Just as I was about to leave the school the fire alarm sounded. The school was evacuated and the roll call taken which meant I was delayed until the all clear had been given.

I walked home the long way round in glorious sunshine.

Recently we have been visiting my mum after I have ‘been to school’ but today that proved difficult. Just over a week ago I noticed that our hot water cylinder had developed a leak. British Gas assessed the situation and confirmed that we needed a new water cylinder but before it could be replaced it needed to be built. Today was the day for it to be fitted and because we knew the work would take several hours we expected the engineers to arrive fairly early in the morning.

Lunch time arrived, the engineers had not.

After lunch I left for my afternoon of volunteering at my local school, helping children with their reading. I wasn’t needed for the whole afternoon so I phoned home to check on the engineer situation, they had only just arrived! Not wanting to disturb the work in progress by shuffling cars and vans around I chose to walk ‘the long route’ home and visit mum tomorrow instead.

Several hours later normal service had resumed, we had water, hot water and heating again.

I had a morning meeting to discuss the Attingham Park social walks of which I am one of the walk leaders. We discussed previous walks and the walks scheduled going forward.

It was a perfect day for a walk so after the meeting had finished I set off along the mile walk in the direction of the walled garden where I sat for a while soaking up the sunshine. After my dose of vitamin D I resumed walking along the mile walk taking a detour to the suspension bridge and the walks beyond. I chose to walk along the river before taking in the woodland triangle and then the bluebell walk through the deer park back to the mansion.

I was pleased to find that the Lady Berwick tea room was open. I chose the scone of the month, rhubarb and ginger which I enjoyed sitting outside in the sunshine. So peaceful and perfect.

A couple of weeks ago my school reader volunteering didn’t go according to plan. It was careers day and the flow of children dried up so I called it a day. The weather was gorgeous and sunny so I chose to walk the long way home.

Surprisingly I met very view people along the way so I didn’t have many opportunities for a cheery hello. Whilst sitting on a bench enjoying the sunshine a dog carrying a large stick in its mouth bounded over to greet me much to the surprise of its owners. One of them passed a remark to the other ‘he never walks that way’. I suspect he was showing off his stick to me. The dog certainly brought a smile to my face.

Due to other commitments and unfavourable weather it took me a while to get around to a walk after my Tuesday afternoon volunteering shift at Attingham Park. My first walk of the year was a perfect opportunity for a ‘Listening’  walk. This time of year is filled with birdsong which is always a joy to hear. I was also treated to wind rustling through the leaves and the gentle sound of flowing water.

This chapter in the book mentions a study commissioned by the National Trust. Attingham Park, being a National Trust property was the perfect place for this walk. The study revealed that the following sounds bring us the greatest pleasure; birdsong, a running stream, rustling tree leaves, silence, twigs snapping underfoot, animal noises, wind whistling through the trees, rain falling on leaves, conkers hitting the ground and squelching mud.

I agree with all of them apart from squelching mud which has a sensory element to it that I find unpleasant.

The video below shows how beautiful the sounds were.

Click on picture to view video

Today I was one of the walk leaders for the WWII community walk in Attingham Park. It has always rained when I have walked this route for the Attingham Park community walks. Today was no exception.

As we set off on the WWII part of the walk we were treated a spectacular grouping of deer near to the pathway. Despite us intruding on their peace and quiet the deer were quite calm until they were spooked by three more deer running to join them. Some of the deer got to their feet and the stag walked to the centre of his ladies and calmed them down.

There is part of this route where I have always got confused as to which path to take. One of the other walk leaders helped me to know which path to take when the pathway diverges and explained where the other pathway leads to.

I was under no time pressure to get home after the walk so I had lunch in the café. I couldn’t resist the National Trust ’scone of the month’; lemon and white chocolate accompanied by lemon curd and clotted cream.

Despite all these ongoing problems I pledge to walk 1000 miles in 2026.

During my recent post shift walks at Attingham Park I have enjoyed seeing the first signs of Autumn. One of my favourite pathways that leads to the suspension bridge has been closed for a few weeks and I am hoping that it re-opens soon.

Fitting my walks around commitments means I often walk alone. Walking alone is good for thinking and clearing my head but walking with others gives me a greater sense of wellbeing.

My most recent walk with others was to check out a route for a group-led walk for visitors to Attingham Park.

My sense of wellbeing started well before I arrived at Attingham. I left home in glorious sunshine which turned to mist as I drove past open fields. The sun was trying to break through the misty layers casting shadows on the ground. As I approached Attingham Park the house was completely concealed by the misty veil only partly revealing itself as I walked to the courtyard where I encountered the VR (Visitor Reception) manager and the group walk co-ordinator. We had a brief conversation and I found out that there was currently a problem with a power outage which they were trying to get fixed.

I headed to the meeting room above the courtyard where the other two walk volunteers were waiting. Both were a little confused as to why the office was empty, it seemed they hadn’t seen the group walk co-ordinator as they passed through the courtyard, although he must have seen them because he told me they were upstairs in the meeting room!

Once the problem was under control, James, the group walk co-ordinator joined us and we set off to walk the route we had mapped earlier in the week. The grounds were shrouded in mist.  As we entered the deer park the house was completely hidden and the trees appeared as dark shadowy shapes. Along the first stage of the route, I was able to point out a large nesting box (for owls?) that I had seen earlier in the year.

We left the deer park and entered one of the woodland paths that leads to the Berwick memorial. When we reached the memorial, James mentioned a tree that had been inscribed by WWII soldiers and prisoners of war. As we were discussing the location of the tree, a man arrived through the gate nearby and asked if we had seen the inscribed tree. Unbeknown to us we were standing next to it! He told us about the WWII connections and the inscriptions on the tree. Some of them are fascinating and I need to research some of the symbols on the tree.

We continued our walk along the pathway leading past the Repton Oak towards the mansion, pausing briefly to chat with a couple of volunteers that were collecting acorns from beneath the old oak tree. Deer, although obscured by mist, could by seen nearby as we continued our walk back to the deer park bridges and the mansion beyond.

On my way back to my car, my VR manager, Nicolas, was at secondary VR and wanted to know all about the walks and would I still be helping out on VR (Tuesdays). I reassured him I would; Tuesday afternoons are my commitment to VR. As I arrived back at main VR the sun emerged through the mist and I chatted to other colleagues before driving home.

This chapter discusses the benefits of walking with purpose as opposed to walking for leisure. Studies have found that when walking for a purpose people tend to walk faster. Some of the studies concluded this led to better health and wellbeing.

I don’t know about the conclusions to the studies I can only say how I feel after ‘walking with purpose’.

I walk faster when I have a destination in mind, I don’t want to be late. Having a goal boosts my mental state and feeling of wellbeing. I often set off later than I intend which means I have to walk faster to get to my destination on time.

During term time I have a weekly purposeful walk to a local school. I volunteer as a school reader providing one-to-one reading support for children helping them improve their reading skills and boost their confidence.

Returning home after a recent visit to the school I found that one of my favourite benches to ’sit and rest a while’ had been replaced over the summer holidays. Of course I chose to ’sit and rest a while’ and enjoy the view before returning home.