I stuffed a tenner in my pocket and walked north...

what is Adventure is it climbing Mount Everest trekking through the Amazon rainforest or crossing a country in a completely straight line it could be all of those things of course but what if I told you that one of the best Adventures you could ever have starts right at your doorstep I'm Tom Davis aka Geo Wizard and ever since I was about 10 years old I've been obsessed with the idea of leaving your house picking a Direction and simply walking into the countryside so nice as is usual in my intros we ask why well directly east from my childhood home in Aldridge was a massive School playing field from the age of 4 to 11 I had football coaching on this field every Saturday afternoon and I would always gaze over in Wonder towards the far end of the field where the older boys would play their matches with each year that passed I progressed further and further east down the field until I was one of those older boys the once forbidden and mysterious Eastern reaches of the field were now familiar and normal but there was a world beyond the boundaries of that playing field and I wanted to explore it so one day I did just that venturing boldly into the chain of cow Fields beyond the school field which then became my theater of exploration they were the fields that I pictured in my head when I first read The Hobbit where Bilbo Baggins bravely Strays beyond the Shire for the first time there was something fundamentally exciting about going one more field further away from home than I'd ever been before fast forward a few years to the age of about 15 and this extreme urge to explore gets a bit out of hand when a very young Welsh Greg and I decide to BL a FIV from our parents and simply Head East towards this far away mysterious television Mast within an hour we'd crossed the Chester Road and we into the endless expanse of Countryside that lay Beyond it within 3 hours we'd been chased by a farmer floated down a murky swollen Brook and found an ominous old newspaper in an abandoned Caravan within 6 hours we'd snuck into a village wedding with the intention of pinching some cake to solve our impending starvation for many it would have been quite a stressful day for us it was one of the best days of our lives for years we tried to recreate the highs of that day hopping thousands of fences wading across streams and forging countless stories in the staffer share Countryside but just like the far end of St Francis playing field one day it became normal we'd outgrown it a decade later and with countless proper Adventures under my belt I wondered whether I could ever recreate the magic and excitement of those innocent days not the Mischief or the thrill because that's well and truly been covered but rather the Carefree feeling of not knowing where you're going or where you're going to end up yeah let's look for Escape Route so what if I took the model of the old school mission toned down the trespassing but made it difficult for myself in other ways it might not be as thrilling but maybe through human interactions natural beauty and personal highs and lows I could make this an equally compelling Adventure foot path up here I figured it was worth a try so with the weather forecast in early September looking Splendid I woke up one morning made myself a packed lunch consisting of ham cheese and pickle sandwiches a scotch egg and a pork pie stepped out the front door and started walking North okay this is it this is it how's it going everyone that over there is the city of Lichfield the place where I now live and that there is the countryside so with a 10B no in my pocket a sleeping bag in my backpack among a few other little crucial things a toothbrush a pack lunch and a bottle of water join me as we get away from all this noise and simply head north let's go and it's as simple as that I find it so exciting the fact that we're just heading into this V last expanse of Countryside not knowing where I'm going not knowing what's going to happen who I might meet places I might find places I might sleep what food or drink I I'm going to manage to get for myself and the Jeopardy that might result in in that any concerns however were instantly forgotten thanks to the overwhelming sense of Peace Quiet and freedom that hit me one Field in it was a Thursday morning and I could literally hear the hubub of the city getting quieter and quieter with each step now many years ago when me and Greg had exhausted all of the fields within a 3M radius of Aldridge we used to get the train up to Lichfield and walk from there instead I do know these areas quite well I know that we're approaching the Little Village of Elmhurst but what I'm hoping is that if I move quickly today I can go beyond anywhere where that me and Greg walked and we walked pretty far sometimes the further north we go today the more Scenic it's going to get because I'm going to be heading towards the Peak District with its quaint little Villages and Rolling Hills and then it will really feel like a Hobbit's Adventure in Sleepy Elmhurst a friendly cyclist preparing to set off on his own little Jaun pointed me in the direction of an old footpath before warning me about some overly curious cows in the field that it led into I'll try my best they turned out to be the opposite which is more than can be said for some of the cows I would encounter later down the [Music] line from home so some of you will probably be wondering what is it that you want to get from this you just walking that's pretty boring isn't it well what I'm hoping for is a lot of social interactions like that with people who live in the countryside who are generally much more friendly and have more time for you and those social interactions May well lead somewhere a bottle of water maybe even some food maybe even somewhere to sleep or better still some sort of quest can you run down to Mr Miller's farm and grab me some carrots if you do that I might have a place for you to sleep tonight you know that sort of thing you never know if I speak to enough people maybe we can get our own little Quest once I'd passed the impressive Walled Garden from the long demolished Elmhurst Hall it was back into the fields where the adventure really started to breathe the sun was already beating down and I was able to relax and enjoy these unfamiliar Fields rather than have to Dart across them in a state of paranoid anxiety it wasn't long though before I found myself in an all too familiar setting I think I'm allowed on here this golf course was the the arena of many a mission all those years ago the main aim being to sneak from one side to the other without being seen today I chose to walk around the edge with a view to exit on the North side but memory had not served me well okay I do actually need to find a way I need to be over there it's too dense man can't go down there I get stung to ooh a golf ball then there's golfer coming now I've got to hurry got to burst through into the stingers out ah yeah well trly stung yeah I'm out I've escaped that one no golf balls being pinged over the top of my head which did happen to me and Greg one time on that very golf course but the next field wasn't much better don't I don't even know if I can get through this next hedge R CCTV in operation see this is exactly the kind of thing you get to when you go off piece and you're not following paths over there a sludgy pond here private property could never climb in there and then you have to turn around and go back so that that is why I've chosen to attempt to follow foot paths today surely the next field over would offer a path to Freedom okay I'm going to attempt this but definite farmers in the next field can't see anyone let's see what happens here but little did I know that sitting 75 Ys away was a shirtless farmer so I should be all right here did he even see me don't know that he did cuz he wouldn't have been happy about me climbing through that hedge yeah I don't think I meant to be in here at all let's get down here can't believe that guy didn't look up from his phone a modern farmer Eh this could be a bad exit it's pretty well fortified this place over there we've got a manor house oh God I know what that is oh boy let's get out of there man I'm not going through there again going have to find another way out this looks gruesome I think it's my only hope he's moving again already hope he's not after me after enduring one of the spikiest hedge R escapes of my entire life this is not what today was meant to be about I was once again on public ground ah that is rank I'm going to ruin my nice oragan t-shirt a scary looking fence suggested that the farmer can't have seen me or so I thought that farmer wasn't a very good surveillance guy he was just driving up then there he is he's opening the gate look can you see that the timing of this Not only was that whole episode time consuming and quite painful but it simply wasn't what I wanted this adventure to be about I wanted to travel great distances and I wanted my Farmer interactions to be friendly and productive not hostile and stressful I did have a feeling before I even set off that it probably wasn't possible to simply walk North in a leisurely manner without a map especially with the thick hedge rows you get in these flatter lands so I'd brought with me a GPS system now I wasn't going to be following a pre-planned route but what I could do was use it to aim for foot paths when necessary right now in this Patchwork of fields there was no north-facing foot path but with no Hedges or crops to slow me down I was able to enjoy myself again and relish the feeling that each step now was one step further from familiar ground and one step closer to unexplored territories at the end of the fourth field a gravel track led me into to a fruit farm where I helped myself to the sugary moisture of a solitary strawberry surely I wouldn't have to give in to such Temptations once I'd encountered a bounty of wild plums or apples I figured a PVC Palace like this one though might just offer me something even more useful see that would be a great place to sleep picnic benches under the cover of that shelter so no duw that's kind of I've got to look out for in slightly more worrying news there was a high-speed Railway track right up ahead it looked like there might be a tunnel under it but they're sometimes fenced off at this early stage the thought of walking down the main road into the nearby town of Armitage would have ruined the sense of adventure so with a farmer watching me from his field to my right I marched boldly into what felt like a big construction site and to my great relief the tunnel was clear on the other side of the tunnel confusingly there were locked fences forcing me to squeeze myself down another Slither of nettle filled land and into a nearby crop field the field after that led me onto a peaceful Country Lane where I indulged in my first black Brey of the day and yards later I decided to join the irresistible Tranquility of the Canal always loved canals not only is it so peaceful but you've got these people living on barges almost in their own world separated from the world of the road and the automobile so peaceful no one bothers you you can do whatever you want and you see the countryside from a completely different angle to everyone else I was using the canal to get a bit further west where the countryside was more remote and unfamiliar to me but soon I would need to cross the railway track once more in order to once again Escape northward I was very much hoping that this little dotted line on my GPS's rudimentary map was another passageway underneath it but it seemed this time I was wrong that's not open sake man I'm not Crossing that line on the map oh public foot path yeah yes just go underneath them Pleasant the passage way was well and truly real and at the other side of it a stunning sight that is wonderful I've actually wed across this River with Greg escaping from a farmer and it's quite deep at points as you can see the river Trent and the railway line with their sporadic Crossing points had blocked many an adventurous rhythm in the past so it was a good feeling to be Beyond them and into even newer pastures right yeah thank you good good now I've come across quite a few sheep in my time and I can't recall a single specimen that didn't up and run away at the first hint of danger but not the Sheep of HST rid wear excuse me ladies I've got to get through haven't I move you're not going to move what's wrong it's too hot they are struggling I'm going to climb over this thing you're not very well are you you would definitely be running away otherwise well I can't give you any of my water I'm afraid but this this is what it's all about man these little Bridal ways that just cut their way through the countryside put you in mind of very Victorian or even older ages very Hobbit like in nature just enough for a horse and cart to pass through what a gorgeous way to travel through the English Countryside I reckon there's a good chance I'll be sleeping on one of them later if I can't find anything better right now the though it was my tummy that needed some attention I wanted to eat my lunch in an idilic churchard or Village Green the only issue with that was I had no idea where I was or when I'd arrive at the next Village this was a flat landscape and there were no church Steeples on the horizon just a sea of crops just to make things easier the foot path I was following then completely disappeared forcing me to wonder through the crops like a poor man's poke the hunters let you get through here this is mental where has the foot path gone I've got to go through the crops this is how even the foot paths are guys just so seldom trodden wouldn't it be funny if we heard the Rumblings of a not a quad bike but a combine harvester then it would be Panic stations when I did finally find the foot path again it was completely overgrown but luckily for me the next field was an empty cow field what could possibly go wrong there look at that I've just tripped up a Bramble and scratched myself whilst getting cow all over those scratches I need to wipe that off ASAP after using my only tissue to wipe fresh cow from my wounds I figured it was time to take a seat and enjoy a well-earned lunch okay I have walked 20 km so far seriously dehydrated that is nowhere near enough so that's got to be filled up but no walk through the English Countryside is complete without a packed lunch a picnic and my god I've been looking forward to this not the lunch spot I was envisioning but it's Pleasant enough and this is much needed protein half an hour later over in the next field the 2-year-old Branston pickle from the back of my fridge was starting to kick in how you doing over there you all right I'm struggling over here your Farmer's plowed the field here and he hasn't really given much room for the path yeah I know watch watch out by the way looks a bit horny back there I'd saved one sandwich and a pork pie for the evening time and I still had my tenner but I was really hoping that the land would conjure up a few treats yeah basically I'm on the lookout for apple trees plum trees black I've seen loads of blackberries none of them have been that great so I'm waiting for a really good Bush maybe when I get a bit further oh my God I don't believe it that is an apple tree and they look like really good apples as well they definitely the ones you can eat I mean how about that one I mean I can't live off these because I'll be through the eye of a needle but it's going to give me some energy isn't it and keep me going let's try it then hm it ain't the best but it ain't the worst either that's the one I really want that one there look at that Beast not the right one but I got one conscious that I may have outstayed my welcome at the Apple Tree I continued on down this peaceful Country Lane but when I reached the part of it that was supposed to become a foot path the local foliage once again had other ideas no back safe another path that's just completely and utterly overgrown now I've got to find another way around through private property it was quite sad actually because it was one of those ancient tracks that would have felt like a tunnel burrowing its way through the trees instead I had to burrow my way through Hedges into more private property before eventually rejoining the path on the other side just feel like I'm the only bugger in the country right now which is good in some ways but in others it's not because we do need interactions if we're going to make this trip work either that or incredibly cheap food when we finally reach a village left here we love to live there that is beautiful I could sleep in something like that tonight oh my God that would be perfect but once again a seldom trodden foot path forced me into the corn every now and then I would find the foot path only to be forced wide again I did come across some pretty cool places whilst doing so though which eased the frustration barbed wire was the penalty for this Meandering until the track returned for good giving me and the hunks of meat in my bag a brief but much needed break from the Sun the landscape was changing now and becoming more countrys sidey with each turn the adventure coals inside me were being firmly stoked the only problem was all the moisture in my body was quickly dissipating that is the river BL and is it wrong that I want to drink that water I think it probably is oh Jesus how am I going to do that then do you propose should I just jump I got stung anyway that's 25k done so about 17 18 mil hoping to do about 26 27 miles today a marathon but depends we'll see how we go most importantly for now though there were just a handful of luscious Grassy Meadows between me and the first Village I'd encountered in over s miles the historic village of Abbott's Bromley there it is in the distance I can confirm that abotts Bromley is a lovely Place me and Greg actually did end up there at least twice one of the further destinations that we ended up at to be fair here we go it is so hot look at this lovely Sports field abits Bramley Cricket Club is it drinks time yet no seriously look how flat that pitch is oh that is absolutely incredible how have they done that got to have some water I know I'm nearly there but I've got to have some water man absolutely gasping off boiling hot just how I like it so cools you down okay Abott Bromley is going to be a quest to find water hopefully for free let's try it the foot path that led from the Cricut field and into the back end of the village gave me time to think about how I would approach a potential Gardener this was a good vibes adventure and I didn't want to hassle or pressure anyone unless I was really desperate my strategy was simply to strike up friendly conversation and put my faith in the Good Will of the people oh finally but just like its ancient 13th century churchyard the streets of Abbott Bromley were quiet haven't seen a soul already fighting a losing battle against a particularly strong lemonade craving I prayed for a village shop obviously I went to the wrong end of town and had to come back on myself but a local lady brought good news there is the cash great thank you that's a relief oh get in right with guidance from the friendly Scottish shopkeeper I umed andard over a 99p bottle of water or a 95p bottle of lemonade but its beautiful bubbles were just too hard to resist who set this challenge yourself for myself for some reason yeah yeah thank you very much no problem there you go there cheers £95 left some of you are going to say that was a stupid decision but I just couldn't resist I'm so excited this is the if anyone interrupts me now I'm going to Chin them oh oh that is what these walks are all about man what is it about the Bubbles quenched and slightly inflated I exited the northern fringes of Abbott's Bromley and headed out into what was now completely unfamiliar territory it was late afternoon now and just like the local farmers I was Keen to make hay while the sun was still shining despite the achy legs all you're right can have a lift I had no idea where I was going to end up that night but there was still plenty of time and I did have my lemonade and my sandwich as evening rations I was however about to enter a big forest and while I was looking forward to the change of scenery and the shade it could be a pretty tricky place to navigate myself through here we are how well are we going to be able to move in here though as it happened I had an incredibly tough time even getting into this mysterious Forest get off which begged the question how does anyone get in here the answer was they didn't really slowed me down but this is a mad place isn't it how do they keep this grass so nice is there sheep I don't know but it's lovely unbeknown to me I had entered a private hunting estate again and on the menu this time dear they are dear and I'm heading straight for them no they're off they are off maybe this is a hunting wood problem I've got here is I don't really know where I'm going I'm just going from south to North it's quite hard for me to navigate and I think I think there is a building coming up madly and a hunting Tower so could get told off to be honest though I don't really give a I think we should all be able to enjoy this place just as I am doing now so him bit of a construction site here guess I go over this gate don't know whether I'm coming in or out I guess I'm coming out there we are cool and there's cars down there Lily for me the heavily private area was just a tiny proportion of this wood okay let's try this this is pointing North and I could now focus on navigating my way through the rest of it naturally my plan was slightly flawed okay this is what I didn't want to happen that one's just sort of ended and just like like that I was among the undergrowth at first it was fairly roomy but that soon changed too oh no this is this this is inevitable isn't it bloody inevitable but then ooh shiny path good and from there on in the paths were Kinder wonder if I could sleep in one of them no slopped the remainder of my time in the woods were incredibly peaceful I didn't see a single soul while I was in there only more deer I'll take this track as the eventual whooing of cars Drew nearer the thought of what lay Beyond the Forest excited me but unfortunately the moment was ruined by another sudden realization I don't believe it the lemonade and go over I've left the lemonade where I threw it over that hedge I can't go back for it now I'll have to come back for it in a in a couple of days time it's more annoying cuz I need it I need to drink it there's about 25 P's worth in there so without a droplet to my name it was over the main road and it's adjoining barbed wire fence and back into the fields right this really feels like the last chapter of day one now and this is kind of the hard is part of it for me night falls it's all right from the comfort of your screens but I've got to sleep somewhere tonight and it could be wet dewy cold there could be bugs spiders unhappy people so this next 3 hours will be all about finding a good place to sleep how hard is that how easy is that I don't know we'll see with no foot paths showing up on the map it was back into mode but the countryside here seemed much more suitable for my usual roguish roaming before too long I'd not just found myself a foot path but something even better I might be coming to a village here it's only I think it's half fiveish but I think from this point on I've got to be proactive with speaking to people if if the opportunity arises tell them what I'm doing just in case they have somewhere for me to sleep God look at that old abandoned house just as I said that that is spooky man no chance I would sleep in there there is a car there it's probably owned by the adjacent Farm but yeah we are in a village eggs for sale oh my God I can't cook them why is everyone PA in two peas it's good to know that that's around beautiful properties down here see look at that mattress there I would sleep on that mattress maybe I will this really is the sticks this is really remote Village and there's the church look at that that looks Dutch Belgian German kingstone that's where we are dases of litfield makes me feel a bit let's go and check this church out already that shelter that porch you could sleep in I don't think the Jew would would get you Jew is in moisture on grass not not Jesus um but yeah would it be spooky here probably but it's an option it is an option after poking around the back of the church I decided to keep moving towards the next Village but just down the road as I was passing a pub called the shrewbury arms I met a lady sitting on the benches outside with her friend's daughter she told me that the pub which she ran was closed but offered to go inside and fill up my water bottle what she actually did was nothing short of gamech changing oh my God that's incredible oh you didn't have to oh that's amazing than got you some CH brownie which is Hardy's favorite that is very good and then couple of bags of nuts and a couple of bags of crisp for you there you go that'll save you 10 a little bit longer and I owe you for that oh don't worry honestly I donate I have a job fit in this bottle in my bag now with all these crisps enjoy them you'll need them good problem to have yeah thank you right I'll get out your hair no worries thanks again I really appreciate that you're more than welcome see you later see you later bye absolute result I am set for water and so many crisp was nuts big shout out to the Shrewsbury arms for sorting me out there anyway it doesn't solve the issue of where to sleep this time as I plunged myself back into the staford share Countryside it was shadowy and slightly ominous even these chickens had a comfy place to get their heads down and while my romantic idea of sleeping in a hay bar was still a possibility I needed to at least aim for the safety nck of a village if the paths would let me please don't be overgrown that's ridiculous how much I've just been stung from that oh boy these are just not Ed I'm not a heavy guy I couldn't afford to be held up anymore so I was delighted a few Fields later to reach a foot path that seem to slice through the farmland for over 2 miles and straight towards another Village Village for a mile or so I saw nothing but trees and dirt until suddenly I hit metal H always worries me slightly when I come across these lovely Veges I'm still not sure whether I was supposed to walk through this property but I managed to do so undetected the question now was would the track on the other side be passable uhoh starting to get a bit spiky don't really want to have to lift my legs any higher than I need to this went on for a while but crucially didn't get any worse and what little daylight was left soon emerged at the end of the tunnel oh good we're out the wood the next mile or so was spent searching for hay barns in the low evening light and indulging in the incredible brownie that the chef at the Shrewsbury arms had lovingly baked but rightly or wrongly I found myself more and more drawn to the hopes and Promises of the village coming up here we have hay bales oh they're rounded I can't sleep unrounded I did manage to spot some low Ling Bales in a field quite close to the village and although these offered me a decent fallback option I was now committed to the quest of finding something better in the village of withington I stumbled across a pub called The Farmer's arms that is an option it's an option to get my head down but I decided to move on to neighboring Church Lee still dreaming of gazebos or wedding venue tents on the way I struck up conversation with a 65-year-old ex rocker presumably who I seem to have quite a lot in common with really oh yeah live in lville he really dug the adventure but unsurprisingly there were no luxurious camper van offers and in this dim light I didn't really want to startle any more villagers my hopes rested firmly on whatever surfaces and shelters Church Lee had to offer starting with the church itself could sleep in here definitely that's a plus there's a bench here I could sleep on that's better than the ground definitely slightly spooky spot but yep it seemed I was in for a Spooky Night in the churchyard until H let's try this Recreation ground park benches yeah park benches that's all I want isn't it really there were kids on the park when I arrived so I pointed the camera firmly away and walked around the edge a couple of times scoping out which bench looked the least uncomfortable when there was no one left to creep out I settled down for dinner I've made it last what can I say I don't know how I think it's the Heat and aside from listen to the murmur of late night gossip coming from the village Elders in the village hall car park there was little else to do but to tuck myself in for the night 27.2 miles was the distance traveled on day one and £95 PS was the amount left in my pocket I'd done well but tomorrow things were about to step up a notch the landscape was going to get beautiful but brutal the animals were about to go berserk for some reason and the Quest for food water and shelter was going to become more and more involved do give this video a like if you enjoyed it but more importantly tune in next week to see what the hell is going on here hello [Music]

Channel: GeoWizard

Views: 1,452,316

Keywords: tenner, ten pounds, ten pound, geowizard, tenner in my pocket, £10, £10 in my pocket, ten pounds in my pocket, in my pocket, walking north, head north, heading north, walk north, walked north, adventure, geowizard adventure, adventure series, part 1, english, england, british, british guy, tom, tom davies, staffordshire, peak district, funny, setting off, set off, simply

Id: NfuoV3ugdyk

Length: 40min 3sec (2403 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 10 2023