industrial scale. His skills of organisation probably made him the creator of the modern factory system and despite the transformation and the horrors this brought along, it also made England an enormously wealthy country for many decades to come.
Plaque on the mill wall .. now the JCB Academy
Black Dog Tails
Swansea Jack rescued an amazing 27 people from drowning in the 1930s. Don’t forget you can click on the pic for a link to read more of his story ..
Did you make any map-reading mistakes today, Jules??? 🙂
Not a single, teeny-weeny, itsy-bitsy one!
Lordy Jules do you have trench foot? All that mud! Go you little trouper……
Just waiting for you to sort it out next week, Jill! They’re not a pretty sight at this stage …
Hey Jules … what started out as a bleak blog certainly ended up a very interesting one! Love your enthusiasm along the way and can understand how daunting it must be to want to stay indoors while it’s sooo bleak! Keep up your wonderful work! So inspiring
🙂
Thank you Kellie .. means a lot from one who must have had to show a lot of determination.
Hi Jules – you must have the most amazingly high tec boots to deal with such constant, wet mud – my feet feel damp looking at yours! How are you feeling about the countryside being less familiar? From here, I imagine I would feel that the adventure had stepped up a notch – but you continue to rise to the challenge – more congratulations! Xx
Hmmm .. yes, the boots. After 37 nights of being dried on top of radiators, followed by 37 days of squelching through mud has alas, been too much of a challenge for them. I’ve had very wet feet for the past few days. Will try to sort tomorrow, ahead of the wedding. You say the nicest things, which I really don’t think I deserve .. after all, at the end of the day it’s just a case of putting one foot in front of the other! And I’m NOT camping, remember! xx
Oh Jules, you are partaking the most amazing adventure. How would Enid Blighton put it?
I believe that I and many of your gentle readers, would or could not do what you are doing. You are incredible.
Now, I won’t be me, if I didn’t say anything like…… ‘are you taking any tumiric for your joints because…..blah blah blah … hahahahahaha xxx
Thank you, Ils. Just couldn’t find a pantechnicon big enough to follow me with all the tumeric needed for my joints!x
Sitting in the tent this morning,listening to the rain and counting my twinges I think I can claim some sense of comradeship. Well done for getting up and out there.
Helen, you have my utmost admiration .. walking is one thing, but then sleeping in a tent at the end of the day is a whole other, brave thing. Go you!
Oh Jules, I’m sorry that the weather is not being kind to you! I’m struggling to take my little black dog, Buddy for a walk on these damp dreary days. So I can imagine how hard it is for you to drag yourself through it every day. On the bright side things must get better and you always find a cheerful image to brighten up your day. I loved the sculpture. We have some wooden horses doing battle just outside Tewkesbury!
I hear rumours that spring is on its way next week! Buddy will be happy!
NO map reading mistakes?! Jules, I’m impressed. But the time you hit JO’G you’ll be able to teach seminars on the subject 🙂
You also seem to be developing serious expertise in photos with reflections in them. But then, you probably have little choice in that respect.
Good to see you seem much more positive by the end of the day – nothing like a bit of conquering to keep the spirits up. Hang in there Jules. Not long and we’ll be joining you. Though on reflection that might not be something to cheer you up particularly. but I promise to buy you the odd wine/G&T if that eases the pain a bit
PS – love the loyal labs, bless their little not-cotton socks
And now I understand how the little arrow works on the maps on my phone, I shall never put a foot wrong again!! Hope that snippet of news doesn’t stand in the way of you buying me an odd, or even very sensible Sauv Blanc in a few weeks’ time. x
Getting into civilisation now Jules – Staffordshire is my mother’s home county. Unfortunately your walk will finish before the place a lot of my ancestors are from, Shetland. Unless you decide to press on further north and 3000km doesn’t feel like enough….! Keep it up – following your progress with interest and admiration.
Shetland .. ah now, that would be fun! Great getting your message, Rupert. Thx.
Dearest Jules, really felt for you today getting up out of bed and seeing the inclement weather outside..but all’s well that ends well, the aches and pains diminished and the sun finally shone! Love the pic of stile number 23 – so many beautiful colours in there and a real sense of the countryside. I can smell it! Hope you got all the mud washed off – go you!! XX
Just arrived home and have thrown every single item in my rucksack into the washing machine .. hope it doesn’t malfunction! Lovely getting your messages, Lindy xxx
Please can you put this all into book form at the end, Jules. I am so much enjoying your daily blog, but have missed the first 30 days.
With much admiration – Jo Brownell.
I am trying to donate to the Black Dog Institute specifically in your name and for your walk, but am having trouble doing so. I will try telephoning them.
Thank you so much Jo! The guy you need to speak to at BDI is Evan Jackson .. but I will ask him to email you, if I may. Very kind of you to make a donation. My best.
Hi Jules,
I have follow your wonderful blogs every day even from New Zealand ! What an amazing and epic journey. Only you can make mud look glamorous!! I take my hat off to you and feel inspired by your grit and determination. Keep going, you are doing brilliantly.
With all my support.
Kay ( Jebs and Kay from Leigh!)
Kay, how lovely to hear from you. I heard about your fabulously long adventure to the Antipodes .. we will have to have a big catch up soon and exchange stories. xx
Thought of you today. There was a piece on NPR about a couple who had lost 3 limbs between them in the Boston Marathon bombing. They’ve just written a book called Rescue and Jessica about the black lab that changed their lives….https://www.amazon.com/Rescue-Jessica-Life-Changing-Friendship-Kensky/dp/0763696048
Keep plodding along, hopefully the rains will cease and the mud will lessen!
Sounds extremely interesting, Linda. Will try to get hold of a copy. x
The only way is up , it can only get better …and it is … Look at you , mud, rain , bodily pains , detours , more detours …you have not let any of that get you down nor stop you and you are half way there … In fact , today marks a new beginning of NO itinerary mistake , no detours and glorious spring weather has to be on its way . You have cracked it ! xx
Thank you for your belief in me, Sophie! I do believe the belated spring is due to arrive next week. Hurrah!! xx