Post by ojiveojive on Mar 27, 2006 0:20:33 GMT
My wife and daughters have been banging on at me to lose some weight and as my wife and eldest go to the gym several times a week I have been under pressure to join them. I can think of nothing worse than being stuck in a gym, surrounded by sweaty arses, listening to shyte music whilst riding a make believe bicycle or jogging on a treadmill, aaaaaaargh.
I decided to take up walking and as it was my birthday last week I requested the necessary: boots, thick socks, compass, backpack, thermos and a book of short walks. So, Saturday morning, The Moors not having a game, due to Solihull being at home we'd played the night before, I set out on my virgin trek. I parked the car in the car park in Earlswood and made off down to the lakes, across a wooden causeway and a footbridge that spanned a weir to the northern side of Terry's Pool which I followed westward for about half a mile before heading north into New Fallings Coppice for about a third of a mile, crossing a footbridge into an open field. According to the book the pathways are marked with yellow arrow symbols, but I guess somebody had nicked most of them and the longer the walk became, the fewer the symbols. I digress.
I followed the edge of the field in a north westerly direction then re-entered the coppice following the directions in the book without the aid of the aforementioned symbols. Up until now, everyone I had come across had said a polite 'Good Morning' or 'Awright' but about half a mile into this section of coppice I came upon a couple of girls sitting on a log whilst their dogs ran around exercising themselves. 'Oooh 'e's gorra map', they cooed, 'Yes, an' I've got a f u c k i n' compass too', I replied as I passed, heading southwards along the edge of the coppice towards a railway bridge. Turning left and heading back into the coppice in a south easterly direction, following the railway line, the pathways had now matched the sybols, becoming non-existent. This was the tricky bit. The book said 'the path wanders into the trees, shortly entering a small, open heath.' Mmm. As I approached the heath, which I found by following an easterly direction (thank god I'd spent 16 quid on a decent compass) it looked rather boggy. It was. I crossed the boggy heath by skipping as best I could across the surface, sinking up to my ankles with each step. At the other side I briefly turned round to check my bearings and saw a family group stood at the other side of the morass looking perplexed. I followed the unmarked path back to where I'd first entered the woods and followed the edge of Terry's Pool, first southwards, then eastwards back to the car park.
The whole walk was two and a half miles plus the odd side excursion in the wrong direction, and took exactly an hour.
So, when The Moors are further away than local I'll be able to go for walks in the countryside and be kept up to date with the score by text messages. I might have to change my ring tone though as it screams horribly: 'You've got a message, YOU'VE GOT A MESSAGE'.
I decided to take up walking and as it was my birthday last week I requested the necessary: boots, thick socks, compass, backpack, thermos and a book of short walks. So, Saturday morning, The Moors not having a game, due to Solihull being at home we'd played the night before, I set out on my virgin trek. I parked the car in the car park in Earlswood and made off down to the lakes, across a wooden causeway and a footbridge that spanned a weir to the northern side of Terry's Pool which I followed westward for about half a mile before heading north into New Fallings Coppice for about a third of a mile, crossing a footbridge into an open field. According to the book the pathways are marked with yellow arrow symbols, but I guess somebody had nicked most of them and the longer the walk became, the fewer the symbols. I digress.
I followed the edge of the field in a north westerly direction then re-entered the coppice following the directions in the book without the aid of the aforementioned symbols. Up until now, everyone I had come across had said a polite 'Good Morning' or 'Awright' but about half a mile into this section of coppice I came upon a couple of girls sitting on a log whilst their dogs ran around exercising themselves. 'Oooh 'e's gorra map', they cooed, 'Yes, an' I've got a f u c k i n' compass too', I replied as I passed, heading southwards along the edge of the coppice towards a railway bridge. Turning left and heading back into the coppice in a south easterly direction, following the railway line, the pathways had now matched the sybols, becoming non-existent. This was the tricky bit. The book said 'the path wanders into the trees, shortly entering a small, open heath.' Mmm. As I approached the heath, which I found by following an easterly direction (thank god I'd spent 16 quid on a decent compass) it looked rather boggy. It was. I crossed the boggy heath by skipping as best I could across the surface, sinking up to my ankles with each step. At the other side I briefly turned round to check my bearings and saw a family group stood at the other side of the morass looking perplexed. I followed the unmarked path back to where I'd first entered the woods and followed the edge of Terry's Pool, first southwards, then eastwards back to the car park.
The whole walk was two and a half miles plus the odd side excursion in the wrong direction, and took exactly an hour.
So, when The Moors are further away than local I'll be able to go for walks in the countryside and be kept up to date with the score by text messages. I might have to change my ring tone though as it screams horribly: 'You've got a message, YOU'VE GOT A MESSAGE'.
"Can't get to a game"?
