Marc

<Day 9 Day 10 London to Manchester on foot: done. 227 Canal Miles. The final few into Manchester competed with Stoke for least desirable. Collections of discarded needles, scallys getting drunk under a bridge, and feral children on top of a bridge: One does not simply walk into Manchester: I passed my house on the way into the city - Martin better appreciate the effort needed to retrieve his Christmas card One reason to make the walk was to get a visceral feeling for how big my country is, how long it takes to travel across the land. I don't come away with a sense of that because the days blended into one another and the scenery was relatively constant. Albeit with a few unusual items: Quotes of the day: "How do you think walking through Gorton is safer than a canal, hahaha" - Andrew "You do realise you're leaving DNA at an awful lot of future crime scenes" - Westlife "There really is no need to destroy buildings along the way" - Mads "That's a nice scenic picture [of me]. Pity there's a c*nt standing right in the middle of it. Ruined totally" - Charles Link if you want to donate: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/marc-gawley (Thanks to Sarah and Alison) And thank you to the many posters on here who helped and encouraged along the way. But not: @Gavin Higginbotham = Jonathan @Barbara Maxwell = Jenny @JonathonGleeson = Andrew (too many 'mistaken' attempts at spelling Grindr gave you away.) Don't worry about GCHQ tracking you, take a look at what my mum got up to using the Google Map sharing link I sent her. She definitely wasn't worried about me. At all: Final Stats: Day 1: 5,909 calories; 65,139 steps; 27 canal miles Day 2: 5,145 calories; 53,380 steps; 20 canal miles Day 3: 5,606 calories; 55,676 steps; 29 canal miles Day 4: 5,178 calories; 52,165 steps; 28 canal miles Day 5: 5,194 calories; 54,841 steps; 24 canal miles Day 6: 5,034 calories; 51,551 steps; 25 canal miles Day 7: 4,072 calories; 34,523 steps; 12 canal miles Day 8: 4,403 calories; 32,797 steps; 14 canal miles Day 9: 5,585 calories; 57,993 steps; 23 canal miles Day 10: 4,375 calories; 50,957 steps; 23 canal miles

Found it!

I will do! I'm in Bollington now, crossing the river Dean. Ah, thanks Athy! I had passed so many, always at bridges.

<Day 8 Day 9 I left Stoke this morning and was glad to, that was my least favourite part of the trip. In particular I would not have liked to do the few miles to Kidsgrove at night. 23 miles done today, and the same distance remaining tomorrow to finish. What are these things for? And the December light was good: Aiming for an early start...a bit of stretching, etc... Quote of the day: "F*ck you and the horse you rode in on. I will have my vengeance in this life or the next" - me Updated stats: Day 1: 5,909 calories; 65,139 steps; 27 canal miles Day 2: 5,145 calories; 53,380 steps; 20 canal miles Day 3: 5,606 calories; 55,676 steps; 29 canal miles Day 4: 5,178 calories; 52,165 steps; 28 canal miles Day 5: 5,194 calories; 54,841 steps; 24 canal miles Day 6: 5,034 calories; 51,551 steps; 25 canal miles Day 7: 4,072 calories; 34,523 steps; 12 canal miles Day 8: 4,403 calories; 32,797 steps; 14 canal miles Day 9: 5,456 calories; 57,870 steps; 23 canal miles

I take back my rude words on Gavin, I didn't realise he was disabled. This would explain why everyone says he's good at skiing when he clearly isn't.

<Day 7 Day 8 The friendliness theme introduced on Day 6 and yesterday, continued this morning at the stand out Dog and Doublet in Sandon where the staff reached into their tip jar to offer a charity donation for this 230 mile canal walk. I was still too whacked from man flu to think enough to ask for a photo or the staff names, I'm sorry. On which point, just another little day - 14 Canal Miles. I'm feeling much closer to 100% though. Multiple people stopped to talk on the towpath today. This North-South thing really is a phenomenon. They say it's grim up north, but perhaps up north it's grim "down south" - I saw this advert in Stoke, for a product I have *never* seen advertised in London: I have a choice tomorrow: Head NW up the Trent and Mersey Canal 24 miles to get to my mum's new house and finish Head NE up the Macclesfield Canal which would be a 48 mile distance from here into Manchester, the original intention of this post. What would you do? Louise has challenged me to beat her train into Piccadilly (Saturday, 13:04) and Rob it seems has tried to get the Manchester Evening News involved. Only if it's a slow news day... Is this the highest Christmas tree in the UK? Thank you today to Andrew for his donation, as well as the Dog and Doublet staff. You can support Crisis here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/marc-gawley @Machpoint005 thank you for your warm words. It's not too late for your prophecy to come true though Updated Stats: Day 1: 5,909 calories; 65,139 steps; 27 canal miles Day 2: 5,145 calories; 53,380 steps; 20 canal miles Day 3: 5,606 calories; 55,676 steps; 29 canal miles Day 4: 5,178 calories; 52,165 steps; 28 canal miles Day 5: 5,194 calories; 54,841 steps; 24 canal miles Day 6: 5,034 calories; 51,551 steps; 25 canal miles Day 7: 4,072 calories; 34,523 steps; 12 canal miles Day 8: 4,403 calories; 32,797 steps; 14 canal miles

Sorry to have missed you cuthound! I've just left the Dog and Doublett (a separate post about these lovely people to come) and have passed the Sandon Lock. Aiming for 15 miles today, anything more a bonus.

Yes, very impressive NB Lola! Of course, feel free to moderate as you see fit, but for me personally don't be concerned: it's a fun game trying to guess who is who by the persona they are adopting (e.g., I put a tenner on Barbara being my atheist scientist sister).

<Day 6 Day 7 In an unfortunate development that will extinguish any remaining hero worship from Gavin, I have come down with man flu and as such only managed 12 miles today. Lame. It called for an emergency medical lunch: The friendliness has continued, with an "are you the walker?" opener in the bar tonight. For the first time I saw a "Moor Here!" exclamation, whereas down south it seemed the focus was rather "Maximum Stay 2 days". And posters here e.g., @Mac of Cygnet are looking out for my safety on the northern canals This morning I had to ask "have you put everything on?" as the bill was surprisingly low. She had, I guess I'm not in London anymore. The @thebfg predicts the Macclesfield and Peak Forest canals will be more enjoyable, and I already perceive the landscape to be getting prettier : 61 miles of the 230 remain, with a Saturday finish looking likely. Quote of the day: "I think 'Babs' needs to reign it the f*ck in with the lord his savour and all that b0ll0cks" - Nick Thank you to Pete, Tony, and Louise for donations today Updated Stats: Day 1: 5,909 calories; 65,139 steps; 27 canal miles Day 2: 5,145 calories; 53,380 steps; 20 canal miles Day 3: 5,606 calories; 55,676 steps; 29 canal miles Day 4: 5,178 calories; 52,165 steps; 28 canal miles Day 5: 5,194 calories; 54,841 steps; 24 canal miles Day 6: 5,034 calories; 51,551 steps; 25 canal miles Day 7: 3,801 calories; 34,135 steps; 12 canal miles

- only question is which people! These people are unlikely to be gentlemen, Athy, I'm afraid to say. Gavin, if you learnt how to use a map better, you wouldn't need to walk for 44 miles a day. How can you even get lost on a canal? Too busy swiping right on your favourite app, that's how.

<Day 5 Day 6 I wonder if Atherstone Locks mark the North-South divide because today people have actually started talking to me! Queueing at Greggs for breakfast (now you know where the energy comes from) another customer began discussing baps v baguettes, a propos of nothing. At lunch a lady asking how far I'd walked went on to state: "Were you out in that snow last week? I tried walking to the canal and went straight down on my knees". Seems the done thing to do, luv. And I arrived for dinner to find this little touch: Current score: Marc 1 - Boats 1. I've taken over one boat (yesterday) and one overtook me today. Yes, selection effect, but coming towards me it's only been a couple a day. The canals really are very quiet. On reflection I'm indebted to Rob, not only for taking away a lot of my stuff (I packed like an amateur. Though l must find a hotel each night now, as he took my camping gear) but also for the company - which is invariably excellent. The day before I had noticed I'd started to talk out loud for a few seconds. It was weird - doesn't take long to go crazy! I caught this picture, which sums up something I see several times an hour, most parts of the day. FML. I've also used it on a just giving page to raise money for Crisis, if anyone feels so inclined. Quotes of the day: "F*ck Richard Branson" - Becs. It was unclear if she was referring to the above pic, or was just stating a desire. "Another Marc project!" - Andy "I do wonder what good you could do if you put your drive and refusal to fail into something meaningful" - Tony "ps avoid the penguins" - Tony "Buy yourself a bike" - John "I have so much gingerbread. You're missing out" - Louise "If you need your camping stuff, it's on eBay. 5 day auction. Merry Christmas" - Rob Updated Stats: Day 1: 5,909 calories; 65,139 steps; 27 canal miles Day 2: 5,145 calories; 53,380 steps; 20 canal miles Day 3: 5,606 calories; 55,676 steps; 29 canal miles Day 4: 5,178 calories; 52,165 steps; 28 canal miles Day 5: 5,194 calories; 54,841 steps; 24 canal miles Day 6: 5,034 calories; 51,551 steps; 25 canal miles

A good first try Gavin; perhaps as you build up strength you'll be able to walk for more than 3 days at a time. Let me know how your training goes, perhaps @Barbara Maxwell can pray for you? Also, could it be that because you were using multiple bivvy bags the extra weight just exhausted you? A common mistake to make for towpath novices. Just get a single high end one. I don't think we should become friends though, as they say to never meet your heroes.

< Day 4 Day 5 Rob - what a legend - arrived yesterday evening to join me for day 5 with an early Christmas present of high end socks and a pair of santa's hats to be worn today: He noticed what a large sack I had, and in a way that only two adult men on a canal towpath can understand, it was delightful to dump my load onto him this morning. Midday marked the passing of the halfway point (around Hawkesbury Lock). The scenery just gets better and better: This evening sees me in Atherton - it seemed a fairly light day. Updated Stats: Day 1: 5,909 calories; 65,139 steps; 27 canal miles Day 2: 5,145 calories; 53,380 steps; 20 canal miles Day 3: 5,606 calories; 55,676 steps; 29 canal miles Day 4: 5,178 calories; 52,165 steps; 28 canal miles Day 5: 4,872 calories; 54,371 steps; 24 canal miles Quotes of the day: "Turn off Grinder" - Airwolf "Luv it man! You're a legend" - Giri "Certainly spending more time on canalworld.net than I normally would" - Simon, who lives in the US. And doesn't own a canal boat. "my greatest achievement today* has been to finish the extended edition of Beauty and the Beast - I think that makes me the one winning at life" - Jen *Note: Jen's statement was true as of the point she sent her message. She obviously now has a bigger achievement today appearing in print here.

I missed that tunnel, Peter. After heading up the Leicester Line from Norton Junction to get to the Watford Gap, I yomped across directly to the Oxford Canal rather than backtracking. Lucky me if it was that bad!

< Day 3 Day 4 A day focussed on routing: A nerdy 'wrong' turn at the Norton Junction to visit the Watford Gap, a 400m gap between two hills through which engineers from Roman times onwards have routed connections between the Midlands and South East England: today it contains the A5, M1, West Coast Main Line railway, and the Grand Union Canal. Not many pedestrians visit the Watford Gap Motorway Services I imagine. A quick cheeky walk a few miles across roads joined up with the 'correct' Oxford branch. Just as well, as the towpaths were not great: I also realised I was doing it wrong. The route planner has been sending me via the Bridgewater Canal for the final stretch due to a default setting of 12-20 minutes per lock. Given I'm walking, the Macclesfield canal (more locks, shorter distance) is preferable, so the Canal Mile target to home is now 227, rather than 238. Win! Updated Stats: Day 1: 5,909 calories; 65,139 steps; 27 canal miles Day 2: 5,145 calories; 53,380 steps; 20 canal miles Day 3: 5,606 calories; 55,676 steps; 29 canal miles Day 4: 5,122 calories; 52,147 steps; 28 canal miles Photos, not quotes today: Rob, joining me for tomorrow's Canal Miles: John, fair excuse not to meet up: Rebecca: In context: