Footsteps in Summer , livre ebook

Troubador Publishing Ltd - George Russell

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119 pages

English

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When early retirement beckons, Russell George decides to set off on a gruelling 950 mile solo charity walk along the length of Britain from John O'Groats to Land's End, which is about 930 miles further than he's ever walked before. During his journey, he has to cope with an extended heat wave, loneliness, troublesome blisters, a roadside tumble and a succession of missing signposts and overgrown footpaths. He encounters a variety of incidents, including rescuing a set of keys from a departing train and finding his accommodation double-booked, but manages to maintain a sense of humour throughout. He even finds time to meet his namesake and to sample a few local beers, especially the ones with really obscure names. But there's a darker theme. Despite much of the journey passing through countryside, the rural idyll is disturbed as Russell gradually discovers that his entire route is dotted with the scenes of tragic historical events, including air and rail crashes, maritime and industrial tragedies, battles and wartime destruction, and natural catastrophes.This is an amusing and enlightening tale of an arduous, but rewarding, journey through rural Britain during a glorious long, hot summer, depicting a slower pace of life, dramatic landscapes, an abundance of nature, and acts of kindness from complete strangers. All of the author royalties from the sale of this book will be donated to Cancer Research UK.

Sujets

Reino Unido

Travel writing

United Kingdom

Great Britain

Royaume-Uni

Informations

Publié par	Troubador Publishing Ltd
Date de parution	28 novembre 2014
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781784627171
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0250€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Footsteps in Summer
Diary of an epic walk of discovery across Britain

Russell George
Copyright © 2014 Russell George
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study,
or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in
any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the
publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with
the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries
concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.
Matador ®
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Kibworth Beauchamp
Leicestershire LE8 0RX, UK
Tel: (+44) 116 279 2299
Fax: (+44) 116 279 2277
Email: books@troubador.co.uk
Web: www.troubador.co.uk/matador
ISBN: 978 1784627 171
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Matador ® is an imprint of Troubador Publishing Ltd
www.footstepsinsummer.com

Converted to eBook by EasyEPUB

This book is dedicated to everybody who played some part
in my JOGLE adventure.
Contents

Cover

FOREWORD

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

POSTSCRIPT

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
FOREWORD
Cancer Research UK is the world’s leading charity dedicated to beating cancer through research. We have saved millions of lives by discovering new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer, and survival rates have doubled over the past 40 years.
We fund research into more than 200 types of cancer, from the most common – such as breast, bowel, lung and prostate cancers – to rare types of tumour and children’s cancers; we support groundbreaking science that benefits everyone. We currently invest nearly £400 million annually into our scientific research programme.
Research is cancer’s ultimate enemy, but our life-saving work relies entirely on the money contributed by our supporters, whether through direct giving, legacies, one-off events or volunteer fundraising. We receive no Government funding for our research, so without the dedication and generosity of our supporters, we wouldn’t be able to carry out any of our life saving research.
One such supporter is Russell George, who undertook a 955 mile solo walk from John O’ Groats to Land’s End to raise funds for Cancer Research UK. Russell has now written this book to tell the story of his epic adventure, including the numerous challenges he faced during his journey, the people he encountered en route, and the places he passed through.
Thanks to Russell and all the incredible people who support Cancer Research UK we will beat cancer sooner.
Frances Milner,
Supporter Led Fundraising Director,
Cancer Research UK
You can make an additional donation to
Cancer Research UK by visiting:
JustGiving.com/FootstepsInSummer
INTRODUCTION
7.00am. Terminal 5, Heathrow Airport. In the vicinity of the departure gate for the Edinburgh shuttle, a throng of impatient business passengers is congregated. Suited citizens of the corporate world, tapping away frenetically on laptops, purposely scanning slick PowerPoint presentations and barking into mobile phones, they effortlessly assumed a mantle of self-importance as they awaited the boarding announcement for their flight. I speculated on their collective motives for the journey north – a crucial board meeting at the Edinburgh office; the final sales pitch to a major client; a quarterly visit from the London head office to the Scottish subsidiary; the delicate meeting with a key supplier; a critical job interview; or perhaps just a day out at an industry conference.
I had taken this early morning flight on numerous occasions over the years, but today was very different. I kept my distance, watching instead from the relative safety of the coffee bar. I no longer fitted in with the corporate crowd, I was conspicuous. My laptop shoulder bag had been replaced by a large plastic carrier bag. I had discarded my suit and tie for today, and was dressed instead in lightweight chinos, a striped polo shirt and, most visibly, stout walking boots. My motives differed from those of my travelling companions, but I too had a mission and my journey a purpose. Most of my fellow passengers would be returning from the Scottish capital later that evening, but my day would end in the northernmost reaches of Caledonia. My mission would begin on the following day and, for me, there would be no return flight. Today would be my last contact for several months with the concrete and clamour of the fast paced, commercialised world which the sterile Terminal 5 building symbolised.
Three months earlier, I had taken ‘early retirement’ after over thirty years working for the same company in the energy industry. I was looking forward with optimism to the new opportunities ahead of me, but I really wanted to mark this key event and the unprecedented period of freedom it offered by undertaking a life-changing project. I wanted to embark on a tough personal challenge, which would also provide the opportunity to raise a significant sum of money for charity.
In a moment of extreme madness, probably fuelled by the intoxicating lure of the great outdoors, I had committed to undertake a solo trek from John O’ Groats in northern Scotland to Land’s End in Cornwall (conveniently abbreviated as JOGLE, or LEJOG for the reverse journey). I was planning to complete this gruelling physical and mental 950 mile walking challenge in around eight weeks, staying in a wide variety of accommodation en route.
I should perhaps explain that I was not a long distance walker. In fact, I wasn’t even a middle distance walker. At best, I could have been described as a casual rambler, who enjoyed the occasional mountain walk in Snowdonia or the Lake District, so this walk would be far more daunting than anything I’d done before in my life. However, finishing work provided the perfect opportunity to undertake a few months of rigorous training, so there was a reasonable chance of getting myself into slightly better shape. With a steely determination and a dash of recklessness, I convinced myself that I would somehow complete the walk within the allotted time.
As soon as I had started to inform colleagues and friends about my planned walk, the reaction of most people had been to ask why I was doing it. While they were always polite and sincere in their questioning, their body language usually portrayed unspoken words, which I interpreted as a challenge of my sanity. I took on the role of a fly on the wall.
“Mad fool, does he realise what’s he’s committing to?”
“Shouldn’t he leave a journey like that to the professionals?”
“He’ll never be able to walk that far!”
“Why doesn’t he just drive from John O’ Groats to Land’s End instead?”
“He’d be safer retiring and taking up golf or gardening”
“He’s risking life and limb! Why doesn’t he get another job instead?”
They might well have been absolutely right, but I was never going to admit it to them. At the very least, I had to give the impression that I knew what I was subjecting myself to and to exude some degree of confidence that I could and would complete the journey.
To those prepared to listen, I tried to explain that there were three main reasons why I was undertaking the walk.
Firstly, although I was technically taking early retirement, I was far too young to don my carpet slippers and sink into my armchair. Proper retirement wasn’t for me just yet, so I resolved to embark on a ‘project’ that would help me transition from my previous office-bound working life towards new and stimulating ventures in the future. This ‘project’ had to be a challenge, an adventure that would be both physically and mentally demanding, and potentially life-changing. I’m sure that some immediately interpreted this as a male mid-life crisis project (perhaps they were right again), although it was almost certainly not as dangerous, costly or frivolous as purchasing a Harley Davidson or a fast sports car and definitely didn’t involve wearing day-glow Lycra! I’d always enjoyed hiking and hill walking, albeit only carrying a light daysack, so it seemed like a natural choice for me. The inescapable fact that I’d never walked for more than two consecutive days merely added to the challenge!
Secondly, I really wanted to raise some funds for charity and to “give something back” after being fortunate enough to have had a secure and rewarding career for over thirty years. At university, I’d been actively involved with the Student Rag Week and throughout my twenties I’d regularly participated in fundraising for various charities, but career, marriage, relocation and the arrival of young children gradually displaced these virtuous activities. My ‘project’ would give me the opportunity to embrace others to help to achieve a significant contribution to a worthy cause, in this case to Cancer Research UK. I figured that family, friends and now former work colleagues would consider my ‘project’ to be sufficiently worthwhile to want to make a contribution and, hopefully, strangers I would meet en route would feel equally motivated.
Finally, I wanted to undertake the walk because I actually had the opportunity to do it. Finishing work at a relatively young age created the once-in-a-lifetime chance to do something that lasted for longer than the traditional couple of weeks’ annual holiday, but I also sensed that I should embark on this challenge now, while I was physically able, rather than looking back from my armchair with regret in the years ahead, lamenting that I had too many unfinished entries on my ‘bucket list’. I’d listened to too many people who had confessed to le