FULL DIARY
·
DAY 1 BBW
·
Up bright and early, 6am must have packed my bags and
repacked them 1/2 dozen times, hope ever thing goes off
ok,
On at the Rose and Crown 6;45am nerves starting to get
the better of me, hope that there is enough turn up ,didn’t not how many was
going to join me on the walk. 7;15 starting to get worried now only myself and
Nathan at this point.7;20 mine bus turns up with the first team of TA`S then the
backup vans with the supplies, smile comes over my face this is all starting to
come together, another mini bus turns up another team of TA`S my friends started
turning up and some of Matthews colleagues from Premdor introduced themself and
said they were doing the full walk, people of very high ranks started turning i
won’t give names but this brought a tear to my eyes, these guy do care and
showed up and gave their support.moris and phil turned up with there help for
heroes t-shirts on, looking the park like seasoned walkers. Greg called over all
the walkers ie my friends open one of the support vans and started handing out
our sponsored t-shirt, the smiles on there faces was a picture, everybody
dressed the same looking the part looking as a
unit.
7;50 time to visit Matthew and say my piece everybody
attended. Right back over to the rose and crown for a photo shoot and a
interview with dearne fm.
8;05 already behind schedule off we go, through the
center of darton and onto the long fields,
a nice steady pace to start warming the muscles up,30
minutes later we join the boundary start the climb and feeling the burn,
watching the look on peoples faces as we headed up to Woolley
edge,
on top of Woolley edge time for the first stretch and
checking everybody out, distanced walked 2 1/4 miles, a bit of road walking to
do now this warmed the feet up heading towards notton,
i left some of the navigation to to front runners to get a feel of
leading the pack but also giving them plenty of chance to miss the marker disc`s
which some did on a regular occurrence ,but to be fair the marker disc`s were`nt
that clear, but if you dont get it wrong you don’t discover what’s out there.,
and listening to some of the comments they were amazed that we had such
beautiful countryside just on our door step.
Old canals, mining sites
that were not so long ago was our livelihood no over grown going back to
nature.
just touching again on the marker disc`s how many
different places could these disc`s be put ,up tree’s. Telegraph poles railway
sleeper painted on walls .
Arrived at shafton about 12;30 (12 miles) making good
time, lunch time roughly 40 mins outside the singing man, also time to check the
feet and yes people already showing signs of blisters.
In or on all walks
of life there are characters ,here`s the first JONNY BE (MEDIC) jonny
introduced himself as we were walking along the long fields ,mick any problems
am here to support you,he had the biggest pack of all full of all types of
bandages, plaster. Will touch on jonny a bit later .
Right lets move on. Up through the back streets on shafton
letting others take the lead looking for the markers ,myself hanging back and
smurking at the leaders looking back for guidance and the nod of reassurance
that they are going the right way, across the fields towards brierley and out
towards grimethorpe
,here we hit the first obstacle at brierley lodge the public
rights of way blocked off the front walkers unsure what to do has we worked our
way around the fenced off area to the farmers field with crops coming through,
the public right of way is a right of passage but take the direct route between
the two points ,ie single file has we were making our way across the field I
overheard comments that this was just like being on our last tour(guys and girls looking
round nervously for the farmer with his gun, this made me think is this walk
bringing back memories for this guys.i am sorry if it did.
We finally reach the west haigh woods, and Houghton common had
five minutes breather, made me laugh for a breather and the smokers lit up. Our
next village was Clayton about 2 miles away passing through it dropped on a
little shop that had everything any walker could require in the refreshment
range ar this stage some of us were starting to show signs of fatigue (16.6
miles)and needed a boost, I let everybody know that when we got to Bolton on
dearne that there would be refreshment their waiting for us, so the pace picked
up a little and true to form my cousin angie had the tea urns out with biscuits
this put a smile on everyone’s face,(22miles walked)only 4 miles to do. Knowing
that we had only 4 miles to do the group started to stretch out going for the
home run,
the last stretch
was on the Bolton ings and the elsecar canal a beautiful and quiet length of
water with all sorts of wildlife from ducks, kingfishers and voles.
When finally got to elsecar heritage centre the support team had
the hot water boiling away for any food that we needed to cook up. Mark the
centre manager had made available to us one of the buildings so we would be
sleeping under cover for the first night, first thing on the agenda was brew and
a 10 minute rest, after that freshen up then something to eat, chilli con carni
,out of the (look what we found packs) £2 from the asda, then time for a real
relaxing drink or four in the market pub,
DAY 2 BBW
Good morning everyone its 6am and time to get up, all the moans
and groans that we picked up free of charge on yesterday’s little walk, time to
freshen up and get some breakfast, today boil in the bag
porridge, currant’s, raisins and apple and a steaming hot pot of
tea,
Looking around and seeing how others are coping, ouch arh and
where`s my pain killers I hear, then jonny be comes through the door and sets up
a doz chairs, I have never seen people move as fast ,see to me first jonny ,it
was like a scene from dads army at the doctors surgery, there are photo`s to
prove the fact, when they turn up,I
think they must be holding out for bribes or someone have paid
them off,
My own feet were sore and had got blisters but hadn’t burst at
this point but was also covered over with compeed plasters, jonny checked these
out said that they just needed some support tape,I put on my bridgedale socks on
and donned my walking boots, now time to stretch out and get things moving
whilst waiting for the next lot of
recruits (ha ha I mean walkers).
8:15am and were off, heading out across elsecar park and towards
hoyland common, once again letting other take the lead touch on skier`s spring
woods and the bell ground, hoping from one side of the path to the other trying
to avoid the puddles then such a pain in my left foot as though I had trod on
something sharp but knowing that it was the blister on my foot that had finally
given up, I managed to get to church at black lane tankersley where we sat down
for a breather,this gave me time to look at my foot to do some running repairs,
I took my boot off and started to
peel off the tape but this started to peel off the flesh and yes it did blooming
hurt, it wasn’t made any easier buy my buddies gipping
at the sight of the hole in my foot, but jonny stepped up and packed the
hole and re-taped the foot, socks and boots on and if I said it was just like
new I would have been lying,it bloody hurt a lot and thought this was the end of
my days walking, but with greg,matt and jonny to boost me on I limped on, a
couple of pain killers to take the nip off we started to hit the ups and downs
of Westwood country park and across the fields towards
howbrook,.
Knowing that I knew we were having lunch break at howbrook and
seeing the leaders trekking across the fields going the wrong way towards
howbrook it put a smile on my face seeing that the food wagon had setup this
side of the village knowing that if they wanted food they would have to trek
back, after we all were reunited a quick talk to everyone to check their route
maps carefully and if you’re not sure just wait I would only be 10mins behind
them. This proved that fact as we were leaving howbrook going up a farm track
then up through someone’s garden and then across fields taking in some fantastic
views,
when we reached cundy hos this was a chance for the slower
walkers due to blisters to divert and miss out wharncliff woods and have a rest
and recover, because if they were injured in the woods rescue would have been so
much more difficult, a talk with greg who by this point was still fit as a lop
just for reassurance about the route ,
greg led the fitter guys into the woods and I took six others
the short diversion to finkle street, this helped the guys out and
we were able to complete the next six miles, just that 1 ¼ mile diversion
enables us to straddle styles becks and old tram lines, the views over
stocksbridge looking towards the peak district were amazing, after walking above
stocksbridge it was time for some more road walking ,this started to warm the
feet up somewhat,
walking downhill it was so painful,
it sounds daft but
it was easier to jog downhill has my feet weren’t on the road as long, final
stretch along the old stockbridge bypass and underbank res then the old tramline
which was used for transporting goods to and from, for the building of langsett
res. you could clearly see the route of the tramline and then the alteration of
the Barnsley boundary walk to take walkers away from the roadside was welcomed.
We arrived at langsett about 6pm welcomed by our support team and peter the
owner of bank side café, who also provided free meals,now this was sponsorship
in a different form, he also provided breakfast the next morning. Vanda the
landlady at the wagon and horses also welcomed us and allowed us to pitch our
tents on the bear garden lawn
,so it was only right after getting freshened up to partake in
downing some Guinness I forget how many but what the hell.i also had a big lift
up in morale when sue my other half turned up with Sarah, just that couple of
hours with us picked me up, ar well time for
bed.
I forgot to mention that the park ranger also left the toilets
open for us to use overnight ,cheers
DAY 3
BBW
6am and starting to stir, first port of call the loo, and
freshen up, it’s not quite light yet but the traffic running alongside of the
wagon and horses never baited all night, I thought I was sleeping on the hard
shoulder of the motorway, still feeling a bit tired, first thing on the agenda
is a pot of tea, jet boiler on with enough water for the tea and my porridge,
raisins and banana,
Next a little foot care, talc powder and dry socks knowing jonny
be would be here for foot clinic,
decided today I would walk in my walking shoes not boots,
everybody else is starting to get up, time to go and watch over the res, there
was a slight mist just hovering over the res and the sun coming up what a
fantastic sight ,one or two came and watched and couldn’t believe how tranquil
it was, but the midges were starting to bite
Peter from the bank side view café came across and asked how
many breakfast would be required, free of charge I might add, what a top bloke,
peter opened up on his day off,
Well after breakfast my second of course, well I am a big lad,
it was time for the doctors surgery yes here comes jonny be, mick get your arse
over here let’s get that foot sorted, cavity filled and taped up walking shoes
on ready to go, just to wait for the others to get their feet taped. 8:30am
quick photos shoot with peter and away, heading through the woods the res on our
left towards the back of the res, now you have got to know the area or you could
get it wrong. as some did, there isn’t any marker disc`s so I didn’t let them
get too far before calling them back, Barnsley council must get there acted
together, we set off at a nice steady pace because I knew what the next couple
of miles were going to be like, we reached the A628 walked along side of it for
about ¾ mile then crossed over just before the layby and heading up the snow
road, not an easy walk just enough room for one foot in the ruts and the other 8
inch above that.
When we finally reached the top there
was a noticed posted on the gate saying path closed due to subsidence? We
managed to get around the obstruction and started to climb out of the
valley,
straddling from one side of the beck to
the other,
unfortunately Derek didn’t stride far
enough and yes not only his foot got wet but all down one side even his wallet,
we finally got to winscar res for a water break and refill,
this was the time when myself and Nathan plus four more got into
the mini bus for our visit to the Penistone show, but they insisted that we were
dropped off where we were picked up. Hearts of lions, we spent about 1 ½ hours
at the show, including an interview Penistone fm, we weren’t allowed to go round
with the collection bins but was allowed to stand outside the army recruiting
tent where the next too character’s came forward Morris and Phil, dick turpins
great,great grand kids,in half an hour they managed to fill 2 of the collection
tins, whilst these two guys were doing there bit the rest of us got some grub
roast pork and stuffing sandwich, well that filled a
corner.
Well it’s time to go after morris and phil got there grub, back
up winscar res, now to play catch up, a lot of road walking to be done. This
heated the feet up and the blisters started to smart again.we reached law where
a bench had been place by relatives of other walkers that enjoyed these views
,
from here we caught site of the mini bus and the others at the
food wagon only about 1 ½ miles has the crow flies but about 3 miles up and down
dale into the village of Hepworth, at this point my feet were on fire and just
couldn’t go any further, the others continued but my walk for the day had done,
I needed to save my feet for tomorrow. So I got in the mini bus and went to
cawthorne where I helped with setting up the tents and getting the water on the
boil ready for the lads and lasses coming in. the next turn of events I can’t
vouch for but my understanding was that whilst tramping across a field the rear
end of the group ,greg,lisa,morris and phil were chatting away merrily not
watching where they placed their feet and yes you’ve got phil trod in the
stinkest cow pat in the field and yes again he was only wearing Egyptian pit
boots ,up through the toes and around the ankles, this brought a smiles to the
other`s faces, and took their minds of the pains of their feet. ha ha
.
The front markers started rolling in round about 6pm,I welcomed
every single one of them in shaking every bodies hand, only one didn’t except my
hand but I understood why what an amazing effort under extreme pain by this
individual. I am not naming names. Well done.
As the evening was drawing in some retired to their beds for a
much needed rest whilst a few of us decided it would only be right to meet some
of the locals in the cawthorne wmc ,we only managed 5 pots of their very best
throat medicine.
DAY 4 BBW
7 am started to stir, no need to get up at this time but the
body clock working overtime, freshened up and a bit of foot care knowing that
Jonny be wouldn’t be attending today, then to get breakfast on the go, the usual
plus a few fruit bars,
Then Mr Paddley pulled out his box of tricks, camping stove and
kettle and started frying up bacon grill, six tins of the stuff, I expected
losing some weight on this walk but not a cat in hells chance. 3 pots of tea
later and it’s time to start getting the tents packed away and cleaning up the
camp site, this done, just waiting for friends and colleagues who are joining us
on the last stage of this walk, one gentleman went out of his way to introduce
himself to me along with his son, at first I thought it was one of the local
farmers coming to give me a rolachin (bollocking)for going over his land but no
totally the opposite asked if he could join us along with his son who could only
have been 8 or 9 years of age, and said he had been following our progress on my
blog and Facebook. He asked to buy a couple of the t-shirts but we had given all
of them out.
Jonny be turned up out of the blue he had been sorting the rest
of the walkers out whilst I was talking to the new bunch of walkers, a tap on
the shoulders and Jonny be said there was no way that he was going to miss
sorting our stinking feet out. What a star.
Right it’s time to set off. Team photo and were
off.
First ¾ of a mile heading along the lake side over the bridge
towards the cricket club, one or two comments of I hope its flat like this for
the rest of the walk, I just laughed. That there is just one more hill to climb
and it’s just around the next tree up towards high hoyland starting to use the
public footpaths .We thought that we had done well watching out for traffic on
the roads but then when we started across the fields there was an horse event
going off so we had to watch out for horses crossing over the footpaths from
either direction.
We
were making great progress and needed to slow the group down knowing that if I
didn’t we would be arriving home too early. So at every opportunity we had a
breather and water breaks, we arrived at Yorkshire sculpture park around 12:30
round about 45 minutes from Darton this would get us arriving about 1:15 I knew
that there was a wedding taking place at Darton All saints Church and didn’t
want to impose on their special day, we made our way along the long fields at a
steady pace so the back markers could catch up, we were meet at the end of the
fields by family and friends and a
little further on by calendar reporter Tina Gelder.
One
fantastic leader.
We made our way round to Matthews’s grave side where a
short service was held and the last post played by a lone bugler.
Myself and my wife stayed a little while longer where Matthews
friends and comrades retired to the Rose & Crown where Mick Taylor the land
lord welcomed us home and put a band on for the afternoon, large amounts of
alcohol was downed late into the evening,
One more character not mentioned up to now was Costa that
provided food from the burger van, cheers young
man.
A big thank you to all who took part in the walk and the support
staff which without these guys we wouldn’t have achieved this goal.
Also thank you to
Elsecar Heritage Centre, big lad
Mark.
Wagon & horses public house Langsett,
Vanda.
Bank Side View Café Peter.
Bunk barns facilities, I think park ranger
Danks
Cannon Hall, Jane Galvin.
Barnsley Council Officers, Sarah Ford and Jack
Beard.
I am hoping to make this walk an annual event in order to raise
funds for Help for Heroes in my son’s name.
PTE MATTHEW ADAM THORNTON
STAND
DOWN SON YOUR DUTY IS DONE,
I WILL TAKE UP THE SLACK NOW ALONG WITH A FEW OF YOUR FRIENDS
AND COLLEAGUES
Myself, Sue Sarah,
Nathan and Steve, would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has
supported us through the last 10
months.
DAY 1 BBW
·
Up bright and early, 6am must have packed my bags and
repacked them 1/2 dozen times, hope ever thing goes off
ok,
On at the Rose and Crown 6;45am nerves starting to get
the better of me, hope that there is enough turn up ,didn’t not how many was
going to join me on the walk. 7;15 starting to get worried now only myself and
Nathan at this point.7;20 mine bus turns up with the first team of TA`S then the
backup vans with the supplies, smile comes over my face this is all starting to
come together, another mini bus turns up another team of TA`S my friends started
turning up and some of Matthews colleagues from Premdor introduced themself and
said they were doing the full walk, people of very high ranks started turning i
won’t give names but this brought a tear to my eyes, these guy do care and
showed up and gave their support.moris and phil turned up with there help for
heroes t-shirts on, looking the park like seasoned walkers. Greg called over all
the walkers ie my friends open one of the support vans and started handing out
our sponsored t-shirt, the smiles on there faces was a picture, everybody
dressed the same looking the part looking as a
unit.
7;50 time to visit Matthew and say my piece everybody
attended. Right back over to the rose and crown for a photo shoot and a
interview with dearne fm.
8;05 already behind schedule off we go, through the
center of darton and onto the long fields,
a nice steady pace to start warming the muscles up,30
minutes later we join the boundary start the climb and feeling the burn,
watching the look on peoples faces as we headed up to Woolley
edge,
on top of Woolley edge time for the first stretch and
checking everybody out, distanced walked 2 1/4 miles, a bit of road walking to
do now this warmed the feet up heading towards notton,
i left some of the navigation to to front runners to get a feel of
leading the pack but also giving them plenty of chance to miss the marker disc`s
which some did on a regular occurrence ,but to be fair the marker disc`s were`nt
that clear, but if you dont get it wrong you don’t discover what’s out there.,
and listening to some of the comments they were amazed that we had such
beautiful countryside just on our door step.
Old canals, mining sites
that were not so long ago was our livelihood no over grown going back to
nature.
just touching again on the marker disc`s how many
different places could these disc`s be put ,up tree’s. Telegraph poles railway
sleeper painted on walls .
Arrived at shafton about 12;30 (12 miles) making good
time, lunch time roughly 40 mins outside the singing man, also time to check the
feet and yes people already showing signs of blisters.
In or on all walks
of life there are characters ,here`s the first JONNY BE (MEDIC) jonny
introduced himself as we were walking along the long fields ,mick any problems
am here to support you,he had the biggest pack of all full of all types of
bandages, plaster. Will touch on jonny a bit later .
Right lets move on. Up through the back streets on shafton
letting others take the lead looking for the markers ,myself hanging back and
smurking at the leaders looking back for guidance and the nod of reassurance
that they are going the right way, across the fields towards brierley and out
towards grimethorpe
,here we hit the first obstacle at brierley lodge the public
rights of way blocked off the front walkers unsure what to do has we worked our
way around the fenced off area to the farmers field with crops coming through,
the public right of way is a right of passage but take the direct route between
the two points ,ie single file has we were making our way across the field I
overheard comments that this was just like being on our last tour(guys and girls looking
round nervously for the farmer with his gun, this made me think is this walk
bringing back memories for this guys.i am sorry if it did.
We finally reach the west haigh woods, and Houghton common had
five minutes breather, made me laugh for a breather and the smokers lit up. Our
next village was Clayton about 2 miles away passing through it dropped on a
little shop that had everything any walker could require in the refreshment
range ar this stage some of us were starting to show signs of fatigue (16.6
miles)and needed a boost, I let everybody know that when we got to Bolton on
dearne that there would be refreshment their waiting for us, so the pace picked
up a little and true to form my cousin angie had the tea urns out with biscuits
this put a smile on everyone’s face,(22miles walked)only 4 miles to do. Knowing
that we had only 4 miles to do the group started to stretch out going for the
home run,
the last stretch
was on the Bolton ings and the elsecar canal a beautiful and quiet length of
water with all sorts of wildlife from ducks, kingfishers and voles.
When finally got to elsecar heritage centre the support team had
the hot water boiling away for any food that we needed to cook up. Mark the
centre manager had made available to us one of the buildings so we would be
sleeping under cover for the first night, first thing on the agenda was brew and
a 10 minute rest, after that freshen up then something to eat, chilli con carni
,out of the (look what we found packs) £2 from the asda, then time for a real
relaxing drink or four in the market pub,
DAY 2 BBW
Good morning everyone its 6am and time to get up, all the moans
and groans that we picked up free of charge on yesterday’s little walk, time to
freshen up and get some breakfast, today boil in the bag
porridge, currant’s, raisins and apple and a steaming hot pot of
tea,
Looking around and seeing how others are coping, ouch arh and
where`s my pain killers I hear, then jonny be comes through the door and sets up
a doz chairs, I have never seen people move as fast ,see to me first jonny ,it
was like a scene from dads army at the doctors surgery, there are photo`s to
prove the fact, when they turn up,I
think they must be holding out for bribes or someone have paid
them off,
My own feet were sore and had got blisters but hadn’t burst at
this point but was also covered over with compeed plasters, jonny checked these
out said that they just needed some support tape,I put on my bridgedale socks on
and donned my walking boots, now time to stretch out and get things moving
whilst waiting for the next lot of
recruits (ha ha I mean walkers).
8:15am and were off, heading out across elsecar park and towards
hoyland common, once again letting other take the lead touch on skier`s spring
woods and the bell ground, hoping from one side of the path to the other trying
to avoid the puddles then such a pain in my left foot as though I had trod on
something sharp but knowing that it was the blister on my foot that had finally
given up, I managed to get to church at black lane tankersley where we sat down
for a breather,this gave me time to look at my foot to do some running repairs,
I took my boot off and started to
peel off the tape but this started to peel off the flesh and yes it did blooming
hurt, it wasn’t made any easier buy my buddies gipping
at the sight of the hole in my foot, but jonny stepped up and packed the
hole and re-taped the foot, socks and boots on and if I said it was just like
new I would have been lying,it bloody hurt a lot and thought this was the end of
my days walking, but with greg,matt and jonny to boost me on I limped on, a
couple of pain killers to take the nip off we started to hit the ups and downs
of Westwood country park and across the fields towards
howbrook,.
Knowing that I knew we were having lunch break at howbrook and
seeing the leaders trekking across the fields going the wrong way towards
howbrook it put a smile on my face seeing that the food wagon had setup this
side of the village knowing that if they wanted food they would have to trek
back, after we all were reunited a quick talk to everyone to check their route
maps carefully and if you’re not sure just wait I would only be 10mins behind
them. This proved that fact as we were leaving howbrook going up a farm track
then up through someone’s garden and then across fields taking in some fantastic
views,
when we reached cundy hos this was a chance for the slower
walkers due to blisters to divert and miss out wharncliff woods and have a rest
and recover, because if they were injured in the woods rescue would have been so
much more difficult, a talk with greg who by this point was still fit as a lop
just for reassurance about the route ,
greg led the fitter guys into the woods and I took six others
the short diversion to finkle street, this helped the guys out and
we were able to complete the next six miles, just that 1 ¼ mile diversion
enables us to straddle styles becks and old tram lines, the views over
stocksbridge looking towards the peak district were amazing, after walking above
stocksbridge it was time for some more road walking ,this started to warm the
feet up somewhat,
walking downhill it was so painful,
it sounds daft but
it was easier to jog downhill has my feet weren’t on the road as long, final
stretch along the old stockbridge bypass and underbank res then the old tramline
which was used for transporting goods to and from, for the building of langsett
res. you could clearly see the route of the tramline and then the alteration of
the Barnsley boundary walk to take walkers away from the roadside was welcomed.
We arrived at langsett about 6pm welcomed by our support team and peter the
owner of bank side café, who also provided free meals,now this was sponsorship
in a different form, he also provided breakfast the next morning. Vanda the
landlady at the wagon and horses also welcomed us and allowed us to pitch our
tents on the bear garden lawn
,so it was only right after getting freshened up to partake in
downing some Guinness I forget how many but what the hell.i also had a big lift
up in morale when sue my other half turned up with Sarah, just that couple of
hours with us picked me up, ar well time for
bed.
I forgot to mention that the park ranger also left the toilets
open for us to use overnight ,cheers
DAY 3
BBW
6am and starting to stir, first port of call the loo, and
freshen up, it’s not quite light yet but the traffic running alongside of the
wagon and horses never baited all night, I thought I was sleeping on the hard
shoulder of the motorway, still feeling a bit tired, first thing on the agenda
is a pot of tea, jet boiler on with enough water for the tea and my porridge,
raisins and banana,
Next a little foot care, talc powder and dry socks knowing jonny
be would be here for foot clinic,
decided today I would walk in my walking shoes not boots,
everybody else is starting to get up, time to go and watch over the res, there
was a slight mist just hovering over the res and the sun coming up what a
fantastic sight ,one or two came and watched and couldn’t believe how tranquil
it was, but the midges were starting to bite
Peter from the bank side view café came across and asked how
many breakfast would be required, free of charge I might add, what a top bloke,
peter opened up on his day off,
Well after breakfast my second of course, well I am a big lad,
it was time for the doctors surgery yes here comes jonny be, mick get your arse
over here let’s get that foot sorted, cavity filled and taped up walking shoes
on ready to go, just to wait for the others to get their feet taped. 8:30am
quick photos shoot with peter and away, heading through the woods the res on our
left towards the back of the res, now you have got to know the area or you could
get it wrong. as some did, there isn’t any marker disc`s so I didn’t let them
get too far before calling them back, Barnsley council must get there acted
together, we set off at a nice steady pace because I knew what the next couple
of miles were going to be like, we reached the A628 walked along side of it for
about ¾ mile then crossed over just before the layby and heading up the snow
road, not an easy walk just enough room for one foot in the ruts and the other 8
inch above that.
When we finally reached the top there
was a noticed posted on the gate saying path closed due to subsidence? We
managed to get around the obstruction and started to climb out of the
valley,
straddling from one side of the beck to
the other,
unfortunately Derek didn’t stride far
enough and yes not only his foot got wet but all down one side even his wallet,
we finally got to winscar res for a water break and refill,
this was the time when myself and Nathan plus four more got into
the mini bus for our visit to the Penistone show, but they insisted that we were
dropped off where we were picked up. Hearts of lions, we spent about 1 ½ hours
at the show, including an interview Penistone fm, we weren’t allowed to go round
with the collection bins but was allowed to stand outside the army recruiting
tent where the next too character’s came forward Morris and Phil, dick turpins
great,great grand kids,in half an hour they managed to fill 2 of the collection
tins, whilst these two guys were doing there bit the rest of us got some grub
roast pork and stuffing sandwich, well that filled a
corner.
Well it’s time to go after morris and phil got there grub, back
up winscar res, now to play catch up, a lot of road walking to be done. This
heated the feet up and the blisters started to smart again.we reached law where
a bench had been place by relatives of other walkers that enjoyed these views
,
from here we caught site of the mini bus and the others at the
food wagon only about 1 ½ miles has the crow flies but about 3 miles up and down
dale into the village of Hepworth, at this point my feet were on fire and just
couldn’t go any further, the others continued but my walk for the day had done,
I needed to save my feet for tomorrow. So I got in the mini bus and went to
cawthorne where I helped with setting up the tents and getting the water on the
boil ready for the lads and lasses coming in. the next turn of events I can’t
vouch for but my understanding was that whilst tramping across a field the rear
end of the group ,greg,lisa,morris and phil were chatting away merrily not
watching where they placed their feet and yes you’ve got phil trod in the
stinkest cow pat in the field and yes again he was only wearing Egyptian pit
boots ,up through the toes and around the ankles, this brought a smiles to the
other`s faces, and took their minds of the pains of their feet. ha ha
.
The front markers started rolling in round about 6pm,I welcomed
every single one of them in shaking every bodies hand, only one didn’t except my
hand but I understood why what an amazing effort under extreme pain by this
individual. I am not naming names. Well done.
As the evening was drawing in some retired to their beds for a
much needed rest whilst a few of us decided it would only be right to meet some
of the locals in the cawthorne wmc ,we only managed 5 pots of their very best
throat medicine.
DAY 4 BBW
7 am started to stir, no need to get up at this time but the
body clock working overtime, freshened up and a bit of foot care knowing that
Jonny be wouldn’t be attending today, then to get breakfast on the go, the usual
plus a few fruit bars,
Then Mr Paddley pulled out his box of tricks, camping stove and
kettle and started frying up bacon grill, six tins of the stuff, I expected
losing some weight on this walk but not a cat in hells chance. 3 pots of tea
later and it’s time to start getting the tents packed away and cleaning up the
camp site, this done, just waiting for friends and colleagues who are joining us
on the last stage of this walk, one gentleman went out of his way to introduce
himself to me along with his son, at first I thought it was one of the local
farmers coming to give me a rolachin (bollocking)for going over his land but no
totally the opposite asked if he could join us along with his son who could only
have been 8 or 9 years of age, and said he had been following our progress on my
blog and Facebook. He asked to buy a couple of the t-shirts but we had given all
of them out.
Jonny be turned up out of the blue he had been sorting the rest
of the walkers out whilst I was talking to the new bunch of walkers, a tap on
the shoulders and Jonny be said there was no way that he was going to miss
sorting our stinking feet out. What a star.
Right it’s time to set off. Team photo and were
off.
First ¾ of a mile heading along the lake side over the bridge
towards the cricket club, one or two comments of I hope its flat like this for
the rest of the walk, I just laughed. That there is just one more hill to climb
and it’s just around the next tree up towards high hoyland starting to use the
public footpaths .We thought that we had done well watching out for traffic on
the roads but then when we started across the fields there was an horse event
going off so we had to watch out for horses crossing over the footpaths from
either direction.
We
were making great progress and needed to slow the group down knowing that if I
didn’t we would be arriving home too early. So at every opportunity we had a
breather and water breaks, we arrived at Yorkshire sculpture park around 12:30
round about 45 minutes from Darton this would get us arriving about 1:15 I knew
that there was a wedding taking place at Darton All saints Church and didn’t
want to impose on their special day, we made our way along the long fields at a
steady pace so the back markers could catch up, we were meet at the end of the
fields by family and friends and a
little further on by calendar reporter Tina Gelder.
One
fantastic leader.
We made our way round to Matthews’s grave side where a
short service was held and the last post played by a lone bugler.
Myself and my wife stayed a little while longer where Matthews
friends and comrades retired to the Rose & Crown where Mick Taylor the land
lord welcomed us home and put a band on for the afternoon, large amounts of
alcohol was downed late into the evening,
One more character not mentioned up to now was Costa that
provided food from the burger van, cheers young
man.
A big thank you to all who took part in the walk and the support
staff which without these guys we wouldn’t have achieved this goal.
Also thank you to
Elsecar Heritage Centre, big lad
Mark.
Wagon & horses public house Langsett,
Vanda.
Bank Side View Café Peter.
Bunk barns facilities, I think park ranger
Danks
Cannon Hall, Jane Galvin.
Barnsley Council Officers, Sarah Ford and Jack
Beard.
I am hoping to make this walk an annual event in order to raise
funds for Help for Heroes in my son’s name.
PTE MATTHEW ADAM THORNTON
STAND
DOWN SON YOUR DUTY IS DONE,
I WILL TAKE UP THE SLACK NOW ALONG WITH A FEW OF YOUR FRIENDS
AND COLLEAGUES
Myself, Sue Sarah,
Nathan and Steve, would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has
supported us through the last 10
months.
frozen in time
the pigs behind you up on kinder scout