Malvern to Monmouth

Walker: Joseph Bower

Number of People Walking: 9

Where: West Malvern to Monmouth

No of Days: 2; Oct 11-13th 2019

Pack weight: 2 stone (fine)

Distance walked: 40 miles

No of Maps: 3 x 1: 50,000

No of Blisters: none

Weight lost/gained: None

Money spent: £50

Churches: Non conformist chapel Ledbury; non conformist church Ross by approach and invitation

Travel back: by van

Would I do it again: Yes

The physical walk was better than last year because we knew the route, 2018, we were forced to take minor roads due to the overgrown footpaths and poor signing, so we go lost once or twice and had to re route. This year we went mostly on minor roads. I lead the walk with Matthew. I found it quite hard leading because of the concentration, and it was good when Matthew took over and I was able to think about the fellowship.

I definitely gained spiritually, I grew due to the leadership role and taking responsibility. I keyed into my colleagues skills. A little bit like a conductor, drawing on people's skills. We did devotional practice, we had met before to discuss the themes, everyone prepared something, I organised slots during the walk, we did them when we stopped and then also when we walked. Mine was 'calling', all the themes were all based on the bible. We also prayed for the communities as we walked through. We had half hour silence, some liked this some found their discomfort came through. Sometimes I was criticised, and I had to learn by this.

We didn’t see many people on the walk, so no-one really commented

In the churches there were toilets, we slept on sofas and put chairs together. The floor is quite cold, we didn’t take bed rolls. I tried sleeping on the floor one night and got cold and stiff but I started to get used to it. My favourite night was the year before sleeping out on the Blorenge, we found a tree and folded a tarp over it, we slept together keeping each other warm, but it was summer.

The second church gave us a big reception, we liked this, we asked them their concerns and prayed for them. We also liked the quietness of the other church where there was nothing.