Advertise with Googlier.com doof.me.uk https://www.doof.me.uk Lalalala doo Sat, 19 Sep 2026 17:34:02 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.3 Spalding https://www.doof.me.uk/2026/06/19/spalding/ Fri, 19 Jun 2026 17:29:10 +0000 https://www.doof.me.uk/?p=8628 Another walk from earlier this year, this time from Stamford to Spalding, and I think my only walk entirely within the county of Lincolnshire.

Flat, featureless

It reminded me very much of walking in the fens with the bulk of the route a long featureless trudge next to a river.

]]> Royston to Audley End https://www.doof.me.uk/2026/05/25/royston-to-audley-end/ Mon, 25 May 2026 19:25:04 +0000 https://www.doof.me.uk/?p=8622 I’m so behind with posting my walks. This actually happened back in February.

I think it would be a nice route in better weather. As it was it was the first dry-ish day in weeks and the ground was absolutely sodden.

A muddy path somewhere

]]> St Ives to Ely https://www.doof.me.uk/2026/04/06/st-ives-to-ely/ Mon, 06 Apr 2026 11:13:38 +0000 https://www.doof.me.uk/?p=8613 A long walk through the fens on a very cold day back in January.

The old bridge at St Ives

The frozen fens

]]> Harlow https://www.doof.me.uk/2025/12/28/harlow/ Sun, 28 Dec 2025 20:55:27 +0000 https://www.doof.me.uk/?p=8604 A short walk from Bishops Stortford to Harlow and the end of the year.

It would be easy to deride Harlow as a soulless New Town but I found it quite charming in a way. The Wimpy on Google Maps had alas closed but I wandered around a shopping centre as it was about to close and the 60s modernist train station is worth a visit.

]]> My Fastest Walk Ever https://www.doof.me.uk/2025/12/14/my-fastest-walk-ever/ Sun, 14 Dec 2025 21:00:30 +0000 https://www.doof.me.uk/?p=8591 After an overnight stay in Dereham back in October I did the whole Nar Valley Way in 10 hours 45 minutes including breaks which averaged out at 3.2 mph! I don’t think I’ve ever got above 3 before. To be fair the conditions were perfect and the terrain was very flat.

Misty morning near Dereham

The aptly named Castle Acre Castle

]]> I Hate Amazon https://www.doof.me.uk/2025/12/01/i-hate-amazon/ Mon, 01 Dec 2025 21:42:29 +0000 https://www.doof.me.uk/?p=8582 I’ve been trying pretty hard to avoid buying anything from Amazon of late but sometimes there’s no other choice.

Save 5% on any 4. Also: limit of 3 per customer.

]]> Deep into Norfolk https://www.doof.me.uk/2025/10/28/deep-into-norfolk/ Tue, 28 Oct 2025 21:21:42 +0000 https://www.doof.me.uk/?p=8564 An uneventful walk through the Thetford forest ended in mild panic as I realised I was running out of time to reach anywhere with public transport before the end of the day. Luckily I managed to catch the last bus from a small town called Watton into Wymondham which has a train station and this huge partially ruined abbey!

Wymondham abbey

I bet you can’t pronounce Wymondham though. Hint: it’s not Why-mond-ham. Presumably it’s a trap to identify outsiders.

]]> Baldock to Dunstable https://www.doof.me.uk/2025/10/28/baldock-to-dunstable/ Tue, 28 Oct 2025 21:20:41 +0000 https://www.doof.me.uk/?p=8561 I walk I did back in September through the eastern part of the Chilterns. Highlight was perhaps crossing the east coast main line on a high footbridge with a great view of a very straight section of track. I did have to wait a surprisingly long time for a train though.

LNER train heading north

Countryside near Dunstable

]]> Selby Again https://www.doof.me.uk/2025/10/18/selby-again/ Sat, 18 Oct 2025 21:15:28 +0000 https://www.doof.me.uk/?p=8536 I’ve never had much success with multi-day walks. Normally I overdo it on the first day and then get tired and fed up. I decided to have another go for a few days at the end of summer and tried to pace myself a bit. This time I headed back to Nottingham where I finished up last October and continued northward.

The first day’s destination was Mansfield and the next morning on through the Sherwood Forest to Worksop. I didn’t sleep very well and felt a bit rubbish for most of the second day: it seems this is just unavoidable and the trip improved thereafter.

Sherwood Forest (no sign of Robin Hood)

Compared to Mansfield, Worksop seemed pretty run down. I stayed in a Premier Inn in a dreary retail park on the edge of town which didn’t help much. The next day I felt much more energised and I set off for Doncaster along the Chesterfield Canal with its many flights of locks and then off into the hills and coalfields.

Quite unexpectedly I stumbled across the ruins of Roche Abbey in the middle of a forest.

Roche Abbey

For the final day I was torn between trying to get to the legendary Goole or heading due north to Selby. It was maddeningly difficult to find a sensible walking route to Goole so I chose Selby, as I could follow the Trans Pennine Trail for most of the way.

New Junction Canal

The landscape north of Doncaster is miserable for walking. Similar to the fens in terms of flatness and lack of footpaths but somehow even more bleak. I believe it’s also largely reclaimed land which perhaps explains why there are few public rights of way. It was also uncomfortably hot that day but somehow I soldiered through and eventually caught sight of my beloved Drax!

Selby Abbey

I marched into Selby through a disused airfield and had just enough time to take a few photos of the abbey from almost the same spot I did back in 2009 before hurrying to the train station. If I include that walk along the cycle path 16 years ago I’ve now travelled from Cambridge to York on foot!

]]> Elsenham https://www.doof.me.uk/2025/10/11/elsenham/ Sat, 11 Oct 2025 10:23:20 +0000 https://www.doof.me.uk/?p=8530 Two walks I did back in the summer along the train line into Liverpool Street.

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