DAY 1 Sunday 11th

DAY 1 Sunday 11th March

The day got off to a shaky start with an "interesting" cooked breakfast at the hotel a bit later than I would have liked but eventually I managed to get to the NMA for the start of my walk.


The worst (and most dangerous) part of today's walk was taking my life in my hands crossing the A38 dual carriage-way between the NMA and Alrewas village.
I found the canal eventually only to realise that the path was on the other side so I had to retrace my steps a bit!!



I had set off with my thick jacket on as I was expecting cold & rain. Within quarter of an hour it was off and replaced with a thin fleece. Another few miles on and the fleece was off & tied round my waist. The sun shone and it was pretty warm. The going was fairly good, a bit muddy in places and I was glad I had my walking poles with me to steady my footing. I saw and heard plenty of birds most of which I can safely term as LBJs (little brown jobs!!) I keep saying I'm going to learn about birds, particularly by their calls - so far to no avail. Its times like this I wish I had my brother-in-law Lewis or my friend Sharon with me - they know about these things!!

Lunch was at a rather pretentious pub, The Plough at Huddlesford. Very popular going by the number of cars in the car park. Everything was rather gourmet (including the price) so I chose the soup. When it eventually arrived (I arrived at 11.30, they didn't serve 'Lunch' till 12, I went and enquired where my soup was at 12.15) it was milk (or possibly thin cream) infused with garlic and saffron (Why? Kinda got lost apart from the colour) with a cheese crisp floating on it all served with 1 slice of sourdough toast. All reasonably ok but not 'hearty' for a walk after an iffy breakfast!!



I set off again and the path was much easier and less muddy (apart from a couple of patches) It was still quite warm but I had plenty of water. The afternoon walk was longer than the morning so between Hopwas (my stop on my first walk in 2014) and Tamworth I stopped at a suitable bench to nibble on my cake bar and/or chocolate bar. To my horror I discovered that I hadn't packed them! I had packed all the things I didn't need but not the food!! Kind of a theme going on here?!! I munched an apple and drank some water and then made very good time to the end of todays walk at The Gate Inn, Amington where I was hoping to meet up with Vee and her husband Derek. I made such good time that I was there half an hour before I'd planned. When Vee and Derek arrived at 5pm they said they'd just eaten so I went to order some food for myself only to find that they stopped serving at 5pm - it was now 5.15!! Never mind, I could get something back at our new hotel as Denise was picking me up at 6pm and she's as punctual and reliable as an atomic clock!! Vee and Derek left and I waited for Denise. . . . . and waited. . . . . and waited. . . . . . and panicked!!
She arrived (not until after I had "Phoned a friend!") - she had been caught up in horrendous traffic between Nuneaton and Tamworth.


All's well that ends well. I had delicious steak and chips with a nice glass of Merlot. Order is restored. All is well with the world. Now for a bath and a good nights sleep ready for another, hopefully trouble-free day tomorrow.