Woodford Halse to Aylesbury

DAY TWENTY: Woodford Halse to Aylesbury (27 June 2021)

Distance: 60 km (37 miles)
Ascent: 530 m
Legs: Tired by the end of the day

Sleeping late I hear the wind outside and it provides an excuse for a lie-in, and a lie-in means I am tired. When I resolve to break camp I pack everything inside (the trailer is inside remember). My coat and other items had been deployed as draft excluders (I posted half my tent home on day two) and when I go to put my coat on against the breeze a big black beetle drops out and then another ten following a shake. So that explains how camping brings you closer to nature. Insect free and packed I quickly drop the tent and pack it ready to go. I soon realise I am carrying a lot of fatigue and I know this as I am soon checking how far I have come (just 10 km) and how far left to go (50 km).

I had left without breakfast and am struggling to find a suitable stopping place such as cafe or cooking spot. In one village I pull over to look more closely at a sign that may indicate food. It turns out to be an advert for the Cambridge diet. In this quiet village a passerby materialises like the shopkeeper in the children's TV show Mr Benn. You need to be of a certain age to get this reference so if born after 1980 look here. He comments that I probably don't need the Cambridge diet and smiles. Yes, at 6' 3" I can easily hide the modest amount of weight I need to lose. I confess to him that I was hoping it was a sign to the nearest cafe and as his suggestion is a few miles out of my way I opt to push on. The Sunday cyclists are out in singles and groups and keep me going with their cheery hellos.

Just outside Aylesbury and close to the campsite I stop to check directions. This means I am tired and really have no strength for any added mileage due to missed turns. I take far longer than I need to check directions. This means I am tired. When booking tonight's campsite the owner had said "yes, fine, though I will be away so just look after yourself and drop the money in the letter box". I get to the campsite and look after myself which means finding a piece of grass and the water tap. I realise I am very close (geographically) to someone I sailed with once for a week down in Salcombe and we exchange a couple of messages. This means I am tired and am ready to get home.

Evening meal (did I get any lunch?) is double noodles followed by pasta and that is the end of my food stash. In the absence of a fully stacked pantry I have relied on my body to tell me what it wanted and that was mainly carbohydrates. The usual two mile walk to a pub takes me past a new housing development which has the air of a film set in all its newness, perfection and particular difference. The type of difference you can't put your finger on. At the pub I have a long chat with a local who described the new housing development I had just passed which bucked the trend and provides lots of open space (wild and manicured), space to park and drive cars and houses with built-in accommodation for owls and bats. Instead of trying to minimise use of the land, they had used as much as was sensible and that allowed nature into the development.