A message from an aspirant Woodwose

Hi all,

Green Man Challenge is ON.  Saturday 20 March. Reserve date….Sunday 21 March!

Self-supported circumnavigation of Bristol on foot, following the Community Forest Path.  45 miles approx. Immortality beckons!

Firstly, do you want to come along?  I would love to get as many people as possible out doing this, or parts of it. If you know someone who might be interested, please invite them!

Secondly, logistical help on the day or for training runs would be massively, hugely appreciated.  There are a couple of points where a friendly face/aid station (or a lift to start points/back home on the training runs!) would be really really useful!  Any volunteer sherpas will be rewarded in heaven and with chocolate/beer as appropriate.

If you’re coming, then knowing the route is highly recommended (by better people than me, ie those that have actually done it!) to prevent getting lost and to save time on the day.  Also not a good idea to rely on someone else to show you where to go, in case they fall into a ditch/pub along the way!

Therefore….

Green Man Challenge practice – route-finding, essentially, is also ON for the week after Christmas. I’m planning to run it in 3 stages on alternate days – 29 December, 31 December, and 2 January, in daylight hours.

Stage 1 –  Green Man (Ashton Court) to Keynsham, 15.5 miles approx
Stage 2  -  Keynsham to Patchway (16.5 miles approx).
Stage 3 –  Patchway to the Green Man (12 miles approx).

I would love to have company for these whether you want to do the Green Man in March or not.  Pace will be the speed of the slowest person, with whatever stopping, eating and drinking is required.

So get back to me if this floats your boat and you want to be involved in any way at all.

See you soon

Matt

Martin Beale’s record double

Martin Beale has taken another half hour out of the Green Man Challenge record with the aid of another Martin from Team Vasque: Martin Indge.

It was a bit of a cock-up from the Gaveller’s point of view as he had taken up a position away from the bridge to see the challengers off, based on experience of Woodwose XIII’s run. But the two Martin’s snuck past on the path from the Tailor’s Friend (the sliding rock). That meant that those of us who had turned out to see them off were left looking silly and did not feel confident enough to see them in either. More fool us!

The new record is 7 hours 19 minutes and 52 seconds.

Martin wrote:

We did nearly the same splits as last year to Hambrook and then took 10 minutes per leg off the record pace for the last three legs. Conditions were pretty much perfect – cool and that drizzle just kept us at the right temperature.

Martin [Indge] was well impressed with the route – as was I. There were a couple of excellent fields where we were running through the wildflowers – very nice.

Thirteen

Boxing Day, 2008 brought us our thirteenth Woodwose when Tim Down of Bad Tri and TRA completed the Green Man Challenge in 11 hours.

He was seen off by the Gaveller in Clifton beside the Suspension Bridge and was met in Dundry by Pete deBoer, who kept him company until he reached Pensford, when family commitments took him back to Dundry.

At 12-10 he texted in from Shortwood Hill, with 22.9 miles and 5hr 10mins on his Garmin. He reported: “Still some energy tho a little stiff!”

At 13-54 he reported: “Hambrook 29.5m, 6h 54m. In urgent need of zimmer frame.

At 15 04: Patchway C[ommunity] C[ollege] 8h 04mn 34.5m Think I might do it!

16: 51 He reported “Leaving Blaise now.”

The Gaveller met Tim and with Liz who met him at Blaise on Avon way and saw them back to the start .

He looked in good condition after his ordeal.

On New Year’s Eve he emailed:

Managed to pick up a cold somewhere en route but nevertheless I’d like to say how much I have gained from researching and completing the route, in spite of having lived in and around Bristol for most of my life I have learned a great deal about my own environment. I quite fancy giving it another go once the ground is firmer under foot and the days a little longer.

The Rising Sun

We did a bit of the Green Man Challenge route from the Rising Sun at Pensford last Thursday. I was hoping Turtle would turn up as he got lost on this route last year and I thought he might enjoy it better this time. As it happened, he was on baby-sitting duty so there were just the six of us, half being Woodwoses.

The pub is a bit more down market than the George and Dragon on the other side of the Wells Road; but the parking is infinitely better.

The planned route was a version of “The Caterpillar,” which is described among the free-shorter routes on the Closer to the Countryside website (www.closertothecountryside.co.uk ). I would have included it my first walk book, but there is a section of the original route from the Whitchurch Sports Centre that has been erased by a farmer, which he can get away with due to the negligence of past councils. However, it works really well from Pensford, if you don’t mind a bit of climbing on minor roads.

We started by following the Community Path across the fields to Publow and then took off up the hill towards Charlton Field and then took off across the fields towards Blackrock, which involved a bit of a paddle up a stream. Another hillclimb on the road took us up Hursley Hill to the A37.

From there we went through a series of flat buy wet firlds, past a garden nursery to Whitchurch. We negotiated the Dundry Hill housing estate to get to another sharp climb up East Dundry Lane, which leads to the footpath folowing the contour through the fields to Maes Knoll.

This iron age hill fort offers quite splendid views across Bristol on one side and Chew Valley on the other; but on this night, the ferocious winds cured the inadequately dressed of their ability to appreciate such things and they descended as if they had been blown off the hill. Unfortunately, the two Woodwoses who knew the way were dawdling at the back, so the hasty ones overshot the footpath down and had to climb back up about 90 metres to get back on track.

The cross country route back to the pub through Norton Malreward was negotiated without further incident, but I did notice Woodwose 1 looking askance at the slightly off-right-of-way path we took down to the river! As we arrived back at the pub, my Garmin registered 7 miles exactly, but it would have been slightly less if we hadn’t gone back to look for the hast ones on Maes Knoll.

The Rising Sun was sufficiently cosy and friendly and there was a choice between well kept Bath Ales’ Gem or Thatchers’ Cider. We managed to find a table that would accommodate the six of us and a good time was had by all.

Woodwose 7

I have just received Martin Beale’s report of his record breaking circuit of the Community Forest Path to complete the Green Man Challenge. I have published it in the adjacent pages, so it will always come up near the top.

Hydration is obviously the big problem in an unsupported solo attempt. As Martin noted, the streams on the route can not be regarded as safe. He used the Tesco Express in Bradley Stoke, which is a little way off the route. Woodwose 1 and 2 used the White Horse at Hambrook and the Lockkeeper at Keynsham to top up their reserves. I think there is also an external tap at the White Horse. It might be worthwhile to produce a definitive list of rehydration opportunities.

Durer’s Woodwoses

   This Woodwose comes from a woodcut by Albrecht Durer, the famous German, classical artist. Note cloven hooves, absence of clothes and greyhounds tied to his wrist. It is not clear whether the rope is to stop the dogs or the woodwose from running off. The athletic physique and beard are typical, but not compulsory!

The picture is a detail from a coat of arms produced by Durer for his friend, Johann Tscherte, an architect from Nurenburg in about 1521. (In the Bohemian language Tscherte means devil or wild man.

Green Man Record – Smashed again

The Green Man Challenge record has fallen yet again!

Another fell runner, Martin Beale, has had a go and claims to have taken another hour off the record.

Martin, a friend of current record holders Pete Darwood and Tim Laney, filed this report yesterday:

Hi Gaveller,

I did the Green Man Challenge. It was a fine route. I particularly like the southern section from the Suspension Bridge to Keynsham. I’m hoping to write a report soon.

This a solo unsupported round. The supporter I had for Patchway to the Suspension Bridge had to pull out at the last minute due to family reasons. This made things a little difficult for the last 12 miles!

I started and finished on the Bristol side of the Suspension Bridge (this made most sense as I live in Kingsdown / Bristol).

I did the route in 7h 48m 14s. My GPS gave me a distance of 47.14M (I went slightly wrong in Stoke Gifford and Warmley and had to cut back at right angles to get back on the line: this added to the distance). My altimeter gave an ascent of 1000m.

I mates with Pete Darwood and Tim Laney so we carved from the same block running -wise.

Thanks for inventing this challenge. It’s great to have this in the Bristol area.

Best regards

Martin

Congratulations Martin! It is good to be able to welcome another Woodwose.

Plodding on

Despite the record breaking excitement generated by ‘Gyppo’ (Mark Vogan), Pete Darwood and Tim Laney, Pete deB, Mike B and I have plodded on with our training for the Green Man Challenge.

Pete’s Long One is now on the Free CTTC routes page on www.closertothecountryside.co.uk, together with two shorter routes derived form it: Waterloo, from the Prince of Waterloo in Winford and The Lulsgate Pentangle from the George and Dragon at Felton. (The adventurous should also look out the Rhino Maiden when she arrives on site.)

Meanwhile Mike and I did 20 miles of the Community Forest Path from Hambrook to the Town and Country Motel on the A38 last Sunday and Pete deB and I did the Two Rivers Way from The Lockkeeper at Keynsham to the Ship at Congresbury today.

The Two Rivers Way was written by Yatton Ramblers in the opposite direction, but I prefer to end up in Congresbury on principle. We were ferried to the start by Libby, who went on a run on her own. For a change it wasn’t raining, but our feet could not have got much wetter or muddier because of the standing water.

My wobbly ankle survived the trip, but I got an attack of wind towards the end, which made me most uncomfortable and slowed us down so that we finished about ten minutes outside schedule.

The route was well worth following again. There were several places that we thought might suit a summer picnic. You can get a copy of a full route description of the Two Rivers Way, from the Yatton Ramblers or follow the route on Explorer maps 155 and 154. It is not always obvious which route to follow on the OS maps, but it doesn’t matter much, except that you shpold probably go across the Chew dam. We diverted from the route to try out the new line of the Forest Path at Compton Dando and the ‘common sense’ changes that I suggested in ‘Waterloo’ on the CTTC free routes pages.

Green Man Record Smashed

Ex-TACH member, Mark Vogan, snuck down from Glossopdale Harriers to smash Chris Smart’s Green Man record on Christmas Eve.

Chris established a record of 11hrs and 38 mins on Sunday 30th September 2007. We all thought that was a remarkable achievement, but we all thought it was do-able, maybe. But fell-runner, Mark, has beaten us all to the punch.

He started in the dark at 6-25am on Christmas Eve from the Blaise Estate car-park – the thinking being that it would be a good idea to get the climb up Mariners’ Walk out of the way, and to make the most of the street lighting. The timing was good and he was able to turn off his headtorch as he reached the end of the first leg at the Green Man at about 7-30. There was a full moon behind him as he descended the deer park with the beginnings of a glorious sunrise peeping over Dundry Ridge.

Mark was fresh as a daisy when I met him at the end of the second leg at the Dundry car-park with a banana and some of Sue Baic’s patent isotonic brew. I relieved him of his head torch and  told him where he could pick up refreshments in Pensford and Keynsham.

I met Mark again at the end of the fifth leg on Shortwood Hill. We had agreed that this was the best place for me to join him, when he would have done the equivalent of a marathon, the furthest he had ever run before. I was taken there by Mark’s wife, Sarah and we scanned the distance looking for his expected arrival. I gave him a call on his mobile and he was soon seen bouncing over the grass towards the end of the fifth leg. It was about 12-30, and he looked in good nick, so it seemed as if Chris Smart’s record was there for the taking, provided that Mark could complete three more legs.

Mark changed his top and his socks and discarded his maps; and I put on my back pack, filled with drinks, Halal Haribos, bananas and walking poles. We set off at the walk up through Shortwood Hill Wood, the last climb before Spaniorum Hill.

I made Mark lead the way, because I wanted him to set his own pace at this stage. This set a pattern that lasted through the sixth leg across the fields, around the golf course and along the Frome Walkway to Hambrook. We walked up the road under the motorway but broke back into a jog as we went down Sunnyside Lane to the Old Gloucester Road. We kept going on the surprisingly rural suburban trails through Bradley Stoke to the A38, where Sarah met us next to the Patchway Community College. Mark was getting really tired by this stage, but there was only one leg to go and he could pretty much walk all the way to the finish from here and still beat the record.

In the fields around Easter Compton, Mark was feeling a lot more like walking than running, but I was feeling cold, so I began to jog on ahead, with the intention of looping back for Mark, as is the custom in TACH, but Mark had enough left in the tank to jog on after me. We walked up Spaniorum Hill, as had always been intended, but managed a jog along the ridge and down Berwick Lane. We could now see the woods in the Blaise Estate, so there was a definite lifting of the spirits as we went along the Henbury Trym (or Hazel Brook) through the Churchyard and past Blaise House. Mark was definitely back in front as he jogged the last stretch back to Sarah’s arms in the Blaise car park. My wife Libby was also there to see us in, together with Antony and Jan Clark with their brand new twins.

Mark’s stopwatch showed that he had completed the course in 9 hrs 48 mins and 57 secs, which knocked 1hr 49 mins off Chris Smart’s record.

Trying out the Potion

I was sufficiently recovered on Wednesday morning to try another long one.

I decided to attempt a version of the 18-mile Bristol Triangle Walk, which was designed by the Bristol Ramblers’ Group and passes close to my front door. It seemed an ideal opportunity to try out one of Sue Baic’s magic potions, so I made up a litre of Recipe No.2 to put in my camel-back. I made it out of backberry and apple squash and attempted to estimate 2/5 of a teaspoon of Lo-salt to go in it. (Apparently I should have used ordinary salt, because it is the sodium that enables you to absorb water quickly.) I had loaded up with a bowl of banana and rice crispies before I set off at about 9am.

I joined the route at St Ursula’s School and followed it across the northest fringe of the Downs and across Coldharbour Road to Redland Green. The route instructions were slightly out of date here, due to footpath improvements and there was a small error after the church, but this did not cause a problem. There is another green bit after Redland High School, which took me up to Cotham Road and Kinsdown Sports Centre. This led through to the top of St Michael’s Hill with its views across towards Bath.

The descent was a lot easier than trying to climb the hill, but it was necessary to  take it easy down Christmas Steps. Once through the St John’s gateway into the old city, I was dying for a pee, so I took off for the covered market, where I knew there was a public toilet. Whilst I was there I thought I would say hello to Anders, but he wasn’t there.

It is a pleasant jog through the park to St Philip’s Bridge, but Temple Back was closed because of building work, so I had to divert past the Cornubia. This led to a path through the churchyard of the Temple Church and down to the riverbank. Once there, the route passed under a road bridge to the Square next to Temple Meads railway station and the start of the published walk.

From this new beginning, the route makes its way through St Mary Redcliffe’s churchyard, over the road and down to the Ostrich. Then it was along the harbourside to the SS Great Britain, across the New Cut and along the Avon to wooded path up to the Clifton Suspension Bridge. The published troute follows the Circular Road around the Downs, but I preferred to run across the grass to the top end of the Mariners’ Walk. Somebody ought to do something about the stretch below the Church, it really is quite treacherous when you are trying to run! The Triangle Walk diverges from the Community Forest Path at this point, sending me down Roman Way (although not as far as the Roman remains!)

The path beside the Trym is very familiar, but the Triangle Path differs from my normal route by following the ‘highway’ alongside the Hazel Brook to Stratford Mill and up to Blaise House. There it picks up the path to the secret tunnel out of Henbury Churchyard, across the brook and up the meadow to the bark hovel on the carriageway. I was pleased that it took me along the Rhododendron Walk, which I do not use that often; and I was delighted that it took me along the high path through the golf course as i have not used it for ages. It also made a change to use the path up Dark Lane and through Badock’s Wood.

At the finish, I felt as fresh as a daisy. There was only a smidgin of potion left, which I finished off as I entered my garden. It was much more palatable than the plain squash that I had used on Sunday, as it tasted a little salty (as it should do, according to Sue.)