Walking the UK St James Way with a military amputee

dimdog · Feb 21, 2024

Good afternoon all from a damp UK...no change there, a question for anyone who has walked the St James Way, from Reading, to Southampton.
1st, a bit of a back story....
Having done the CF in 2021, then the Del Norte in 2022, I'm getting itchy feet again. I've been involved with a PTSD charity for the military & emergency services for a couple of years now, & I walked the Norte to raise money for them. After suffering a serious leg injury last year, where I managed to snap my quad tendon, after near sepsis, then anaphylaxis , I was pretty beat up & down, but the charity helped me, with a expedition to Norway, where I had the pleasure of looking after & helping the UKs most seriously injured soldier from the Afgan campaign, Ben Parkinson, there was me moaning about my knackered knee & being in pain, to be told by Ben, " Don't know what your moaning about, my knees are in bits, spread over the desert "....couldn't say a lot after that.....
Anyway, I'm on the road to recovery, so in order to raise more funds, I'm doing the St James Way, then the Camino Ingles. The idea is to push/pull Ben, with a small team, as far as we can on the St James Way, my question is this, is the route suitable for a double leg amputee in a hand trike, or is a lot of it across tracks, fields ect.
I'm looking at doing this at the end of April, so hopefully it will be a bit drier.
Question for the moderator......would I be allowed to put my fundraising link on here?
The charity is called the Curtis Palmer Programme fyi......
Thanks in advance everyone
Graham

Antnix1 · Feb 21, 2024

The Frances never strays too far from the highway. Tracks that are difficult for hikers can be done on a highway instead although the traffic may be dangerous at times. Anyway, that's how cyclists are able to do it

dimdog · Feb 21, 2024

We only intend on doing the UK part (St James Way) with Ben......was wondering what the terrain is like

miguel_gp · Feb 21, 2024

Hi Graham. I'm acquainted with a couple of people who were involved in the setting up of that route. Leave it with me and I'll find out if they can answer your question and what current conditions are like. I know that last May it was reported that some of the stretch between Winchester and Eastleigh had started to become overgrown, was extremely muddy and that there were flooding problems from either the River Itchen or the Itchen Navigation. Obviously conditions may have changed since then and repairs or path maintenance may have taken place but I'll see if I can find out anything further.

dimdog · Feb 21, 2024

miguel_gp said:
Hi Graham. I'm acquainted with a couple of people who were involved in the setting up of that route. Leave it with me and I'll find out if they can answer your question and what current conditions are like. I know that last May it was reported that some of the stretch between Winchester and Eastleigh had started to become overgrown, was extremely muddy and that there were flooding problems from either the River Itchen or the Itchen Navigation. Obviously conditions may have changed since then and repairs or path maintenance may have taken place but I'll see if I can find out anything further.

Hi, thank you very much, I'm a member of the British pilgrims Trust as well, so I'm going to approach them.....thanks again

Simperegrina · Feb 21, 2024

miguel_gp said:
Hi Graham. I'm acquainted with a couple of people who were involved in the setting up of that route. Leave it with me and I'll find out if they can answer your question and what current conditions are like. I know that last May it was reported that some of the stretch between Winchester and Eastleigh had started to become overgrown, was extremely muddy and that there were flooding problems from either the River Itchen or the Itchen Navigation. Obviously conditions may have changed since then and repairs or path maintenance may have taken place but I'll see if I can find out anything further.

I can speak for Winchester to Bishop’s Sutton (en route to Alton). I walked it 2 Saturdays ago and yeah, parts of it are super muddy

Pete Dunn · Mar 4, 2024

Hi Graham. I'm involved with the St James' Way, as a volunteer with the CSJ, helping to maintain the route. It is a fabulous UK pilgrimage, but it does have its challenges on several sections. The route is mainly along footpaths and whilst many of the stages would be navigable with a hand trike, there are several sections that are close to impassable other than in single file, and with care.

There are possible road detours along some of the sections, such as the approach to Silchester which gets very boggy in the fields and woods, but other sections such as Eastleigh towards Southampton alongside Itchen Valley Country Park, for example, do not have road options, other than busy main roads some way away.

The first day out of Reading is doable as it follows the River Kennet, as are sections around Basingstoke, New Alresford, Winchester and Southampton. Out of curiosity, I checked out Ben's profile... he really is a remarkable man, and if anyone can rise to this challenge, I'm sure he can. However, putting my pragmatic hat on, I'd recommend you take a look at the route first of all, maybe you can do sections of it with Ben, although I guess not ideal for your challenge.

I've not walked the route since last Autumn when I did some route maintainence near Eastleigh, and it was very overgrown (see photo below... after I cut it back!) However, there is not as much growth in the spring. I plan to check out the route over the next few weeks and would be happy to feed back to you.

Wishing you every success,

Peter

dimdog · Mar 4, 2024

Pete Dunn said:
Hi Graham. I'm involved with the St James' Way, as a volunteer with the CSJ, helping to maintain the route. It is a fabulous UK pilgrimage, but it does have its challenges on several sections. The route is mainly along footpaths and whilst many of the stages would be navigable with a hand trike, there are several sections that are close to impassable other than in single file, and with care.

There are possible road detours along some of the sections, such as the approach to Silchester which gets very boggy in the fields and woods, but other sections such as Eastleigh towards Southampton alongside Itchen Valley Country Park, for example, do not have road options, other than busy main roads some way away.

The first day out of Reading is doable as it follows the River Kennet, as are sections around Basingstoke, New Alresford, Winchester and Southampton. Out of curiosity, I checked out Ben's profile... he really is a remarkable man, and if anyone can rise to this challenge, I'm sure he can. However, putting my pragmatic hat on, I'd recommend you take a look at the route first of all, maybe you can do sections of it with Ben, although I guess not ideal for your challenge.

I've not walked the route since last Autumn when I did some route maintainence near Eastleigh, and it was very overgrown (see photo below... after I cut it back!) However, there is not as much growth in the spring. I plan to check out the route over the next few weeks and would be happy to feed back to you.

Wishing you every success,

Peter

HView attachment 165603

Pete Dunn said:
Hi Graham. I'm involved with the St James' Way, as a volunteer with the CSJ, helping to maintain the route. It is a fabulous UK pilgrimage, but it does have its challenges on several sections. The route is mainly along footpaths and whilst many of the stages would be navigable with a hand trike, there are several sections that are close to impassable other than in single file, and with care.

There are possible road detours along some of the sections, such as the approach to Silchester which gets very boggy in the fields and woods, but other sections such as Eastleigh towards Southampton alongside Itchen Valley Country Park, for example, do not have road options, other than busy main roads some way away.

The first day out of Reading is doable as it follows the River Kennet, as are sections around Basingstoke, New Alresford, Winchester and Southampton. Out of curiosity, I checked out Ben's profile... he really is a remarkable man, and if anyone can rise to this challenge, I'm sure he can. However, putting my pragmatic hat on, I'd recommend you take a look at the route first of all, maybe you can do sections of it with Ben, although I guess not ideal for your challenge.

I've not walked the route since last Autumn when I did some route maintainence near Eastleigh, and it was very overgrown (see photo below... after I cut it back!) However, there is not as much growth in the spring. I plan to check out the route over the next few weeks and would be happy to feed back to you.

Wishing you every success,

Peter

View attachment 165603

Hi David

Thanks very much for your reply, I've been in contact with David Sinclair, about this, it appears that I have a challenge ahead of me, but, myself, & the rest of the charity have never shied away from one.
I'm meeting Dabid

Pete Dunn said:
Hi Graham. I'm involved with the St James' Way, as a volunteer with the CSJ, helping to maintain the route. It is a fabulous UK pilgrimage, but it does have its challenges on several sections. The route is mainly along footpaths and whilst many of the stages would be navigable with a hand trike, there are several sections that are close to impassable other than in single file, and with care.

There are possible road detours along some of the sections, such as the approach to Silchester which gets very boggy in the fields and woods, but other sections such as Eastleigh towards Southampton alongside Itchen Valley Country Park, for example, do not have road options, other than busy main roads some way away.

The first day out of Reading is doable as it follows the River Kennet, as are sections around Basingstoke, New Alresford, Winchester and Southampton. Out of curiosity, I checked out Ben's profile... he really is a remarkable man, and if anyone can rise to this challenge, I'm sure he can. However, putting my pragmatic hat on, I'd recommend you take a look at the route first of all, maybe you can do sections of it with Ben, although I guess not ideal for your challenge.

I've not walked the route since last Autumn when I did some route maintainence near Eastleigh, and it was very overgrown (see photo below... after I cut it back!) However, there is not as much growth in the spring. I plan to check out the route over the next few weeks and would be happy to feed back to you.

Wishing you every success,

Peter

View attachment 165603

Hi Pete

Thanks for the reply, ive been in contact with David Sinclair about this, it appears I've set myself a challenge, myself, & the charity, have never shied away from one.
I'm meeting David over the next few weeks, with the CEO of the charity (the Curtis Palmer Programme), to walk the 1st day, to prove the route, I will let you know how we get on.
After walking 2 full Caminos, CF, & CdN, I've come to realise how beneficial they are,
Thanks again

Graham

Vacajoe · Mar 4, 2024

At one point we crossed a plowed agricultural field. Even dry, it was difficult to navigate and if raining, I’d think impassable with a trike. There are always road alternatives but they can get very busy and narrow. While not impossible, it’s really not developed for that kind of access (yet!). The photo above is a great illustration of just one of the challenges for the non-ambulatory

Pete Dunn · Mar 4, 2024

dimdog said:
Hi David

Thanks very much for your reply, I've been in contact with David Sinclair, about this, it appears that I have a challenge ahead of me, but, myself, & the rest of the charity have never shied away from one.
I'm meeting Dabid

Hi Pete

Thanks for the reply, ive been in contact with David Sinclair about this, it appears I've set myself a challenge, myself, & the charity, have never shied away from one.
I'm meeting David over the next few weeks, with the CEO of the charity (the Curtis Palmer Programme), to walk the 1st day, to prove the route, I will let you know how we get on.
After walking 2 full Caminos, CF, & CdN, I've come to realise how beneficial they are,
Thanks again

Graham

Hi Graham,

That is fabulous! I work closely with David on the SJW, and there's nobody who's put more into developing it than he. A lovely guy, totally passionate about the route. In fact, it is with David who I'm planning to walk the route with over the next couple of months, so we may even meet!

The Camino has proved magnificantly beneficial to me as well... the UK SJW is very different to the Spanish Caminos, but none the worse for that. Every time I set off from Reading, and see the sign at the start that links the route to Santiago de Compostela, the hairs rise on the back of my neck!

Regards,
Peter

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Walking the UK St James Way with a military amputee

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