This is us, Alex and Will, on the final day about half a mile from our destination. We're still in one piece after all those miles and 12 and a half days on the go.
Here's the story of our walk from the beginning...
We started at Charing Cross, at the bottom of Trafalgar Square, on a very rainy day in March.
With the constant bad weather we'd been having in March we decided to start the walk a day earlier than planned to allow us an extra bit of "leg room" later on, in case we needed it.
As it turned out we only got as far as Brentford before the skies totally emptied all the rain in London on us. Luckily for us though, this first day was the only really wet day of the whole trip. Better to get it out of the way early on when we were still close enough to home to go back and dry off.
Here's the full story about Day (minus) 1
Day 1
With some of the London-based walking under our belts, we returned to Brentford to start the main walk out of London, following the Grand Union Canal westwards. Destination: Windsor.
Here's the full story... Day 1: London to Windsor
Day 2
The aptly named "Three Castles Path" starts at Windsor Castle and for the next three days we would be visiting each of the three castles.
There was a seasonal shift back to winter and we had a bit of snow, and plenty of ice... And mud.
More photos here... Day 2: Windsor to Winchfield
Day 3
Odiham Castle and the Basingstoke Canal (plus more snow, ice and mud!). Odiham Castle was built by King John and completed the year before the signing of the Magna Carta.
Conditions on the ground were pretty slippery for most of the day, but we eventually reached our destination for the night after a long day of walking.
More about this... Day 3: Winchfield to New Alresford
Day 4
On Day 4 we reached Winchester. The Great Hall houses the Round Table (well, a Round Table, not THE Round Table as in the mythical one), which has never left the room in which it was constructed.
Winchester Great Hall marks the end of the Three Castles Path and to our surprise the lady in the gift shop stamped our little guide book to certify we had completed it and gave us a set of postcards. We've been using them to write thank you letters to our Couchsurfing hosts and people that have sponsorsed us.
Whilst mentioning Couchsurfing, if you haven't done it before, you really should try it! www.couchsurfing.org
After lunch in Winchester we carried on about 10 miles to the village of Kings Somborne where we met our Couchsurfing host for the night, Dan.
More pictures and info about Day 4... Day 4 Alresford to Kings Somborne
Day 5
The trail to Salisbury is called the Clarendon Way and is a really nice walk. Approaching Salisbury is relatively easy to navigate because the spire of Salisbury Cathedral is such a big landmark on the horizon. From the ruins of Clarendon Palace (where we encountered a herd of alpacas) we were able to walk in a straight line directly into the centre of Salisbury.
More pictures and the rest of the story... Day 5: Kings Somborne to Salisbury
Day 6
We headed out from Salisbury towards Shaftesbury along the old drove road. The track was mostly bridlepath and occasionally potholed roads but it was very easy to walk and being so high up meant it was dry underfoot.
The tree-lined path opened out to great scenery and we walked past lots of farms. One chicken farm seemed to have a sound system wired up into all the barns and was blasting out "Copacabana" by Barry Manilow - does music make hens lay more eggs?
More about Day 6: Salisbury to Berwick St John
Day 7
We joined the Wessex Ridgeway and found ourselves in the county of Dorset. It seemed too early to be in the penultimate county after only 7 days. There were still plenty of miles to cover... And they were to be hilly miles.
By this stage in the walk all memories of the city had faded and it was becoming difficult to imagine a different way of life other than walking in this nomadic style.
Here's more detail about day 7... Day 7: Berwick St John to Shillingstone
Day 8
The walk began with a steep climb out of Shillingstone to reach spectacular ridge top views over Dorset.
And lots and lots of sheep!
This bunch were particularly curious / friendly...
We passed through Cerne Abbas (famous for the Giant) and after a final push we reached our destination for the evening, Maiden Newton.
Day 9
The day of coming up against footpath closures! The first part of the day was relatively flat because we chose to follow the route of the trackbed of a former railway line (the Bridport Branch Line). Although there is a project underway by Sustrans to open the route officially as a trailway, some of the walk is not yet particularly accessible.
We had to take some diversions but we still managed to make good time and get to Bridport for lunch.
At West Bay we picked up the South West Coast Path and almost immediately had some fairly challenging inclines. The total height was nowhere near the heights we'd been walking on the Ridgeway but the steepness of the climbing was much more noticeable. We climbed the highest point on the South Coast, Golden Cap, and overlooked the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site.
After more footpath diversions due to collapsed bridges and landslides we eventually made it to Lyme Regis at dusk. Luckily the clocks had changed to Summer Time so we had an extra hour of light in the evening.
Here's more detail about this part of the walk... Day 9: Maiden Newton to Lyme Regis
Day 10
Just past the beach huts of Lyme Regis the SW Coast Path follows a rather impressive undercliff route towards Seaton, with dramatic views out to sea.
The sun shone and spring was in the air as we continued along the coast path. After getting some knee problems on the sharp descents we decided to take to the beach for the final mile and a half into Sidmouth. The signs of recent mudslides and rock falls were a bit alarming - and we even saw a couple of upside down trees!
Read the full story and see more photos... Day 10: Lyme Regis to Sidmouth
Day 11
The penultimate day of the walk, and we'd covered more than 200 miles already. With a few minor aches and pains starting to creep in, the reality of the distance we'd covered hit us.
When we reached Exmouth we had to catch the boat across the estuary of the River Exe to Dawlish Warren. This seemed a little bit like cheating because we wanted to do the entire walk without using any other form of transport. However, this crossing route across the estuary is officially part of the South West Coast Path, so we satisfied ourselves that this was perfectly acceptable.
We crossed through the nature reserve at Dawlish Warren and after following the very scenic stretch of railway line along the coast, we reached Dawlish, our destination for the day.
More about Day 11: Sidmouth to Dawlish
Day 12
Time to muse upon how when you set about to do just one thing for a fixed period of time (in this case - walking) how perception of time and distance gets warped. In so many ways it felt like we'd been doing this walk forever, in other ways the adventure was still fresh and it felt like we could easily just keep on going.
All good things must come to an end!
We were so lucky with the weather over the 2 weeks. Although it felt like we'd had all four seasons during the time of our walk, two major things worked in our favour; the Easterly wind was behind us the whole way, and it didn't rain apart from the first day. We didn't mind being cold, but being cold AND WET isn't fun.
As we made the final approach into Totnes a little flurry of snow fell and we commented that this did in fact seem like the right time to stop,
We arrived at The Royal Seven Stars in Totnes and a small welcoming party was there to meet us - it was great to meet our Totnes supporters who had been following our progress all the way, sending messages via Facebook and tweeting. It was time for a pint!
Thanks to everyone that has sponsored us and supported along the way! Please donate to Macmillan and RMH Bristol. Our sponsorship page will stay open for a couple of months past the end of the walk - and this is the link: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/walktotnes
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