Kirkbyhausen

By Nigel Richardson

Dear folks, here are some photos of me presenting checks to Kirkbymoorside fire service and Marie Curie. 
The amounts on the checks are £2017.38 from the Kirkbyhausen fund. This is the total amount I collected for my walk to Germany from Kirkbymoorside. 
Please call me if you want a story. 01751/432795-07960649354.
Thanks for all your support Nigel Richardson

Thursday 10th August
Hi. Yesterday was very special. I walked from just outside Himmi to the church door. When I passed the school I heard the band start to play, then when I got around the corner I was filled with emotion to see so many people come to see me complete my journey. 

The press came, the children, everyone came. It was great! The only person missing was Christine but I knew she was with me in spirit.

Nigel arrived in Himmighausen at 17:00 on Wednesday 9th August. 

The walk from Schlossneuhausen was flat at first but 14km from Himmighausen it went through Eggegebirge Wald. This is a very large forest that surrounds Himmighausen. It has many tracks in it that are very steep in places. I must say a big “thank you” to my guide through this maze of paths, Ludwig Lohr, without whom I would have become lost. What a sight on the top of the last hill! I could see the church tower of Himmighausen. 

As I walked into Himmi, a man called Anton Gehle ran out with a beer. Many hugs and drinks later from neighbours and eventually I made it to my host’s house.

Wednesday 9th August
Ludwig Lohr, Nigel and a celebratory drink on top of the last climb before the drop down to Himmighausen; the hill being similar to Sutton Bank in
steepness.

Tuesday 8th August
On Tuesday morning he was in Delbruck; in the afternoon he about 17 kilometres from Paderborn. The City Hall is shown here.

He is heading for Schloss Neuhaus. This is marked on the map with the next one showing Himmighausen. Not far to go now!

       

Monday 7th August.
Nigel walked to Wiedenbruck and then Rietberg; where he stopped the night. Rietberg is a town and a municipality in the district of Gütersloh in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany It is located approx. 10 km south of Gütersloh and 25 km north-west of Paderborn in the region Ostwestfalen-Lippe. The town is located at the River Ems. There many statues all over the town like the one you can see in the photo. 

Sunday 6th August
Warendorf, famous for its Stallions Parade (this map shows where it is) then on to Beelen.

Saturday 5th August
Walked from centre of Münster today after a walk round a very nice city. I can see why York is its twin; with its dom (cathedral) standing proud in the centre, surrounded by many old buildings. 

As for my walk, I did 18km to a town called Telgte. I found my camp for the night on its western edge; not very nice but it’ll do. Taken pain killers for shin problem and changed dressing on my foot.

Friday 4th August
Nigel was at Appelhusen, 19km west of Münster. He hopes to be there at 15:00 today. His gallant deeds are arousing interest. He is due to be interviewed by a TV/radio station there. 

He is limping along. Had to stop to go to the doctors. The blister on his foot came under the knife. Not a pretty picture, and now Nigel has shin splints in one leg (inflammation of the sheath surrounding the bone).

Wednesday 2nd August
Raining again but got across the border. Feel very emotional at the moment but happy to be in Germany and a big part of my journey is out of the way.

11am sheltering under some trees from the rain until it stops

Tuesday 1st August
Got to Groenlo tonight, but had bad rain storm and thunder on the way here. Staying in a hotel tonight. Nice to have a shower and still be clean, no ants or spiders to share my bed with.

Monday 31st July
Mp3 charged up in Zolke east of Arnhem, heading north.

Sunday 30th July
Had tea with people in caravan tonight, as they felt sorry for me.

Saturday 29th July
Walked to the outskirts of Arnhem, got a really bad blister on the ball of my right foot so I am giving myself tomorrow off.

Friday 28th July

Thursday 27th July

Wednesday 26th July
Started 6am, sun hot, stopped 8.50 for breakfast walked till 10.10. Stopped for water. Walked to LEKKERKERK, stopped at 12.10 till 3.10pm as to hot to walk. Then started towards Schoonhoven, arrived 6.40, pitched tent by side of the river overlooking the harbour. Need a cool beer.

Tuesday 25th July
Landed at the Europort and walked to Rozonberg then on to Overschie on the outskirts of Rotterdam.

Sunday 23nd July - from Lund to the Docks

Saturday 22nd July - walking to Lund

Friday 21st July - with Rev Purdy, when Nigel had a blessing to bring him home safely he then walked to norton.

May 2006 - continued

What a month that was, never seen so much rain over so many days, thankfully my training wasn’t effected that much, Why? You may ask, because I have purchased the correct wet weather gear, some thing a lot of people forget when they go of on their Sunday afternoon jaunts and then find them selves cold, wet and close to quite a serious illness with Hypothermia. So think on when out walking or riding or any other out door activity, good clothing is always worth thinking about. When I have been out walking I always take a poncho (something from my army days) water proof leggings, jacket, that is wind proof as well as water proof and several layers of vests or jumpers, I know they have to be carried but the weather on Blakey Ridge or Bransdale moor doesn’t care what the weather man says, when the weather closes in you’ll be glad you took those extra few essentials.

I’ve had a busy month with my Mini busses, holiday season is starting to pick up so having to walk at both ends of the day, I love the early morning walks just as the dawn chorus starts. I often sit on the patio of my house having a cuppa before starting of for my walk and watch all the wildlife in the garden going about their daily chores, to my surprise we now have a squirrel that pops by now and then also a hedgehog and the usual Blackbirds, sparrows and various tits. The noise the crows make can be quite loud I counted 76 crows in Ryedaleview the other morning all sat on the rooftops opposite, they seem to swoop in on mass stay for a while then off they all go it’s quite a sight. This walking has certainly made me more aware of my surroundings and all that is good about the area I live in.

On the 15th of May it was time to stand down as Mayor, a position I have had for Two years and let someone else take the reigns for a while, giving me more time to get ready for my big adventure and walk to see my friends in Himmighausen, I have been told that our friends in Himmighausen are reading this diary. Guten Tag Michaela, Wie geht es? My German isn’t very good but I can get by. 

51 days before I set off, it seems along time, but with half term in June then seven weeks later I’ll be on my way. I’m really getting excited by the whole thing, people keep asking if I’m worried about anything the only thing I can think about is blisters, I have had lots of advice on how to avoid them, and my own way is to make sure my feet stay dry for the duration of the walk. I know with the walking that I’ve done that after two and a half hours my inner socks are starting to sweat up so I stop change the inner sock after drying my feet of then away I go again for another couple of hours.

On the 21st of July I begin my walk so people still have plenty of time to make donations to the Kirkbyhausen fund either through the Nat West bank in Kirkbymoorside or seeing me in and around the town. I will be in the market for two Wednesdays before I go trying to drum up More funds so lookout for me on pump hill out side Towlers news agents.

Talk to you all again at the end of June BYE.

May 2006

March was a month when I continued to up my training: plenty of walking, swimming, badminton and a little jogging. The cross-trainer helps on days when my work load is so that I can only do a small walk, a quick 20mins on the trainer helps keep my fitness level up. My goal for March was to get to my Easter break lighter than I was the previous year. At the end of February I was 15st 1lb at the end of March I was 14st 11lb I hoped to be a little lighter but to loose weight slowly is always better and according to doctors easier to keep off.

April was always going to be a hard month for me because we planned our holiday to Cyprus, going half-board was nice but lots of good food made it very difficult to stick to a strict diet regime. The enjoyable thing about my hols was the excellent weather for walking. I did lots of this every day, walking in the Troudos mountains in April is recommended. Swimming in the Med comes also highly recommended. Every day a swim and a walk of some sorts helped keep me nearly on track but, “sorry folks”, the eating and drinking took its toll I went up by 4lbs, I thought with the amount of exercise it would have stayed off but it was not to be.

On the 28th of April we held a karaoke night at the Blacksmiths Arms in Lastingham. Pete and Hilary, proprietors of the said public house, did us proud. My fee for the karaoke was £100. This went straight into the Kirkbyhausen fund. Pete and Hilary put on a raffle this made £110 for the fund but with the promise of sponsorship and the naming of the teddy bear we made £320. A great night was had by all and we may do another one before I set off on the 21st of July on the walk. 

Thanks go to everyone who turned up, but I would like to say a public thank you to someone very close to me who helps me on all the fund raising events and also looks after the banking for me. That person is my lovely wife Christine. She is a tower of strength to me. She's the one who reminds me to keep exercising and who every day asks if I’m OK and do I still want to carry on with the walk. I think she is going to be cold in bed when I go! No, joking aside, thanks Chris for all your help.

We are now in May so I will report more at the end of the month. If you do read this diary please don't forget you can catch me to sponsor me or make a donation right up until I return in August. It's for two very good causes. 

Talk to you all soon, Nigel

February 2006

February has come and gone and everything is on track. My biggest aim for Feb was to continue my weight loss and keep up my regime of walking every day; also to up my training by doing other forms of exercise. You will be pleased (I hope) that I have lost a little more weight in February, another 7lbs, so now my weight is 15st 1lb. I walk every day. Some days it’s a fast 30 minute walk for a cardio-vascular workout and then there are days that are a little longer. I walk most Mondays from Helmsley. I do this because Christine, my wife, goes there to do her ballet class and I go along and I walk as far back as I can before she finishes. I’ve not got all the way home yet but I will. Oh a BIG thanks to everyone who knows me and toots their horns as they go past. It does give me a real lift when they do.

I have a cross-trainer at home that I now go on at least twice a week for 20 minutes a time. I have also taken up one of my favourite pastimes again and that is badminton. It’s a total change from walking and the social part of it is great. I think everyone should do something to take them out of their everyday routine. It’s very rewarding. Go on, give it a try. I actually play badminton in the Memorial Hall, Kirkbymoorside on Thursday morning; 10.30 until 12. We need more members, so come along.

So, things are going OK so far. I’m still working on the route. I now have a contact in Holland who is helping to sort out that part of my trek. Sponsor forms are being formalised in Scarborough by Marie Curie. When they are ready you will know. I’ll be out in town with them! If you wish to donate to the Kirkbyhausen appeal there is also now an account in the National Westminster Bank in Kirkby. Just go in and ask for your donations to be paid into the KirkbyHausen account.

Enough for now, watch this space on Kirkbymoorside.com at the end of March. Bye.

January 2006

The story so far - last year I decided to do something different in 2006. My idea was to challenge myself; I’ve often seen people who set out with a New Year resolution only to break them by the second week in January. So I intend to walk to our friendship village in Germany called Himmighausen. That is why I’ve called the challenge KirkbyHausen (Kirkbymoorside/Himmighausen).

Fellow adventurers from Himmighausen cycled from Germany to Kirkbymoorside in the late 90s. Their names were Franz Josef Lohr & Johannes Hoffmann. So, in a way, I’m returning the compliment.
Just to make sure I complete this task I have decided to do it for charity. I knew the fire brigade were trying to raise funds for a defibrillator to carry on the engine in times of emergency. That was my first choice. Also, Marie Curie does a lot of fundraising for their nurses, so they became my second charity. Ryedale Garages Kirkbymoorside Vauxhall/Kia provide a lot of support for Marie Curie and they quickly took up some of the cost of my trip; helping by sponsoring me for £150. This will go towards my ferry crossing from Hull to Rotterdam.

January 1st was the big day. I had already made a pact with myself to walk every day for a year. This was to get myself fitter and lose weight due to me having diabetes. On the first of January I weighed in at 15st 13lbs, that’s 219 lbs or 98kg. Before I get into doing serious distance walking I need to loose at least a stone. Now, at the end of January, I’ve only lost 5 lbs. I am going to increase my exercise regime in February to try and move a little more weight. I have kept to my pact and walked every day in January. These are small walks of 3 to 4miles during the week and 8 to14 miles at the weekends. I hope to report more at the end of February.