Audley End to Nuthampstead
Oh my gosh, what a humbling day.
I phoned home this evening and my daughter Felicity told me the gut wrenching news about the tragic death of Luke Freeman, well known to many friends in Wokingham.
So it doesn’t seem appropriate to write a long, jolly update from my walk across Britain.
In any case, it would have reflected more pointless loss. I spent the afternoon with Geoff Rice, a trustee of the Nuthampstead Airfield Museum. In WWII, the 398th Bomb Group of the US Army Air Force was based here. From the Spring of 1944 to the end of the war, brave, young American airmen (many just Luke’s age) flew raids over Germany, in freezing temperatures (at 30,000 feet) in unheated B17s. Many hundreds lost their lives during this time.
Longitude: 0°04’E (OS Map / Google Map)
This whole endeavour of walking across Britain, and trying to find hope, is a response to inexplicable loss, but sitting here on my own at the Woodman Inn in Nuthampstead, I’m now confused whether it’s even the right thing to do to keep writing about it in a positive way each day.
If anyone has any thoughts on this, please message me, as the one person who could really advise is gone as well. Life is beyond shit.
P.S. Dan Mountain has worked incredibly hard today getting the highlights video of Week 1 finished and ready to upload. But, to be honest, it’s a bit emotional, and I’m not sure it’s fair to publish it today – I’ll wait until the weekend. Again, any advice, please let me know.
Thank you everyone x
