A rebel without a clue.

May the 4th be with me?  I think it was. First going to see JC, who now works at the YHA on Euston Road, opposite the British Library, who was very happy to see me - I got a proper happy feeling seeing that warm honest individual! Then a fantastic hours walk to Spitalfields, via Smithfield, Farringdon and the  Barbican Centre to The English Restaurant to wait for Michael - where I got lost a little unable to locate the café I used to frequent (it was the same but had become a restaurant since 2009 absorbing the next door establishment). I drank a couple of halves to keep the pennies... The proprietor - called Kay - was a great warm lady originally from Oxford, with a place on Ramsgate, and living above the premise and it would be nice to return there for some food on the 13th before heading to Cambridge or if we just stay in London? Next down through Tower Hill to Monument and over new London Bridge (which replaces the ones which have fallen down and the one which was taken to...

Yesterday suddenly something happened to Michael. He went very anxious about people and COVID. Also he was absolutely exhausted. But rather than complain he went very silent. We'd walked hard most of the afternoon to Nonsuch and Ewell until we reached Epsom which was busy and abysmal. In Epsom he wanted to stop so we looked for accommodation, but luckily the Travelodge was only available online and the Premier Inn was fully booked. We were forced to catch the train, a packed commuter train, the short distance between Epsom and Guildford and then catch a bus for the short journey to Puttenham. The train was slightly delayed, and I could find no sign of a bus stop alongside Guildford Station, so we were virtually out of time to get the 65 to Alton. After the longest day we stepped onto the bus just as it was leaving the bus station, within the Trinity Centre, and couldn't pay because the ticket machine wasn't functioning. The bus driver said I don't go to Puttenham, which...

Language is inadequate To describe anything real The words don't pour out As they did before in a flood. But now they're few And far between. Reality is much more That a miniature string, strung, Can ever play out.

Down to The Calls, IF... on Call Lane, for a hearty breakfast - it's not too expensive at £11 and you get a good feed here with a lot of attention to detail like home made baked beans, grilled halloumi, a nice veggie sausage and bacon rasher. I don't know anywhere else in Leeds that does such amazing fayre, except Eat Your Greens on Kirkgate: but that's a lunch and dinner venue. It was quite quiet along North Street and Vicar Lane. Passing through Kirkgate Market and alongside the Corn Exchange to a buzzing quarter of Leeds: where all the most lovely/awful happy/angry folks pour out in the early hours of the night before! But on this Wednesday it's tranquility incarnate. There is the dichotomy/dualism of life.  I've not been out at night down here, under the railway bridge, since Everton and Umberto(owners of Hip Menswear) did Ucci night's at the Backroom(it wasn't called that back in 2000/01 and Norman(now no longer called that). Steven and I went to Space...

It's raining, and it's pouring, the old man was snoring. But now I am awake. Morning of Day One - task for today is getting settled in Southwark for the evening before heading out. We must be in Puttenham by Friday, which is a little after Guildford. But I'm not sure whether to get to the Pilgrim's Way directly south, slightly south west or follow the ancient way to Cirencester - Stane Street, which would miss out Dulwich... Google maps suggests Leatherhead is 6 hours walk from Southwark... Dulwich didn't come up with any accommodation and it's just too short a stage for the first day out. If I only walk a couple of hours I'll be so God Damn drunk for walking on Friday we wouldn't get to Puttenham! *** This morning my other head is on my body. Like Wurzel Gumage I have various craniums depending on the particular set of variable I see ahead of myself. Building up to today I was quaking with my worried head, but this morning I am bright and sunny with thi...

Penultimate day. Tomorrow London and ten/eleven days away from The North. Really I've been nowhere at all in the UK since Lockdown... Apart from last year's week walking from Bristol to Exmoor... It's definitely been 3 years plus since London when Glenn and I passed briefly through on our way back from Ghent? *** Actually I was last in London in 2019. I passed through on my way back from Dieppe. Such a long time ago: post-COVID and I don't remember it. *** And fear grips me. The thought of the cost of a pilgrimage in the UK when you know no-one and have a low expectations of being helped along The Way . Michael said he'd help with accommodation, but I feel I shouldn't have to rely on anyone to put one foot in front of the other. All my understandings of The Way  fall away in the UK. I am left high and dry by the blank stares I get. No one would stumble over a foreign language here and expect any form of deeper revelation? It's always a test and I guess that...

The beginning of May and a new emphasis for me as I see London approach. From Wednesday I will leave the north for a while to live through a different experience. First stop JC and Euston Road YHA to say hello to that hard working man. Then to Liverpool Street station to collect Mike before over London Bridge we head to Southwark Cathedral.  It's raining, a light rain was falling as I returned for a good night's rest. And I got it. Finally no canine company shifting me to the edge of the bed. Really I should have put Ruby into her crate on Wednesday night, as she's quite happy there to sleep, but I didn't and it was four nights of dog broken sleep followed by a night on the floor after too many beers at the Brewery. Jason and I were going to go out for a long walk this morning, but I couldn't get to Wetherby to set off at 7am... There are no buses until eight, as usual, on a Sunday. Actually I prefer a quiet day - it's Sunday. I will walk Lola then make somethin...