Photos

There is a poem on wikipaedia about the common cormorant or shag which lays its eggs in paper bags. Once considered a rare bird there are many near where we live.

A young cormorant on a nearby lake.

One of the hills near our home with lovely autumn colours.


A Victorian letterbox with an interesting note about the posting of coins in letters.

Autumn sights

We continue to make plans for a return to the Camino Primitivo in 2012. We now have our tickets to Spain and our Credenciales, to start in Tineo, and we are planning a rough guide to each day. This helps to work out how long we will need to reach Santiago as well as where we can find accomodation, food etc along the route. We are using the CSJ (Confraternity of St James) guide, as Terry did in 2009. There are updates, more accomodation in some places, less in others.
We intend to use the ferry and the FEVE again and finally the ALSA bus to reach Tineo before setting off to walk. It is over 200km from Tineo to Santiago through the mountains. Hopefully we will reach Santiago with time to see some more of western Galicia, maybe Padron or Coruña before heading for home again.

Meanwhile we have been walking as much as possible locally, while the weather has been good, to keep ourselves in practise. Walks are varying between 7km and 15km, up and down hills, but chiefly on the road now as the paths are very wet. On the shorter walks we have been carrying full weight packs and lighter on the longer ones.

The highly poisonous Fly Agaric toadstools are a bright splash of colour.

The heron was waiting and watching for his dinner.

Walks around Clumber

Our preparations for next year continue with a variety of walks. In Clumber we found a beautiful walk; down the lime tree avenue, past the house, right around the lake, through the woods and back to the lime tree avenue. A total of 12kms. There are no steep hills but we can find them elsewhere.

The weather has been kind to us until this week - although we did manage a 12km walk, with hills, before the rain set in. We tend to carry about 3/4 of our Camino pack weight at present, partly as we are using our small packs which hold less. We'll put the weight up early in the New Year. We are also checking out our gear, for wear etc. New mid layer socks as they are the ones which wear most but otherwise we'll take the same basic kit that we took last year.

View across the lake

The lime tree avenue

Autumn Views

Some unusual sights on a couple of our latest walks. One could be tagged ' well I left my tractor here some time ago'. The other could be called 'disdain' as the alpaca was definitely not talking to us!
More normal sightings for this time of year were the spiders' webs along the hedges, with the dew still on them as the early mist was just beginning to lift.
There have been mushrooms in the fields, picked and eaten, as well as the last of the good brambles in the hedges to go with our apples.
Our latest walks have varied between 7km and 12kms with some fairly steep hills for added interest and practise.

The tractor wheel has been there for so long that the tree has grown right through it.

Alpaca are still an unusual sight in the English countryside. The other one hid behind the tree.

Spiders webs are more common. These were along the hedge sides earlier this week

September walking

The weather has not been very good lately. However we have managed some walking, chiefly around Dulverton. Steep hills, streams, wooded tracks. Very like the Camino. We even found a granary (hórreo) when we visited Arlington Court
We are aiming to walk 7-10kms on an average walk with one 15km per week for the next few weeks. This is really to keep us fit and then we'll build up the distance again in the New Year. We are carrying 2/3 of the Camino weight in our rucksacs, again with the idea of building up to full weight later on.

The hill from the workhouse, at river level

The old packhorse bridge with the 'new' road bridge in the trees

The view forward and back along the track

A green 'speckled bush cricket' sitting on Terry's hand

The old granary in the grounds of Arlington Court

Preparing for 2012

Rather than hanging up our boots and taking life easy we are, as previously posted, training for a return to the Camino in 2012.

So far we are walking locally between 8 and 10 kms with fairly light packs. We will build this up again as time goes by, both distance and also weights.

There is also the discussion over the proposed length of the stages each day and the time needed to complete the walk. This worked well for us this year giving us an aim for each day. We would not be tied to a strict timetable as much will depend on the weather, places we pass through and want to explore more fully as well as physical fitness etc. Making outline plans however will keep us happily occupied during the coming months.

Future planning

All our preparation and training was well worth the effort. There are some very steep hills on the Camino Inglés, as we were told before going. However, apart from the hill out of Pontedeume we did not find them too difficult as we had trained in a hilly area.
Now we are thinking of returning again to the Camino Primitivo and picking up where we left off last year, at Tineo. However that will not be until some time next year. For now it is back to 'keeping in training' walks so we will be adding to this blog from time to time.

The full record of our time on the Camino Inglés, from leaving Plymouth until our return, is in the May entries on Return to the Camino

Waymark, Santiago de Compostela

Final preparations for 2011

We are as prepared as we can be, apart from a few more practise walks. Our tickets for the ferry have arrived and we have some euros. All we need now is to re-check our bags and to have a good journey to Ferrol, via Santander, Oviedo and Ribadeo.
This is the last post needed here we think, so our travel blog will be found on Return to the Camino. Apart from an introductory post for 2011 this will be added to only occasionally along the way, and then more fully when we return home.
The family, as usual, get left to 'hold the fort'!

Sun and warmth

A 9km walk today, again carrying our full packs and about 2/3 full water bottles as it was warm. Walking with our sleeves rolled up and enjoying the sun. We walked along the river valley, under the dual carriage-way and then up a steep hill. We stopped for a drink and snack bar and to take photos looking back downhill and across to Dartmoor. There are bumble bees and butterflies as well as primroses and violets. The orange tip butterfly is well camouglaged on the garlic mustard, its main food plant

View across to Dartmoor

Orange Tip butterfly

Guide book, walks and rain

Our CSJ guide book to the Camino Inglés has come and we are busy studying the route we plan to take. During the week we have managed several walks, all with our packs. These are settled at around 8kg (Terry) and 6kg (Valerie) including some water each. Today we thought we would have a short walk, minus packs, around town only. It rained after about 5 minutes, we had no waterproofs, so spent 10 minutes under the bridge on the stream side until it dried up a bit. A very short walk as we went home to get dry!

Breaking the 15km barrier

After two walks of 9km each this week we went for a long walk today. A total of 15.6km on a mix of roads and forest tracks. There were a number of hills, one very steep at 1 in 10 for 1km. We had a lunch stop about halfway round. The weather was just right for walking, sunny and warm much of the time although there was a chilly wind in places.

The photos are from our various walks this week

The roe deer print was seen in the woods.

The sea wall walk is alongside the railway

Tiny fish in the lake.

The cows watching the walkers going past.

Terry's Packing List

Terry is carrying the full kit he expects to carry on the Camino:-
T-shirt x 2 = 300gm
Shirt x 240gm
Trousers x 400gm
Long johns x 120gm
Underwear x 160gm
Socks x 200gm
Waterproof trousers x 350gm
Poncho x 340gm
Towels x 480gm
Sleeping bags 850 x 2 =1kg 700gm
Crocs x 220gm
Fleece x 350gm
First Aid/toothpaste/Tel charger/cable/sporks etc x 470gm
Rucksac x 1kg 67gm

Total weight 7kg  excluding water. Terry has 2x 1lt bottles which could add a further 2kg when full. If it is very hot then the extra fleece weighing 300gm will go in the rucksac too. If we do need to carry full bottles we will drink Terry's first to get the weight down quickly.

Valerie's Packing list

I am walking with the following in my pack as practise:-
2 shirts  340gm
3 T shirts/vests  345gm
Terry's shirt x 175gm
Trousers x 400gm
2 Long sleeved T shirts 300gm
Longjohns 240gm
Underwear 150gm
Socks 200gm
Dress/nightwear 160gm
2 Fleeces x350gm = 700gm
Poncho 340gm
Waterproof trousers 200gm
Wash bag and medical:- shampoo, soap, pegs and elastic line etc 340gm
Towel 100gm
Rucksack 1.06kg
Water bottles 2x 500ml =1kg when full
Total weight = 6kg 250gm

This is the maximum I would have to carry if the weather was hot and I was wearing shirt and trousers without needing the T-shirts or a fleece. In reality I would expect to be wearing some of the 'extra' items at present in my pack bringing the weight down to around 5.5kg including water. This would enable me to carry our snack bars or food for the day without being overloaded. (The 7kg was a bit too much I decided)

Spring is coming

We walked for about 7km this morning carrying our full packs. Valerie's weighs 7kg and Terry's 8kg. This included water, snack bars, extra fleece each and all our cool weather clothes. (We would expect to be wearing some of these unless the weather is so hot that we only need shirt and trousers without T-shirt/vest layer or a thin fleece.)
When we have time we'll make full list with weights like we did last year. (October 2009 posts if anyone wants to look back) It will be interesting to compare what we took then and what we plan to take this time.

At last it is possible to use the footpaths across the fields again and we started off with a steep uphill climb before settling down to the main part of the walk. On our way we saw an old chaffinch nest from last year which had fallen out of the hedge and also white violets growing on the bank side.

Roads and tracks

Most of our recent walking has been on the roads because of the weather. However it is getting warmer and there are crocuses and cyclamen out. The oak tree is an almost perfect shape.

After a number of very wet days we finally had a training walk 'off road' yesterday, on a well made track. One of the highlights were the deer we saw running through the woods and across the path. A shorter walk than normal but carrying our full packs, apart from water. We averaged an easy 4km per hour over fairly easy terrain.

After one sunny day we are back to rain again!!!!!!!!

Sun and Catkins

We have been for several walks now that the weather is dryer. The tracks are still very wet underfoot so much of the time we have been on side roads or made up paths.
With a little more warmth in the sun the catkins are coming out and we have seen a few early crocuses.
Our new boots fit well and have been put away again until nearer the time for walking the Camino and we are using our older boots for training. We filled our rucksacks with all our Camino gear as for a hot day (ie we packed fleeces etc) to be sure that we could carry the maximum we expect to take. My pack weighs approx 6kg and Terry's 7kg without water. If we are wearing our T-shirt/vests and/or fleeces the weight will go down. We'll post a full list and weights later.
So far we have only been walking about 9km, but we average about 4km an hour including brief stops for photos. We have found a coffee stop which also serves lunches. Useful when we want to do a longer walk later on.

Sunshine after the rain

After a cold and then very wet week we finally had sunshine today. A walk, starting off uphill for about 2½km, led us along the hilltop. The wind was cold, but between the hedges was warmer especially in the sun. The road then drops into the valley before rising again. Total distance today was nearly 8km.
At the ford there is a raised walkway, not visible in the photo, so the water wasn't a problem. There is usually water running here with the small stream running under the walkway into the nearby brook.

The road across the valley can be seen in the centre of the photo

Track, stream and ford

First walk of 2011

Another short walk today, about 5km, to start the new year. It was too grey and cloudy to take any photos. There is still just a little snow around, like yesterday, but it has nearly gone. The snowmen have all melted away. Now we hope for some winter sunshine and good walking weather for 2011.