We previously suffered a splintered year of silent disarray. Talking again is like coughing up chains of psychic goo. But we admit our journey isn’t over. We’ve miles yet to tread.
So back on the path we step, in November 2012:
So you want to go walking, without a mind for turning round and going home?
You seek a land of stream, forest, hilltop castle and storm-swept chapel?
You want to trust your life to the skill of your instincts, the luck of your blood and the kindness of strangers?
We know just how you feel.
On our very first long walks, our heads were filled by strange childish hopes and unreal expectations. It was beautiful. We made the mistakes of foolish infants, overfilled by naiive optimism. Our pride had no choice but to swallow the fact of our ignorance, because we had not an honest clue what we were doing.
This was of course necessary. Slow-learning is full learning.
But all the same, we would not have minded a little good advice to set us on track. Our guide-books were over 100 years old.
So now we will offer you some of our modern discoveries. You don’t need to make the same errors we did. Yours can be excitingly different, and entirely your own…
Reality is a firm teacher, the very best of its kind.
But advice is golden.
So please read on for the good stuff…
Hello. This post is a summary of all our videos made so far. Just in case you missed anything so far. We know the website can be tricky waters…
On our next walk, of which we’ll speak soon, we’ll be focussing on video-making as a main method of sharing information.
So we thought it a good time to bring together all our disparate web videos, to make viewing them simpler.
Please enjoy these videos responsibly.
Press more to see them all:
At the end of February 2011, we walked to London from home near Faversham. We’ve always avoided such a walk, and skirted London as widely as possible, due to the M25. The fastest road is no pal to the slowest walkers.
And also, perhaps, we were fearful of London’s hard greyness.
But we were invited to sing, and present ourselves and our doings, to a number of high-powered Folk Industry Executives. We are glad such people exist, for we’d like to win some support for our project and our future plans, and we need to make some good allies. And of course, folk in suits are still just folk, and deserve a good sing-song as much as the next bunch…
So this is the story of our London walk, which is the first decent jaunt we’ve made with Holly dog.
Recordings and a little video can be found below…
Hello.
It has been a short-to-medium while since we shared any information on this website. We have been off-target, waiting for tides to shift, and have found our previous expressive output a difficult standard to live upto.
The truth is, we took quite a bashing last winter, living in Welsh woods with our girls. Things fell apart, and we found we had no choice but to accumulate some character. Iindeed, it was fairly whacked into us.
While this was all a beautiful and unique opportunity to build a home, and learn about living outside in one place, it was also a terrible trial, for flimsy but razor-sharp personal reasons, and we found ourselves and each other very difficult companions.
O dear, poor walkers, singing a sad song now. Poor, poor, sorry singers, not walking so tall now. Yes, we felt very sorry for ourselves, and it has taken a good long low-lying fallow time to restore our strength in self and other.
But as far as we can tell, the job’s a good one, and we’re more ready than ever, to get going walking and singing soon after this winter thaws.
Between now and then we have to plan and record another album, and get a friendly dress-maker to make us good solid woolen walking clothes. We’re also winging for some organic longjohn manufacturers to sponsor us to the tune of free LJs. It really is fulltime rock and roll.
And we await inspiration as to where our next journey should tread. We figure we should be able to squeeze in 6 or 7 months walking next year; but from where to where? Your suggestions, we’d love to hear them. Tell us here.
Meanwhile, the other whole point of this post: the full archive page. Alaric, our friendly web miracle fellow, has made a page that succinctly lists all the articles up on this website, which makes it all far easier to browse, without falling into corners of no return.
So please take a look, and enjoy. WWW.AWALKAROUNDBRITAIN.COM/FULL-ARCHIVE
Or, just click on this LINK.
Stay warm this winter. Wear wool not cotton.
Thankyou. And cheerio for now.
will and ed.
Sunday 15th August, the BBC broadcast the first in their new series, called Secret Britain.
Here is the clip. If you’d like to hear more about the filming, and the things left out, please press READ MORE.
The songs sung were: My Son John, Harvest Song, and Sorrows Away.The first 2 are available on the CD album, and the second may be on our next album (more said soon).
This is where Ginger shows us how to make a three-legged stool, with all speed and ease. With the then weather warming, this stool kept us out the mud, and prompted a spate of replicas to be knocked out.
Thank-you Ginger.
Tools required, are:
And that’s it.
This video shows how to split a hazel rod.
Hopper had already taught us the rudimentary techniques of hurdle-making (CLICK HERE), and in this video he shows us how to split hazel rods.
As well as the practical techniques of splitting, Hopper also shows how to measure the height of a tree, with a stick. Interested?
There’s also an interesting discussion, on recycling, universities, and Martians. And there is a very blunt billhook, the inadequacy of which led Hopper to loan us a nice sharp replacement.
The video might take a short while to buffer, but please be patient. Hopper is worth the wait…
