'There's no wander I'm always ready to ramble'
South Wales Evening Post column, Friday, April 19, 2024
GIVEN an audience of at least one man and a dog, I can raise my game and my ability to bore people to Olympic levels.
All I require is that someone draws breath and allows me sufficient pause to start rambling on the benefits of walking.
The subject of walking is one I approach with almost missionary zeal.
As the survivor of two heart attacks, my tweaked internal plumbing requires that I follow the British Heart Foundation guidelines of getting at least 10,000 steps a day.
Hitting that daily target now borders on an obsession. Most days, I will chalk up more than 12,000 steps and on big marathon days I will complete more than 25,000.
All of this is recorded on a Fitbit tracker on my wrist and an app on my mobile phone. See, I told you I was obsessive; I need two methods to record my daily walks.
As for planning my day, I follow the advice of the American naturalist and writer Henry David Thoreau, who once declared: “An early morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.”
Bit by bit, I am trying to complete the Wales Coast Path – in bite-size chunks as opposed to all in one go.
This week, I based myself in Angle in south Pembrokeshire to eat up about 10 miles of the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path.
As walks go, the route was, as you might expect, stunning – and, as a special treat from the Weather Gods, it didn’t rain.
My pal Chris Jones, the S4C weather presenter who we all know as ‘Chris Tywydd’, is doing something similar with the Wales Coast Path. But the podcaster, speaker and all-round good guy has upped the ante for his walks.
Some he does for charity. For other walks, he gives people the chance to stroll with Chris.
For example, he has three Wales Coast Path circular walks coming up next month.
The walks are all free and you can book to join the strolls on the Eventbrite website - https://www.eventbrite.com/o/33272342385
On May 4, Laugharne will be the starting point. May 11 kicks off from Llanelli Train Station. May 25 begins at the Ogmore-by-sea community hall café.
In most cases, Chris organises guest speakers to explain the local geography and history – and he usually manages to serve up some entertainment along the way.
Most of the walks will make sure you chalk up the benchmark 10,000 steps, but if that distance is a big ask for you, then you can always try something a bit more gentle.
At the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust Centre in Penclacwydd in Llanelli there are regular Dawn Chorus Wales and monthly Walk with a Warden events.
June will also see a stroll with a difference as award-winning Gower poet Rae Howells plans a wetlands walk coupled with wild poetry writing.
The blurb for the wander explains –
‘Often humans view animals through the lens of their usefulness, but what happens when we inhabit another species’ point of view, and see the world through their eyes? Can we gain a new understanding of the landscape, the web of life, and our human place in it?
‘Using the Wetlands as a resource, you will head outdoors, exploring the unique landscape of the wetlands and encountering some of the many species that call it home. You will choose a species (animal or plant) and the second half of the workshop will be spent indoors, writing a response to your creature or plant.’
You can find out more on the Llanelli Wetlands website - https://www.wwt.org.uk/wetland-centres/llanelli/whats-on/
Meanwhile, I’ll continue to follow the advice of the Greek physician, who declared, “Walking is man’s best medicine.”
I might also investigate asking the editor to sign off on my expenses – ‘repairs to year-old hiking boots’.
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All I require is that someone draws breath and allows me sufficient pause to start rambling on the benefits of walking.
The subject of walking is one I approach with almost missionary zeal.
As the survivor of two heart attacks, my tweaked internal plumbing requires that I follow the British Heart Foundation guidelines of getting at least 10,000 steps a day.
Hitting that daily target now borders on an obsession. Most days, I will chalk up more than 12,000 steps and on big marathon days I will complete more than 25,000.
All of this is recorded on a Fitbit tracker on my wrist and an app on my mobile phone. See, I told you I was obsessive; I need two methods to record my daily walks.
As for planning my day, I follow the advice of the American naturalist and writer Henry David Thoreau, who once declared: “An early morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.”
Bit by bit, I am trying to complete the Wales Coast Path – in bite-size chunks as opposed to all in one go.
This week, I based myself in Angle in south Pembrokeshire to eat up about 10 miles of the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path.
As walks go, the route was, as you might expect, stunning – and, as a special treat from the Weather Gods, it didn’t rain.
My pal Chris Jones, the S4C weather presenter who we all know as ‘Chris Tywydd’, is doing something similar with the Wales Coast Path. But the podcaster, speaker and all-round good guy has upped the ante for his walks.
Some he does for charity. For other walks, he gives people the chance to stroll with Chris.
For example, he has three Wales Coast Path circular walks coming up next month.
The walks are all free and you can book to join the strolls on the Eventbrite website - https://www.eventbrite.com/o/33272342385
On May 4, Laugharne will be the starting point. May 11 kicks off from Llanelli Train Station. May 25 begins at the Ogmore-by-sea community hall café.
In most cases, Chris organises guest speakers to explain the local geography and history – and he usually manages to serve up some entertainment along the way.
Most of the walks will make sure you chalk up the benchmark 10,000 steps, but if that distance is a big ask for you, then you can always try something a bit more gentle.
At the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust Centre in Penclacwydd in Llanelli there are regular Dawn Chorus Wales and monthly Walk with a Warden events.
June will also see a stroll with a difference as award-winning Gower poet Rae Howells plans a wetlands walk coupled with wild poetry writing.
The blurb for the wander explains –
‘Often humans view animals through the lens of their usefulness, but what happens when we inhabit another species’ point of view, and see the world through their eyes? Can we gain a new understanding of the landscape, the web of life, and our human place in it?
‘Using the Wetlands as a resource, you will head outdoors, exploring the unique landscape of the wetlands and encountering some of the many species that call it home. You will choose a species (animal or plant) and the second half of the workshop will be spent indoors, writing a response to your creature or plant.’
You can find out more on the Llanelli Wetlands website - https://www.wwt.org.uk/wetland-centres/llanelli/whats-on/
Meanwhile, I’ll continue to follow the advice of the Greek physician, who declared, “Walking is man’s best medicine.”
I might also investigate asking the editor to sign off on my expenses – ‘repairs to year-old hiking boots’.
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'In between pints and pizzas, a chance to learn'
SOME of you said quiet prayers beforehand. Some of you sent very kind ‘Get Well Soon’ messages after the event.
All kind thoughts were gratefully received as I managed to survive the three-day Glasgow Stag Weekend for my soon-to-be-married son.
As the oldest member of the 20-strong tour party (by at least 30 years in most cases), survival was some achievement – even if I have spent most of this week in ‘recovery mode’.
On the tick list, I played an active part in the tour of Tennent’s Wellpark Brewery - and the visit to the Strathclyde Distillery in the Gorbals district.
Glasgow’s infamous Sub Crawl was, however, a step too far.
The Clockwork Orange metro has 15 stations and 15 selected pubs on a circular route of the city. The younger element on the Stag thought it was a hoot, but most failed to turn up for a cooked breakfast the following day!
I dipped out of the crawl to sample Glasgow’s famous Pizza Crunch – a pizza dipped in chip-shop batter.
It contained enough fat to disable a medium-sized elephant.
Meanwhile, I also tasked myself with spending some of the weekend finding out more about Glasgow’s history.
I was rewarded with a nugget which allowed me to bore my fellow travellers to sleep on the flight home.
It’s a fair bet you didn’t know Glasgow was founded by a Welshman.
Kentigern (Cyndeyrn Garthwys in Welsh) was a sixth century missionary and founder and patron saint of Glasgow.
In some places, he is also known as Saint Mungo. During a busy life, he spent time with Saint David at St Davids in Pembrokeshire and also found time to establish a cathedral in Llanelwy (St Asaph).
Make a note of the above – it could come in handy during your next pub quiz. Never let it be said that Stag Weekends are not educational!
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