Route 2 completed

What a windy day!! Saturday was our planned day for the next 3 miles of my Marathon Walk but oh what weather and blowing the wrong way too.

This time we drove to the station as my legs have not been 100% for a while and parked the car nearby as a day's parking was cheaper than two taxis, a little more reliable too as taxis can be late. Virgin Trains have been very generous again providing our tickets to Euston and back - I'm very very grateful, thank you.

Hubby and me on the train

Retracing our return underground journey from Route 1 we travelled on the Northern Line to Bank where we changed to the DLR all the way to Woolwich Arsenal. I enjoy travelling on the 'driver-less train and as we've stayed near City Airport many times we knew many of the passing sights.

We left Nuneaton at 9 and arrived in Woolwich at 11.30, not bad and in time to enjoy a second breakfast at The Great Harry - our welcome finish last time and our energy boost this time. 

Our end stop last time and our beginning this.

Breakfast for Nick - Fruit & yogurt for me 

And so refreshed it was a stroll up Wellington Street to the 'junction' - End of Route 1. It is quite a rise to the junction but all downhill then as the route began. It really was a windy day as my start photo shows hee hee.

Blown away

We had not walked far before to our joy and surprise the parakeets flew over - we had seen quite a few on our first walk and it was lovely to see them again. They flew into the tree right above us and I managed to take a couple of photos. I don't take a camera on our walks, just my mobile phone. The photos have turned out quite good considering.

Parakeet in the tree above us

We were heading directly towards the River Thames and the Woolwich Ferry, and so was all the traffic. It was a very different style of route this time being dual carriageway most of the way with a constant flow of cars, lorries and big red London buses.

The buildings seemed to be mainly 20th century style, quite a few blocks of flats but also some old cinemas, two of which are now churches, one is even a Cathedral. The Granada Woolwich was built in 1937 in the cinema heyday and is now the Christ Faith Tabernacle.

Originally the Granada Woolwich  

On the opposite corner was another old theatre building, now the New Wine Church. They had a life size Nativity on the lower roof, one of the few festive decorations we saw, and we were Christmas Tree spotting. After a little research I was amazed to find that this theatre was opened on 25th October (our son's birth date) in 1937 by Ralph Reader with The Gang Show - amazing as I have been in scouting since I was 16. Although a church, and even as a Christian, I did have a rye chuckle at it being a wine church as wine tasting is our hobby - and again doing a bit of research another co-incidence came to light - they speak french !! Anyone who knows me will be laughing now as I love France, my online name is french for 'your friend' - Aimetu - amazing isn't it.

So many links to this building 

Back to walking. turning left to continue our route along the A206, our continuous road all the way to the end of Route 2, we were lucky enough to see the Woolwich Ferry just arriving on the north side of the Thames. I was quite surprised how narrow the Thames was - not a long ferry journey at all.

The Woolwich Ferry

Having turned to walk westward we discovered how strong the wind was, we did have to stop a few times to catch our breath. Initially we thought there was not a great deal to see as we walked along but we discovered quite a few interesting items - you'd never know they were there if you drove by or ran past on the actual Marathon. 

The area on our right, riverside, used to be the Woolwich Dockyard, There were hints of the old buildings amongst modern replacements. Using Google maps you can see the old ship building docks and other distinctive buildings that still remain. We did pass impressive stone gates with knot emblems, behind which was a building with a Wren like spire.

Knot gates with Wren spire 

As we walked along we also noticed this great mosaic, it was part of the subway and I've no idea what it's for or why it's there but it's a great piece of art depicting the ship building trade.

Mosaic entrance to a subway

Further along still stood a huge chimney towering above the road. It was built between 1837 and 1843 for the blacksmith's fires in the foundry. It is said to be 10 feet higher than The Monument which is 202 feet high. It was an amazing structure having 8 sides. 

Some of the original Woolwich Dockyard buildings

We did  notice quite a lot of regeneration, many new business sites and retail parks, some old industrial areas too. Our route was following the river although we couldn't see it, so it wasn't a surprise to see a sign for the Thames Barrier. We've seen this from the other side of the river on a previous stay in London, it's an amazing sight stretching across the water. 

Thames Barrier 

Our next noticeable modern building was very very much welcomed - Costa Coffee. My legs were in great need of a rest, and what better rest than to sit enjoying a coffee. It was a nice chance too to think about where we'd been and how far we had to go, including a quick check on the route.

Staying on the same road we continued along passing under the Blackwall Tunnel Southern Approach. This is the road we passed over on our first walk and I took a photo of the city, it seemed odd to be now walking under the same road but nearer the river.

The section after the flyover changed to be less industrial and more retail, one of the first buildings we passed was an old building that was the original East Greenwich Library. We had been looking for blue plaques, we didn't see any this time but the Library building did have this plaque. The Grade II listed building was donated by the philanthropist Andrew Carnegie in 1905. Unfortunately the building's future is uncertain - there's an interesting article in South London Press.

East Greenwich Library plaque

As we slowly ambled along we came across a small park area, nothing much we thought until we noticed this - another little surprise hidden away.

Left hand panel

Centre panel

Right hand panel

I'm so glad it was saved - great piece of art work

Nearly there, for which my legs were very thankful. At the beginning I had said to Nick we could do maybe a little more and finish in actual Greenwich but the last mile was quite tough ... and slow. We were aiming to finish on the corner of Maze Hill and catch the train back into London. Nearly there we passed a lovely church, it seems now to be two churches used in the same building. I presume it was once the parish church with it's beautiful clock tower.

East Greenwich Church

Hurrah the finish - we decided to take the bus back into the City instead of the train as I was quite tired and there are many steps and tunnels when using the tube. The 188 bus arrived and provided a much needed sit down - however an hour's journey later we were very pleased to hop off in Holborn as we'd started to cease up from sitting too long. It was a very interesting tour of London south of the river, some of which I think we may be walking next time.

Blown about a bit but happy to be at the finish of Route 2 

Route 2 completed - tracked by MapMyWalk

I feels really good to have completed another 3 miles - just over in fact and means now I have under 20 miles to go. I am so grateful to everyone who has supported me in my Challenge - especially Virgin Trains, but there is no way I could do Clare's Challenge 50 without the massive support from my lovely Hubby Nick.

To celebrate we dined at Nando's in Holborn, such a relaxing place with great food and of course a lovely glass of sauvignon blanc - perfect treat.

Cheers !!

I am overwhelmed with everyone's support too - it is a personal challenge but I have been very touched by everyone's donations. The total so far is £295 donated online and with Gift Aid it is actually £353.75 - amazing.

I do appreciate everyone sharing, retweeting and liking to help spread the word - every £1 donation is a bonus and it does help when I'm walking, especially when I'm getting tired.

3 to 6 Miles

It's walking time again - yippee!

November has been a mixed month for me, as I said in my October post I needed to rest as my legs were complaining about over use, however I'm not sure our busy calendar allowed much quiet time.

My two hobbies are cross stitching and wine tasting and I run online forums for both: Needlecraft Haven and Cuvée Reserve respectively. November was a busy month with a sewing day and over the month three wine events. You can catch up on the news at either of my blogs Aimetu's Stitching or Aimetu's (for wine and travel) - so you see November was not a 'resting' month at all.

In addition to that I have been swimming twice a week at Nuffield Health and yes I think it does help - I am up to 12 lengths each visit (it's a 20m pool so not really that far) and on getting out the pool my legs, especially my left leg, are very wobbly but ten minutes in the jacuzzi helps and being a quite place, unlike public baths, I can take my time getting changed. If it just helps with muscle tone and responsiveness I'm happy, I'm certainly not planning to swim the Channel !!

My pin badges

The British Paralympic Association have sent me some ribbon so I'll be replacing the red, white and blue with logo-ed ribbon this time. I now have a pin badge for each charity which I'll be wearing too.

And so tomorrow sees the next 3 miles of Clare's Challenge 50.

Virgin Trains have again been wonderful in their support and we have our tickets for the 9.05 to Euston. We'll be starting where we finished last time so need to take the tube/DLR to Woolwich Arsenal. I think we finish at Maze Hill, so back to Euston via London Bridge.


Being close to our start it would be a shame to miss visiting The Great Harry again so before we get going we'll be calling in for a coffee (and loo stop). The junction is then just up the road ..... and off we go!

3 to 6 miles - mapped on Google Earth 

This is our route on Google Earth - it's all main road this time so I'm not sure what sights we'll discover although I'm sure there will be a bit of Christmas Tree spotting  We are a little closer to the Thames so maybe we'll get a better view of the river. I'm also hoping to find a little cafe about half way but I've not yet spotted one.

Start - end of route1/start of route 2 - end of route 2 

This map shows the main Start Line, where we finished last time and start this time, and where we'll finish this time. As you can see we are walking virtually back to the beginning but on a road nearer the river. I'm not sure how long this walk will take, I will use the Map my Walk app to track our stroll, and it will be a stroll as today I have developed a head cold which does not help my MS at all - but hey ho and off we go !!



Thank you to everyone who has donated so far - my online fundraising page is already at £260 which is an incredible amount so thank you.



If you are a tweeter on Twitter or a follower on Facebook
please retweet, favourite or share my challenge story :)

My next update will be full of photos from Route 2 - 3 to 6 Miles  

October update

I haven't disappeared or given up on my Challenge but I am resting. Since my first three miles we have had a great holiday in Turkey with quite a bit of walking and swimming.

http://aimetus.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/beautiful-icmeler.html

We have also been to London for our son's 25th birthday and although we limited our travels I still walked quite a way. I am very slow walking at the moment and all our November weekends have something on one of the days. To try to do a walk the other day would not do me any good at all.

So it's sensible time for me - I have joined Nuffield gym as I would like to keep up the swimming (hopefully twice a week) and it may help strengthen my legs.

I would like to say a huge

THANK YOU 

to so many of my friends and family who have Ben so generous already. My fundraising fund is over £200 already

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=ClaresChallenge50

The Paralympians are currently our in Doha - have a look at their amazing achievements.

http://paralympics.org.uk/#

Please keep reading my blog - the next 3/4 miles of Clare's Challenge 50 will be end of November/early December - I wonder what exciting things we'll discover about London this time

Start to 3 miles

Saturday was a very important day - the start of my personal London Marathon. I'm not doing it with crowds of people, just me and my lovely Hubby Nick walking along, an ordinary couple taking a stroll.

But it's a slow stroll - we both noticed I am definitely walking slower than I was a year ago, my legs and arms hurt more too and need more rest now..... BUT what an amazing day, a fantastic start to Clare's Challenge 50.

We decided not to print t-shirts, one reason is they are quite expensive and it's money we could add to the fundraising pot. As we are not running we will be wearing our coats so they'd be hidden and this Challenge is primarily my personal achievement - so drawing highlight to us walking along seems a little odd. The money raised will be an amazing bonus.

I have decorated Dad's walking pole with ribbons representing the four charities and we will wearing the charities pin badges.

Dad's decorated walking pole

I am so very grateful to Virgin Trains and their generosity - I couldn't believe it when the tickets arrived First Class. Although it's a short walk to our train station we had a taxi as there was no point in being tired this end of the journey. A very fast train saw us arriving at London Euston just before 10am when the fun began....

Due to engineering works we had to slightly change our route across London, first trip was by tube on the Northern Line to London Bridge. We were very surprised when we came out the station right under The Shard, it was very tempting to go up but that will have to be another day, and not a misty one either.

Under The Shard

Looking up !

A two stop hop on the DLR and we were at Blackheath, an area of London we have never visited but looked lovely with lots of independent shops. From the tube station we had about a half mile stroll across Blackheath Common to the official start point. A misty morning with lots of dog walkers, under 10s football and other shoppers - it really had a community feel, quite an open space with huge houses, a really nice start to our day.

All Saint's Church on Blackheath Common 

Greenwich Park is huge and a good space for starting the London Marathon when there are 1000s taking part. We started at the Red Start which is at Blackheath Gate and it's beautiful Gatehouse. There's a lovely view down into the park; an avenue of trees leading towards the Greenwich Observatory, but again that will have to be another day as the route turns east from Blackheath Gate along Carlton Way.

London Marathon Red Start at Blackheath Gate

Map of Greenwich Park
(we were at the big red dot bottom right)

I used Map My Walk app on my phone to plot our walk so after setting off we set off at a nice steady pace. It was lovely walking along chatting, looking at the houses, seeing parakeets flying over head and plenty of big red buses going by.

Our brunch stop was The Scullery Cafe which was about 3/4 of a mile into our walk, not far but we had been walking since leaving Blackheath Station. A popular place with a good brunch menu, table service and great coffee. Nick enjoyed a sausage sandwich whilst I devoured French Toast with berries (and maple syrup for energy).

French Toast at The Scullery Cafe

Setting off again through another small community of shops and onto Charlton Road - this was to be the first long stretch. It was a strange feeling to walk over the bridge crossing the A2 thinking we had traveled that road many times not knowing what was above. Although still misty it was a great view of the London skyline and the O2.

Misty London skyline from the A2 bridge.

A little further along we passed Our Lady of Grace RC Church where two wedding were taking place - we saw one wedding come out and the guests for the second arrive by coach; seeing everyone so happy made us both smile too.

Our side of the road a little further along was a quaint old cottage, Poplar Cottage, dating back to 1695. Charlton is a very old village; its Anglo-Saxon name means 'farmstead of the peasants'.

Weather- boarded 17th Century Cottage

Poplar Cottage

Charlton Road ends at The Village where I spied a bench !! We were on quite a hill overlooking the Thames and London but houses and flats obscured most of the view. We were very surprised to discover Charlton House, a Jacobean manor house built in 1607-12. It is now part of the Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust which hosts many events throughout the year and can be hired for weddings.

Charlton House

Hubby and the welcome bench

Nice place for a breather

The Village was a curve in the road, again a small community with shop and a cafe. Across the road was an old water fountain, next to a war memorial and a block of flats that would have great views down to the river.

The Village water fountain

Leaving The Village behind we set off on the longest stretch; Charlton Park Road into Little Heath and on into Hillreach. As its name suggests the first part was next to a park. We had a quick look in and discovered it was the back of Charlton House so it must have originally been its grounds. An interesting coffee shop which looked inviting but we needed to keep going, after being investigated by the friendly native looking for tip bits (of which we had none).

Coffee Shop in Charlton Park

Biscuit crumb hunter

Little Heath and Hillreach were long roads, going downhill and then up again. Lovely examples of London architecture, one house with a blue plaque; William Ranwell, an artist.

Beresford Terrace - great London architecture

William Ranwell's blue plaque

At the top of Hillreach I thought the junction was the end of Route 1, especially as by now I was quite slow and my left leg was beginning to hurt - unfortunately not, it was the next junction. This junction did however have a 36 inch mortar, weighing 42 tons the largest ever built in our country. It has been fired by never in war.

36 inch mortar

The Royal Artillary Barracks were on the other side of the junction and our final stroll was alongside the Barracks' walls to the main junction with the A205 John Wilson Street.

We walked alongside the Barracks.

The Finish Place for my first 3 miles was certainly a welcome sight. It's a major junction and Route 2 will start here heading north towards the Thames, but for these tired legs it was the Finish.

Finish Line for Route 1 

Our journey back to Euston was to take the DLR from Woolwich Arsenal, so a little walk from the Finish. Not quite so far as Blackheath to the Starting Point, and with an added bonus; The Great Harry. A lively Wetherspoons pub which was a welcome sight with an even more welcome gin and tonic and dinner, another piece of history too.

I am was very tired on Saturday and even slower walking going home than when we started but it was an amazing day. I am so pleased that I can do this, not a big event just a slow steady bit at a time. We certainly discovered more about London having time to look around as we walked. The Map My Walk app calculated our route - 3.2 miles at a very slow pace, but I enjoyed every minute.

Another great journey home thanks to Virgin Trains and a taxi from the station. Yesterday and today have been rest day as my legs are slow, painful and at times a bit wobbly, but sitting writing my blog gives them a good rest.

A HUGE thank you to everyone who has already donated - £115 so far - please share my blog and fundraising event as it helps me along and will certainly help my four chosen charities.

Donation Page - Clare's Challenge 50 

And of course my special thanks goes to my lovely lovely Hubby Nick, my hand holder all the way.

My lovely Hubby and I 

Route 2 will hopefully be sometime in November

  The date will be announced on here, facebook (Clare Hearnden) and Twitter (@Aimetu) 

It's time to get going

Well that's it - Challenge On !! I think everyone was surprised by my announcement at my party - all my birthday news is in my craft blog Aimetu's Stitching if you'd like to read about it.

I am hoping to do the first section of my London Marathon this coming Saturday - my lovely Hubby surprised me with a birthday trip to Prague and as you'll see in my travel blog, Aimetu's, it was cobbled streets, a little hilly and some walking. It was an amazing time, I am such a lucky lady but the first weekend home was a sofa few days for me and this weekend I've still taken it easy resting at our caravan in Wales.

My legs are ok - a few shakes still but I'm sure I can rest a little more this week. We are away again soon on a holiday we booked earlier in the year and I'd like to start my Challenge before we go. It is a relaxing hotel/pool holiday so perfect for recuperating.

My plan is to take a 9 o'clock train, arriving in London just after 10, I hope that's ok with Virgin Trains who have been so generous. It will take another hour to get across to Blackheath Station and a 1/2 mile walk before reaching the Official Start Line.

Technology is an amazing thing and thanks to Google Earth I have already 'walked' the route.

Google Earth view of Route 1 (red line)

I have found a lovely coffee stop after about 1 mile (it will have been further as I'll have walked from the train station too) I've contacted The Scullery Cafe to see if they will be open (and if they have a loo !!)

Most of this route is residential but there were some large buildings too and will be interesting to find out what they are. After a coffee break I am hoping to complete the other 2 miles with just a few pauses, no major sit down. My pace is quite slow and I'll have my late Dad's walking pole with me - he took it to the top of Snowdon and it has many badges on. I'll be covering it with ribbons in the charity colours and at the end will add a London badge.

Dad and his fellow Scouters on Snowdon leaning on the pole
 (1950s)

My first leg ends on John Wilson Street which actually leads to the Woolwich Ferry. We'll be heading east for another third of a mile where thanks to Google Earth I spied The Great Harry pub !! It's a Wetherspoons brand and will be a welcome rest, celebratory glass of wine and dinner before walking just a short way to take the DLR and Northern Line back to Euston and then the train home, where I think it will be a taxi home :)

Map of route with stations, start and finished marked 

I am excited with nervousness too - I know I can do this and I will do it but it looks a long way. One step in front of the other, chatting with Hubby and the finish line for Route 1 will soon appear.

I have not ordered the t-shirts, we're going to print our own - mainly because the cost of printing seems a waste, it's so much cheaper to do it ourselves so the extra can go in the fundraising pot.

Thank you to MS Society, Pancreatic Cancer UK, Diabetes UK and British Paralympic Association for their kind emails of support, pins, booklets, ribbons - Dad's walking pole will be a very colourful sight.

Thank you too to my amazing friends who have already started donating and before I have even taken a step the total is £75 !!

I will be taking photos and blogging about walking Route 1 - you can follow me on Twitter @Aimetu

Please could you share my blog and my fundraising page on your Twitter/Facebook page - it would be fantastic if my personal challenge could also help others - THANK YOU !

Announcement Day

So the day is here - I've had an amazing birthday with many surprises, cards and social media messages. My lovely Hubby is taking me to Prague on Monday, and my daughter contacted my friends and family asking for photo messages which she's put in an album.

But today is my turn to surprise everyone. It's party time and I'll be telling everyone about my Challenge. The little cards came and look great and I've scheduled a post on Facebook for 10pm.

This is the first post anyone has read as until now my blog has been closed, please read my two previous posts about my challenge.

I hope you'll keep popping my for a news update; leave a comment if you do, it's always good to read messages.

Best foot forward :-)