#36 A BIT OF CRAIG AND CHARLIE

Celebrate a milestone with Craig and Charlie Day 36 pre-amble I’m gonna be honest: did you think a man on a long distance walk, with a fondness for pop music, was going to resist this reference? As of today, I have walked 500 miles. And by the time I’ve walked 500 more I will be in […]

#34 THE ONE WITH “DARLIN’ BUMMERDOG”

Welcome to the grind of LEJoG Day 34 Day 34 pre-amble “Everything’s bottoms, isn’t it?” (Basil Fawlty to Mr Hamilton, Fawlty Towers: ‘Waldorf Salad’, series 2 episode 3, first screened 5 March 1979) At this point in the story of 50FootHead, I am yet to “go live” and have no idea whether anyone else will […]

#33 KISSING THE ARSE GOODBYE: PART TWO

LEJoG Birmingham Part 2 of 2 A warm B(r)ummie welcome to the second and final day of arse-kissing. Philosophical question: does this give you a blue nose or a brown nose? LEJoG Birmingham Part 2: Day 33 (Friday 31 August 2018) Birmingham – Gas Street Basin to Sutton Park (10 miles) Cumulative: 465 miles Facts: […]

#32 KISSING THE ARSE GOODBYE: PART ONE

A big fat hairy welcome to LEJoG Birmingham (Part 1 of 2) Day 32 pre-amble Let us recall 50FootHead’s founding metaphor and imagine that the island of Great Britain is a human body, facing away from us (the justification for this will become clear). In fact, let us be more anatomically precise – just for today, […]

#31 EIGHT MILES FLAT

Welcome to LEJoG Day 31. You might find it exciting. Day 31 pre-amble The Byrds sang ‘Eight Miles High’ back in the 1960s. Today’s stage was eight miles long but there was nothing high about it. Nothing low either. It was flat. Canal walks, fields that didn’t really roll, roads with barely a gradient. The […]

#30 SEVERN WAY: SUN, BALMY

Welcome to LEJoG Day 30 (Every single one’s got a story to tell) Day 30 pre-amble Approximately two thirds of today’s walk was spent on the Severn Way. The sun shone brightly. The weather could be described as balmy. And uneven application of sun cream can leave you with white stripes. LEJoG Day 30 (Saturday […]

#29 SERENDIPITY!

Welcome to LEJoG Day 29 Day 29 pre-amble Today I arrived in Worcester. I wanted to give the post a title which played on Wodehouse’s most famous creations. If only because it would also foreshadow a later blog post title acknowledging the two men known for playing them on TV. So I needed a word […]

#28 “A BREATH OF FRESH AIR”

Welcome to LEJoG Day 28 Day 28 pre-amble As indicated yesterday, that’s how they promote the Malvern Hills, which dominated today’s stage. You know how it’s a bit of a cliche to say that many places around the world don’t live up to expectations, but the Grand Canyon does? Well, the Malverns aren’t exactly the […]

#26 WYE (“DON’T YOU… DO SOMETHING LESS BORING INSTEAD?”)

Switch off your television set and go out and enjoy LEJoG Day 26 Day 26 pre-amble The River Wye was a near-constant companion today, at least for the first half of the walk. As for the bit in brackets, it’s another reference for the 70s and 80s kids… Didn’t all that overt moralising get on […]

#25 RARE WELSH BIT

Welcome to LEJoG Day 25 Day 25 one-line pre-amble Well, it’s the only stage that starts and ends in Wales. LEJoG Day 25 (Sunday 29 July 2018) Chepstow to Monmouth (17½ miles) Cumulative: 355 miles Facts: Time on walk: 5 hours 55 minutes. Average speed: 2.96 mph. Weather: Overcast from start; heavy rain in afternoon […]

#24 FRIESIAN STANDOFF

Welcome to LEJoG Day 24 Day 24 pre-amble Thus far, grazing dairy cattle have been very much part of the supporting cast in the tale of 50FootHead, adding about half a mile to my journey on day 7 and about 1½ miles to day 19. Today, however, they bustled their way into a starring role, […]

#23 “….AND WELCOME TO THE LATEST EPISODE…”

…of 50FootHead Chart Music. Or, in full: [very broad Nottingham accent] “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYUP YOU POP-CRAZED YOUNGSTERS, and welcome to the latest episode of Chart Music.” The man with the accent is Al Needham, who is interviewed about the podcast here. The collective of former Melody Maker journalists is (in order of appearance) David Stubbs, Sarah Bee, Taylor […]