Another bright dry morning, and maybe after the lack of rain yesterday this could be way forward (don’t you believe it!)
The motorised team were today going to install themselves at Hatfield Galleria shopping centre, for the walkers it should be an more interesting walk through the more populated areas as we near London. Setting off our walk took us into Old Stevenage and it was refreshing to be walking through a High Street with shops and people amuse the senses and make the time move a bit quicker. Heading out of Stevenage into Knebworth we stopped at Tesco’s and got ourselves breakfast Chicken Pasta and a Smoothie, not the usual fry up I know, but due to the can’t be bothered attitude at the Corey’s Mill Beefeater attached to the hotel, we skipped breakfast got underway.
Long hills took us into and out off Knebworth but thanks to there
“more going on” we didn’t notice them as much, also passing shops meat it was easy to stock up on Boosts and other snacks! We met the world’s most miserable woman working in a petrol station, whatever happened to service with a smile or even a thank you!
The miles seemed to pass by very quickly and we were soon approaching Welwyn Garden City, on the way in we used a pedestrian subway to negotiate a major roundabout, as with all subways it was covered in graffiti, but this one was spectacular. It was covered in black and white photo-like paintings of people’s faces, amazing piece of work. Most amazingly was that some idiot hadn’t been along a “tagged” all over them with their 2 year old style scribbles. We didn't have the camera on us so I borrowed a few images from the creators.
Emerging from the subway we were met by the inevitable rain but thank fully when Welwyn Garden City was carved out of the woods the tree lined roads leading in gave a great deal of cover so we escaped the worst of the soaking.
The motorised team were today going to install themselves at Hatfield Galleria shopping centre, for the walkers it should be an more interesting walk through the more populated areas as we near London. Setting off our walk took us into Old Stevenage and it was refreshing to be walking through a High Street with shops and people amuse the senses and make the time move a bit quicker. Heading out of Stevenage into Knebworth we stopped at Tesco’s and got ourselves breakfast Chicken Pasta and a Smoothie, not the usual fry up I know, but due to the can’t be bothered attitude at the Corey’s Mill Beefeater attached to the hotel, we skipped breakfast got underway.
Long hills took us into and out off Knebworth but thanks to there
“more going on” we didn’t notice them as much, also passing shops meat it was easy to stock up on Boosts and other snacks! We met the world’s most miserable woman working in a petrol station, whatever happened to service with a smile or even a thank you!The miles seemed to pass by very quickly and we were soon approaching Welwyn Garden City, on the way in we used a pedestrian subway to negotiate a major roundabout, as with all subways it was covered in graffiti, but this one was spectacular. It was covered in black and white photo-like paintings of people’s faces, amazing piece of work. Most amazingly was that some idiot hadn’t been along a “tagged” all over them with their 2 year old style scribbles. We didn't have the camera on us so I borrowed a few images from the creators.
Emerging from the subway we were met by the inevitable rain but thank fully when Welwyn Garden City was carved out of the woods the tree lined roads leading in gave a great deal of cover so we escaped the worst of the soaking.
As we walked down into the centre of WGC we were amazed when we saw the Parkway. Being a new town we had expected another Bracknell, Milton Keynes or the like. However, this place was more reminiscent of the Palace of Versailles, lovely landscapes area with fountains, planting and pathways a real surprise.We decided that it was time for a pit-stop for a pint and a bag of crisps (we did the healthy earlier remember!). Not a pub to be scene anywhere, we have since found out that there aren’t any due to the sobriety of the towns designers. This place is full of surprises.
We went into a coffee bar and paid the usual £10 for two coffees and a cookie. Glad of the sit down, we sat pondering the next few miles when outside it seems that monsoon season had hit, the rain was torrential! We made a dash to get under the local shopping centre to take shelter waiting out the worst of it we finally made the journey into Hatfield to meet up with the team at the Galleria complex.
They were in full swing collecting and we had some good support from the centre’s management, thank you Jude. We were able to change shifts in the bear in their surprisingly opulent offices, amazing what you find behind the scenes in these places.
Being a weekday and the horrendous weather outside things were slow but again we had a great response from people and managed to collect the best part of £60.00
Finishing there it was the short hop down to South Mimms where we checked into the Premier Travel Inn. Thinking back to the second night and the stairs we asked if the rooms were on the 
ground floor, to which the answer
was yes, thank god!
ground floor, to which the answer was yes, thank god! Unfortunately what they didn’t tell us was that the hotel is a sprawling place and it seemed like half a mile to the room! A big thank you to Ann Ward the General Manager who kindly provided us with a room each and as before a warm friendly welcome not to mention a collection pot on the counter with and very handy £47.50
The weather had now cleared up and we were looking forward to donning the bear once more and collecting at the Welcome Break Services at South Mimms for the evening. As arranged during the preparation for the walk weeks ago we called the General Manager to let him know we were there, he told us where we could stand and wished us luck.
However, we were greeted at the door by a lady who took exception to us being there as “she was in charge of charity collections at the services and knew nothing about it” don’t you just love em! Having told here we had cleared it with the general manger in advance we were greeted with an “a likely story” attitude. She got confirmation from him and agreed we could carry on, however the welcome received put us in such a foul mood we just couldn’t be bothered!Such a shame that having had such a fantastic experience on the way down and the support we were given by so many organisations and members of the public that just on snotty woman can make you feel like giving up! So we took “welcome break” from the services and adjourned to a pub/restaurant. Into bed to get ready for the last day, was it possible we had travelled 125 miles and were still alive!
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