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Melanie Williams

Hike for Youth - Jurassic Coast Virtual Challenge

Help me reach my goal of £80

My Activity Tracking

191
mi

My target 95 mi

Hike for Youth - Jurassic Coast Virtual Challenge

Hi

I'm taking part in the Hike for Youth - Jurassic Coast Virtual Challenge to support the DofE.  Throughout the month of April I'll be walking 95 miles to help raise money to transform the lives of young people by providing access to The Duke of Edinburgh's Awards to those who would benefit the most.

Please support me by making a donation to my page.

Thank You.

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Reach My Goal

Raised

£197 + £29.70 GiftAid

My Goal

£80

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My Updates

Day 30

Tuesday 30th Apr
I focus on the
Sound and
Rhythm 
Of my footsteps
Like a meditation.
Be 
Here 
Now
They hold me in the present
I feel
Their vibration
Through my body.
The steady rhythm 
Awakens
Verses learnt long ago
Consigned to memory then
Bubbling to the surface now

'Whose woods these are I think I know...'

'"Is there anybody there," said the traveller ..'

'They shut the road through the woods, 70 years ago...'

I recite 
As I walk
To the rhythm
Of my steps.

8.2 miles

Day 29

Monday 29th Apr
Sunrise
Clear sky
Warmth in the air
Insects on the wing
Swifts wheeling 
Woodland walk
Different today 
Real breath of spring

6.2 miles

Day 28

Sunday 28th Apr
Last day
Up to Roman Camp
Take the narrow track
Between old yews
Through fields
And woods
To the sea.
Walk the Jurassic Coast
From East Runton
To West Runton.
There are fossils
Amongst the flints
Scattered on the beach.
Wild sea
Sharp wind
What a walk!

10.8 miles

Day 27

Saturday 27th Apr
Walking
And thinking
Thinking
And walking
Remembering past birthdays
My mother's
It's her birthday today
She is long gone 
But ever present.
Flowers in a vase
For her
Rosemary for remembrance
Honeysuckle for its sweetness
Lavender for memories
Of southern sun.

5.5 miles 

Day 26

Friday 26th Apr
Walking
The Jurassic Coast
At West Runton 
Low tide
Yellow sand
As far as Cromer
Patches of chalk
Show white through the sand 
Large flints
Gather on the beach
So much cliff has fallen -
To expose 
The bones 
Of another mammoth 
Maybe.

6.6 miles

Day 25

Thursday 25th Apr

Notice

Trunks of trees

So many shapes

Some white

Others shades of brown

Some straight

Reaching to the sky

Some entwined

Some conjoined

Some bowed from the wind

Some twisted and gnarled

Others ivy clad

Stained with moss and lichen.

Horse chestnut bark

So distinctive.


6.3 miles

Day 24

Wednesday 24th Apr
Cold wind 
Full waterproofs
Walk the morning loop
Anti-clockwise
Not the usual
Clockwise.
Like a whole new walk
The familiar is unfamiliar
I look anew again.

4.1 miles

Day 23

Tuesday 23rd Apr
The Japanese call it
Forest bathing
This morning
I was forest bathing
My shoulders relaxed
My breath deepened
A sense of calm.

5.8 miles

Day 22

Monday 22nd Apr

Sunshine, sunlight

Shadow, shade

Words going round in my head

As I walk.

I can feel warmth

On my face

From the sunshine

Warmth tempered as thin clouds

Move across the sun.

Sunlight highlighting

Leaves, paths, trunks, branches.

Colours and textures enhanced 

by sunlight.

I walk towards my own shadow

Following it as I go

Then I turn and it is

Following me.

In the woodland

I am in the shade of

Tall trees. 

Shade brings 

Welcome coolness in summer

Less-than-welcome chill in spring

Sunshine

Sunlight

Shadow

Shade.

6.9 miles

Day 21

Sunday 21st Apr
Walsingham
Mike, Freya and I
Following
The pilgrimage route to
The slipper chapel
Walking past during mass
The communion broadcast 
Over loudspeaker 
To the gathered throng.
The walk continued 
Along quiet roads
To reach the Greenway.
Grassy track 
High hedges.
Quiet apart from
Insects and birds
Fitting end to the walk.

10.2 miles

Day 20

Saturday 20th Apr
Bluebells 
Gorse 
But too cold 
For their scent to reach me
Tips of new growth
From oak trees
Scattered over the path
Squirrels at work?
Fast moving clouds.

7 miles

Day 19

Friday 19th Apr
Cold wind
Behind me on the track
Once in the woods
Sheltered by the trees
Only the sound of the wind
Twisting the topmost branches.
I walk past a stand 
Of tall conifers
The path I take is light
Amongst the conifers it is dark
Such a contrast.
On to the lake.
The water, usually so still
Is wild, like the sea
Wind ruffling the surface
White horses.  

7.4 miles

Day 18

Thursday 18th Apr
Walking is
A meditation
Starting the day
In the present
Seeing
Noticing.
The yellow-green of young 
Oak leaves
Lambs playing
Discovering the world.

6.1 miles



Day 17

Wednesday 17th Apr
Walking the same paths 
Every day
It's easy not to look
Not to notice
To think
'I know this path
I've seen all this before' 
Not so
Each walking of the path
is different
is never the same.

4.8 miles

Day 16

Tuesday 16th Apr
Wind and rain
Lashing against the window
Get up, clothes on
Cup of tea, let chickens out
Don waterproofs
For Freya and me.
We set off.
Sun to the east
Heavy rainclouds to the west
A rainbow arching across the sky.
A wonderful walk lies ahead.

5.6 miles

Total so far - 95 miles


Day 15

Monday 15th Apr
Urban walking
Pavement
Parks
River paths 
Petals swirling in the wind
Surprised to see
So many trees
Flowers
Birds
When I took 
The time
To look.

7.3 miles

Day 14

Sunday 14th Apr
Beechnuts crunching underfoot
Old woodland 
Trees lie where they fall
Across paths
New paths are made
New vistas.

Bluebells scattered at hedgebase
So early, 
A smell reminiscent of childhood
We picked bunches then
Clutched them with small hands
There is gorse too
With its incongruous coconut scent.
I imagined young people walking beside me today 
Laughing and talking 
I want them to see what I can see
Hear what I can hear
Smell what I can smell.
Nature's gift.

10.5 miles

Day 13

Saturday 13th Apr
I thought of Rosa this morning on the early walk. She is walking three days for her silver DoFE starting today. 
Birdsong this morning was beautiful: the air was so still. 

This afternoon:
Narrow path between field and hedgerow
Uneven ruts made walking slow 
It needed concentration
As Freya and I approached
Deer and hares fled
Across fields to disappear
Leaving a sea of green

6.6 miles

Day 12

Friday 12th Apr
Woodland walk on drying paths 
Squirrels dashing from tree to tree
Jackdaws busy conversing above. 
4 miles today. 65 miles so far 😊

Day 11

Thursday 11th Apr
Waiting for the swallows 
A few have been sighted
But not by me
Yet.
Unseasonably warm
Leaves opening 
Spring accelerating
Superb beach walk with Mike, Etta, Juni and Freya.
5 miles today

Day 10

Wednesday 10th Apr
Clear, still, frosty morning. An exhilarating early walk.
Cloudy, rain-threatening afternoon walk, wind building.
No two days the same.
6 miles today.

Day 9

Tuesday 9th Apr

Drying mud on paths preserving

tracks and traces of creatures 

Who have come this way:

Cloven-footed cattle

Tiny footprints of deer

Paw prints of rabbits

Marks from birds’ feet

Clear paw prints from dogs

Of all sizes.

Humans.

There are others I don’t recognise

Badger? Fox? Hare?

And some too light to leave their mark.

All transient.

The next rainfall will blur 

These tracks and traces

Only for the drying mud to reveal

The latest travellers once again.

3.7 miles

Day 8

Monday 8th Apr
Colours I noticed:
wispy clouds against a blue sky - reminiscent of France
iridescent feathers of my Copper Maran chicken
golden yellow of dandelion flowers
brown furrows of a freshly ploughed field
scarlet of emerging tulips
lilac buds
more greens than I ever thought possible.
5.1 miles 

Day 7

Sunday 7th Apr
A great walk today which I shared with Simon and Aafye. They responded to my request for fellow walkers and suggested today's walk, a circular one from Stiffkey to Binham and back. Such varied countryside: marshland, fields, woodland, a magical valley and of course Binham Priory itself. We saw at least a dozen hares, egrets, a marsh harrier, herons and lots of geese. 11.3 miles today making a week 1 total of 41.4 miles. 

Day 6

Sunday 7th Apr
5.4 miles today. Morning woodland walk, evening through fields.

Day 5

Friday 5th Apr

Joy in small things

The rhythm of footsteps

Like a heartbeat

Deer: inquisitive but wary

Watchful, waiting

Suddenly leap away in silence 

Bird song, pheasants’ harsh calls

Rat-a-tat-tat of woodpeckers

Soft rain on skin

Wind caressing face and hair

Tossing the tops of trees

Close my eyes

The sound of the sea

Scent of viburnum in the air

The rhythm of footsteps

Like a heartbeat

5.6 miles today

Day 4

Thursday 4th Apr
Two contrasting walks. Rain in the woods first thing, muddy tracks, rooks or possibly jackdaws squabbling in the trees. Open fields this afternoon, larks rising, wet grass underfoot, clouds lifting. 6.1 miles today.

Day 3

Wednesday 3rd Apr
An early walk by the side of fields today with Etta. Larks singing to greet the new day. Less distance covered today, only 2.5 miles.

Day 2

Tuesday 2nd Apr
A sunny day so walking was a pleasure: a morning stroll in the woods and then to the beach in the afternoon. West Runton beach is famous for its fossils though I didn't spot any today. 3.9 miles covered today 😊

Day 1

Monday 1st Apr
A beautiful day to start the challenge. Early spring sunshine bringing some warmth to the air. I took photos this morning - hoping to work out how to post them on the blog - of the Felbrigg woodland I walk through just after dawn. By the end of the month everything will look very different with trees in full leaf so I will take photos then too. I covered just over 6 miles today which I'm very pleased with, walking in Felbrigg woods, and then at Blickling with Mike, Jack, Etta and Juni - and Freya of course.

Tomorrow is day 1!

Sunday 31st Mar
So excited about the start of the Jurassic Coast Virtual challenge tomorrow 😊

Thank you!

Friday 22nd Mar
Thanks everyone for your donations 😊 🐕‍🦺

Greetings

Wednesday 20th Mar
Thanks for visiting my page and for the donations. Rosa is doing DoFE and really benefiting from. The funds raised from this challenge will enable more young people to access the scheme. Freya and I will be walking Felbrigg and further afield to meet our goal - and anyone is welcome to join us. I'll be posting daily updates from 1 April with miles covered, photos and anything else that I've noticed on the walks. I'm hoping I'll hear a cuckoo. That would be a treat! More soon. 

Thank you to my Sponsors

£25

Debbie Smith

£23.32

Juliet Williams

Well done you!

£23.10

Mike Dodd

Bon courage Mel & Freya!

£21.20

Deirdre Williams

Dear Mel - well done and thank you Love dxxx

£21.20

Coverdale Family

Good Luck from Edinburgh x

£21

Nonnie, Rosa & Wren

Good luck!

£21

Dodd Debra

Good luck. What a challenge and a brilliant charity.

£10.60

Melanie Williams

Feeling inspired

£10.50

Vanessa

Best paw forward!

£10

Jack Williams Dodd

You can do it Mum (and Freya!) xxx

£10

Simon Smith

Good luck, with it, Mel.

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