Climbing the walls: Discovering a pleasant land close to home
William Blake once wrote of England’s green and pleasant land in a poem that commonly became known as the hymn Jerusalem sung by our sports fans across the world.
And I have been reacquainting myself with this during lockdown – making full use of my one piece of outdoor exercise each day to remind myself just how green and pleasant our land is, while standing at least two metres from everyone else, of course.
Whether you are in the heart of a city or in a tiny village in Staffordshire or Shropshire, you are never very far from the landscapes that make up thousands of beautiful paintings.
And that has given me the motivation to make the most of my minimal freedom during this time.
While I would often head for the parks, the hills, our waterways or the coast for a decent walk in the fresh air, it has been refreshing to discover just how much there is on my own doorstep.
Whether or not I am going slightly delirious being cooped up indoors is out for debate, but every plant in every garden I walk past and every clear view over a field has taken on a life of its own, revealing a beauty that was there all along, but one I have been guilty of looking past in favour of climbing The Wrekin or heading down the M5 to Weston-super-Mare.
It has also given me an excuse not to push myself too hard.
Rather than a run, it is a brisk walk I am opting for – working up a sweat but making sure I enjoy every minute, taking everything in.
Maybe as the days and weeks go on, and assuming my fitness improves, I can take everything in while running.
The small amount of spontaneity it has given me has also been a blessed relief from the stringent measures in place.
Will I turn left out the front door? Will I turn right? Will I cross this road or explore this side street? It’s been fun feeling free for an hour.
And so to my first weigh-in, one week on from looking over my gut and gasping at the sheer horror of it reading bang on 18 stone.
Well, considering my biscuit intake remains too high, I was overjoyed with 17st 12lb. A 2lb loss in week one, despite little change in eating habits, shows the impact daily PE with Joe Wicks is having, as well as my extra activities – more of which I will bring you next time.
I want to hear and see what you are up to sporting-wise during lockdown – the good and the bad – so email your pictures and videos to derek.bish@expressandstar.co.uk or contact me on Twitter @DerekBish_Star. I will include the best ones in this column and retweet plenty of ideas that everyone can get involved with.
