06/05/18: Big Fun Walk for North London Hospice (East Finchley to Westminster)

It was our third year running for this charity event.

We remembered the registration wristbands this time and made a good start at East Finchley tube, armed with the usual nylon drawstring bag, biscuits, bottle of water and route map.

We collected sandwiches and an apple in Cherry Tree Wood, then began the long trek through Highgate Wood, Highgate itself (past the Alms House and Highgate School) and then into Hampstead Heath.



At Parliament Hill we were talking about people who have never seen Star Wars, when a passing woman – also doing the Big Fun Walk – chipped in to proudly announce that she’d never seen Star Wars.

It was really hot already. My daughter, in a moment of bad temper, threw a section of her cheese sandwich at my son. It missed and landed on the path. I told her off and said she shouldn’t leave litter on the floor. She picked it up and carried on eating it.

We continued in the direction of Belsize Park and Primrose Hill, following the other green bags and wristbands.


One advantage of having done this twice before was knowing the route. In fact, the route was slightly changed – and much improved – by a scenic detour along the canal before entering Regent’s Park. This was in order to avoid another event, but it had the benefit of making the walk a proper 10 miles rather than the 9.6 miles of previous years.

I chatted to a nice lady who was doing this for the first time and we walked together for a bit. She also had a walking app, but hers was actually “talking” to her – emitting from her belt were sporadic announcements about her speed and distance.


There was an embarrassing moment at the park inner circle when I was asked where the toilets were and sent another walker in what turned out to be the wrong direction. I had to avoid her for the rest of the morning.

I always dislike the Baker Street part of the route. It’s too noisy and crowded. We saw a few people going the wrong way at the George Street junction (too far ahead for us to alert them), and there wasn’t a North London Hospice marshal to advise. Things improve when you finally hit Hyde Park.

We managed to go slightly off-piste ourselves at Buckingham Palace – perhaps confused by the thousands of tourists and selfie sticks – somehow coming out on the other side of St. James’s Park Lake.


A man held a pigeon in his hands for a photo opportunity – appropriately enough, this was on Birdcage Walk.

We finished with a time of 3 hours 21 minutes. This was sadly much slower than last year, but it had been far hotter and the distance slightly greater.

At Storey's Gate, Westminster, we went through the balloon arch that marks the finish line and were awarded our medals. Of 1,350 registered walkers (up on last year), we were in the first 15.


There were biscuits, bottles of water and hot drinks. Plus, the NLH team were unloading the uneaten sandwiches from Cherry Tree Wood.

I met up with the app lady again and we compared distances. She had also got a bit lost, but had it logged as 17 kilometres.

A jazz band played and we sat on the grass. As always, a lovely way to spend the morning.




Miles walked: 10.17
Cats spotted: 0