March the Month 27,087 steps - Day 12

LONG POST ALERT!

Summary - a long walk to a part of the town that I had never been to before, with the bonus of Red Kites on the way home. In normal circumstances I would have been in Amsterdam at the International Broadcasting Conference this weekend.

Story 1 - I was reminded today that 5 years ago I was up early to catch the sunrise in Mesa, Arizona. I was on a tour of the Western National Parks in the USA, normally I would have been at the International Broadcasting Conference in Amsterdam, but for the first time in many years, gave it a miss to go on this tour. The following year at the conference I was greeted with "I heard that you had retired" and even "I heard that you were dead". In normal circumstances I would have been there again this weekend, but Covid has intervened. Had I have been there I would have done between 24,000 and 28,000 steps a day, though few hills - it is Amsterdam!

Story 2 - I was born and bred in Luton, spending roughly the first 20 years here before work took me around the country, settling in Wales for nearly 20 years. Having been made redundant I returned to the town and have been here for another 25 years. In all of my time in Luton, I had never been to the source of the River Lea, after which the town in named. In my defence, during the first half of the 20th century local industry had lowered the water table so that there was nothing to see other than a bit of mud that sometimes got damp. When I returned to the town, new housing developments had meant a change in the way that rainwater was drained and restored the flow of the river from its source. Further downstream this tributary of the Thames becomes large enough to hold some of the 2012 Olympics water sports events on, albeit with a change of spelling from Lea to Lee.

Today as part of my March the Month walk I walked across the town, following the course of the river wherever possible (it does go underground at times, as well as having sections where there is no public access to the banks). The round trip of around 12 miles may seem like a lot to some, but back in the 1950's when I was born, my mother would walk from her house, a little further out than I live now, to her parents, a little further on from where I went today, all that while pushing a heavy, old style pram with me in it, and my brother (who would have been 2 or 3 at the time) in tow as well, returning up a lovely steep hill. No wonder she didn't have a weight problem!

On my way back I had the added bonus of Red Kites flying around looking for their lunch!

There are more pictures here.

All pictures this month are being taken within the borough boundaries of Luton, I am aiming to not include anything man-made in the images (my definition being something that has been through a manufacturing process) to give a different view of the town. Although distant hills not in the borough may appear, the main subject will always be within the borough.

Today's walk was 24,644 steps, 12.0m with a climb of 3147ft, and a total so far of 27,087 steps.

Not bad for someone with a dicky ticker, dodgy knees and dodgier prostate. The aim is to clock up in excess of 11,000 steps, 1 for every man who dies every year from Prostate Cancer in the UK. I was diagnosed with this cancer early in the lock down.

Prostate cancer is now the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the UK and each year more than 11,000 men die from the disease. The impact of the coronavirus crisis means that life-saving research is at risk. Men have never needed your support more to protect research into better tests and treatments to stop prostate cancer being a killer.

I know that due to Covid things are tough for many people out there (my own income is down by 50%), but if you can spare something please do support me. 

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/MarchtheMonth2020-KeithKnight