✉ A walking day

Brick buildings beside the canal on the way into Newbury The high street in Newbury

Day 5, Tuesday, felt like a walking day. Not to begin with mind, by midday I was a bit cooked after only 18-ish km’s and stopped in Newbury for several hours.

A little laneway made for a good shortcut in the afternoon

Around 4pm the air thinned a bit and it started to cool so I thought I’d try and match the morning. Did a little better than that and brought the day up to 42.5km/26.4miles. Along the way I said farewell to the Kennet and Avon canal. While the canal continues through to London I’d already decided to slip south a bit sooner than that — I’ve been to London twice in the few months I’ve been back in England, more than enough.

A bit of road walking to connect several public footpaths across fields and the like. Ferreted out a few hidden/spooky laneways and met some nice folks who almost fell over when I told them I was walking to Dover — I’ve taken to just telling folks who ask that I’m walking to Dover, anything more than that and folks start asking if I have an Instagram to follow or a rare illness that I’m raising awareness for.

A sign on a fence reads ‘You are entering a nuclear zone’ A tree leans toward the ground