Day 54 And I have walked 500 miles and I will walk 500 more*

Today I hit the 500 mile mark. Only another hundred miles until I’m halfway. Which brings home how far I have yet to go.

I had a 14.5 mile today. I walked down the lane and onto a bridle way, crossed the river and headed for another bridle way

Before I crossed the river I took a photo of the Aldford village stocks because it’s not every day you see village stocks.

Parts of the bridleway weren’t quite as obvious as the above picture but apart from one short bramble and nettle-ridden section it was pretty good.

After the bridleway (about 4.5 miles) most of the rest of the walk was on roads. Cheshire is pretty flat so I made remarkable time. I stopped in Tattenhall to have lunch-on a bench facing a cricket pitch. A match was in progress but the run rate was very slow-about 1.4 runs/over.

You may have noticed the hill in the distance in the cricket photo. My B&B was beyond that line of hills. They looked very far away. I pressed on

Gradually the road left the Cheshire plain and climbed uphill. I am definitely getting fitter as I barely noticed the gradient and certainly wasn’t gasping for breath. I climbed up to Burwardsley towards the Pheasant pub. I haven’t been there for maybe thirty years. I think I’ve only been there once before but I’m happy to be corrected on that. It was a sunny afternoon, the heavy grey clouds had dispersed and I thought a cold glass of orange juice and soda (my go-to choice of refreshing drink) would be just the thing. I spent an hour in the pub garden. Partly because it was nice, partly because the service was very slow indeed and partly because I realised that I only had about four miles to go so there was no hurry.

I left the pub and climbed up and over the crest of Peckforton Hill, crossed the Sandstone Trail and headed down into Peckforton, not so much a village but a collection of cute cottages

A car came up behind me but didn’t pass me. No one got out, the engine was still running, I wondered why they had stopped. The two reasons why then appeared. The car had stopped to let a pair of guinea fowl cross the road. I didn’t get a photo.

I was now only a couple of miles from my destination, a farm-stay B&B. I trundled along, taking advantage of quite a few closely-mown verges which seem to be a feature round here, together with some very well-kept gardens, noting a couple of other unusual things

I arrived about 4.30. One pot of tea, some homemade cake and a bath later, I am feeling very happy with the world. Not quite so happy with my feet which not only hurt but also have developed another blister. I shall leave you with a photo of an elephant and castle which has been in that garden for as long as I can remember and was something that as children we looked forward to seeing on our way to Beeston castle

* while most of my readers will understand the reference in the title, for those that don’t know, it’s based on a song by The Proclaimers, the words of which are “And I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more