Leicestershire Round -
2008
Day eight - Friday - March 28th
¶¶ "Oh I wish I
wa-ah-as-ho-homeward bound" ¶
(Simon & Garfunkel 'Homeward bound')
Movie: a muddy walk
Our last day and a mere 14 miles back to Gumley, but its raining and the mud is
of a particularly sticky kind which attaches itself to our boots in great clods,
weighing our already tired legs down by a few more ounces.
"Continue uphill, moving further away from the hedge on the left and cross
the waymarked fence on the skyline..." said the instructions from the
Leicestershire Round booklet. On a field of this scale, basically a hill, in the
wind and rain, these basic instructions seemed just a little too vague and
inadequate. For goodness sakes, Joseph and I have walked this section previously
without problems so where the hell is the yellow marker? We eventually found our
way after consulting our compass and wind battered map and pacing around the
perimeter of the field using a process of elimination to its boundaries
We pushed on through Cranoe,
Glooston, Stonton Wyville and up onto the Langton Caudle where we slumped in a
suitably sheltered spot for a much needed break. It was just as well that we got
our strength back before coming down towards Thorpe Langton where we were met
with the wettest leg sucking mud mire of the lot. We'd had warnings about the
Fosseway from High Cross and the notoriously wet and muddy Owston Woods, but
they paled into insignificance to this. Just as well that this was our last day.
On through the Langtons and into Foxton where one of Joseph's school friends
called to him from his window to ask him what he'd been up to. "Walking for
108 miles" came Joseph's response to an open mouthed Oliver.
Along the Market Harborough branch
of the canal, past familiar Foxton Locks and finally up towards Gumley. The
moment that I'd played over in my head months before, wondering how it would
feel to walk this last stretch with all those miles and experiences behind
me, only to arrive here, the last section of our journey, literally on my own
doorstep. As I thought, it felt great
Previous day
