For the next stage of my walking challenge I really wanted to get as far as Staines; that would be 22 miles of river covered, though in reality it would undoubtedly mean further than that to walk – it always does! For a walk of this distance it would be no good getting an off-peak train to Marlow because I wouldn’t even get there before midday. On top of this the train drivers were working to rule and refusing to do overtime, meaning trains could be cancelled at very short no

This was the second week of ASLEF’s overtime ban meaning the earliest I could get to Staines station by rail with an off-peak ticket today would be midday. That was going to be no use to me, so as much as it broke my heart, I paid more than double the price to get there 2 hours earlier. It would have been still more had I not used Tickety Split (www.ticketysplit.co.uk) to identify how to break the trip down into 3 separate journeys and save money. How ridiculous is this that

Today I was determined to reach Vauxhall as this would then leave Vauxhall to the end of the Thames Path at Woolwich as stage 11. The weather forecasters promised sunny intervals all day and I had a really good feeling that today was going to be a good day. I got to the start of my walk at Teddington Lock by getting the train (3 actually) to Richmond and then getting the R68 bus. I couldn’t believe my luck that the bus was waiting at the bus stop right outside Richmond statio

I was really determined to reach Woolwich Foot Tunnel today, as to do so would mean I’d walked the 185.2 miles of the Thames Path National Trail in 11 stages. This would be 1 less than I did it in 2022. Obviously, I would still have the 47 miles of England Coast Path to go beyond Woolwich to complete this challenge. The industrial action by ASLEF union members was over for now and this meant I was able to get to today’s start point by train by 10:30. It was going to be one of

The 47 mile England Coast Path (ECP) between Woolwich Foot Tunnel and Grain was formally opened in January 2022. At the same time the Thames Path was extended from the Thames Barrier to the Woolwich Foot Tunnel. This created for the first time a fully signed ‘Source to Sea’ walking route – 232 miles in total. The England Coast Path section mainly comprises existing footpaths and knits them together with new paths where they didn’t previously exist. When I walked the ECP secti

For stages 13 and 14 it would be necessary to stay away as it would be totally impractical to commute from home. When I did this walk last year I stayed at the Rochester Premier Inn. This is actually in Strood on the other side of the Medway! I chose this for a number of reasons – · I wouldn’t need to drive other than to and from my local station at Huntingdon · Strood has a railway station · the high speed train service from St Pancras – HS1 – takes 34 minutes

I had my full English at the Premier Inn and took 3 pain au chocolat and a banana to keep me going through the day. I checked out but left my luggage which I would collect at the end of the day. I caught the 170 bus into Strood and then caught the 133 back to The Six Bells at Cliffe. With no recovery time after yesterday’s walk from Greenhithe to Cliffe, I was slightly concerned about how my foot would cope with this final stage of my walking challenge but it felt OK right no

I've now walked the Thames Path 4 times. This year was the toughest due to my foot injury which plagued me throughout the challenge. However, this made my arrival at the finish in Grain on a sunny afternoon all the more special. Once again, a huge "Thank you!" to everyone who supported me and donated to my chosen charity - Royal Papworth Hospital Charity. You helped me raise a lot more than I was hoping for. I raised £831 for the charity in the end and formally handed this am