CP6 (almost) - CP9 (almost) and Back! First Blood to the Gallops!

The team split in half on this occasion.  Becky and Vicky decided to stay local mainly due to injury worries and Sue and Sandra headed for the Trail. We parked at Upper Beeding after looking for a car park off abridleway in the village which proved to impassable!  Bearing in mind that we knew we would be out walking for at least 12 hours without support crew we had brought along quite a few snacks. This resulted in plastic bags being tied to rucksacks!

In order to join the South Downs Way we made our way up a pretty steep hill. Luckily we will not have to tackle this on the walk itself! We proceeded with shopping bags towards Devil's Dyke and CP7. The route is straightforward after the initial climb but the hills keep on coming. There are however, several rude place names which kept spirits up!  Bushy Bottom, Fulking and Steyning Bowl are our particular favourites! Sue soon threatened to break out her "soft pear" and in true Carry On style we were forced into an emergency comfort stop through laughing too much! We felt fairly jealous of the hangliders at CP7. Was this where the classic Only Fools and Horses episode was filmed?

Looking back towards CP7

After a well-deserved 15 minute break we ploughed on to CP8 . Ice-creams are available from Saddlescombe Farm although not sure they will still be open when we reach this point in July.  New Timber Hill (or Spanish Hill as we have now dubbed it) awaits after this.  It is a bit of a sh***er to say the least.  Several photo stops required here.

New Timber Hill

Off to tackle the A23 next.  After walking for miles without many signs of civilisation this came as a bit of a shock. But Pyecombe lay in wait along with the Pyecombites! (horses in the field!). The trail continues up hill through the golf course and then the lovely sight of the windmills at Jack and Jills - CP8! Where were the Gurkha massages? Looking forward to this come July 14th!

We re-traced our steps and carried on a little way before stopping for lunch (15 mins only!). Lots of sheep and lambs very interested in us and the lunch but a few whispers of rosemary and mint sauce saw them off.  As we set off again we were hailed by two cyclists who we had seen earlier who shouted "nee hah" in a cowboy like manner and "come on girls" which were just the words of encouragement we needed.

OOPS!

CP8 to CP9 is a long slog in terms of distance but there are no challenging hills here.We, however, managed to go spectacularly off-piste near the notorious Gallops.  Why didn't we follow warrant officer Coop's advice to check the map? Who knows! To cut a very long story short we ended up scrabbling through the brambles in Ashcombe Bottom before finally picking up the trail again.  We had seen wild orchids and deer but to say we were at a low ebb when we got near to CP9 would be an understatement! Tired and scratched to ribbons we decided to cut our losses and follow a footpath back up to Black Cap (the scene of our muppetry!).  We realised that we would not get back to the car until 11pm unless we really picked up our pace.  The path was not as clear cut as we had hoped and we ended up crossing the Gallops before seeing the dire warning signs!!

After walking for nearly 4 hours without a rest we stopped for a much needed refreshment break.  Feet powdered, socks changed, bellies full and bladders emptied we set off a with a new found vigour and marched back to the car.

Evening at Jack and Jills CP8

Apart from a herd of cows and a very randy bull we hardly encountered a soul apart from a few mad buggers who were running!?!  We were rewarded with a stunning evening and a renewed sense of what we are undertaking.The mental challenge of the event was really brought home to us by the afternoon's mishap. We had coped and although we were tired our spirits were high. Until the final cock up....the wrong route back to the car but hey we got there in the end! 13 hours and 60km after we left it.  We had ascended 1300 metres (higher than Ben Nevis) and we still managed another 10 miles next morning!!

Sunset near CP7

Snailwalk (Giant African Land Snails required)

2nd May 2012 - Ash Ranges and Basingstoke Canal

We thought it would be fun to give our friends and supporters a taste of what we are facing in July by holding a couple of 10km walks ending up at our local, The Swan in Ash Vale, and asking them to pay a fiver for the privilege! Surprisingly several people agreed and on Wednesday evening we met at 7pm ready for a leisurely evening stroll (that's what they thought anyway!).

Becky and Sandra arrived early and waited by the side of the road. Sandra was keen to look a bit less conspicuous but Becky pointed out that kerb crawlers were probably not going to approach two ladies dressed like ramblers! We were soon joined by 7 friends, (and a dog), one of whom expressed surprise and a little dismay that Becky would be in charge of the route! It's not just us who are dubious about her navigational skills (sorry Becky!!!). On this occasion we did not get lost!

We were all chatting and walking along happily enough as the evening's weather looked promising. Sandra confidently declared that it wasn't going to rain...well it didn't for the first twenty minutes or so! We discovered that this was a great way to catch up with friends who we normally just shout hello to on the school run. We had two whole hours to share news and anaesthetic stories (oh yes!). At "The Top of the World" we decided it was time for cake. Sue's fruit and ginger cakes and Sandra's brownies were on offer as well as some cans of Tropical Sun's yummy Coconut Water!

Becky and Sandra "model" the coconut water!

We set off again along the Ranges' road and encountered a pheasant, a deer and a bird of prey.  The darkness was beginning to draw in and soon the head torches made an appearance! Great for avoiding all the mud! After promising no "killer" hills we manged to squeeze a small one in before descending to the canal and the final stretch to the pub!

We managed to avoid falling in despite the rather uneven towpath and arrived back at The Swan in time for a most welcome drink. Over 7 miles walked (we lied about the 10km!) and £35 raised! Thanks to all who came and enjoyed. Where were the men? We'll have to do another to get the blokes out!

Checkpoint 2 Cocking to Checkpoint 3 Littleton Farm

Thursday 18^th April

With the children all back at school and Becky enjoying an extra week off we decided to hit the actual trail and do a stage. As Sue & Sandra had done 1 & 2, we decided to go for stage 3 and attempt that s***ter of a hill Sandra described at the end of stage 2! 

So off we set from school with Lyn who is a member of our support crew & 3 dogs! We went the back way to save on time as we had to be back for school pock up at 3.10pm. Lyn did some fantastic driving whizzing round the bends which gave Becky her first challenge of the day – the smell of dog sick! We finally arrived at Checkpoint 2, parked up, unloaded dogs, got kitted up and used the changing towel for the first time! Heavy showers were forecast so full water proofs were required!

Which way??

So off we set up the hill that had scared Sandra – and actually it was absolutely fine – quite a nice hill as it goes. Plenty of chat to catch up on our Easter Holiday adventures and only a bit of drizzle. The dogs were happily running around and we made good progress along the trail. We then decided we weren’t drinking enough so it was time for Becky to use her Platypus for the 1^st time – only to declare it not working. Sue had quick look and established that once the straw was at the bottom of the pack the water tends to flow much better! With Becky hydrated we set off again . We went past some great wooden signposts, beautiful views and finally through a lovely field of yellow before descending down into checkpoint 3. 

It was here that Sandra looked at the start of stage 4 and said “now that is a sh***er of a hill!” There appears to be a theme as we near each checkpoint!!

The hill out of CP3

Just as we approached our lunch stop at the checkpoint Becky did the obligatory comedy fall of the day! To be fair it was a steep and wet descent and 2 dogs took her out! 

8.3 km completed in 1 hour 34 mins – on target for 24 hours then!

We had a quick stop for lunch where the debate was whether Marmite cashews or Ham & Cranberry crisps were the best treat, needless to say both are now on the Trailwalker snack list.

Now fully refreshed we set off back towards the car at checkpoint 2. We headed back up the steep hill and enjoyed the view behind us once at the top – the start of stage 4 does not look good!

Despite the forecast of heavy rain, we had only light showers to endure. This did however mean the track was slippery and hard going in places with the chalk mashing up beneath our feet. Trailwalker will be very hard if the conditions are like this in July. This kind of distance is “easy” for us now but our legs were feeling it in these conditions.

Looks like rain...

Finally we started to descend into checkpoint 2, from here we could see the end of stage 2 and what a huge descent it is into checkpoint 2 – no wonder that hill went on forever when we tackled it a couple of weeks ago.

Back to the car for quick strip off of waterproofs & boots and a mad dash back to school!

16.7km completed in 3 hours 5 minutes.

Well done Lyn for your first team walk – Lyn’s so glad she’s on the support team now!

Our Big Boys show us how a sponsored walk is done!!

Friday 6^th April – Good Friday

Oli, Adam & Andrew raring to go on a chilly morning!

We met at 8am on a chilly canal bank to walk to Woking! The boys wanted to get involved and raise some money so decided to do a sponsored 10 mile walk along the Basingstoke Canal to Woking. The boys were in high spirits and set off at a good pace reaching our first checkpoint at Frimley Lodge Park in just over an hour – 3.25 miles down! After a quick refuel and coffee for the mums, we set off again. 

Having seen a few people on the towpath the boys decided shaking a collection tin and shouting “10 miles for Oxfam” would generate more pennies. Indeed Andrew’s super loud hollering generated some generous donations from passersby. At 7 miles and less than 3 hours in the boys were doing really well and it was time for a rest at checkpoint 2! More snacks and sandwiches came out and the boys realized this was a perfect excuse for eating lots of treats. The boys were starting to feel a bit achy so Sue decided to do some stretches with the boys – apparently not as good as Miss Newman though! We also had to breakout the 1^st Aid kit for the first time – zinc tape to sort out a bit of rubbing!

Off we went again and after a bit of map studying realized we were going to exceed 10 miles considerably! The boys were fine with this and just carried on their discussions on cars, soldiers and what their McDonald lunch would be.

More shaking of the tin as we went and an elderly gentlemen  came out of his garden to give the boys money and have a chat with them about what they were doing.

As we came into outskirts of Woking we passed a lovely boathouse – but then spotted a terrapin on a log! Becky proclaimed it was a model until the boys pointed out it was moving its head…..

 

We crossed another road  to change sides of the canal – there was a car accident which made road was easy to cross, but then caused lots of interest from the boys with all the fire, police and ambulances in attendance! Onwards we went and had to build in checkpoint 3 in St Johns to do another loo stop and because we were now at 11 miles.

At last we could see the shopping centre in the distance. The boys found a spurt of energy – the collection tin was still getting lots of pennies, Andrew’s voice was still going at fog horn levels and the legs were doing really well. As Victoria Bridge came into view so did the Daddies! The boys sprinted to the finish with well deserved hugs and hi-fiving!

By the time we got to McDonald's the boys had walked over 13 miles in just under 6 hours. They did so well and did us all proud. Between them they raised over £100 for Vale Venturers (& No Direction!) and collected £12.54 on their walk!

Well done boys – you showed us how to do it with determination, fun and teamwork!

Oxfam Info Session and Walk to CP2 31st March

Sue, Sandra and support crew leader Paul headed down to Queen Elizabeth Country Park early for the Oxfam Preparation Session. The morning was extremely informative. Lots of practical information from Oxfam and the Army as well as a talk by two ladies from the Haslemere Normans who completed Trailwalker in 2011.
Most useful tips - 1) Copious amounts of chocolate and crisps must be consumed at all times 2) Soak your feet in vinegar (smelly!) 3) Walk, walk, walk! Paul has made a note to remember tyre socks to help the support crew exit muddy fields. As there will be a long extended period of dry and mild weather before and during Trailwalker these will prove superfluous! Vale Venturers were singled out by "lovely" Tom from Oxfam to talk about our fundraising efforts so far - we have hit our initial target and have raised our pledge to £3000.  Thanks to all our fab friends and family for supporting us!

The view from Harting Down CP1

After the talk we hit the Trail for the first time.  The route to CP1 is fairly easy.  Much hilarity was induced by Cockshott Wood - we are compiling a list of "rude" place names!  Lunch at Harting Down. A selection of cakes were on offer and we tried the chocolate milk energy drink kindly supplied by Tropical Sun.

Mmmm Tropical Sun!!

Paul returned to QECP to collect the car whilst Sue and Sandra headed to CP2. This section is  hilly! Beacon Hill being a real challenge but it is short and sharp! There is also a long, long uphill section which seems to last forever. The plus side - what goes up must come down and there is a long descent into CP2. The view from there is super scary though as it looks like the section towards CP3 is phenomenally steep - "a s****er of a hill" as described by Sandra! More hilarity and essential al fresco loo stops in a disused quarry area followed. Reached CP2 well on target for 24 hours finishing time...bring it on!

A shocking hill!

Surrey Stumble 25th March - 40kms (or is it?)

The sun had been shining all week so we were looking forward to walking in July like conditions! This was to be our mini Trailwalker run as we had the full Vale Venturers team out plus Vicky’s friend Alex and we started at 8am our preferred start time come the big day! This was also to be the day of unveiling our team T-shirts…..ooooooo!

Our team t-shirts!

On arriving at Surrey Police HQ we discovered it was 3 loops all starting and finishing at police HQ. Off we set on the yellow route 10km (allegedly!). The sun was shining , brilliant blue skies and much chatter accompanied us up over the Hogs Back and down to the hospital(!!). We had a quick pit stop at The Foundation Centre (Charity of the day) and headed off towards the cathedral and found ourselves surrounded by fog and the temperature plummeting – starting to wish we hadn’t worn shorts….We wandered through Guildford Train Station subway (it was on the directions!)  and eventually to the towpath back to HQ. 11.5 km down, we felt good, and the sun was now shining!!  Vale Venturers do like their cake so we filled up on Sandra’s brownies and then headed out on the Blue route (20km allegedly!).

Half way and still smiling!

This was a much prettier route and took us past Loseley House – discussion turned to potential wedding venue for Vicky and is the venue of Sandra's 40^th celebrations. We then skirted round Compton and ended up coming into Godalming through a lovely park and found the checkpoint in a dodgy corner of the old police station – deciding this wasn’t really picnic territory we headed off towards Bramley and Becky’s old school.  Once on the North Downs Link we found a kids park to picnic in! Sue’s Grandma's secret fruit cake was on offer as well as lots of different sorts of nuts. 

Lunch = cake and coconut water!

The Tropical sun was flowing here and Vicky & Alex had their first taste of coconut water that the rest of us all rave about! Off we went again and onto the towpath once more. We walked and walked – past the way back on the yellow circuit – and despite the blue tags still appearing we feared we had walked too far…. However, after consulting written directions we were sure we had to keep going. We bumped into a Trailwalker Veteran as we were finishing the blue route (25KM! – 36.5km total so far with a loop still to do!!). He spotted our rather pink team Tshirts and his advice was to keep a steady pace, don’t rush off and avoid blisters! He wouldn’t divulge his Trailwalker record but he says he has one so we had a little guess to keep us entertained….

Back at HQ we took on fluids, Haribos and Nurofen and off we went – the final 10km!

As Sandra had navigated all day Sue volunteered to do the last easy 10km. Back on the towpath again! We heard lots of sibling stories between Becky & Vicky and Vicky’s experience of teeth marks!! This friendly banter/ story telling helped distract us from a few niggling hips and toes! Half the team experimented with alfresco wees – something we are sure to have to encounter over 100km. Past Loseley again, a little loop on the north downs and back to Police HQ!

The Finish!

46Km completed in just under 9 hours, 1100m climbed and lots of calories burnt! No comedy falls! Not a young fit bobbie in sight! However on the official photos there are lots of soldiers – how did we miss seeing them!

Newlands Corner, Shere and Back 11th March

Another early one! Arrived in Guildford just before 7.30 and hit the pavements! 5 minutes outside the town centre is the wonderful Pewley (or Pervy?) Down. Great for sloe picking in the autumn. We saw just one other walker - a man with a lead but no dog! The views were lovely although slightly obscured by some early morning mist.  We were relying on Becky for navigation again and she played a blinder! We followed the North Downs Way to Newlands Corner and arrived in time for a peaceful breakfast (hardly a biker in sight!).  Coffee, cake and comfort stops are what keep this team going!! 3.75 miles before 8.30 on a Sunday isn't half bad!

Sandra has another bad hair day!

This week we also had a spring in our steps because we were top of the Fundraising Leaderboards ...(pause for applause!!).  We are hugely chuffed to be there and it has made us all the more determined to see this challenge through!

The next section of the walk is all down hill (hurrah!) to the beautiful village of Shere.  We passed the scene of Agatha Christie's mysterious disappearance in 1926 - a very unromantic chalk pit!! Shere was the location of the film "The Holiday" and it really is pretty. We had to cross a ford - note the raging rapids - to enter the village. Luckily a bridge was on hand and a very helpful family who took the photo of the intrepid three!

The Ford

 

Glad we bought waterproof boots!

Hurrying past the tea rooms and the inviting pubs (not to mention the prison house) we headed out up a very steep and long hill! Becky led from the front and was determined to overtake a family of walkers just so she could take some sneaky pictures of Sue and Sandra puffing like steam engines! All good training of course..






At the top we crossed a couple of country roads before coming to a small car park.  Some cyclists were getting ready to go and we caught up with an old man on the path who kindly stepped aside. Becky and Sandra were deep in conversation about a book. The gentleman eagerly told Sue who was slightly behind " you go like bicycles!" We have no idea how to take this but needless to say we did giggle like crazy when Sue shared the joke!


Steeply downhill to Silent Pool meant only one thing..steeply uphill to follow. Time for a jelly baby break! Unfortunately the Pool has been drained for maintenance but it is usually a very atmospheric place. The water has a peculiar, eerie colour and there are lots of spooky stories associated with it. 

The climb up is pretty scary! Thank God for walking poles!!  Onto Newlands Corner for our second visit of the morning.  The hairy bikers had arrived in droves.  We were able to indulge in Sue's Gran's fruit cake (yum!) and Sandra was roped into a blind mango tasting (don't ask!). The map came out for the first time and we plotted a route to St Martha's Hill.  The route took us back along the North Downs Way and then a short and sharp ascent to the the church. The sun came out giving us some beautiful views. We made our way back to the car feeling very, very happy!

Stats: 15 mile walk - ascended approx 2500 feet. Calories burnt 1500. 5.5 hours (with stops).