October 2020 Round Up

Zoe Turner4th November 2020

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Oh I love October. Full of birthdays, autumnal feels, and the start of so many things to look forward to. Halloween decorations have made their way into the house this year, and the shops are filling up for Christmas.
October 2020 Round Up.

Birthday Month

We started the month with Molly’s birthday. She was excited to spend the day with her friends and took the obligatory sweet tub into school! I cannot believe she is 7 already. Doesn’t time go quick! We managed to book a meal at the pub for a treat (our first one for months) and had birthday cake to celebrate. A simple birthday, but thoroughly effective.

Baslow Edge

Our first walk of the month took us to Baslow Edge. Guaranteed to see a Highland Coo and with views for days, Baslow Edge is a fantastic walk. We had fun with Maoams and rock hopped, climbed and splashed our way along the Peak Districts’ famous edge. You can read all about the walk here.

As the next week unfolded, Finley was not allowed to go to school as his year group has a positive case of Coronavirus. So he spent my birthday with me! We trotted off to Haughmond Abbey and went trig hunting around Haughmond Hill. Local to us, and with great history, I would recommend visiting. The Abbey is part of English Heritage, but is free to visit.

October Half Term

As half term approached, I set myself and the kids a challenge to walk 40 miles over the course of the week, to raise money for the Wildlife Trusts. It is their 40th anniversary this year, so the aim is to include the number 40 in any fundraising attempts. We also kept it local as we centered on the Wildlife Trust in Birmingham and Black Country. #WildWalkWeek

We started with a walk around Sutton Park. Details can be found here. A mahoosive open space in Birmingham, filled with wildlife, ponds, donkeys and cycle paths. We spent a good few hours getting lost and put 6 miles on our total to start the week.

Dad headed to work on Monday which left me and the kids to track on with our challenge. Day 2 was spent at Moseley Bog, sculpture hunting and trying to find Shrek hidden at the bottom of the bog!

Treasure Trails

Tuesday, we had Nan come with us for a local Treasure Trail around our city centre. I absolutely LOVE these trails and wish I could do one every week. I think they are superbly clever and will recommend them to anybody who will listen! We walked 9.5 miles, from our front door and back, discovering new things about our town that we wouldn’t have usually.

Wednesday was quieter as Molly had a short notice hospital appointment in the morning. She had her nose cauterised due to daily nose bleeds, so we took it easy. In the afternoon the kids took their bikes over the bike park and enjoyed scaling the ramps. Their confidence is building tremendously!

Halloween is approaching and on Friday we looked forward to carving pumpkins. During the morning, the kids and I headed over to Smestow Valley Nature reserve and clocked another 5 miles along the canal. The walk is very straight, so there and back, but also very well maintained. Perfect for riding bikes on. At home we destroyed..I mean carved.. our pumpkins and prepared for a fun Halloween party.

Halloween!

We virtually accompanied a fellow champ on a 5k with costumes and face paint. My mom came along again and was a very good sport in her banana costume! A windy and wet walk around Chasewater totted up another 5 miles to our total. Halloween tea was fingers in buns, brains in a bowl and monster blob cupcakes!
We played ‘Pin the smile on the pumpkin’, bobbed for apples and danced to Halloween tunes! It was scarily good!

End Of The Challenge

We finished off our 40 mile challenge on Sunday 1st November with a 10 mile bike ride around Draycote Water. I am very impressed with this location for bike riding. The loop around the reservoir is 5 miles, so we did it twice! Perfect for kids on their bikes, with large pathways and great to watch the wildlife on the water.