The plan

I’m not sure why I thought my plan for how to start the walk was going to be so easy. I think I knew when I made the plan that it’d be quite tight on time scales, but as this was a while ago I think I forgot.

So, roughly it was as follows –

1. Walk to Leicester train station
2. Catch a train at 10:38 to London St Pancras
3. Arrive in London and then walk to London Waterloo Station
4. Catch a train to Poole.
5. Arrive in Poole and then walk to the Sandbanks ferry and make the short crossing to the start of the South West coastal path.
6. Start walking on the path and stay at a Youth Hostel in Swanage.

I had it in my mind that steps 5 and 6 would take about 2 hours but Swanage is actually quite far from Poole Station, and indeed from the ferry. So in total today I ended up walking 20.82 miles. Which isn’t loads but just caught me out a little.

My house to Leicester station

Despite underestimating the day I’m so glad I decided to walk. There was something sort of freeing about just walking and using the train. It doesn’t really make sense because a train is far from simple.

The walk was good and I thrashed Google’s estimate! Even had time to pop into Tesco to pick up a meal deal. The train was also on time and I managed to pick up my tickets (this isn’t something I have much experience of) so all was running extremely smoothly. Even my knee felt ok.

The train was really hot as the air conditioning was broken in my carriage. I assumed it was the whole train and that’s what trains are like, but about ten minutes from St Pancras I was told the rest of the train was ok.

London

I decided to be a bit of a tourist in London and took a selfie in front of a London bus and some big buildings.

I really enjoyed the walk and was glad I wasn’t on the sweaty Underground. Especially with my pack on. That seemed overly dangerous. Not to say I didn’t sweat – it was really hot. Again, beat Google’s time for the walk (although I understand that’s not something to be particularly proud of).

The train journey to Poole was long but pleasant. There was a moment of jeopardy when it was announced that the train would split in two at some point (the message was quite garbled) and if you were in the wrong part of the train you could end up going to the wrong station. This kept me on my toes for a while until I talked to a guard who told me this was wrong and the whole train was going to Poole. After this I was concerned it was some kind of double bluff but that was a worry misplaced.

This train was cool, some might say cold. So that’s what trains should be like.

Poole to Swanage

On balance, this was a great walk. Yes, it was further than I expected, but I should have just remembered, so that’s on me. I was at the youth hostel with an hour to spare and managed to pick up some sandwiches so ultimately it didn’t matter that my plans were ambitious. The walk from Poole station to the ferry was pleasant enough and easy going. I always struggle, when I know I’m running late, not to get stressed out but I think I partially managed that. I’ll give myself an 8/10 for it anyway. The ferry was straight forward and fun. I did miss one by literally seconds but that gave me a chance to decide what to do when I got over to the other side of the water / harbour / sea / whatever. I knew it was a long way to Swanage but I didn’t want to go direct as I wouldn’t have walked the whole coastal path. I decided to go the long way but that did mean walking until 9pm.

Initial thoughts of Poole are that I felt safer in London. Probably unfair but that’s how I felt.

The start of the coastal path

When setting up this site for my current walk I forgot I’d actually walk some of the path today. So that means official, according to this site, I’ve been on the trail for zero days but have already done several miles. So my pace is currently infinite. Which means I’ll be done soon.

The path so far has been amazing. Waking next to the sea I’m sure would lift even the lowest of moods. It did help that the sand was generally quite compact or I may be having a bit of a moan about it.

I knew I was running very late but for that moment it didn’t matter. Plus I knew this would hopefully be the last day that I actually had to be somewhere. I was a little annoyed at myself that I’d put that pressure there in the first place.

After a while the path starts to climb. At this point the light was really fading fast, so unfortunately I did miss some of the views, although the camera still took some good shots of the cliffs. Because it was dark and I was getting a little anxious they seemed all the more formidable.

If I didn’t stop to take so many photos I would have made better progress but I don’t think that will ever happen. I remember I used to irritate the boys when I kept on stopping to take photos when we were on walks.

After this it got really dark and I was a little scared. I didn’t think I had any right to be up on these cliffs in the dark. I felt so stupid. I still had about 4 miles to go and that would take about an hour. Then something odd happened. I got out my head torch, had another drink, started walking again and it went from scary to exciting. Yes, I still felt stupid but it was all going to be ok. I was having fun. Plus I’d thought that if this was tomorrow I’d simply pitch up the tent and make camp for the night. So maybe it was all a positive experience. I’ll try and learn from that. It’s all just an adventure. I then did think to myself that I would look silly saying it was all ok if I’d then fallen off a cliff.

About 45 minutes out from Swanage I bumped into a couple of lads walking the other way. They had no torches but did have cans of Guinness. I asked them to be careful and they thanked me but I am a bit worried about them. I didn’t have a spare torch so couldn’t help them.

So that’s about it. I don’t know how far I’ll go tomorrow. There is a campsite I know near Weymouth but that might be a bit far. I’m determined not to get anxious about it though. That’s part of the reason I’m doing these walks. Oh, and to get rid of my belly!!