A Walkers’ Walk and a Workers’ Walk

A walk is a walk is a walk…but not necessarily.

We’ve just had two very different walks, both of which involved proper walkers.

On Sunday 15th September, we once more contributed to the programme for the Bedfordshire Walking Festival, an excellent annual event now in its tenth year, for Bedfordshire ramblers of all kinds. They have themed walks for beginners, hardened old hands, health walks, historical walks and some to simply enjoy the lovely scenery that many people rarely see. It is a much respected initiative that goes from strength to strength.

Here, we had 34 visitors for “Who Do You Think They Were?” a walk themed around the BBC programme, looking into the story of a particular person, but also highlighting interesting connections the person or their family may have had with events of the time. The walk included many of the “old favourites” such as Ada Benson, the “Weeping Angel” and the Scots Soldiers, but also newer research, such as on Reverend Moses, Jess Whitbread and Hugh Brooks. Some, just as in the television programme, ended up with an apparent dead-end, such as Patrick Agnew or H G Field …but you never know, perhaps those stories will be known as well one day.

It was a hot afternoon, and the walk lasted almost two and a half hours, whereas for forty minutes on the following Monday we hosted a group of fourteen people from the Highways Agency office nearby, on an overcast lunchtime. They had been encouraged by Sustrans to use their lunchtimes to walk, get fresh air and use their free time to do something to promote Good Health. What a good idea. This was another enthusiastic group, all of whom would have been happy to stay longer. Special thanks to Derek for the photos.

Of all the visitors, only three had ever been to the cemetery before, but at least four said they’d come to the Heritage Weekend on the 21st and 22nd September to see the Records. Both groups were generous with their donations to the Friends, perhaps one or two will join, and I’m sure some will be back again for one of our other events.