Walking into the New Year

Well, 2022 is with us and this is my first blog of the new year. I’m starting this blog by offering my congratulations to all the health and care staff who were part of this year’s New Year Honours. You have all made a significant contribution to lives of others, and for that I want to say a big THANK YOU. Particular congratulations go to Kenny Gibson, a nurse extraordinaire, an early risers club champion and long-time supporter of this blog. His MBE is richly deserved!

It’s a strange time of year. Last Thursday was my eldest daughter’s birthday. She is 21 again. I love her to bits and I’m so proud that she also works in health care, and so equally makes a difference to others each and every day. Her birth was a great and joyous occasion. I actually missed her being born, as I had run out of cigarettes and left the maternity unit at Swansea Hospital to buy some more. When I got back, there she was. I really couldn’t believe it. A perfect child. I long ago stopped smoking.

Her birth was made even more important as just a year before, my wife had endured a late miscarriage. It was an experience we both found almost unbelievably difficult. I was woken up by my wife who, in extreme pain, was in the middle of miscarrying. There was blood everywhere. It was a bewildering time. An ambulance was called, and back then, one came within minutes. I didn’t know what to do. I rang some friends and told them what had happened, and for some reason lost in the passage of time, we all headed off to Alexander Place, and sitting outside, watching the lights of London, drank whisky until the early hours of the morning. It was a surreal time. My wife recovered, and just over a year later we had moved to Wales, I started my nursing career and my eldest daughter was born. She has three children of her own now, and they are three of my eleven grandchildren.

Unusually its seems, they all know how to do the washing up after each meal. I say unusually, as it appears many young people today have lost the ‘skill’ of washing up. Dishwashers and fast food are allegedly to blame. The Office for National Statistics notes that 50% of households in the UK now have a dishwasher. We joined this number last year, but I refuse to use it. I prefer to do the washing up the old fashioned way. I also don’t eat takeaway pizza out of the box, but decant it onto a warm plate. They are also active children and grandchildren who like being outside ‘doing things’.

There is lots of evidence (see here) that physically active children are able to concentrate better, and have a great sense of wellbeing than those who choose not to exercise. The Daily Mile in schools is so successful because of these evidence-based benefits. Growing a love of the great outdoors, and doing something active when you are younger will also clearly benefit you in later life. I have, for the last few years, been a proud supporter/contributor to the #NHS1000miles initiative. You can read all about it in Kath Evans’ blog. She is an ultra-runner, and her running achievements are simply outstanding. However, you don’t need to be an ultra-runner to take part in the #NHS1000miles initiative. In fact, you don’t even have to be a runner. You can notch up those miles riding a bike or swimming for example. My wife J, does horse riding, which gives her extra miles. She tells me it is actually considerably harder and more strenuous than it looks.  I’m a walker. Last year I walked 2,446 miles.

I’m also fortunate to live by the sea and have hills and mountains close by. Getting out on those hills or walking on the beach is one of my greatest pleasures. Hopefully it is also helping to keep me fit, healthy and improving my wellbeing too. Walking also gives me time to think, to problem solve and to plan. A walk on the beach can clear my head and certainly elevate my mood. Others have noticed this too, and I don’t mean my good mood.

During the last two years, against the backdrop of the pandemic, research undertaken by Sport England noted that 24.7 million people said they had taken up walking as a leisure activity. Likewise, in September 2021, the Department for Transport published research that showed people in England walked an average of 220 miles a year – the highest number of miles since records began 20 years ago. The shift seems to have occurred during those dark days of national lockdowns, when there was only the possibility of taking one form of exercise a day. You could do this alone or with other members of your household. I find it fascinating that, when other forms of leisure activities are unavailable, such as during the lockdowns, so many people took to something as simple as walking to gain their pleasure.  

As the year was coming to an end, J and I took a walk up a very popular local fell called Nicky Nook. It is situated on the very edge of the Forest of Bowland by the village of Scorton. To get to the top of Nicky Nook, there is a climb of nearly 200 metres, the first part of which is very steep. It was wonderful to see so many others on the same walk. Families, large and small, older folk and even a couple of younger fell runners were all out for a New Year’s Eve afternoon in the sunshine and fresh air. There was a great sense of a shared community. And maybe that is it. Walking, and it doesn’t have to be in the countryside, connects you more deeply with the world around you in a way that modern day life often doesn’t allow. In an ever more challenging world, such connections seem to me to be especially important for our health and wellbeing. If you are not already a member of the #NHS1000miles club, give it a try and I think you will find there are even more connections to be made.