My Ramblings

We arrived at our destination at around 08:46 where we began our 16 mile walk by taking a photograph not of where we were starting the walk, but by taking a photograph of where we would finish the walk...

Not quite sure why we would take a picture of the finish when we hadn’t even started the walk yet.

After a few minutes walking we came to a bridge where we had a short break whilst we checked the map to make sure we were going in the right direction.

We then crossed the bridge and continued on up the path, as you can see from the next picture the footpath was clearly marked and very easy to navigate:

At this stage I was really enjoying the fantastic weather that we were lucky to have and the great views of the surrounding countryside as we meandered round the hillside.  A few moments later the footpath took a dramatic change...

This may look like a pile of rocks to you and the reason it looks like a pile of rocks, is because it is a pile of rocks – this (believe it or not) is now what the footpath has turned in to.

It was at this point that the 16 mile walk was starting to turn in to a 16 mile hike/climb.

The walk was no more and was now most definitely a hike across varied terrain and as you will see from the photos below there were some amazing views and strange rock formations to be found on our way.

There was one part of the hike that was actually very flat and if you believe in the conspiracy theory that the American Moon Landing was fake then this area is possibly the place where it was filmed:

When we reached a place on the map called Mill Hill, the person I was walking with temperament began to change... he kept on mentioning a road... a road that as we continued walking he became more and more obsessed with and it was at this point that my pleas to turn back became unheard as the only voice in his head was saying “we must get to the road, we must get to the road”.

The rough terrain gradually improved and turned in to a narrow footpath that meandered on through the peat bogs for what was quite literally miles and miles and miles.

After what seemed like an eternity we finally reached the road, but this was not enough for the road obsessed person I was with and we had to cross the road and continue further before finally being allowed to sit down, rest and have lunch.

Once the lunch break was over (all 15 minutes of it), we began our military style march all the way back along the long footpath back to Mill Hill.

After reaching Mill Hill it was at this point that things start to get a little patchy as not only had I ran out of water,  but there was a slight twinge in my legs – which if memory serves me correct, i may have mentioned the odd few times...

Unfortunately this was the last photograph that I took as I had to focus all my energy in to hiking across the final part of our epic journey.  Now I can understand the 'Logic' in taking a photograph of where we would finish, right at the start of the walk as he must have known that we would be going for absolute miles and wouldn’t have the energy to take a photo at the finish.

In conclusion the 16 mile walk had turned in to a 21.6 mile hike.  The only logical explanation is that the person I was walking with was working on  a  different measurement of distance than what the rest of us use.  Clearly he was using a scale which was longer than normal which would explain the 5.6 mile difference...

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This weekend I'm off on a walk with a couple of people from work where we shall be walking part of the Pennine Way walk.

The full walk is several hundred miles of which we will be doing around 16, the next time we decide to go on another walk we can then walk the next stage until over a period of time we have walked the complete Pennine Way!

The weather is supposed to be quite good, not to warm but it should definately be dry... at least that is what the weather forcasters as saying at the moment.

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A"heads up" for those men who may be regular Tesco customers.

Over the last month I became a victim of a clever scam while out shopping. Simply going out to get supplies has turned out to be quite traumatic. Don't be naive enough to think it couldn't happen to you or your friends.

Here's how the scam works:

Two seriously good-looking 20-21 year-old girls come over to your car as you are packing your shopping into your car. They both start wiping your windscreen with a rag and Mr Sheen, with their breasts almost falling out of their skimpy T-shirts. It is impossible not to look.

When you thank them and offer them a tip, they say "No" and instead ask you for a ride to another Tesco store. You agree and they get in the backseat. On the way, they start undressing. Then one of them climbs over into the front seat and starts crawling all over you, while the other one steals your wallet. I had my wallet stolen on June the 4th, 9th, 10th, twice on the 15th, 17th, 20th, & 24th 29th. Also July the 1st, 4th, twice on the 8th, 16th, 23rd, 26th, 30th, three times last Saturday and very likely again this upcoming weekend.

So tell your friends to be careful.

P.S. Tesco has wallets on sale £2.99 each...

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Diesel has just gone down to 122.9 at my local garage and I found myself "that's cheap" - as soon as I said it I had to laugh, how on earth can 122.9 be cheap?! In comparison to a few days ago when it was at 128.9 it is cheap, but is still far too expensive compared to what it was 6 months or so ago...

Everywhere you look there are 'Top 10' tips/guides on saving fuel and therefore money and I have compiled a few of them below:

• Turn off your air conditioning if you have it
• Shut all your windows (to reduce drag)

So basically sweat like a pig whilst driving along in the summer! From what I gather, if you are driving around town and the like then turn off your air-con and open up your windows as for short trips this is the most economical.

If you are going on a long journey on Motorways etc. then you should close your windows and put on the air con ensuring that you are circulating the air inside the car.

• Reduce weight in your car by emptying your boot - do you really need all that stuff in your boot?
• Check your tyre pressure - underinflated tyres can severly effect your MPG
• If you have it, use cruise control
• If you don't, drive smoothly - don't accellerate or break too sharply.
• Change gears between 2,000 and 2,500 rpm for optimum fuel economy
Leave your car in gear at all times unless you come to a stop! Coasting down a hill actually uses petrol as you engine will be idleing which uses petrol, by keeping the clutch engaged the fuel will actually be routed back to the fuel tank instead - thus saving fuel!
• If your stuck in a traffic jam, turn off your engine if you are likely to be sitting there for more than 1 minute.
• Make sure your car is regularly serviced etc.
• Avoid short trips - walk to the shop that's just round the corner

So there you have it, there are my top 10 tips to help improve your fuel economy. I'm not a car expert, but what I have done is have a good look around the internet and the 10 that I have listed are the ones that make the most logical sense to me!

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I've been off from work for the last week and have been quite busy wandering around the place...

On Saturday I was joined by my mates and their 6 children as we headed off towards Tilbury Fort:

We then headed off to Southend-On-Sea where we visited the Sealife Centre and then went for a trip on the train on the longest pleasure pier in the world!

On Tuesday I went up the Malvern Hills where I found the Giants Cave, although to be honest it was very small so how on earth a Giant could live there is anyone’s guess…

Then I moved on up the road for about 40 minutes until I came to Symonds Yat where I was in search of the legendary King Arthurs Cave where legend has it King Arthur is hiding, waiting to once again re-appear when Britain needs him…

Anyway, after crossing what has got to be the silliest bridge ever built (6 people max on it at a time and it sways from side to side and up and down as you walk across it), I climbed to the top of the hill and found the ‘cave’ shown below:

As you can see, in the cave there is a cement mixer, if this is King Arthurs Cave then I guess he is having a cave makeover…

After wandering around some more and finding another footpath back to the bottom of the hill I did manage to find the real King Arthurs Cave as shown here:

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