The waiting was finally over. The Moonwalk I’d trained so hard for had begun and I was off into the dark, Wind and rain in Battersea amid a sea of wet bra wearing women. We were women on a mission, not just to walk twenty six point two miles, fight tiredness, cold and the elements, but to raise money for breast cancer charities, it was going to be a long, long night and, as usual, I was walking alone even though I was surrounded by people.
11 May 2013
Not long after I crossed the start line, while the going was still very slow due to sheer numbers of walkers, I spotted the tale tell sign of sparse tufts of fluffy hair under a Moonwalk cap. The first of many cancer sufferers walking the walk with me. I may have already mentioned once or twice what a gruelling challenge a walking marathon is when undertaken at night. The efforts of someone suffering from the evil disease we were all trying so hard to wipe out made the rest of our sacrifices and sufferings pale into insignificance. I was in awe on many occasions that night, this was the first time.
After we’d walked under the arch of pink balloons and out of Battersea Power Station into the dark night we crossed Vauxhall Bridge and passed the mile one marker then along Grosvenor Road beside the Thames. The group was tightly packed but, probably because I’d joined the fast group, walking at a reasonable pace. When I looked out over the river at the lights reflected in the water the power station seemed to have a pink glow and I wondered if that was down to Walk The Walk or if it was always that colour at night. It looked quite beautiful to me. Further along By the mile two marker I could see the bright lights of Chelsea bridge through the trees and the river danced with their reflection.
Across the bright bridge we marched and onto Carriage Drive North where women, myself included, began to disappear into the undergrowth for the first time that night. Well, I hadn’t managed to fit in my toilet stop back in Moonwalk City after all. The mile three marker came into view at the same time as the lights of Albert Bridge. This bridge is one of the most striking in the capital, illuminated by more than four thousand bulbs. Built in 1873, it was originally a toll bridge But the tolls were lifted six years later, although the toll booths remain. Londoners call it The Trembling Lady because it vibrates when large numbers of people cross it together. There are signs saying ‘weak bridge’ which was a worry but I can’t say I noticed any trembling as the never ending stream of pink crossed.
The stream of Moonwalkers carried on along Royal Hospital Road, named for the Royal Hospital Chelsea which we passed. There’s a Gordon Ramsay restaurant along there somewhere but I didn’t notice it. I did however see a sign on a little gate saying Chelsea Physic Garden which piqued my interest. At home I looked it up and it’s the second oldest apothecarie’s garden in England, established in 1673. The list of rare and unusual plants is massive and I’d love to have stopped and visited. Of course it was night time and dark so even if I had time it would have been shut. The statues and friezes outside the National Army museum were interesting too but darkness meant I couldn’t take photos. With exhibits and information going back as far as 1066, this is another place I’d like to visit, preferably during the day with time on my hands. This was mile four.
On we walked into Lower Sloane Street then Kings Road, made famous in the 1960’s as the home of fashion. Mary Quant and Vivienne Westwood walked this road, Malcom Maclaren had a boutique there. Originally it was a private road for King Charles II to get to Kew, hence the name, it was also the first place in England to have a Starbucks. Starbucks was closed which was a pity, I could have done with a skinny latte right about then. The mile five marker came into view and I got my first snack out of the bum bag, a mini plastic bag filled with Minstrels.
The sweets lasted into Beaufort Street and part of the way along Fulham Road. Almost a mile of slowly sucking chocolate through crunchy shells. Towards the end of Fulham Road, just before it curved round into Brompton Road I saw the mile six marker, just twenty to go then. Along Knightsbridge Green into Knightsbridge and lots of shops I’d like to visit if only they were open and if only I was rich, this was the home of Harrods, Harvey Nicks, Jimmy Choo, Manolo Blahnik, Prada a veritable shoppers paradise. Kensington Road was mile seven, with Kensington Park to our right. The park was closed so no chance to nip into the bushes there.
Leaving the park behind we came to Kensington High Street and mile eight. This was another place I’d like to have stopped and shopped although it seems to have lost its sparkle a little since the old days of Biba. There was no stopping though and no shopping, we quickly turned off into Kensington Chruch Street, all closed restaurants and antique shops, then Notting Hill Gate, not that I had a clue where I was at the time. Notting Hill Gate used to be a toll road which is where the name came from and it is, thankfully, not a hill. The Notting Hill of film fame is further north.
Soon we were on Bayswater Road and the mile nine marker just before the Broad walk. I became a little obsessed with spotting those markers and counting down the miles. Mile nine, I worked out, marked a third of the walk. It says something about my state of mind that I was voluntarily doing mental arithmetic as I walked. Long walks during the day do at least have the advantage of interesting things to see. London may be a fascinating city but it’s hard to be fascinated in the dark and rain when you have no idea where you actually are. About then, I heard a couple gleefully saying it was nearly over and realised they must be Half Mooners, for me the other two thirds stretched ahead into the dark night.
We went round the other side of Kensington Gardens then Hyde park and mile ten. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one looking longingly into the locked parks at the tantalising glimpses of so many trees but none we could get to to wee behind. Perhaps the parks were locked because so many Moonwalkers have used them for rest stops in the past. There were toilets here but the queues were horrendously long and I remembered my twenty minute wait the first time so I carried on, hoping to spot somewhere soonish.
Bayswater road seemed to go on forever but eventually we turned into Cumberland Gate where I sat on a wall and opened my first chocolate milk. A woman was climbing over the spiked railings out of the park, helped by others. Those spikes looked a little dangerous to me but I understood why she’d taken the risk. Then it was Park Lane of Monopoly board fame, following the perimeter of the park.
On to Picadilly and the mile eleven marker at Hyde Park Corner then Knightsbridge again. most people were walking in groups or with friends, everywhere women were chatting and I caught little snatches of their conversations as I passed them or they passed me. One woman was telling another how she didn’t work because she had two Labradors she looked after, she walked them seven miles a day. All I could think was what an idyllic life she had, until she went on to say how much she loved ironing.
Now I saw I was in Sloane Street. The mile twelve marker was near Cadogan Gate. Then it was along to Sloane Square. The square looked so different in the dark I hardly registered where I was or that I was so close to Basia’s magical shop where I’d been enthralled on Thursday. Close enough I could almost touch it. Around here there were signs telling the Half Mooners to break off and I had to concentrate to make sure I went the right way with the Full Mooners.
The walkers thinned out as the group split and I found I could walk faster as Sloane Square changed imperceptibly to Cliveden Place, Eaton Gate, Eaton Square and Hobart Place. Round the corner into Grosvenor Place and past Buckingham Palace Gardens. It didn’t seem right to use the queens gardens as a toilet so I carried on. Half way along Grosvenor place WalkJogRun buzzed to tell me I’d walked thirteen miles, more or less half way although my buzzes and the mile signs were not quite in sync and it was a little while before I saw the marker.
The first Half Mooners had probably finished by this time and I thought of them celebrating and going home to their warm beds. As for me, I had more than three hours walking ahead of me and they wouldn’t be easy miles…