Walk the Path 2010

After six years our annual Walk the Path event is as popular and successful as ever. This year there were some familiar faces as well as plenty of new ones and if you were one of the 125 who signed up to take part I would like to thank you for coming along, I hope you had an enjoyable time.

For those who are interested here are a few statistics:

• A total of 125 people and 9 dogs signed up for the walk.
• 308 feet and 36 paws covered almost 1,840 miles over the two days.
• Walkers came from as far field as Alresford, Southampton and London.

Saturday

The day started off with an unforeseen hiccup, the car park at the Wellington Statue – where we ask everyone to go before taking them down to Rowhill for the actual start of the walk – was double booked!  Fortunately, after a bit of quick thinking by Sue and fantastic support from the manager of the nearby branch of Tesco we were given permission to use their car park. Once informed of the change the military guards at the statue were soon guiding our walkers to the new location. 

Check in at Rowhill always goes well and there were 71 starters, who set off in three groups. This year we were delighted to be joined by the High Sheriff of Hampshire Alan Lovell and his party, 12 people altogether, who were walking the morning section.  The group all checked in with the rest of the walkers, before being led by Steve Bailey, our Manager who was able to point out the area’s many interesting features along the route.

The showery weather and chilly winds kept
everyone moving in the morning (pictured right) with the first walkers arriving at the lunch stop about one o’clock.

Lunch just south of Coleford Bridge was a little damp, so the hot cups of tea and coffee were most welcome – and the chocolate bars much appreciated. By this point three walkers decided that they would retire gracefully, although walking the eight miles up to this point is a great achievement.

When the early walkers arrived at the afternoon stop at Hawley Meadows, they were surprised to see a large group of Born Again Christians who were conducting a baptism in the river. Their Minister stood in the middle of the river and to accompanying music five people were baptised by total immersion, quite an unusual sight.

The end of the day at Sandhurst is always most welcome and after 13.4 miles our walkers were grateful for the chance to have a hot drink, although most opted to clamber aboard the minibus to take them back to their cars so they could get home.

Sunday

Sunday was forecast to be both warmer and drier than Saturday, but as we set up the check-in desk at the Memorial Park in Sandhurst this was not apparent. As people started arriving so it started to rain. We did try to keep the paperwork dry, but to no avail as the rain got heavier.  Nevertheless all 81 walkers checked in and were eager to get on their way.

One of the nice things about the event is that we get special permission to walk through sites usually closed to us, this is particularly true on the Sunday morning stretch. There is usually quite a bit of road walking at Sandhurst, but for Walk the Path we get permission to pass through the Yateley fishing lakes and away from the traffic.

The lunch-time venue at Eversley is a particularly lovely spot, where people can sit and enjoy the river views and the sun was nearly persuaded to put in an appearance, but coyly remained hidden. So once again the hot drinks were most welcome. We were very impressed with the speed at which walkers close by reacted when a strong gust of wind nearly carried off our gazebo... Time for a group picture (right) and only another four miles to go to the end.

The final stretch sees the River Blackwater join the River Whitewater to become the Broadwater for a short stretch.  Just before the end our walkers pass through Swallowfield Park, another special route for the event, finally ending up at Swallowfield Parish Hall. According to one walker they had covered 10.8 miles.

Sunday was particularly good for the twitchers in the group. As well as lots of newly born lambs and some free-range chickens, walkers reported seeing: Red Kite, Buzzard, Hobby and Raven!

I’m delighted to say that we didn’t lose anyone en route and judging from the feedback forms everyone enjoyed themselves. A couple of people suggested that we added a few more kilometres to the walk; an interesting suggestion although we can’t actually make the path longer, but perhaps we could add a circular loop somewhere. Personally I found the idea of having wine at the lunch-time stop along with some chocolate gâteau appealing, but I’m not sure it’s that practical. All in all another successful event. 

See you next year.

Thank you

On behalf of the organisers I would like to thank all the volunteers who helped make the event possible, without you it would be impossible for us to hold Walk the Path. Our thanks to all our walk leaders and back markers: Paul, Chris, Iain, Liz, Ken and Alan. For the second year the 1st Cove Scouts, led by Nick and Andy managed  the morning and afternoon refreshment stops, guys thank you for your support you did a great job. We would also like to say thank all the volunteer mini-bus drivers: Chris, Steve, Ian and Ken. A mention too for Rowhill Field Centre, Tesco at Aldershot, Sandhurst Town Council, Sandhurst Girls & Boys Football Club, Horseshoe Lakes, Masdar and Swallowfield Parish Hall for allowing us to use their premises. Last, but by no means least, a big thank you to all the landowners who gave us permission to walk across their land, especially the stretches through Yateley Lakes and Swallowfield Park, both ‘specials’ for the walk.

Report by Christine Reeves