Day 8 Northampton to Gayhurst

Today was supposed to our resting day but it we scheduled to meet the Mayor of Northampton at 12 noon, so we throught that it would be in our best interest to get there early in the morning and cover some distance before meeting the Mayor.

Last Thursday was our resting day and we also had an appointment to Mayor of Leicester and other Humam Rights organisations. As this involved a return trip to Leicester, as well as the appointments, it did not give us a chance to recover. This time, we absolutely needed a full day of rest so by walking today, we could have a proper rest day tomorrow.

Because of all the changes that were made we did not have anyone who was able to drive us today. But numerous calls were made by Emmanuel and he managed to get Kwasi (one of the Derby for Africa supporters) to change all of his day's plans and drive us to Northampton.

We are half way to our destination now. There are so many things that we have come across since the begining of this journey. We have felt many emotions and had different kinds of weather, aching muscles, blisters, bush toilet breaks (!!!) and lots more!!! But we are still going forward.

We left Derby for Northampton at 4:45am and started the walk at 6:20am from where we stopped yesterday (near Northampton High School). We manged to walk 9 and a half miles to Gayhurst today.

The road to Gayhurst was the worst we have encountered so far. It was very hilly, narrow and winding with blind corners. There was no pavement and so Emmanuel had to walk on the rough road. We also had to keep stopping for the cars and the cars had to sometimes stop for us as well.

Along the way today, Emmanuel had a upset stomach and he had to answer the call of nature by using the bushes! This is now truly a walk of suffering!

At the end of the walk, we went through Gayhurst, just to the otherside and the roads there appear to be a lot better.

After the walk today, we went to the Northampton Borough Council House to meet with Cllr Brian Markham, the Mayor of Northampton and his wife Cllr Irene Markham. We were very kindly welcomed by the them. They promised to support our campaign all the way. They asked if there was anything that they could do to support us. Emmanuel explained that arrangements were already being made to meet with the Prime Minister. They Mayor said that the media were supposed to come. Thankfully a reporter from the local paper The Herald and Post did come and took some pictures and information.

We would like to thank Kwasi for rescheduling his day and driving and co-ordinating us in and around Northampton.

We have now done 72 out of 125 miles.