Day 6 - Rain and an experience of Somme mud.

I was awoken at 0500hrs by the sound of rain beating against the window, I cursed, but was not worried, confident that my trusty waterproof coat along with my new waterproof boots and trousers would see me through it.

A fine breakfast of weetabix, pancakes, scrambled egg and bacon, washed down with Apple juice and Coffee set me up for the 17 miles today demanded (thank you to the fantastic hosts of Battery Valley Farm B&B. Ìf you ever visit Thiepval, I'd recommend staying here).

So off I headed, one hour into the walk and all GPS signal was lost, meaning I had to resort to good old fashioned map reading!

I can now report this was, on the whole successful, barring one nasty moment where I found myself sinking to above the top of my boots in the infamous Somme mud and eventually a two footed 'ski' down a 15 foot near vertical bank, arms flailing. Anyone witnessing it must have enjoyed watching me trying to balance my 50lb pack to prevent falling arse first into the mud, or worse, tipping forward.

The highlight of the day was undoubtedly Beaumont Hamel Newfoundland Memorial Park, where the battlefield remains virtually unchanged from the Battle of the Somme. Signs warn you to stay on paths as unexploded ordnance lies in other areas and both sets of trenches are clearly visible, with some patched so you can experience what the men lived in. All you can see is the sky, unless you utilised the firing steps (sadly not in existence anymore) but to do so carried huge risk!

Best stay on the path then!

The German trenches..250 meters to the right of the picture are the Allied trenches.

Allied trenches

The view towards the German trenches when standing in Allied trench.

By now it was apparent that neither my trusty waterproof coat nor my boots were up to the job, but I saw out the final 12 miles and made the remote train station way ahead of my scheduled train towards Vimy Ridge. I was beginning to feel very cold, so contacted tonight's hosts to request an early arrival. No.

In need of warmth I headed to Arras on the first available train, where I sit now writing this BLOG having eaten, drunk loads of coffee and got myself semi dried off. I'll be in my digs in an hour and hope they have good heating.

Until tomorrow dear reader.