Day 29 Atherstone to Burton-on-Trent

Day 29 Atherstone to Burton-on-Trent

Kilometers: 14

Cold and rainy day, but very nice and great walking.

The live music from the pub was loud last night, but once they stopped playing it got very nice and quiet. I awoke at 7.45! 

Today was another ambitious day on paper, 35km/21mi. I obviously can't walk that until my back is well, so once more I took the bus part of the way. The problem with taking a bus is that you can rarely find a bus that goes to where you want to go. Today I took the bus to Alrewas and walked the Trent and Mersey Canal to Burton-on-Trent, a very nice walk. The morning was cloudy and early on it started to rain, well more of a drizzle, but at the end of the day it was raining. The new rain jacket works like a charm, I couldn't be happier!

I saw a lot more canal boats today than yesterday, there seems to be a lot more traffic on Trent and Mersey Canal.

This is a canal boat arriving at a lock.  We talked a little and kept the same pace for some time (I even helped with one of the locks 😀). They are allowed to do 4 miles/hour, which I obviously can't, but the many locks slowed them down.

   Flat, but never dull!

  A very narrow opening for the boats.

Canal or river? On a river 8 miles/hour is allowed, so you need to know!

An old mile marker on the canal. In olden days the canals were used for transportation of goods, today it is mainly tourists and people living on their boats.

My lower back has been great today, it makes me hopeful!

Om du vill stötta min insamling utan att ange adress osv, så kan du swisha mig och skriva om du vill vara anonym eller inte, så betalar jag in motsvarande summa i pund.

My fundraiser, Rare Cancers research ❤️

https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/ullas-giving-page-9

Day 28 Coventry to Atherstone

Day 28 Coventry to Atherstone 

 My backpack was heavy today. I had sent a resupply box to Hugh's and Mhari's and it probably weighed 5-6 lbs. I had planned an ambitious route for today, but because of my bad back Hugh took me part of the way and a dog walker showed me a shortcut, so I ended up walking only ~7km/4mi 😂

I had also ordered a new rain jacket to Hugh's. I've been eyeing the Montbell Versalite for some time, but thought it was too expensive. Well, now that my old rain jacket turned out to be almost worthless for hiking I needed a new one and I wanted to get something I won't regret. I got to test it already, there was both some rain and hail today. So far it seems to work well. 

   Sheep!

   Coventry Canal 

   More sheep!

   Today was the first time I walked a canal tow path without tarmac, it was nice and soft 🐾 

   My room tonight. Very nice, but Saturday night might not be the best time to stay at a pub. Live music and lots of overly happy people 😂 

Om du vill stötta min insamling utan att ange adress osv, så kan du swisha mig och skriva om du vill vara anonym eller inte, så betalar jag in motsvarande summa i pund.

My fundraiser, Rare Cancers research ❤️

https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/ullas-giving-page-9

Day 27, Coventry rest day

Day 27, rest day

Kilometers: 0

This morning we ran some errands, I needed to top up my sim card ✔️ I needed to get some tape ✔️ I needed to get a gas canister ✔️ With some help from Stuart at the phone shop we managed to do them all. Sometimes I really feel cell phone illiterate!

 

In the evening we went to a pub with Hugh's good friends Elaine and Tony. Very nice people and I really enjoyed the evening. tony and I even had the exact same model of pants/trousers, I've never seen anyone else with them in two years!

   The new cathedral in Coventry is enormous!

For some reason I didn't take any pictures at all today, I think I was just too busy the whole time!

Om du vill stötta min insamling utan att ange adress osv, så kan du swisha mig och skriva om du vill vara anonym eller inte, så betalar jag in motsvarande summa i pund.

My fundraiser, Rare Cancers research ❤️

https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/ullas-giving-page-9

Day 26 Stratford to Coventry

Day 26

I woke up to a beautiful day and a cold room, just 15 C 😱 After breakfast I packed up and walked to the chiropractor. 

The most beautiful chiropractor's office I've ever been to, he was at the top floor of that tower!

After lunch I walked back to Shakespeare's birthplace, I had some time before the bus would leave.

I just had to have a look at the shop again, at the back of my head I knew what I was looking for!

Outside again a woman asked if I wanted a photo of me and Shakespeare, and why not?

See the man behind me? No, he's not checking out my bum, he just saw the PCT patch on my backpack 😂 We talked a little about the PCT, and it was just very funny that he got in the photo!

After a quick lunch I got on the bus to Coventry (no walking after a chiropractor's appointment), where I went to look at the cathedrals.

Over time there have been three cathedrals in Coventry: 

St Mary's Priory (12th–16th Century), the first cathedral, a monastic building, was destroyed in 1539 during Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries.

The Old Cathedral (St Michael's), a medieval church that became a cathedral in 1918. It was destroyed by a German air raid in 1940. The ruins remain a place of remembrance.

New Cathedral (St Michael's,  from 1962.

The Old Cathedral with the new one behind it.

My friend Hugh came and picked me up from the cathedrals, I'll be staying with him for two days.

   Bath to Coventry 

I just love a good Shakespeare quote!

Om du vill stötta min insamling utan att ange adress osv, så kan du swisha mig och skriva om du vill vara anonym eller inte, så betalar jag in motsvarande summa i pund.

My fundraiser, Rare Cancers research ❤️

https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/ullas-giving-page-9

Day 25 Willersey to Stratford

Day 25 Willersey to Stratford 

Todays weather:

Rain, cloudy, rain, cloudy, cloudy, cloudy, sun, sun, sun, rain, hail, sleet, snow, sun, rain, hail, sun, cloudy, starlight. Oh, and the wind 😱 and the rainbow!

And that's just what I remember.

Last night wasn't great. I have managed to get an appointment for a chiropractor in Stratford tomorrow morning, so I'm taking the bus again today. What can I say, I'm doing it my way! Fortunately, this gives me more time in Stratford 😀

   Birthplace of William Shakespeare 

   Stratford squirrels

Holy Trinity Church, with records of Shakespeare's birth, children, burial etc.

   He paid for himself and his family to be buried right in front of the altar.

The King James Bible, over 400 years old. It had great influence on the English language, literature, and culture.

The cottage of Anne Hathaway, Shakespeare's wife.

   The rainbow!

Should I have searched the bin for the pot of gold?

In the evening I got tickets for Henry V by the Royal Shakespeare Company. What I managed to see was very good and also quite witty, which was unexpected. Unfortunately I was so tired I had problems staying awake 😴

(No photos were allowed of the actual play).

Day 24 Cheltenham to Willersey

Day 24 Cheltenham to Willersey 

The back has been bothering me tonight, do I decided to take a bus part of the way again. I found a perfect bus route that would pass almost right outside of the hotel at 10 am, so I had an easy morning. My room last night was very nice, but breakfast (not included) wasn't, but I have to eat, so I just payed and decided to be happy about it.

I got to the bus stop at about 9.30. Just before 10 a lady came up to me and told me that the 801 route was temporarily changed because of road construction. There was no way for me to make it to the temporary bus stop before 10, and with the next bus I wouldn't get there until 6.30 pm. What to do? While I was thinking about it I decided to take a bus into Cheltenham. I found another bus route that I could take part of the way, leaving at 13.55. While I was waiting I had a light lunch. On the bus I decided to take it all the way to Willersey, my back really hurts today, so this will be another rest day. 

Once in Willersey I walked to my accomodation, a flat at the back of a private home. Very nice!

Willersey is a small, very pretty village, with lots of old houses built with yellow Cotdwold stone. There are two pubs, one was closed today and one didn't serve food today. So I had two (small) bags of crisps and a pint of Coca-Cola. I'd brought some sandwiches for breakfast and had one of them for dinner. I now know that I can't eat mustard, along with all the other things. The sandwich I saved for breakfast I won't be able to eat 😟 Fortunately there were some milk and cold cereal, do I was ok for breakfast!

Om du vill stötta min insamling utan att ange adress osv, så kan du swisha mig och skriva om du vill vara anonym eller inte, så betalar jag in motsvarande summa i pund.

My fundraiser, Rare Cancers research ❤️

https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/ullas-giving-page-9

Day 23 Ross-on-Wye to Cheltenham

Day 23 Ross-on-Wye to Cheltenham 

Kilometers: 15

   Leavimg Glyn and Sheila's house

Glyn took me to a place where I could access the Cotswold Way. The morning was quite hazy which was just as well, with full sun it would probably have been too warm.

Spring is in the air, the trees are starting to turn green.

The Cotdwolds are so beautiful and the trail was very diverse today.

Never pass by a cafe or a place to sit is my mantra while walking!

   Follow the Yellow Brick Road! Cotswold stone is very yellow and for a while the path was crushed Cotswold stone instead of dirt.

   Almost there!

The back has been difficult today, I think I need to see a chiropractor again. I'll see if I can get an appointment in Coventry. I need to sort this out before I start the Pennine Way!

I think I may come back and do all of the Cotswold Way some time. I've had to leave the trail to find accommodations and have walked the shortest route, to get there, so I have missed a lot of it. It is so very beautiful here and I would like to do it a little later in the year, maybe late April or May. But that's for another time!

Till mina svenska vänner:

Om du vill stötta min insamling utan att ange adress osv, så kan du swisha mig och skriva om du vill vara anonym eller inte, så betalar jag in motsvarande summa i pund.

My fundraiser, Rare Cancers research ❤️

https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/ullas-giving-page-9