Goal 070 and Goal 071 are now completed - I walked over 100 miles on a route across England alongside the Leeds-Liverpool Canal.

Day 1: Parbold to Chorley
Day 2: Chorley to Blackburn
Day 3: Blackburn to Burnley
Day 4: Burnley to Barnoldswick
Day 5: Barnoldswick to Skipton
Day 6: Skipton to Saltaire
Day 7: Saltaire to Leeds

I did this with my partner, catching trains out to the start point each morning and catching a train home every night. This gave us the freedom to carry just our walking gear, food and water instead of clothes, chargers and all the little things you somehow think you can’t live without for a week. It ended up costing us about the same as it would have to stay over in a B&B, buy meals each night and figure out taxis to and from points on the route.

We wore regular clothes, carried regular rucksacks and bickered as much as you might expect on a week when it rained four days out of seven. We’re definitely not superwalkers or saints, we just had the stamina and curiosity to come back each day… It’s easily done when you don’t know most of the route.

My pedometer recorded our stats each day and notes that actually we walked close to 150 miles in total this week – the additional miles come from drifting off the path to pubs, getting to and from train stations, wandering around Salt’s Mills and the Saltaire Festival etc. I walked between 39,452 and 47,198 steps every day. Although I don’t feel any thinner, I do feel more capable and agile which will do for me. :)

I wouldn’t walk all the sections again. In fact I’d actively avoid a couple of them. But the Parbold to Chorley and Burnley to Barnoldswick sections are wonderful and I’d love to do them again. I’ll still do the 27 miles between Liverpool to Parbold at some point.

As a couple we’ve learnt a lot too – how to compromise on pace, motivate each other, when to speak and when to stay silent. We’ve concluded that 80 miles is a comfortable distance for us right now. We can walk further but we get very tired after the 80 miles mark. We’ll bear that in mind for future explorations. Plenty of places and routes we can see with that kind of mileage in mind.

I’m very glad I did this and I’m very glad I compromised to do it with the amor. While I could have done it faster without him (distance walking is very much my thing rather than his) it wouldn’t have been as fun or as rewarding an experience. And he reminds me to slow down, take more photos and enjoy the ride. After all, I may not pass by here again.