We Did It!!

Hello Everyone,

I'm sorry I didn't manage to post anything last night - we weren't home until late and after the day of walking, I jumped straight into bed.

Yesterday was our last day of walking. We set off in Devizes just after 10am by the Kennet & Avon Canal Trust Museum. We popped in quickly just to check the distance to Bath and it was expected to be 22. As you can see my brother James decided to join us for the day.

Aching and ready to go!

Our first part of the walk was the best - Devizes Locks which include the Caen Hill Locks, the middle middle 16 of a flight of 29. Each lock had a unique name - fundraisers lock seemed very fitting as we met several groups of people out walking who very kindly donated.

The top of Caen Hill Locks...

And the bottom!

We stopped for lunch just past Trowbridge where it had started to snow lightly but it soon stopped. Some passers by on a barge threw us some money onto the bank but my catching skills weren't quite up to scratch - we spent the next 5 minutes looking through the undergrowth for it!! 

Later in the day we passed two aquaducts - Avoncliff and Dundas. The latter provided a lovely view of the River Avon and was next to the start of the Somerset Coal Canal. Before becoming derelict it was only 17.5 miles long - maybe next year we'll walk this on instead!

The River Avon and in the distance, Bath.

The beginning of the canal.

The last stretch of the walk was longer than we thought. We could all see Bath in the distance but it didn't seem to be getting any closer. Everyone was tired and the wind was blowing in our faces which didn't make things easier but we kept walking - partly because if we stopped , it was much more painful to start again! At the end of our longest day yet we finally made it into Bath city centre!

Us all at Bath Spa Station looking rather relieved and tired.

By far yesterday was our hardest day. We walked nearly 25 miles and most of it in pain for Dad and I. Ellie was feeling it towards the end of the day but we didn't allow James to moan as it was his first day of walking. 

Most of all we are so proud of Izzy! She has been so well behaved all week and even seemed to grow slightly in confidence. There were very few barks which to any of you who know Izzy, is a real achievement!

It is fair to say we are all a little worse for wear today - Dad and I have developed a hobble instead of a walk, with swollen ankles and shins and Ellie has her feet all strapped up. Izzy has been a bit stiff today and took her time to get up and moving around but has been running around the park and had lots of sleep today. 

Thank you so much to everyone who has been tracking our progress and for all of your kind messages of support and encouragement. A big thank you to everyone who has sponsored us -  we have been overwhelmed with the kindness of you all. 

For any of you in and around Reading, we will be at Pangbourne Quality Market tomorrow to launch our competition with the chance to win £75! All you have to do is guess how long it took us to walk from Newbury to Bedwyn on Tuesday. If anyone is around it would be great to see you there and they have some fantastic stalls in the Village Hall between 10am and 4pm. This will be launched online on Monday, but more details will follow in the next few days.

Please keep checking back to our blog as we will be updating how we continue to do with our fundraising. 

Day 3

Hello Everyone!

I'm sorry yesterday's post was very brief but we were all so tired when we got home that we just wanted a bath, dinner and to go to bed. There were quite a few stretches of the canal which were very muddy and rutted and very hard to walk on which too its toll on us.

On to today's adventure. We set off back to Bedwyn - Izzy is really growing to not mind the train.

Izzy started the day with her bandanna before we had to grab it off as she jumped in the canal - crazy dog!

As we knew we had some miles to make up we set off at quite a solid pace and managed to keep it up for the whole day. We reached a large tunnel which commemorates Thomas Bruce, Earl of Aylesbury and his son Charles Bruce who created the Bruce Tunnel as they would not allow a deep cut to be made in the land. Unfortunately for us this meant we had loads of steps to climb to get around - very inconsiderate I think.

Everyone wants to hold Izzy's lead when it comes to hills as she does a great job of pulling us along.

As I very stupidly left my sandwiches at home we had planned to grab some lunch in Pewsey, however the village was nearly a mile from the canal. We continued walking and planned to stop at the next village, Honeystreet, where we were glad to get out of the wind with the lovely cafe staff allowing Izzy to sit inside. On our way here we were luck enough to see the White Horse at Uffington in the distance. This is a place we are all fond of and used to visit often during our childhood. We weren't sure whether Izzy has ever been there but we would love to take her up there soon - once we've recovered of course! 

The White horse in the distance.

After planning to stop at All Cannings we were surprised to reach there shortly after our lunch. A quick check of the map and we then aimed to get to Devizes. The afternoon brought lots of wind blowing to our sides but we managed to keep warm and power on through. The scenery is getting better and better with countryside everywhere.

After such a good day today, we are aiming to finish tomorrow. It will be a hard and long day but the thought of a nice long lie in on Friday morning is will get us through

Day 2

Tonight will just be a quick post.

We were so happy to get up and see the sun this morning – it really motivated us to get going again. We ended up having to take our coats of and Izzy kept dipping in and out of the canal to cool down.

Yet again we met some lovely and very generous people who donated to us. We managed to make it to Hungerford before quickly stopping for lunch.

After this our plans didn't quite pull through. We were planning to walk to Pewsey but after Ellie was struggling with her shoes and finding it really painful to walk, we stopped at Bedwyn. This means we are spending this evening working out a new breakdown of distances for the next few days. Unfortunately this may mean we will be walking on Friday as well but we want to keep going and finish it all together.

I will try to do a longer post tomorrow, pictures and all, to let you know what our new plans are.

Day 1 Adventures!

Hello Everyone!!

We have completed Day 1 of our walk and we are all looking forward to a nice hot bath. Not everything went as planned but the kindness of complete strangers kept us going.

We set out at about 9 am, and even had a friend surprise us to see us off. Walking today was Martin, myself (Becky), Ellie, Phillip, Izzy (the human), Izzy (the dog) and Archie the dog. The weather didn't look like it was going to be on our side as it snowed a little but it soon stopped and we went on our way.

Us at Blake's Lock all ready to go - we were definitely feeling tired and cold before we got moving but we all soon warmed up.

We managed to make it to Aldermaston Wharf before we stopped for lunch. We had planned to get  a hot drink at the small tea rooms but unfortunately it has been closed for refurbishment, so it was a quick picnic on a bench before we got too cold. A lovely lady saw our collection tin and t shirts and came back with some money and even some treats for the dogs too! 

We also saw some lambs, a lovely sight after all the bad news about the cold weather affecting them over the past few weeks. Izzy did her usual running and barking as if she wanted to play with them. Archie on the other hand, decided he would have a staring contest with a lamb - the lamb won.

A little later on we found a swing bridge which had been left to one side so we could not cross the canal and continue along the tow path. We had planned to try and walk through some adjacent fields from earlier along the canal to where the tow path started again but a lovely family offered to take us along the short distance on their barge. We helped them through the lock and then hopped on board. We even left with a chocolate tea cake to keep us going. Thank you so much to Shirley, David and their Grandson and their dog as well! Without your kindness we would have had a much longer walk today.

The swing bridge which hadn't swung the right way! We all thought the name of the boat next to it summed up our mood perfectly.

The lovely family who saved us a lot more walking. The barge trip was a new experience for Izzy and Archie as well as us.

After this we were glad to say that the walk was pretty uneventful but the sun tried to come out and it warmed up enough for me to get the feeling back in my fingers. Reports from back home informed us that Finlay had been howling as we left the house this morning and moping around since. He is really lost without Izzy but he will have some more company over the next few days as my sister is visiting with her dogs.

We managed to get to Newbury today so we will have our longest walk ahead of us tomorrow.

We would like to thank the many well wishers we met along the way, and especially to those who donated some loose change to our charities. It was a nice boost to check our Virgin Money Giving site on the train home to see a donation of two ladies we had met earlier.

It will be an early night for us all and up nice and early to get going again. I'm sure Izzy will be more than happy to go for another adventure.

Any donations you could make would be a fantastic motivation to keep us going tomorrow as I think we may find it quite a challenge.

Final Preparations!!

Happy Easter Everyone!!!

We start our walk tomorrow!! The lead up has gone so quickly and we have spent the day getting the last few bits ready - and eating chocolate of course.

Lunches have been made, bags packed and we have just finished putting the logos onto our t-shirts.
The rest of the day will just be a big dinner and an early night to make sure we are ready to go first thing in the morning.

The final business sponsor is AMD Alarm Systems.

AMD Alarm Systems install and service wireless intruder alarm systems, none of which are connected directly to the mains supply. This means that there is no pulling up carpets, drilling through walls and  redecorating; so no disruption to your home. A range of systems are offered and can protect your home and outbuildings to give you full peace of mind. All quotes are completely free of charge and a number of different options can be discussed. 

We will try to blog over the next few days to keep you all updated with our progress so keep checking back.

Thank you for your support so far and we hope you're all enjoying the bank holiday weekend. 

Bon Fire

Hello!!

Izzy finally got to go back to her agility class today, after weeks of rain and snow causing it to be cancelled! She didn't have a great time though as there was lots of gunfire in the distance and she kept trying to get in the car. A little later on it did stop and she had a go, but she was still really nervous. Hopefully next time we go, it will be nice an quiet and she can fully enjoy herself as she normally does.

This is Izzy last year and as you can see, she really enjoys herself. It has also been a big confidence builder since we got her.

Thank you to many of the other dog owners who so kindly sponsored us as well. 

The penultimate business sponsor is Bon Fire.

Bon Fire are experts in all things related to stoves, fires and fireplaces. The spacious showroom in Silchester, Berkshire, is home to a large range of wood and gas burning products. They also offer an installation service across southern England, including Reading, Newbury, Basingstoke, Oxford and London. 

All the technicians who install Bon Fire's products are HETAS or Gas Safe registered. The staff are always happy to discuss available options with you to ensure the right product is found for your needs.

Thank you to the staff at Bon Fire for their generous donation.

If you'd like to find out more about our walk, please look at our website.

New Plans!

We've spent most of the day preparing bits and pieces for Monday - Izzy's bandana is ready and most importantly the food shop! We also were looking again at the way which we had split the walk up and changed the last two days slightly. We will now be walking from Pewsey to Melksham  on Day 3 and the final day will be from Melksham to Bath. This has made our transport arrangements a lot easier and the miles we will be walking are a lot more even. This hasn't been updated on our website yet, but will be up before we set out Monday morning.

Today's featured business sponsor is Flexi Flame.

They specialise in gas and central heating installations, services and repairs. They are gas safe registered and offer free quotations for all installation work. Offering a range of gas central heating systems and upgrades, there is something to suit everyone's home and budget. Every system installed comes with a guarantee so you can be sure that any faults will be sorted.

So if you are in need of any of the above services, please get in contact with them.