A lockdown challenge

26 January 2021

Lockdown followed fast on the heels of Christmas and so far it looks as if 2021 is as much a year of waiting and uncertainty as 2020. Unlike in November, travelling to exercise is not permitted and so even a short trip to Dartmoor isn’t possible. However what is allowed is one lot of exercise of a single modality within the local area.

My plan, which is within the permitted parameters, was to walk from home in a “circle” waking out along a radius, keeping around 3-4 miles from home (as the crow flies) all round the circle then back home along a radius. It ended up being a long way!

Of course I needed to choose a day that was entirely free of work as I correctly doubted that I would be back early enough to work in the evening. I was fortunate that the icy spell had ended although rain was forecast for much of the day. In the end, it wasn’t a bad day – it was drizzly for much of the time but no heavy rainfall.

In order to keep within regulations, I didn’t carry anything that might count as “a picnic”. I took water and a collection of chocolate bars as sustenance. I also carried some spare warm layers of clothing and a head torch. I would have carried my waterproofs but actually wore them all day.

I started at 07:00 in the dark, but it was daylight by the time I encountered the first of many squelchy, muddy paths. Annoyingly I came across a “footpath closed” sign near the end of a fairly long stretch between Sowton and Clyst St Mary. Compliance would have involved back tracking some considerable distance. At that time in the morning there was no one around to notice and I walked through without noticing any reason for the closure.

I discovered a few interesting villages and hamlets that I’d never been to before or at least not on foot – Clyst St George, Pytte, Farringdon and Perkin’s Village. I was surprised how many fords I needed to cross, although most were actually very shallow. There were several tracks that appeared to be old and long forgotten roads. I even found myself on a very broken old road with a ford leading to the back of Crealy Theme Park. The Theme Park was of course completely devoid of custom. I saw some enormous old “court” and “manor” Houses with immaculate looking large gardens. In a few cases these appeared to have been converted into apartments. There were many farms. Of course there were also many other dwelling places – barn conversions, modern houses, council houses – probably mostly or all now privately owned, small and large cottages and even building sites on the edge of the new town of Cranbrook. There was evidence of community activity with village noticeboards as well as churches with neat graveyards. Given the “lockdown” most houses had a car outside as people aren’t going to work.

By the middle of the day, I was walking through Ashclyst Forest, now in the care of the National Trust. This section was where I was temporarily outside the four mile radius – exacerbated by a footpath I failed to find so I diverted a little through Westwood before I reached the forest. I saw a few other people out walking, mainly accompanied by dogs. There were a group of workers with chain saws etc. near a car park. From here I walked to the grounds of Killerton House, also owned by the National Trust. There is a public footpath through part of its extensive parkland. Surprisingly, this footpath was deserted. I came out of a wooded area, passing a field of ruby red cattle. This was a footpath I had walked on previously with my daughter at Easter 2019 in the days before COVID19. We had been fortunate enough that day to see a calf that had clearly only just been born and was trying to take its first faltering steps. There were only grown cattle today of course. The path here was particularly squelchy.

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The road that floods near Columbjohn was clear of water, the Culm still within its banks. I picked up the Exe Valley Way to the west of Rewe, crossing a footbridge to Brampford Speke and, after a stretch of road, walked on some slippery paths that I had never previously been along.

I traversed Exeter following the banks of the River Exe. This was the most populated part of my walk with many runners and dog walkers but it was still possible to remain socially distanced with ease. Dusk and subsequent darkness had arrived by the time I was at Countess Wear. The thought of “cheating” and not completing the circle entered my mind as I could follow the ring road footpath all the way home. However I persisted and walked to Topsham, where my circle had started. I walked back home along surfaced roads and footpaths rather than including the muddy path of my morning outward radius.

By the time I arrived home, my pace had slowed a lot. It was just after 20:00 and I had been walking for thirteen hours, with minimal breaks so as not to be accused of stopping for a “picnic”. I had walked 66.5km at an average speed of over 5km per hour, including all the slow and slippery bits and when I was very tired and slow at the end! I’m surprised how many new paths I followed given I was never over five miles from home and mainly within a four mile radius.