December Totals

Monthly Average : 6,970 steps
Best Day : 17,305 - Tuesday 22nd December

By Tuesday 22nd December were had already broken up for Christmas.  We didn't do anything special, but a combination of delivering Christmas cards, popping to the shops, and walking to a friend's house that evening obviously built up the step count !

November Totals

Monthly Average : 6,162 steps
Best Day : 11,375 - Monday 16th November

Monday 16th November was a 'normal' day at school.  I'm not certain, but my best guess is that the count was so high because my colleague was off sick, so I had to do everything myself.

October Totals

Monthly Average : 8,833 steps
Best Day : 21,755 - Tuesday 28th October

Saturday 28th October was our walk around Ravenscar as detailed here.

Ravenscar

During our trip to the North Yorkshire Coast, we popped into the National Trust visitors center and picked up a walking route which we promptly did.  We added on our own extension to a delightful tea room at the abandoned Ravenscar railway station.

The official route takes in amazing views of Robin Hood's bay - both the bay itself as well as the town.

The 'Official' Route

Our route (in Google Earth) with extra Tea Shop loop

Theale, North Street & Englefield

Another walking Saturday and another from Rambling around Reading second series, this time Walk 9.  Starting at Theale, then via North Street to Englefield.

The route

My route in Google Earth

Selsey & West Wittering

No formal walk with route followed, but a pleasant Sunday rediscovering Selsey (including a giant cooked breakfast), West Wittering Beach and East Head - a  National Trust owned split off of West Wittering Beach.

A rather overcast day, with no great views, so no decent photos I'm afraid.

Total Steps over the whole day : 19.609.

Devil's Punch Bowl

Not a serious walk, but we took my parents to Hindhead Common and the Devil's Punch Bowl.  As we did technically follow two Natural Trust walks, I thought they should be recorded here.

Walks at the Devil#s Punch Bowl

We did a short there-and-back to the Sailors Stone and a modified loop of 'Miss James Walk', with the car at the start point, but when near the Cafe, they cut off to that, while I dashed back to get the car.

September Totals

Monthly Average : 7,624 steps
Best Day : 16,901 - Saturday 20th September

My long run of green days was finally broken by a cold which lasted several weeks.

Saturday 20th September was my walk along the Pang, through Pangbourne and past Pangbourne College detailed here.

Pang, Pangbourne & Pangbourne College

A walking Saturday and I choose Ramble 7 from Rambling for Pleasure around Reading Series 2 entitled Pangbourne College and River Pang.  However I started and finished at The Greyhound in Tidmarsh & then walked up Sulham hill and home.

The Route

August Totals

All green !
Monthly Average : 11,324 steps
Best Day : 34,375 steps - Wednesday 20th August

Wednesday 20th August was a longer than originally planned walk up the Northumbrian Coast path detailed here. 

Cragside

Cragside was the home of Victorian inventor and engineer Lord Armstrong.  It is now a National Trust house and grounds.  In fact the grounds are huge !  There are several suggested walks around the grounds, and while we started one, we soon found ourselves wandering off left and right to see some of the other areas.

The grounds are so extensive there is actually a suggested car tour, with many car parks from which other walks start.

The Armstrong Trail at Cragside

Craster to Low Newton via Dunstanburgh Castle

We wanted to walk to Dunstanburgh castle, but carried on for a bit, going from Craster all the way to Low Newton and back.  Unwittingly we had followed a route I found later on the National Trust web site (actually we did it as a figure of 8 rather than the long winding oval they suggest).

The Route

Lindisfarne (Holy Island)

We arrived in Lindisfarne around 9am and just before the tide covered the access road.  This meant we hard the island almost to ourselves for the morning.  We explored the village, and circumnavigated the priory before going out on a set walk to the north west dunes.

We closely followed Walk 2 in my book "Short Walks in Northumbria" by the Ramblers Association, as show in the route map below.  However we did an extra there-and-back trip all the way up to Castlehead Rocks.

The approximate route

July Totals

All green !
Monthly Average : 8,423 steps
Best Day : 11,707 steps - Monday 30th July

Monday 30th July included a walk to work and back (even though I was supposed to be on holiday)

June Totals

All green !
Monthly Average : 9,450 steps
Best Day : 21,180 steps - Saturday 21st July

Saturday 21st July was my walk from Pangbourne, along a bit of the Chiltern Walk and back home - click here for details.

Two Bridges Walk - GLuG Walk

This was an evening walk with one of our Children's groups called 'GLuG'.

Our route in Google Earth

The Other side of the River

A proper walk at last !  This time it's Ramble 4 from the book 'Rambling for Pleasure around Reading - Second series".  I was driven to the start point, followed (nearly) the route given, and then walked an extra couple of miles back home.

The official route

The route I walked - courtesy of Google Maps Timeline

Last 'Beat The Street' walk of 2014

I was keen to visit as many 'Beat Boxes' as possible on the last evening of the event.

My Route

May Totals

Monthly Average 11,495 steps
Best Day 25,508 - Sunday 25th May.

A very high averaging month because of Beat the Street !

The best day (25th) was the first full day of our holiday in the Lyme Regis area.  This day of exploring involved visiting a number of coastal towns, and an evening walk along the South West Coastal path - although this bit of the path was very disappointing as it's one of the few stretches of the whole of path without clear views of the sea.

Golden Cap

Place holder for walk from Seatown to the top of Golden Cap and back.

The route in Google Earth

First 'Beat The Street' walk of 2014

As the Beat The Street website says ...

Beat the Street is a real-life walking and cycling game. People earn points by walking, cycling or scooting and tapping a dedicated RFID (Radio Frequency ID) card on sensors (Beat Boxes).

A player taps their RFID card or key fob at various points on their way to and from work, school and to the shops and tracks their progress online.

Participants can also join teams by choosing from the list on the registration page.

So I joined the Park Lane School team, and I was off

I did a good number of 'Beat The Street' walks in May and early June, but only recorded my first and last.

The Route

April Totals

Monthly Average 6,837 steps
Best Day 17,377 - Tuesday 8th April.

The best day (8th) was in the first full week of the Easter break.  We'd gone up North and had a day trip to Scarborough, walking back and forth along the coast.

March Totals

Monthly Average 8,549 steps
Best Day 16,816 - Sunday 9th March

I can't work out what we were doing on the best day (9th).  I was at Cornwell Community Church in the morning, so how did I walk so much over the rest of the day ?

February Totals

Monthly Average 6,995 steps
Best Day 29,524 - Saturday 1st February.

 1st February was the Saturday of our anniversary weekend away to Highcliff & Mudeford near Christchurch, which included several long walks along the coast.

January Totals

Monthly Average 6,435 steps
Best Day 18,427 - Saturday 11th January.

11th January is currently a mystery !