2025 LDWA Capital Challenge

Someone, which I accept was likely me, thought that it would be a great idea to complete the LDWA Capital Challenge event again. So, after getting up way too early, here’s Liam on the train all excited for the day of traipsing around London. The event has three different routes, although we happened to be doing the same route that we had completed before.

An early morning Tower of London.

The Tower of London with a pond in the moat.

Old and new, it looks a little AI created, but is authentic.

Walking over Tower Bridge to the start of the event, which this time was at a community centre. The first London LDWA marshal we saw was Pete C and it’s always a delight to catch up with him.

The fog on the Tyne is all mine all mine…. It’s the Thames, I accept, but I don’t know any songs about the foggy Thames.

Liam at Canary Wharf.

Some decorative elements at Canary Wharf.

One of the two city farms that we walked by.

Some pigs.

Looking back to the city.

Liam in the Greenwich foot tunnel. I would say that there’s a fun fact that the tunnel was bombed during the war and the heavily patched up area in the middle is testament to that, but I’m not sure that is quite a “fun” thing… Incidentally, we had to walk up and down the stairs as the lifts were broken. However, as Liam and I are just natural and accidental Olympian types, we would have walked up and down anyway.

The Cutty Sark, a majestic clipper ship launched in 1869, embodies the romance of the high seas and the fierce competition of the 19th-century tea trade. Built for speed, with the odd name “short shirt” (Scots for a short undergarment, the name of a witch in Robert Burns’ poem) was designed to be the fastest vessel on the China tea route. Though she never quite clinched the title, her sleek lines and impressive sail area allowed her to achieve remarkable speeds, later dominating the Australian wool trade. It became a training ship used by the Royal Navy and it then became a museum ship before a sub-optimal situation when it caught fire a few years ago. There’s a bit of the Ship of Theseus about all this, I wonder how much is actually original….

The first snack of the day, from the Tesco Meal Deal we had obtained earlier in the day.

The River Thames and my fun fact about this is that the river has its very own species of seahorse, which is a short-snouted seahorse that has been found living in the tidal parts of the river, particularly in the area around Greenwich.

Looking back on where we’d walked earlier in the day.

Clever, if you walk in that direction for 24,859 miles then you end up back in the same place. There are some technical reasons why that might be quite challenging, but I like the theory.

This is the ‘Demon with Bowl’ sculpture by Damian Hurst located on Edmund Halley Way and designed to look like a Ancient Mesopotamian demon.

I used to live over there…….

Liam enjoying the exciting view. We were making a good pace at this point, trying to keep other walkers in sight to help with the navigation. As a little treat for him, I let Liam do all the navigation on this event. Actually, I’ve let him do that for the last 23 events, which is a reminder of how we work so well together.

Approaching the Thames Barrier. As today’s fun fact, the design of the Thames Barrier’s rising sector gates was actually inspired by the humble taps on a gas cooker. Reginald Charles Draper, who conceived the idea, based the rotating cylinders on the way gas cooker taps work.

A close-up of the barrier and Liam studied its engineering. I wondered if there were any nineteenth century clay pipes in that beach area.

Volunteers at the second checkpoint which was the first one with some little snacks to keep us going. As usual, thanks so much to all the volunteers who make events such as this possible.

My delicious lunch from the Tesco meal deal, fortunately not heated up too much in the blazing sun. I haven’t yet mentioned, but it was too hot.

Some fields. If I’m being honest, I’m more of an urban walker.

A bridge at Eltham Palace, once a favoured palace of kings, including Henry VIII who spent his childhood there, it fell into disrepair which wasn’t entirely ideal. In the 1930s, eccentric millionaires Stephen and Virginia Courtauld built a stunning modern home onto the existing Great Hall, creating a unique architectural hybrid.

Anyone looking closely will see Dave M filming one of his videos. Dave started later than Liam and I, catching us up just before we reached the Palace. We walked together until the next checkpoint ensuring lots of gossip, but then he had to have a long rest at that checkpoint so Liam and I bravely walked on our own. I initially assumed that he just couldn’t keep up with the pace of us athletes, but it transpired he was waiting for his wife…. I wondered how much attention Dave actually pays though, we walked up about 12 enormous hills near Charlton and he didn’t even notice them. Actually, Dave was also reading from the route description, something which is completely beyond me, I’m more of a GPX person. But, I sometimes think I’m not a natural navigator….

Beckenham Place Mansion and time for another fun fact…. Despite its rather grand appearance as a Grade II* listed Georgian building, the impressive portico on the north-west side wasn’t originally part of the mansion. It was added later, around 1806-1812, and was actually salvaged from another demolished house in Blackheath called Wricklemarsh House showing that they had a desire for recyling.

Not that I’m one gossip, but it was evident to me that Liam was limping slightly, but he denied it. We are very different, at the first sign of pain or discomfort with me, then absolutely everyone knows about it, including members of the public who happen to be walking by. Liam is braver and doesn’t like to make a fuss, whereas I rather like a dramatic monologue, why be subtle when there’s an opportunity for a theatrical production?

Some street art somewhere near Crystal Palace. Liam’s foot wasn’t in the best of states by this time, but I rushed ahead to inspire him to walk quicker. As they always say, “the sooner you’re finished, the less time you’re stuck out there”. I accept I’m not sure who actually says that, but there’s some truth to it and tough love is important. I did say we could slow down if he wanted, but we both knew that I didn’t really want him to.

I did wonder about visiting a pub at the end of the walk, but the one near to the end point is operated by Sam Smiths and I can’t be navigating their odd rules and regulations.

The end of the walk and I think we were very brave. It was good to see Gavin at the finish with a smiling face and I announced that Liam was suffering a little in the hope that we might both get extra cake although that didn’t work. Although, and unusually, I thought Liam should win the ‘bravest walker’ out of the two of us as he had been a bit limpy but kept going. For anyone interested, the results are here and that was over twenty minutes faster than when we did it before. We never really worry about times, but we were surprised at how fast we got round, we must be getting fitter and healthier.

My certificate and my third pack of Mini Cheddars as I can’t be near them without eating them and I also needed sustenance after the long walk.

Liam and I at the end, with Sarah who trod on my shoelace but I was too polite to say. We then walked back to the nearby Overground station and then nearly boarded the train before I remembered we hadn’t touched in, so that would have been sub-optimal to have been fined. Luckily I remembered, we boarded and Liam soon recovered and didn’t collapse. As one of the finest athletes in the LDWA, I was uninjured. This tends to happen on urban walks, I like firm and flat surfaces, which isn’t the usual terrain of a challenge event. I should say we didn’t see much of the other walkers from Norfolk, but it was good to catch up with Andy and others at the end.

It was another lovely day out and marvellously organised. There is less food and drink than other challenge events, but the theory is that entrants walk by hundreds of food and drink options, so the need is a little different to a rural walk. I’ve now put my certificate on the wall at home, I’ve once again gone for blu-tac rather than a frame as that’s just, well, within my DIY skills.