We set off later than we intended, stopping at Warwick services for lunch. The place was heaving, so we picked up some sandwiches and drinks for an in-car picnic before continuing on our journey, which took us to a small village called Brill. Brill was Tolkien’s inspiration for the village of Bree in Lord of the Rings.

Much to the bemusement of the locals I had my photograph taken with my Shire medal from my recently completed walking challenge. Afterward, as we we were driving along the motorway a Red Kite swooped down, swooping back up only just in time to miss hitting our car. Phew!

On arrival in Windsor we found the Hotel’s offsite car park then made our way to the hotel, Sir Christopher Wren to check in. We took our suitcases to the room before setting off for a cuppa and a walk around Windsor.

Back at the hotel we freshened up before dinner at The Boatman, a place we had dined on a previous visit to Windsor. We had a pre-dinner Prosecco whilst waiting for our food to arrive. Unfortunately the waiter got Mr C’s order wrong and the Roast Beef he ordered arrived as a Roast Chicken portion which he particularly did not want. There were no more roast meals left so he settled for fish and chips instead. There was no real apology, discount or sweetener for the error.

We returned to the hotel bar in order to use the free drinks vouchers we had received for making our hotel reservation direct with the hotel. The bar staff said the bar would be shutting early because it wasn’t very busy that night. This was to the dismay of at least 10 people who turned up just before the bar shut at 10 o’clock.

My medal for completing the first stage of my Lord of the Rings challenge has arrived. I promise to try to keep the ring secret and safe until I can throw it into the fires of Mount Doom. I am making good progress on the next stage of my journey which takes me to the Doors of Durin.

In other news I have completed  my walking challenge of 100 miles for May’s National Walking month. My June challenge is step based and to achieve this challenge goal I will have to increase my average daily mileage by 0.75 miles.

Wish my luck

Before lunch I visited Wellington to pick up a copy of the ‘Walking With Giants’ walking trail booklet that has recently been published by Wellington LA 21 Group. I found it a bit of a challenge figuring out how to gain access to the Council Offices where I had been advised that I would be able to obtain the booklet. I reticently pressed the intercom button on what seemed to be the most likely place to gain access and explained why I was there. I was greeted with a warm welcome and almost immediately someone came to the door with booklet in hand.

I wasn’t able to read all of the booklet before it was time for me to join another Ramblers ‘Walking for Wellbeing’ walk, this time starting in Wellington. Three levels of walk were on offer and I opted for the walk that could split into a shorter version half way through if I thought the longer walk was too much.

The leader set off at a speedy pace towards Apley Woods leaving me to walk alongside another walk leader a few paces behind the rest of the group. We caught up with the main group when they paused to look at some goslings next to the lake. There was talk of taking photos for the FaceBook page and wondering if they would be good enough. I offered to take some on my camera and produced it from my bag to exclamations of ‘a real camera’ and ‘are you a professional?’.

Then we were back on our speedy way with no time to take in our surroundings, the potential splitting the walk into two walks had been forgotten along the way. I enjoyed the conversations with my walking companion, we walked past both our houses and found that we had many other common connections.

This walk saw me complete my first ‘Lord of the Rings’ challenge, walking from the Shire to Bree and also my 70 miles for ‘The Queens Platinum Jubilee’ challenge (both medals yet to be dispatched). Now I just need to complete my pledged 100 miles for May’s ‘National Walking Month’.