The joy of walks
When I was a kid, I would recoil in horror if going for a walk in the countryside was ever suggested. Such an activity was filed firmly under the category of "boring" and something that old people did. Old at that time meaning anyone over the age of forty, a milestone considered truly ancient to a eleven-year-old.
My perception was not helped by being hauled off on a twenty-mile walk around the Lake District in my formative years. This is not what you call easing someone gently into the joys of walking. It seriously put me off the whole idea for about three decades. Other than a brief interest in cornfields, during a period of amorous exploration in my late teens, the countryside hasn't held much appeal to me until recently.
However, since some trips to the Lake District and other places in recent years, my interest has been rekindled. And fortunately for me. the kids are not averse to walks in the country, as I have eased them gently into the world of public footpaths and circular walks over time. What's brought me back to the countryside? Well a number of things really:
1) Money. It's half-term this week, which means filling the days up with activities and things to do. Much as I'd love to be taking the kids off to places like Legoland every day, such trips are prohibitively expensive. Even going to places like Cutteslowe Park is expensive when you have to pay to park (no change given from the machine, of course) As for the Crazy Golf - £6 for adults and £4 for kids for something that takes about five minutes to do? You're taking this piss...
2) Physical Health. If I let them, the kids could quite easily spend the entire day on Minecraft while I just potter around the house, whiling away the day. That's not good for them, and it's certainly not good for me. Since having kids and switching to writing at home for a living, I've seriously struggled to keep fit. I use the hours when they are at school to do my writing, then I am at home most of the the rest of the time looking after them. At my age (47) this leads to a serious battle with the waistline.
3) Mental health: Working at home has it's benefits, but interaction with the world is not one of them. There's something about being outside in nature that refreshes the mind, I'm sure of that. When we are out walking through fields and woods, we're talking, looking at things, and having a laugh about everything from dodging stinging nettle to horse poo. There's no phones or screens in sight, except when I got my phone out to take a photo. It's just the simple pleasure of quality family time without distractions and I love it. When we get back, I always feel that I've done something worthwhile with my day.
Where did we go today? Well I have found this great little website called Walking in England which contains hundreds of circular walks, all over the country. I try and find ones that are around the right length for me and the boys (aged six and nine). Today, we took one which was three miles in length, starting and finishing in Aynho, Northants. It took us about two hours including a lengthy stop in Souldern Church to shelter from a rainstorm. It took in footpaths, bridleways, fields, woods, stiles and even a ford. We took all our own food and drink with us, so the outing, other than the petrol to get us to Aynho, was nothing.
It's so easy to forget how much there is to see out there, right on our doorsteps. Back at home now, my feet are a little sore, and I feel somewhat knackered, but I know it's done me some good and there's a real feeling of having achieved something with my day. I am working really hard at the moment to regain some of the fitness I've lost and lose some of the weight I've gained during my forties.It's tough going - apparently our bodies need less calories every year as we age, but I'm determined to stick at it.
This is the first blog entry I have written for some time - my apologies for that, but I have been hard at work on the fourth book in The Time Bubble series (and seventh overall in The Time Bubble universe). I am hoping to have it finished for the end of the summer, pending our forthcoming house move, which I will cover in my next blog entry - hopefully later on this week.
Jason Ayres is a newspaper columnist, freelance writer and author of a range of bestselling time travel novels. You can find all of his books here: Jason Ayres - Author Page
My perception was not helped by being hauled off on a twenty-mile walk around the Lake District in my formative years. This is not what you call easing someone gently into the joys of walking. It seriously put me off the whole idea for about three decades. Other than a brief interest in cornfields, during a period of amorous exploration in my late teens, the countryside hasn't held much appeal to me until recently.
However, since some trips to the Lake District and other places in recent years, my interest has been rekindled. And fortunately for me. the kids are not averse to walks in the country, as I have eased them gently into the world of public footpaths and circular walks over time. What's brought me back to the countryside? Well a number of things really:
1) Money. It's half-term this week, which means filling the days up with activities and things to do. Much as I'd love to be taking the kids off to places like Legoland every day, such trips are prohibitively expensive. Even going to places like Cutteslowe Park is expensive when you have to pay to park (no change given from the machine, of course) As for the Crazy Golf - £6 for adults and £4 for kids for something that takes about five minutes to do? You're taking this piss...
2) Physical Health. If I let them, the kids could quite easily spend the entire day on Minecraft while I just potter around the house, whiling away the day. That's not good for them, and it's certainly not good for me. Since having kids and switching to writing at home for a living, I've seriously struggled to keep fit. I use the hours when they are at school to do my writing, then I am at home most of the the rest of the time looking after them. At my age (47) this leads to a serious battle with the waistline.
3) Mental health: Working at home has it's benefits, but interaction with the world is not one of them. There's something about being outside in nature that refreshes the mind, I'm sure of that. When we are out walking through fields and woods, we're talking, looking at things, and having a laugh about everything from dodging stinging nettle to horse poo. There's no phones or screens in sight, except when I got my phone out to take a photo. It's just the simple pleasure of quality family time without distractions and I love it. When we get back, I always feel that I've done something worthwhile with my day.
Where did we go today? Well I have found this great little website called Walking in England which contains hundreds of circular walks, all over the country. I try and find ones that are around the right length for me and the boys (aged six and nine). Today, we took one which was three miles in length, starting and finishing in Aynho, Northants. It took us about two hours including a lengthy stop in Souldern Church to shelter from a rainstorm. It took in footpaths, bridleways, fields, woods, stiles and even a ford. We took all our own food and drink with us, so the outing, other than the petrol to get us to Aynho, was nothing.
 |
| Crossing the ford between Aynho and Souldern |
It's so easy to forget how much there is to see out there, right on our doorsteps. Back at home now, my feet are a little sore, and I feel somewhat knackered, but I know it's done me some good and there's a real feeling of having achieved something with my day. I am working really hard at the moment to regain some of the fitness I've lost and lose some of the weight I've gained during my forties.It's tough going - apparently our bodies need less calories every year as we age, but I'm determined to stick at it.
This is the first blog entry I have written for some time - my apologies for that, but I have been hard at work on the fourth book in The Time Bubble series (and seventh overall in The Time Bubble universe). I am hoping to have it finished for the end of the summer, pending our forthcoming house move, which I will cover in my next blog entry - hopefully later on this week.
Jason Ayres is a newspaper columnist, freelance writer and author of a range of bestselling time travel novels. You can find all of his books here: Jason Ayres - Author Page
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