Andy’s Hikes

  For those of you that don’t know, Imber was a small village in the middle of Salisbury Plain, until 1943 when the occupants were ordered to leave so that the village could be used for military training. It is still part of the Salisbury Plain Training Area and is strictly off limits to the civilian population, save for a few days per year, August bank holiday weekend being one of them.  I decided to walk to Imber from Heytesbury and after a mile or so, came to the checkpoint.  As the range was open, the post was unoccupied. It was a lovely peaceful walk to Imber, with only half a dozen cars passing me by in the two hours or so it took to reach the village.  I was quite surprised at how many people who had made the effort to come Imber (albeit by car). The church was particularly busy! There is not much left of the ‘old village’. This building used to be the pub.  I’m followed the road towards Warminster and made the steady climb up to the highest point (210m) ...

 Hi thanks for visiting my blog. For those of you who don’t know me personally, I am a 50 something year old man. For many years I have been overweight and borderline obese. I like a pint or too (many) of beer and slobbing out in front of the telly. My idea of exercise was to run a bath!  Earlier on this year, I decided I must change my ways, so went on a diet (lowish carb and mostly unprocessed foods). So far I have lost 35lbs (16kg) which I am delighted about. I have got a tiny bit fitter, by using an exercise bike, which I could do whilst watching tv! However, now I want to push myself a bit more.  Running has never really been my thing. I have tried many times to get ‘into’ running, but it just doesn’t float my boat. I have considered cycling, but you really don’t want to see me in lycra!  I have always quite enjoyed going for a walk, so why not up the ante a bit? I would consider myself to be an experienced walker, because I have been doing it ever since I learn...