On occasions you have to test the wet weather gear don’t you?! Today was one of those days. Raining torrents as we drove to Litchborough we wondered if anyone else would turn up. The first couple of hours, epically soggy. Water poured from the heavens, our only shelter the dry sanctuary of a church. Rain gurgled off the land wherever it could find a channel or depression. Ponds and pools of water around every stile and farm gate. Water trying to invade waterproof socks, trickling down the sleeves of jackets. Water blown by the wind splattered on glasses obscuring the map on the iPhone.

Our reward, a roaring log burner, strong flat whites and a bacon sandwich at our coffee stop and eventual glimpses of a watery sun as the morning progressed and of course the satisfaction of completing just under 12 miles on a very blustery day.