In the late seventies together with a couple of mates
(both of whom are on my Facebook friends list) I took part in the “June
Jaunt”. Teams of three set off from Upper Beeding (near Brighton)
with a destination three miles away. Using maps we found our way to where we
were supposed to be, did a silly task, got given another location to find a
further three miles on, and so we proceeded until we got to a camp site where
we spent the night, and then carried on and did the same the next day.
Or that was the plan.
What actually happened was that we wrote down the
wrong map reference at the third stage, and found the checkpoint by chance two
hours later than we should have done, and then after getting lost on the way to
the fifth checkpoint we flagged down a passing bus which was going the right
way.
On the strength of that debacle we came back home where
for many years after that we would organise a similar event of our own. The “May
Meander” ran for about ten years.
As I scoffed my toast this morning I saw that
someone’s organising something along those lines this May. Teams
will be taken to a mystery destination some thirty miles from Hastings. Teams
walk for about fifteen miles along tracks and footpaths using only ordnance
survey maps and compasses carrying all their kit, camp overnight, and then
carry on the next morning. The finish line is somewhere on Hastings beach.
I am up for this. All I need to do is to scare up a
team of like-minded idiots…If any of my loyal readers are up for it…
With the dogs having scoffed their brekkie I took them
all up to the woods. As we drove I was again reminded of what used to happen
nearly fifty years ago.
We used to walk to school.
The traffic in Kennington was queued back for over
half a mile, and when we got to the bit where it became dual carriageway
everyone but me was turning right to take their children to school. Children
don’t seem to walk to school any more.
We got to the woods where it was really muddy. It was
a shame that Pogo had to scream at the normal people, and also a shame that
Treacle had to eat half of the dead squirrel that she found. I tried to take a
photo of her, but by the time I’d got the camera app of my phone working so the
last of the tail disappeared down her gullet.
“Daddies’ Little Angel TM” had
an appointment at the Kent and Canterbury hospital so I drove her over. We got
there early and went to the canteen for a cuppa. A cuppa each, a flapjack and a
Bakewell tart set me back the thick end of thirteen quid. I honestly would have
thought that a fiver would have been too much. That Bakewell tart was over five
hundred calories and it wasn’t all that good.
We then went on to the clinic. Whilst the most recent
fruit of my loin stressed, I had a little (half an hour) sleep. We were
on our way with the thumbs-up in less than an hour.
I came home and found the geocaching TB pot and the
banner had been dropped off in readiness for this weekend’s geo-meet that I’m
running. I did the admin for that, put some washing in to scrub, then slobbed
about on the sofa for a bit.
“er indoors TM” boiled
up pizza and we scoffed it whilst watching the last of the first heats of “Junior
Bake Off”. It was rather good.
I’m thinking about an early night as I’ve got an early
start tomorrow…
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