One of the challenges in the Mega Miles group is to walk the rainbow. I decided to use my Thursday walk back from my school volunteering to see if I could find all the rainbow colours.

The rain had stopped but I wasn’t sure for how long. I decided to walk the direct route home having seen some suitable opportunities on my walk to the school.

As I stopped to take the first photo someone came up behind me and tapped me on the back, startling me a little.

Although I was quite a distance from the school I turned  my head to see one of the children who I help with their reading. She was shortly followed by two adults who asked me if everything was alright. I explained I was taking a photograph of the sign as part of a rainbow colour photo challenge, which must have sounded a little odd.

We parted ways but not before the pupil helpfully pointed out several rainbow opportunity photos.

Over the past two days I have been busy with my walk leader volunteering role at Attingham Park.

On the first day, along with other volunteers and the manager of the walk program, we recce’d a new walking route that focuses on the river. Then in the afternoon it was my usual Tuesday afternoon shift greeting and scanning visitors cards as they arrived at Attingham Park.

On the second day I was one of the walk leaders on a social walk through the deer park. It was a lovely walk and we were privileged to see the deer in two different places along our walk.

I didn’t have the opportunity to take photos so I share some photos taken when I was walking these paths last year.

The day started with a late breakfast in the Café where we had lunch in the day before. Mr C had left his cap behind!

After breakfast we briefly visited Shrewsbury before heading off in the direction of Church Stretton. As we travelled we decided to visit Stokesay Castle and by the time we arrived the grey sky had turned to brilliant sunshine.

I started the day breakfasting with friends in my local Weatherspoon’s, a perfect start to the day.

After breakfast we did our weekly food shop and upon returning home I found a squishy envelope had been delivered. I opened it to find the Mega Miles T Shirt.

This was perfect timing for my planned photo shoot showing me with a local landmark in the background. A mini challenge within the walking challenge was to take a Selfie with a local landmark for others to guess where the landmark is. This photo is taken in the grounds of another local monument.

Todays walk took me to a local school for my volunteering session, helping children with their reading. After the pause in my walk I walked home the long way round. I explored some paths that I haven’t walked for a very long time.

I am also on a mission (as part of the challenge) to get a selfie photo in front of a local landmark. In my walks I have been circling round the landmark but haven’t quite got close enough for the selfie moment.

It is that time of year again, when I take part in the Civil Service Mega Miles challenge. This year I aim to walk 100 miles in June, hoping that ‘life’ doesn’t get in the way!

On day two of the challenge I had the opportunity for a post shift walk at Attingham Park. Just after I arrived in the visitor reception area for my afternoon shift the heavens opened. The rain shower was and replaced by blue sky and white fluffy clouds.

Towards the end of my shift dark clouds started circling around but they kept the rain to themselves. The sky got even darker as I left on my extended mile walk route. As I started my walk I ended up being an involuntary guide to the walled garden. A couple shouted me from a parallel pathway to ask how to get there. I told them and they set of the direction of the walled garden. A few minutes later they spotted me again to ask for confirmation on the route. I told them I was also going there so they walked with me, chatting as we walked. The reason for their confusion is that the walled garden was farther than they expected, they thought it would be near to the house.

On arrival at the walled garden they thanked me and we parted ways. I picked up speed to outrun the potential rain shower but thankfully the rain held off. As I drove home the roads were wet in places revealing where the dark clouds had shed their water.

Nathaniel Parker Willis

We visited the very first UK Games Expo in 2007 and bought a couple of games to add to my small new games collection; Pillars of the Earth (I loved the book) and Nexus Ops, both very different games.

After all this time it seemed appropriate to visit the Expo as it celebrated its 20th birthday. The Expo has expanded significantly since its early days in a Masonic hall, now taking over 5 halls in Birmingham’s NEC.

We certainly noticed the difference, walking over 4.5 miles during the day. The only purchases we made were expansions to games that we already own; Heat Pedal to the Metal, Castle Combo and Dixit. I was also pleased to see there is an upcoming expansion to Kelp which is one of my current favourite games.

During our visit I had a lucky escape from a Dalek, it was its day off from ‘Extermination’ duties.

Kiftsgate Court Gardens has been on my ‘To Do’ list for far too long. When we visited the nearby Hidcot Garden several years ago, a friend told us that he thought that Kiftsgate was the better garden of the two. We have been meaning to visit ever since but every time we were in the area the garden was closed.

Kiftsgate was on my radar ‘to visit’ during our recent holiday in Winchester but Mr C thought he would rather visit as a day trip from home. Today (27th May) was that day. The journey was a little dull but the weather was perfect. We had lunch in the courtyard where we found a shaded table before entering the garden.

We are Historic Houses members so were able to visit the gardens for free as part of the membership. The lady who checked us in suggested we visit the upper gardens first before descending into the lower garden area and that is what we did

The pathway down to the lower garden is a little narrow and uneven and, from time to time, we had to step aside to let others pass by. At one point Mr C stepped aside to let a family past, he complimented the young girl (being carried by her father) on her Angel wings. A little bit of conversation ensued as the family passed by.

Then I heard the words, ‘I am Megan’ and I was transported back to the previous day when I was a Visitor Reception volunteer at Attingham Park. A young girl walked ahead of her parents right up to a fellow volunteer and said to him, ‘My name is Megan’, and as her parents caught up with her she said,, ‘Have you met my brother?’ A brief conversation ensued before the family left to enjoy their visit to Attingham Park.

Back to Kiftsgate, the words, ‘I am Megan’, caused me to look to see if there was a brother following. There was, so as the family passed me, much to their surprise I asked them if they had visited Attingham the day before. I explained that I was at visitor reception when they arrived and we had a brief conversation before we went on our different ways along the path.

Kiftsgate garden was well worth the wait and we had the perfect weather to enjoy it.

Much later, we dined on the patio enjoying the warm-but-welcome cooler temperature after the heatwave.