Category: Start

I stubbed my little toe on Monday. It blew up like a pork chipolata. Today its more like an unearthed bluebell bulb waiting for the Spring sunshine. Either way it’s not the sort of toe to go a long distance on at the moment. Which is a shame because today is the first anniversary of me beginning the End to End.

From Land’s End to John O’Groats the things most people asked about were my feet. It seems to be a common assumption that if you’re going on a long walk it’s your feet that will suffer, hence the hundreds of foot based conversations. But my feet were largely fine. I was wearing Hannah’s socks, as they’d not worn out from her 2012 walk, and had a rotation of four pairs of boots. My Nike inspired mile nibblers kept my plates of meat more or less on the straight and narrow for 117 days and 1110 miles, and victory in sight.

My next to little toe on my right foot does have a little ridge, not Striding Edge stuff, but it can niggle. It will rub a bit on a seemingly seamless sock and from time to time it did make an attempt to dramatise the foot related aspects of the walk. But the End to End is not just about feet.

There’s a song: Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes. Join in when you remember how it goes.

From Isaiah 49

Sing joyfully you heavens, and rejoice you earth;
Keep singing you mountains!
God is our comforter and will have compassion for all who suffer.

We pray for all those we know who are suffering,

and for all those we have heard about,

and for the unknown ones…

In your mercy, hear our prayer.

JAL: 02.04.2020

In 2019 I walked the End to End, from Land’s End to John O’Groats. It took me 117 days and I started on 2nd April.

In celebration of the first anniversary of my walk I’m launching a LEJOG re-blog. Let’s face it, 2020 has not so far been quite what we’d all hoped for, and I’d not have been able to walk LEJOG with the current understandable restrictions in place.

We had hoped to do a longish walk this Spring taking in canals, and old railway lines in the Midlands. But we are gong to have to postpone that, possibly to next year.

We have always found LEJOG very inspiring. After Bob first walked it in 2003 we have continually returned to his blog and reflections, especially in Lent, to help us with the challenges of the season.

So the LEJOG re-blog will allow for some revisiting of the best bit as well as posting some new reflections based on thoughts on the walk since completing the route.

Each Spring since 2003 we have revisited Bob’s LEJOG in a similar way, by returning to review his blog posts. It got us through some tough times. From time to time I have looked again at the scrapbook I made for Hannah’s LEJOG in the summer of 2012. It brings the walk alive again which is a good feeling when she’s at a distance in this Pandemic.

So the blog is still there and you can rewind to day 1 if you wish. Meanwhile I’ll continue working with the 11,000 photos we took and the uncountable number or thoughts and see what else emerges.

In our life and our believing

The Love of God.

 

JAL in Longdendale

I am now one week away from starting the End to End at Land’s End.  For those readers familiar with LEJOG the vocabulary will be well known. As a family, this will be the 3rd LEJOG for Team Lees-Warwicker. Previous end to ends were

2003 Bob walked End to End via the Margins in 71 days.

2012 Hannah walked End to End after her A Levels in 60 days.

With their help and support and the encouragement of many others I hope to make 2019 the year of my End to End taking it all in, in 120 days.

Regular reports will, I hope, appear here and there should be some tweets @Bambigoesforth

However, with Bambi not currently in working order, there have been some changes of plan.

Section 1 will be Lands End to Bristol without Bambi, using other accommodation like caravans, chalets, hostels, etc. Other sections will be planned and revealed as the walk progresses.