Avenham to Brockholes: Henry's 10 mile sponsored walk.
On Tuesday 20th March 2018, Henry and I completed a 10 mile sponsored walk from Avenham Park to Brockholes Nature Reserve in Preston to raise funds for the Labrador Rescue North West where we collected Henry from in January 2012.
Now, when Henry sees my backpack he knows that it means we are off out for the day somewhere exciting that usually involves water and getting muddy, so while I packed our bottles of water, food and a towel, he did not leave my side for a moment!
I had researched our walk beforehand so knew that there were plenty of places that we could stop for a break along the way. So with that knowledge, we set off along the tree-lined path of Miller Park, leading to Avenham Park and along the River Ribble. Henry was incredibly excited, his tail wagging furiously as he ran from tree to tree sniffing each one as he went.
The walk from Avenham to Brockholes is well signposted as it forms part of the Guild Wheel which is a 21 mile circular route through various places in Preston with some stunning scenery and views. The route that I chose is quite flat, so it was manageable for Henry and it also allowed for a lot of off-lead opportunities for him to explore and enjoy the walk.
As we approached Brockholes, Henry showed absolutely no sign of being tired as he sniffed around the woodland and explored the river at the more easily accessible parts. He continued to walk slightly ahead and then turn back, running towards me with his tongue lolling out and one side before going back to his position out in front, sniffing anything and everything.
Once we arrived at Brockholes, Henry was happy to pose for a photograph to proudly show off that he had walked 5 miles to raise money for his pals at LRNW before heading back to complete the final 5 miles of our walk. We had three breaks on the way to Brockholes, the first break around 1 hour into our walk on the bank of the River Ribble where I watched two gentlemen in a boat paddling down the river whilst Henry ate his first bag of dog food. The second was at a green picnic bench that looked out over the fields and the meander. The third was when we reached Brockholes itself where we sat and had our lunch as the birds flew about in the trees above us. Amusingly, on the way back home Henry stopped at each of these benches and sat down waiting for his food - it's a good job I took quite a few bags of it!
We walked back along the River Ribble, down through the farming fields and over the bridge at London Road and it was only at this point, almost 8.5 miles into the journey that Henry began to tire. He went down onto the river bank and found a giant stick that he did try to carry a short distance of the way until he realised that it was actually quite big and heavy and left it where it was! He had a swim in the river to cool off a little and then we headed back into Avenham Park where we had one last rest and reflect on our journey under a large tree at the edge of the river (although Henry decided to have a one last sniff in the backpack just to check that there wasn't anything left in his bags). Once we had arrived home, Henry settled into his bed and was soon snoring loudly next to his best friend Lily who, due to her age and health would not have managed to complete the 10 miles with us.
I am extremely proud of Henry for walking the full 10 miles to raise money for the Labrador Rescue. When I started this walking challenge in January, my original aim was to walk 1000 miles over the course of 2018, but I decided to set up the sponsorship in the hopes of raising £200 for the rescue whilst walking 10 miles and hopefully achieving my 400* miles walked by 31st March. Thanks to many many people, we have managed to raise just over £600 for Glenys and her team at the rescue. I am grateful for every message of support, every donation and for you taking the time to read this post, thank you.
Walk 1000 miles for 2018 Challenge
Week 8 = 32.76 miles
Week 9 = 50.94 miles
Week 10 = 50.12 miles
Week 11= 45.51
Total miles since 1st January 2018 = 454.74*