I am starting the walk in late October and have a two-week holiday to complete it.

I tried out a tent in the garden. It rained all night. It was cold in my sleeping bag. The tent was wet and difficult to dry next morning. A tent and sleeping bag was extra weight, and I was not sure where I could camp safely. So I have decided NOT a tent.

The hotels directly on the way are expensive. I will not stay anywhere expensive and sleep in silk pyjamas as that is not a pilgrimage to my mind.

I have decided to stay at cheaper hotels and B&Bs and stay at towns with good transport where I could get back to the route using buses and trains.

Preparation

I walk regularly although I had never done a fifteen-day walk before. I can have problems with my knee if I go too far in one go, or too fast, so need to pace myself. On the route, 9 miles sounded comfortable. 13 ½ miles would be a challenge. Getting to bus stops adds more miles at the start and end of a days walk.

I want  to travel light and so made a list of essentials. For clothes, I have lots of T shirts, pants and socks, but only two fleeces, two pairs of jeans, plastic trousers, a waterproof coat, and one pair of boots. Everything will fit into a medium-sized haversack and carrier bag.

(Thanks to the British Newspaper Archive for the H.V. Morton article. If only I could write like him!)