Day 6 - South Mimms to the Finish

A glorious morning greeted us at South Mimms, hope fully this time it will last. Could this really be the last day? A couple of days back we thought it was never going to end, this was it just one more day. After performing foot-aid to my battered toes and packed up the kit left behind by Suzanne due to the lack of space in the car which was to stay here until they returned home tonight. Today was a day with out the girls they were driving down to Suzanne’s friend Natalie’s house in Stoke Newington and would meet up with us at Regents Park for the last few miles.
For the last day on the walk we are joined by Berry Ilunga a colleague of mine from TfL so a fresh face and legs to keep the pace up as today we were on tight schedule to be at certain places at certain times.
Once I had finished messing about with toes and bags I was too late for the complimentary breakfast, thank you to Ann Ward at PTI for her generosity. Luckily Berry and noted the opportunity and made sure my full English didn’t go to waste!
So sun shining we were off the last, Dave in fine form with no ailments, Sean installed into Dave’s 1 ‘wonder’ sandals (with socks!) and Berry raring to go. We all had a new found energy found us off at a good pace. We were due to meet another walker at 1200 at Camden Tube so we had to keep a steady 3 mph pace. After negotiation the M25/A1(M) roundabout we were onto the A1081 towards Barnet, thanks to the heavy traffic the lack of foot path was fine as we could just walk between the all but static cars. Dave spotted a footpath up on the verge which we climbed to take advantage of. However, it doesn’t seem a well used path as it was a maze of brambles and after 5 minutes of untangling ourselves we decided to take our chances with the now moving cars.
To the side of the road we spotted a sign for “Trotters Bottom” a must have photo opportunity. Berry became photographer and duly too the snap followed by the cry of “one more” this words were to be a theme for the day! We seemed to be back in the countryside for a few miles the new saw the “Welcome to Barnet” sign which officially marked the entry to Greater London… the sense of achievement began to sink in we made it to London, although there was still away to go. We stopped for a photo (well two actually “one more”).
After a short walk we were into shops and people again, with so much more going on you certainly don notice the miles pass by and you mind has more to occupy itself than just pain. We had a brief stop in a shop for water which is another advantage of walking along “High Streets”.
Passing through Finchley we had two pieces of encouragement which although only two still picks you up, firstly thanks to our names being on our back we heard a cry of “Go on Dave!” from a guy hanging out of a BT van. And a man sat out side a café enjoying a coffee in the sun gave us an encouraging clap as we passed. Doesn’t sound much but it was appreciated at the time. Due to the much warmer weather we found a bigger need for refreshment, so a couple of stops were needed for water and the odd re-arrange of lacing due to sore toes. The stopping wasn’t helping Berry so he carried on but we soon caught up.
Walking through Highgate I felt my big heal blister that I had carried since day 1 burst and the inevitable burning pain. Luckily in an unusually clever piece of planning on my part had I decided to bring my sandals too. So after a quick change of foot wear the pain was bearable. I had now joined Sean in the fashion faux-pas of socks and sandals. I’ll take back all the jokes of the previous days.
After another pit-stop we found another photo-op a sign showing “C. London 5” You guessed it two pictures later and we were off, but running behind time to get to Camden Tube, so teeth gritted we pushed on. Dave and Sean pulled ahead but a 100 yards for a couple of miles, we managed to catch them up at Camden Tube at 1203 so not too far off schedule.
Here me met Clare Albert who is joining us for the last 5 miles of the walk, Clare who is 5 months pregnant, is the sister in-law of Sarah Davies who lives in Africa. Sarah lost her daughter Jemma in Sept 06 and become a friend of Suzanne’s having found babybarney.org.uk and keep in touch on MSN ever since. Clare wanted to walk in memory of her niece and has so far raised almost £1,000 for Sands. Sarah’s story can be found on http://www.babybarney.org.uk under the “Your Stories” section. Joining Clare was her mum and daughter Sophie (whose pushchair looked very inviting) so ranks swelled to 7 we set off on the last leg.
Having spoken to Suzanne, they were now going to meet us at St James’ Park. Passing Regents Park we were due for a Champagne Reception at Sands who are based in Portland Place. Walking round Park Crescent we were stopped by a lady who having read the t-shirts told us that here daughter had just lost a baby and wanted to get her some help, we passed her the detail of Sands and she’d pass them onto her daughter. The reason for this walk was to raise cash and awareness for Sands and to hopefully with the media coverage get the subject talked about and break the taboo. But by just by giving a telephone number to this lady so they can get help made the walk completely worth it on its own. We all hope her daughter and family get the support they need to get through their tragedy.
Arriving at Sands we were welcomed by Director Neal Long brandishing a bottle of champagne. We stayed for a while enjoying their hospitality and met members of the HO team who all do such a fantastic job. Once the champagne had “evaporated” we were ready for the final walk down the finish in Westminster. We were joined at this stage by Sands staff Emma Hoole and Maria Smith so 9 of us to trek through the crowds down through Regents Street, Piccadilly and into The Mall. The flags were out on The Mall which we can only assume was for us so thanks to HM! On The Mall we were joined by Suzanne, Jo, the boys, Natalie and her daughter Bea making a total of 15 wandering along the Mall in the sunshine. We walked through St James’s Park into Queen Anne Gate. Passing New Scotland Yard, which has changed since Dave’s time there extended security cordon etc. We arrived at TfL’s HQ Windsor House ahead of the originally agreed 1500 so had a sit on the park nearby until the reception committee arrived!
At 1500 we walked around the corner to a rousing welcome from my TfL colleagues led by Dave Hiller my boss and mentor throughout the planning of this walk, I’d have given up on it months ago if not for him. Thank you, Dave.
After a few photos we then completed the walk down to Buckingham Palace Road where my office is based above the Victoria Coach Station. Here we were met by other colleagues and a bottle of bubbly. A few more photos and hand shakes and it was all over.












All that was left was the 150 mile trek home again we certain weren’t about to do a “lap of honour”.
Sean left to get a coach to Bracknell.
Due to the lack of space in the support car I took the boys back on bus to Kings Cross then the train home, which thanks to problems took us a lot longer that expected.
For Suzanne, Dave and Jo it was back to Stoke Newington for the long drive home.


After the elation of finishing the walk, the achievement of so much the anti-climax was over powering.