Tubewalker Blog: Blog Archives

I’m delighted to say we’ve broken through the £1000 barrier, thanks to some really generous donations. Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed, and let’s hope they keep on rolling in, as I’ve now raised the target to £2000.

T-minus six days, and counting…

I’ve just received a very generous donation, and I can’t let it pass without a big thank you. My mate Bal has reached into his pocket – well, OK, his company’s pocket, if you’re going to be technical – and fished out five hundred notes for the cause. To say this is generous is an understatement; thank you Bal, I really appreciate it.

As the donation is on behalf of Bal’s company, Odin Solutions, I’ll be putting something suitably sycophantic on this site to make sure such generosity doesn’t go unnoticed, but in the meantime I’m happy to report that the total has reached a whopping £945, and I haven’t even started walking yet.

I guess that means I can’t cop out now, eh Bal?

There I was, minding my own business in the crush of this morning’s commute, and it struck me that in exactly a month’s time, I’ll be heading for my starting point at Aldgate East, ready to walk the Metropolitan line. Time is clearly flying by.

It’s going to be a busy month, too. For the last couple of weeks I’ve been beavering away, adding points of interest to my tubewalking database. I’ve only got the Piccadilly, Victoria and Jubilee lines to go, and then I’ll be able to publish the results here. So far I’ve collected details of over 1100 noteworthy places I’ll be walking past, and they’re really starting to bring the walk alive. It’s developing a completely different vibe to my walk from Land’s End to John o’Groats, where my chief obsessions were daily mileage and the state of my blisters; this time it feels more like an extended sightseeing trip than a back-breaking challenge, and I’m rather enjoying it.

I’m also planning to break in my new trainers, which are left over from the days when I thought I’d be working from home on a regular basis. The idea was that I’d pop out for an afternoon jog to help ward off cabin fever, but even though I bought a flash pair of trainers at the London Marathon shop, I started working away from home and the jogging fell by the wayside (as it always does – you think I’d have worked out by now that me and jogging are just not made for each other). Happily these trainers are perfect for long days trudging along on the tarmac, and I’ll be saving my more traditional walking boots for the outer regions of the Metropolitan and Central lines, which are surprisingly rural.

Oh, and I’ve got to work out how to use my GPS and digital camera, so I can record what’s going on. I’m going to need a holiday after all this preparation; a nice walk should do the trick.

Every walker knows that beer is a wonder fuel, but apparently it’s now official. In the latest edition of First Draught, the magazine of the Fuller’s Fine Ale Club, there’s an article called ‘Beer in a healthy lifestyle’ that reckons beer is a Good Thing, especially for people like marathon runners and long-distance walkers. Here’s why:

• New research by Danish doctors reveals that people who exercise and drink moderately (in their study, up to 14 units of alcohol a week) are at less risk of heart disease then teetotallers. 15-love!
• According to the Beautiful Beer campaign, ‘you can enjoy beer after exercise as the high water content – as much as 95% of the drink – will help to re-hydrate,’ though they do add that ‘it is probably wise to slake the thirst straight after vigorous exercise with a pint of water before drinking beer,’ as well as sticking to sensible limits. 30-love!
• Oh, and apparently ‘beer also contains anti-oxidants, vitamins and minerals, including dietary silicon, which may help to build bone density and protect against osteoporosis.’ It also contains carbohydrates, which exercisers need, though perhaps it’s too much to suggest a diet of beer is as good as a diet of pasta. 40-love!

Add to this the undeniable fact that beer is a muscle relaxant and a mood enhancer, and it seems perfectly clear to me that beer should be a part of every healthy walker’s routine. Game, set and match!

It comes as a bit of a relief, that…

My tubewalk has been blogged, and it was a lot less painful than it sounds. I’ve also received my first few donations, and a big thanks to everyone who’s put their hands in their pockets. I love you, just in a hands-off kind of way.

My first blog mention is courtesy of a walker for whom I have nothing but admiration. I met Alan Sloman via my Land’s End to John o’Groats website, while he was planning his Big Walk of 2007 (a 1687-mile hike from south to north). His blog is a great read, and not only has he given me a right royal write-up, he’s dug into his own pockets and donated to the cause. What a nice man.

Another nice man who’s blogged me is Daryl May, who is currently walking from John o’Groats to Land’s End, having done it the other way round last year. Daryl, who hails from sunny Florida, is another LEJOGger whom I met through my site, and his blog is a fun read, particularly for those of us who’ve done the End-to-End. Ah, the memories! Thanks for mentioning my tubewalk, Daryl, and here’s to a celebratory ale or two when you make it back to London.

Meanwhile, I’m hoping to publish my walking route in the next day or so, so you can see exactly what I’m planning. Then I’ll tot up the miles, break it down into days and come up with a schedule, so if anyone fancies joining me for a station or two, you’ll be able to take your pick. Everyone’s welcome!

Hello, and welcome to my newest project – tubewalker.com. Over the summer I’m planning to walk the London Underground network, station to station, but on foot. Why? Well, I think it will be fun, and I’m hoping to raise some money for the Cure Parkinson’s Trust in the process.

I’m currently in the planning stages, but the idea is that I’m going to walk alongside each Tube line, visiting each station in order. Obviously I won’t be walking along the tracks, as that would be stupid, so instead I’ve broken each Tube line up into the small segments between neighbouring stations, and I’m designing a route that will join those stations while taking in as many interesting locations en route.

I’ll be writing as I walk and publishing the results here, naturally. Over the next few weeks I’ll post here to explain my plans in more detail, but right now my priority is getting this website launched and the donations started.

Watch this space…