It’s taken me a few days to get around to writing this. Partly because I’ve been very busy most evenings; partly because I am still suffering with poor broadband upload speeds.

April came and soon passed. We’re suddenly in to May and it’s almost as if summer is moments away.

01/04 – 8.75 miles – Cranborne Chase
02/04 – 8.5 miles – Black Down, Mendip Hills
09/04 – 10 miles – Wrington Wramble (walk leading)
14/04 – 13.25 miles – Severy Way: from Frampton-on-Severn
15/04 – 2.75 miles – Wrington, North Somerset
18/04 – 3.25 miles – Wrington
19/04 – 3.75 miles – Wrington
21/04 – 10.75 miles – Quantock Hills
22/04 – 13 miles – Caerphilly (with Brunel 20s and 30s)
28/04 – 13 miles – Chew Magna and Maes Knoll

Total for April 2018 = 87 miles

An impressive tally for April! I hadn’t realised I had covered quite so many miles. This is great to reflect upon, bearing in mind that I am not intending to walk the full one-thousand this year but to simple track my ‘regular’ progress over twelve months.

In April 2017, I managed to walk a staggering one-hundred-and-thirty-three miles! That’s almost half a Century more, although I was trying for it.

This year, I’m pleased to have been able to return to Cranborne Chase in North Dorset and to have revisited the walk I led around Compton Abbas. It was something I had hoped to do over Christmas.

My walk along the Severn Way has resumed, after an absence of almost two months. According to my memory, I may only have two (or three) walks left before I reached my chosen end point at Tewkesbury. I look forward to reaching that.

I did begin this year with an intention to complete the Cotswold Way, in a similar series of circular walks…

At the time of writing, I haven’t even begun that. Perhaps it’ll have to wait until I’ve completed my Severn Way walk. Each walk now requires a good hour’s driving from home and I do try to limit my long-distance driving, with fuel prices forever on the increase.

Spring has finally arrived! Bluebells are out in season! In fact, on the walk I did just yesterday, it could almost have been a summer’s day.

We did have some pretty dismal weather, earlier in the month. Spring appeared to be settling in, only for the snap of winter to bite back, momentarily! Hopefully, that’s the last of the cold weather we’ll see until November.

I’ve been to the Quantocks again, although this was officially a pre-walk of a route in preparation for a group event at the end of June.

My backpacking adventure following The Ridgeway long-distance path was always going to be in late May. However, I’ve pushed this back in to June as I know that I’m not physically (or mentally) quite ready for it.

With the exception of leading my own walk from my very own home village, I have only attended a single group walk in April. This is partly due to other commitments with my own walks and also due to the state of the group’s programme at times (we’re always looking for new walk-leaders, if you’re in or around Bristol).

I’d never been to Caerphilly. I don’t think I’ve even been to Cardiff! But it was interesting to see the elevated landscape to the north of us, from more of a lowland perspective.

I intend to keep my walks going through the weekends of May, in an effort to maintain and improve upon my fitness, with The Ridgeway in mind. I joined the LDWA (Long Distance Walkers Association) back in January and I’ve yet to attend my first walk with them… That could soon change!

Current total for 2018 = 242.75 miles

Thanks for reading.