I’ve now been away for two months, travelling through the United Kingdom as a self-appointed ambassador for Essex.
I’m currently in the village of Witherslack on another ‘wwoofing’ placement. It’s a completely different setup to the last one, this is more of a village market garden. The hosts are lovely people, fun to be around, really generous and from what I’ve heard so far, sound like they’ve been on many adventures themselves.
I feel like I’ve been in Witherslack for a long time, in a good way, could happily stay here for another few weeks!
The last part of my walk was on the Cumbrian Way, which was fairly tough with the heat, trying to limit the miles per day. My favourite section was along the west side of Derwent Water and then following the river down to Grange (for the best, the very best, probably one of the worlds finest ice creams, a beautiful thing). The lake and the river were so clear, I did think if I ever ‘see the light’ I want to be baptised in this water, I may have been verging on heatstroke at that point. I did have a Glaswegian sidekick for a day and half along the hardest 15 miles of the walk, from Caldbeck to Keswick, was good to have someone to get potentially lost with.
Heading south south south this Saturday… since the start of this walk I’ve been trying to get rid of items out of my bag, the hosts here have said ‘it’s far too heavy’ and I believe them. I think it’s clothes that I have to start shedding next, I’m carrying too many luxury items, going to have to get rid of my James Bond style dinner jacket and cocktail set. Also feel it’s nearly time to switch from boots to trainers!
James Johnson 