Thursday, March 8, 2012

Walk4life/Mull of Kintyre


Everyone should try to go for a walk.  It is not just good for your physical health but is very important for your mental health as well.  Good for the body, good for the soul.  What could be better?  There are great walks in every country but did you know that in England there is a wonderful website that you can go to...it is www.walk4life.info/ and once there, you put in your post code or the city and it will show you the walks that you may go on in that area and there is tons of information to help you on your walks. You may log walks on the website and it will help you to track and keep up with your walks. It has wonderful detailed maps and lots of other useful information and all arranged with such wit and charm, it is as if James Bond himself designed it!

Healthy adults should walk 30 minutes a day at least 5 times a week.  How are we all doing with that?   Yes, I know it may not be always easy to do...there is always so much that needs to be done, but hey...it's for your health, so we need to make the time, don't we?  I don't live in England, but I asked Walk4life if I could put their logo on my blog since I love walking so much, and the nice lady that corresponded with me said that I could!  Thanks, Abi! She has written a wonderful post on the blog for Walk4life.  www.walk4life.info/walk-more-live-longer  Please read it!  It will make you laugh but will also inspire you to walk more, I promise!

When I contacted Walk4life, I asked if there was anything similar in the USA since I said that something like this is sorely needed in this country.   If anyone can look at this website from England and tell me if there is anything similar, then I would appreciate you letting me know!   






 These photos are all from Eastbourne in England and I am walking in two of the photos, but hey, you have to stop and rest and enjoy the view sometimes! Perhaps I am in better shape now. (Richard took all these photos and that is our son, and Richard's friends, Henry & Sarah and Dave walking at the top of  Beachy Head. Beautiful day!)

WALK FOR LIFE    Walk for life, no matter what country you are in!

 Mull of Kintyre... I never heard this song until I lived in Eastbourne in the 80's...it was a huge hit from the 70's selling over two million copies in the UK alone but is mostly unknown in the USA, which is really a shame because I really like it!  Written by both Paul McCartney & Denny Laine, it is a very good song! (If you want to know more about Denny Laine, and you really should, go to his website at www.dennylaine.com ) Listen to it and let me know what you think ...that is the great Denny Laine and the lovely Linda with our beloved Paul walking down to a beach and of course, meeting up with a poverty of pipers.  Aren't they on all the beaches in Scotland just waiting to make a music video?  Never know what you may find on your walks!  Maybe I will see Paul McCartney or Denny Laine one day, here's hoping!

34 comments:

  1. Ahhh... that was so lovely Kay! I feel like I've just been out in the countryside, with the breeze blowing my hair about :) I think that's one big appeal the Beetles had, they are just down to earth real people, who can muck about, with no 'airs' - that's one thing I always loved about George Harrison as well. He was happy as a clam puttering about in his garden. I love that second pic of you - you look beautiful :)

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    1. Also, I am a big walker as well!

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    2. Dear Jane,
      I'll bet your hair just blows in the breeze and gently falls back into place. Mine blows straight up and stays there! I saw a video from 2010 of Paul singing this song in Canada, so it must have been a hit there. I wonder why it wasn't in the USA? Oh, and I love George too!
      That 2nd picture, that was so steep, when I stopped to look at the view, it was safer to sit! It looks as if I am clutching the grass to hold on!

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  2. Indeed, walking is essential to everyone's wellbeing (assuming they have two legs and are not confined to a wheelchair for some reason or other). It helps me to sort out my head, it is therapy when I am angry or anxious, but most of the time I am neither, and so I simply walk because I enjoy it - and also because I do not have a car and therefore, walking is the easiest and often quickest option for me to get from A to B.
    Thank you for pointing out that website to us; I think I'll have a look at what my sister and I can do when we're in Yorkshire at the end of April/beginning of May.

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    1. Dear Meike,
      Oh, wouldn't it be wonderful if you are able to find some good walks from it? Also, if you notice, they have a box for you to tick if you are in a wheelchair or a "tramper", which I had never heard of before!
      I hope Mary likes the box of goodies that you will send her, I like to think of her walking with you!

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    2. Kay, Mary can just about manage to walk up into Ripon (which takes me less than 10 minutes), go to the market and more often than not, for the way home she calls a taxi. She is not very strong health-wise. But I am going to go for some loooong walks or hikes there nonetheless :-)

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  3. Hello Kay:
    We completely endorse all that you say here and walking, or so it seems to us, is such an easy, pleasurable and effective way of taking exercise which is, after all, necessary to maintain a healthy lifestyle. The stretch of the coast between Eastbourne and Brighton contains some wonderful walks as do the whole of the South Downs for those who live in the Sussex area.

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    1. Dear Jane & Lance,
      It is amazing to me how much of the South Downs are available for walkers, how much of it is protected.
      That is just beginning to be understood here. (The Arabia area where we walk, as a protected area, has only happened in this decade.)
      Walking is just...walking. It requires no special equipment, no special clothing. It is so easy that people can't believe it is so good for you.

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  4. Some mornings I just don't feel like going out for a walk, but once daughter has left for school I have two eager faces looking at me and I have to go. I always find that once I am out I begin to enjoy myself, and always end up going further than I planned.

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    1. Dear Tracey,
      Amen to going further than planned! You should see us on Arabia or Stone Mountain. It is so hard not to stay longer than we planned. Now, get me on a track that goes round and round a football field, and I am bored to tears and it seems like an eternity!

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  5. Having a dog really helps getting us out and walking. Although, I have to say, the Georgia summer with the heat and humidity has be wanting to stay inside...

    And that song - when it first came out in Europe, I remember listening to it over and over and over again. I still love it! :-)

    Hugs, Silke

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    1. Dear Silke,
      Hoo boy, remember my English husband? He really suffers in the Georgia heat of the summer. We have to get up EARLY in the summer to go on a walk, and even then we both almost melt. That is one reason we walk so much the rest of the year!
      Oh, I am so glad that you like this song too! We really do like the same things, don't we? Hugs!

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  6. First I am looking at that picture of Eastbourne and imagining Lewis Carroll striding out! :) Second, I am a BIG fan of walking. I love to cycle too, they each have their own advantages. For Christmas we got a great gift, Walking London's Rivers (many of them now underground) and I have just bought one which is about walking between London's closed rail stations. I am always fascinated by old railway stations, I don't know why.

    Thanks for this post. Reminds me we need to make a date with our son in law to do a river walk ! He is the one who gave us the book. He's a leading light of the SouthEast London Folklore Society and knows all kinds of intriguing things about its history and legend.

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    1. Dear Jenny,
      Do you know how much I love the idea of walking in the footsteps of Lewis Carroll and enjoying the same views?
      Both of those books sound great!
      My husband from Croydon will be interested in the Southeast London Folklore Society! His father was from Holborn, I believe. The history! There is always so much to learn, I can never get enough of it!
      Oh and Jenny, one of the things recently typed into a search engine to get to my blog was this: lewis carroll biography only interesting facts.
      Isn't that funny?

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  7. You are so right, Kay; walking is good for us! Thankfully, both my hubby and I love walking During the warmer months of the year, we go walking just about every evening after supper, and we walk for at least an hour or two. I've enjoyed walking since I was a toddler. My dad was a huge walker and he'd take me for long strolls regularly. Just another wonderful thing I have him to thank for.

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    1. Dear Martha,
      Let's see, you are so far north...how long is your longest day? Here, the longest day it gets dark about 9PM. In England, it won't get dark until after 10!
      So happy that you walk too! What a great dad.
      Just another wonderful thing...oh, I love that!

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    2. Our longest day is the same - it gets dark around 9 PM. The days are getting longer as each week goes by, so I'm really excited about that. Yes, he was a great dad. I miss him terribly some days. I wish he'd lived longer. But that's life...

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  8. We walk every day, usually about 2 miles. When we travel we always have walks picked out to do, have walked all over England, they're so lucky to have the public footpaths.

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    1. I'll bet you have some lovely walks along your river and do you have marshland too? I'm hoping that we will have more places to walk in the future, it looks like we are getting more paths and trails here!

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  9. When it comes to walking, I am failing miserably. Baby Clara is not happy in the stroller and she's getting heavy to carry around in the baby carrier now. I miss it so much! Want to try walking at night once she goes to bed but I'm always so tired by the end of the day.

    Will be interested if there's a similar site for the US! It's a great idea!

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    1. Dear Audrey,
      You have two little ones! You must get lots of exercise! Look at that website I told you about, it has some dance steps to do with your children! Isn't that a great idea?
      Ha, my son was born in Nov. 1989 and I didn't even know what was going on in the world until about 2000!
      You are doing much better than I ever did! And I only have the one!

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  10. Hi,
    Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving a comment. Hope you check out all 3 of my blogs. There are links to them on each of my blogs plus you can find them on my profile.
    Actually, my real first name is KAY. My middle name is LYNNE. Nice to meet you.
    Kay

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    1. Hey Kay!
      I will check them out.
      I have a cousin named Lynn.
      This is how special I am, I was born in April 1957 and I have two girl cousins born in the SAME month! (Cheryl and Lynn) That was the late 50's for you!
      So nice to meet you too!

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  11. We get to see you not walking for once! I did wonder if you ever rested. :-)

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    1. Scriptor,
      I'm afraid that I have resting down to an art, just don't like to have my photo taken, at any time! :-)

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    2. Jo dpesn't like hers being taken either. Can't understand why - you are both attractive.

      I've found a site that may interest you -
      http://www.walkjogrun.net/

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  12. we do a real walk for life ..in washington DC to show our support for the sanity of all life, from conception to death
    I am your newest follower.
    enjoy your walks on these spring days!

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  13. That is a real walk for life and much needed.
    And thank you!
    Hope you enjoy a walk now and then, but maybe you might be still a bit busy with young ones? Never mind, they make you run around plenty, but it is all worth it, every minute.

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  14. I love the song. I loved it when it first came out, always being partial to Celtic sounding things. Thanks for you compliments and interesting comments on my post. In fair weather I have two favorite walks: a three mile I haven't taken for a while up to the cemetery on the hill; the other a six mile in the Palouse River Canyon.

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  15. Hello Pastor Dennis!
    Thank you for your comment! So happy that someone else likes this song too...why wasn't it a hit in America? Maybe it would have been if it had had more airplay. Americans will like good things if we are exposed to them! I like the idea of both your walks but the six miles in the river canyon sounds wonderful.
    So happy to find you! :-)

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  16. Hi Kay,

    Another reminder of the lovely walks David (husband) and I used to take across Beachy Head and others around Eastbourne. Sussex is a really beautiful county.

    We are off to Sussex at the end of the week and doubtless we shall be walking along the same pathways that you have been along.

    To me, it has been so special reading about parts of your country that I have been to and then reading about you, being in the parts of my country that I have spent most of my life walking around. I feel like I really know you.

    Thanks go to Scriptor - without reading his Blog, I would never have discovered Kay's Blog. I have rediscovered so many happy memories.

    Happy walking Kay and thank you for taking me with you.

    Best wishes Pat

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    1. Dear Pat,
      Of course, it has been my pleasure to share these walks with you! You have seen Stone Mountain and you know how special it is. You have been to Beachy Head and know the same...it's funny but this has reminded me of the song "Jesusalem" from England. And did those feet in ancient time ever walk upon England's green shores... that might not be the exact words, but it moves me to think that the man who wrote that was considering if you could possibly be walking in the same footsteps as our Lord...
      I know that some churches don't consider that the song praises God enough to be sung in church, but I really like it.
      Thanks to Scriptor for so many things! He has supported my blog from very early days and I really enjoy his view on life!
      And thank you for your comment and I hope you have a wonderful time in Eastbourne. Go to the Hydro Hotel and have a cup of tea with anything that they offer!

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    2. "Jerusalem" a beautiful song. You should hear the annual gathering of the Women's Institute members singing it at the Royal Albert Hall in London. I do not belong to the Institute but they sing Jerusalem at the beginning of every meeting apparently. There are two songs that bring a lump to my throat - the other being "Land of Hope and Glory". Wow! I think I had better go and pack the cases for our trip! I don't drink tea (yes, there really is an Englishwoman who cannot stand the taste of the stuff) but I will drink to you with a cup of coffee in the Hydro Hotel. I dont think I have ever been in there so that will be a first for me.

      Bye Bye Pat

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  17. I would add 'Abide With Me' to Pat's 'Land of Hope and Glory' and 'Jerusalem'. It's sung at the start of the annual soccer cup final ans hearing 100,000 people (as the stadium once held) all singing it is unbelievable.

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