Helen Palmer

A ( very slightly ) intrepid adventure

Thursday 21st May Yesterday's walk was a trip round Llanbadarn. It was expedient for a few reasons but  also new and exciting ! I walked along the main road admiring poppies and other garden escapes growing at the edges of the pavements. I cut up some of the "crescents" just to explore new territory. The birdsong was amazing despite the fact it was nearly 9pm. A very interesting mile.  Share

Strolling In The Rain !

Tuesday 19th May Day 19 and 19 miles walked. Or rather more in fact, but that was by accident. There have been some memorable walks - there was that Monday might when we got back from giving a lecture at the other end of the county and remembered I hadn't walked my mile - so it was a quick detour to town, and a marvellous stroll along the prom after 11pm. The seagulls whirled white above us, the lights on the pier were so pretty, and the sea was very dark, except each ripple caught the lights from the pier illuminations. Then there was that VERY WET walk on Saturday. A walk round the village, that one, and the chief interest was in the brown swirling eddies of little streams across the road. On Sunday it was a walk in sunshine on the prom again, breezy and with very pleasant company. Yesterday's walk was down to the lake - no interesting herons, geese or grebes  to be seen, but I enjoyed a brief and rather one-sided conversation with a horse in a nearby field. Tonight's walk was once again along the prom - why has no-one invented windscreen wipers for spectacles ? Twelve days and twelve miles to go - and thanks for all the sponsorship. It's much appreciated !    Share

DAY FIVE ...already

Tuesday 5th May The walks are going well.  All of them have been "promenades" along Aberystwyth prom. This was not the original intention ! Friday's walk was an experiment to find out how long it took to walk a mile. 20 minutes was the answer, very much as anticipated. The markers on the prom were very helpful. On Saturday there was a feline medical emergency and the day was knocked out of shape. The walk along the prom was late, in light rain, refreshing and energising. A man was riding  the waves on a thing like a surfboard with a lawnmower engine. It looked very James Bond c.1968. There was a yacht anchored  in the bay. On Sunday the walk was even later, just as the sun was setting. Groups of young people sat around log fires on the beach, their faces lit by the flames. Others people sat in parked cars ; their faces were  illuminated by the light from their phones.  Monday's walk involved only a little part of the prom - the rest of the mile was around the town whilst waiting for a duvet to dry at the laundrette. And today's walk was particularly nice as I had company !  We walked down the prom, then up the prom and today's special feature ( in addition to the presence of my companion ) was two coachloads of tourists from Wisconsin. They were just preparing to leave, and many were searching the beach for a souvenir pebble or shell. Their coaches were from Edinburgh, and they had travelled  from Dublin to Belfast, thence to Edinburgh, then Liverpool, Cardiff and to Aberystwyth. They seemed well pleased with their trip. My journey so far has only been five miles but each one has been so different.. What does tomorrow hold I wonder ?  Share

May Day ! May Day !

Friday 1st May The 1st of May and the first day to walk. It's just before 7am and I have been out in the garden listening to the sounds of the morning. A blackbird and a robin are singing, a dove coos contentedly from a nearby tree, and I can hear geese doing their morning flypast  around the lake and honking the day awake. More distantly I can hear the cuckoo. It's a grey day. I'm hoping it will rain !  I plan to walk Aberystwyth prom today, which has markers along the way, so I can measure my mile - there will be no cheating I promise. Thank you so much for your donations so far - as yet undeserved, but a month of walking starts today !   Share

A Walk to Celebrate our Lifeboats !

Wednesday 29th Apr Hello Friends,  I've lived and worked near the coast for nearly all my life ( so far!). I love the many sounds and sights of the sea, and you'll know that I may often be found enjoying a weekend picnic breakfast on the beach. Much as I enjoy its many moods, I'm also aware how dangerous the sea can be. And that's where the RNLI comes in with volunteers working determinedly, bravely and with enormous enthusiasm to save people ( and animals !) that get into trouble on the waves. I know how much training goes into being an RNLI volunteer - and how expensive the all-important equipment is. So I thought I'd try to help a bit by walking A Mile A Day In May. I'm hoping it will be fun. It will certainly be good for me ! Please join me for a walk one day during the month. And I'm also walking and fundraising in happy memory of the Outlaw ( details supplied on application ) who was a most enthusiastic supporter of the RNLI from just about the most land-locked part of the UK.  Please sponsor me a little bit, and help the people of the RNLI do their wonderful work. And next time you see that brave little orange and blue craft whizzing out to sea, you'll know that you've helped get it there. Thank you. There will be progress updates I hope !  Hx Share