It is now several weeks since the walk came to its conclusion. It has left some wonderful memories and we have a great sense of achievement. I am incredibly grateful to all those who helped and supported us. So far the money raised is as follows:

A ten thousand pound legacy was given and is tied into providing equipment for The Bishop's School such as science equipment. This money has already been sent and received. We are going to be given accountability about how precisely this money is being used.

A twenty thousand pound gift has also been given and is waiting to be sent.

So far five thousand and five hundred pounds has been received from those who have sponsored the walk. Money is still being received and should amount to at least six thousand.

There is the possibility of a bucket collection at Norwich City FC next season.

June and I are being sent by our Church to Uganda in May in order to ensure that the money raised goes to where it is designed to go. This will give us a chance to meet the staff and governors of the Bishop's School, take photographs and generally get the work moving. When we return with the team in August we hope to report good progress.

Jeremy Summerell, Martin Muir, Canon Richard Darmody and Alan Howard with Delia Smith

Arrival

Arrival at Carrow Road, left to right Alan Howard, Richard Darmody, Martin Muir and Jeremy Summerell

Days 5 and 6(Friday and Saturday 5th-6th March): Wymondham to Carrow Road. The final push to Norwich put a spring in the heels of the four walkers who began in Ely, and now the end was in sight. After another All English Breakfast we set out. The way was mainly footpath and so the pace was a cracking one. At Kett's Oak, which is a tree transported from the site of the 16th peasant's uprising we met two young soldiers who were walking from John o Groat's to Lands End, which put our small offering into perspective. However, nothing could take away the sense of accomplishment as we passed Hetherset and soon the suburbs of Norwich came into sight. We had arrived. At the end of the 70 mile walk we enjoyed some comfort at the Annesley Hotel; a long soak in the bath, a cup of tea and a chat in the lounge brought a feeling of well being. There was opportunity for sightseeing in the afternoon and a meal with each other and David Armes in the evening. There was a sense of happy satisfaction.

Saturday. Breakfast as late as 9am felt a luxury. June who had had a much earlier start from home caught an early train and arrived while we were still at breakfast. We all set off at 10.15 for Carrow Road on our shortest leg of the journey. We stopped for a while at Alan's mother's house as I had done as a child, she is now 96years old. She remembered me as "the little blonde boy from the bottom of Ketts Hill."

At Carrow Road we were shown into The Gunn Room and before long Delia Smith arrived with husband Michael. Delia was charm itself and very generous with her time. Together with the Club Photographer she took us onto the sacred turf of Carrow Road and our photograph was taken with Delia. She also said that the Club would take an interest in our work with Ugandan children, something which brought joy to our hearts. She suggested we might bring willing hands and buckets to collect at the ground. She also showed an interest in the Club supporting this as a charitable project. After Delia had signed our memorabilia we took a table next to hers for a three course meal and a bottle of white wine, all on the house. Later we were introduced to the members of the Gunn Room and given an ovation. The scoreline of Norwich 3 Yeovil 0 felt the perfect end to a perfect day.

Donations: we have completed this walk for the children of Uganda and in particular to provide a school in S W Uganda which will improve the lot of its impoverished young people.If you wish to contribute send a cheque made out to 'St Thomas a Becket PCC' and mark it, for the 'Walk for Uganda.' Send it to me, Canon Richard Darmody, 16, Hollow Lane, Ramsey, Cambs, PE26 1 DE.

This Blog: I will keep this blog going to show how the money people have donated is used-keep reading it!

Day Four (Thursday 4th March): Larling to Wymondham.
Once again the day broke fair, with Spring sunshine if cold air. We were joined today by David Stokes and John Oram. Soon after setting out my mobile phone rang. It was to tell us that a dear friend and parishoner Felicity Littledyke had died following a courageous fight. As Felicity was known to most walkers we stood and held a moments silence and then I led a short prayer. In the knowledge that Felicity was very supportive we decided to press on with the day's walk.

The Norfolk countryside was just as John Betjamin would have described. We walked the country lanes which are distinctive of this area with their gently underlating fields and the occasional copse of trees surrounding a medieval Church, like the one we passed at Rockland St Mary's. We rested on the village green when we got to Great Elligham; eating the enormous Scotch Eggs or giant sausage rolls (I personally couldn't master both!).

For David Stokes, a Fenland farmer, today was a busman's holiday. He entertained us with informative comments about the crops and conditions. For example he entered a field to collect a sugar beet, cut it open with his pen knife and shared out its sweet contents.

The afternoon meant the long walk through Morley and other villages to Wymondham. There had been a lot of road work today and so the sight of the beautiful Abbey with it's ruin beside it's functioning Church building was a welcome beacon.

Donations

This morning Radio Cambridgeshire asked how people may donate to this appeal for the school in Uganda. We are grateful for the enormous generousity shown so far. We have received donations from people in all walks of life and would encourage you to
join them in this act of love and support for those in need and to help the future development of rural Uganda. Thank you.

Cheques may be made payable to:
ST. THOMAS a BECKET. PCC (Uganda Appeal)

Please send to:
CANON R. DARMODY
THE RECTORY, 16 HOLLOW LANE, RAMSEY, CAMBS. PE26 1DE

Day Three: Brandon to Larling (Norfolk).
And then we were four. Our day walkers had left us in Brandon the night before and today it was the four of us who were walking the whole way to Norwich who were on our own; Jeremy, Alan, Martin and myself. The day started mild as the milky sun was just about detectable. This was to prove something of a delusion as a biting east wind got up and blew in our faces. Walking through Thetford Forest was a welcome change from the previous day. Now with sand and pine needles beneath our feet we had a natural carpet to walk on. We chatted about our favourite films and actors (not to mention actresses!)and the funny lines we remembered from John Cleese in Clockwise and Monty Python (I had exhausted Fawlty Towers the previous night at the Otel). After Santon Downham our attention was drawn to some speckled lambs with a ram and older sheep which gave us reason to get the camera's clicking.

We were like ecstatic school boys when June turned up in the car with our lunch. By then we felt cold and hungry. Fortified by our snack we set off at some pace, walking single file along a minor road, past Army Camps and Chicken Farms to Great Hockham where we will start again tomorrow. The Angel Pub at Larling with it's wood fire was a welcome place to rest our weary limbs and prepare for the last two days.

Day Two: Sedge Fen Baptist Church to Brandon.
The weather once again was sunny after a frosty night. As we left Sedge Fen US fighter planes screeched across the sky, first one then another and then occasionally in twos or threes. We were reminded of how close we were to Lakenheath and Mildenhall, and reminded of the realites of the world. After several miles of walking we entered the more tranquil world of sedge and marshland, across a railway line and onto the edge of Lakenheath RSPB reserve. The area was sedge and expanded water due to recent rain. As we walked along a raised bank we were treated to the sight of the bird life, and now the more attractive sounds of these beautiful species for a time replaced the sound of planes. A Cormorant perched on a bare branch, a Barn Owl surprised us as it left it's secluded tree to take to flight, a little further and two Cranes took to clumsy then elegant flight from the heart of their reedy hide, and all the while the sound of Coots and the sight of Swans delighted us while Marsh Harriers flew overhead.

After a stop for lunch we met a lady passing by who's sister, now in Canada, had done her VSO in Uganda, what a small world.

The afternoon saw us leave the wonders of the nature reserve and head towards Brandon. The watery landscape was replaced by Breckland as a group of tiring ramblers followed a path through some the trees. Three full grown deers ran across the field to give us a brief glimpse of their athleticism as our legs became rather heavy.

Eventually Brandon Church came into view and what we thought was an shorter day's walking turned out to feel at least twice that distance.

Our thanks must go to Derek and Naomi especially who were our patient back up team, having to wait for us as we enjoyed the scenery. Jeremy, Alan, Martin and yours truly were glad of the comfort of the "Brandon Otel" and a good night's sleep.

How to Give to the School We're Building in Uganda.
Radio Norfolk and Radio Cambridgeshire both asked how people can give for the buiding of this school in Uganda. Send a cheque marked 'Walk for Uganda' and make it payable to 'St Thomas a Becket PCC.' The money is not for the Church but is being handled by the Church so that we can get Gift Aid Relief. I can assure you that every penny given will get to where it is needed in Uganda.

Thank you for your interest.

Canon Richard Darmody

The Walk: Day One. With nervous excitement about fifteen of us met outside Ely Cathedral for the send off on day one of our walk from Ely to Carrow Road, Norwich, a trip of 70 miles. The day was such a contrast to yesterday, weather-wise. The pouring rain had ceased and the morning broke crisp but clear. It was the first sunshine for many days. It couldn't have been better.

I did a live interview with Radio Cambridgeshire on my mobile phone. Then we gathered at the west door of the Cathedral for a short service. We sang a verse of Cwm Rhondda on this St David's day and then Bishop David led prayers. We stopped for a photo-shoot and then set off. The Bishop, son Daniel and Granddaughter Eden saw us to the edge of Ely. June and Hannah Reed came a little further, then the rest of us set off along the river to Prickwillow. Swans and geese swam beside us. Our path was muddy but the sun was now warm and cheering. How liberating it felt on a Monday morning to be in the bracing air, in good company and walking for a good cause.

We followed the Hereward Way to Prickwillow, past the old pumping house, now a museum, and paused for a snack. Before long we were making our way along the bank to Shippea Hill. Our vantage point from the bank opened up a vista across the flat fields of the fenland, pitch black and fertile against an enormous sky. Suddenly my mobile phone rang, it was Radio Norfolk asking to do an interview. It felt a surreal request in the middle of this remote fenland landscape.

Shippea Hill Station Car Park was our place for a welcome lunch supplied by Jim and June, our back up team. The station is still operative and trains whisked past en route to Cambridge or the Midlands.

It was a relativley short afternoon's walk, following the contour of the railway line to Sedge Fen Baptist Church. Our first day had come to an end, twelve miles had been accomplished and all felt a warm satisfaction, and the odd twinge here and there.

In a few days the walk will begin. It seems impossible that a mad idea in October has produced this reality. Not only so but we now have at least 15 people doing parts of the walk; four of us walking the whole way to Norwich. We have a Bishop and a famous TV Chef on board. We have people providing back up, taking shifts ferrying people to pick up points, bringing us food and generally being on stand by. We have old friends participating in an activity after not meeeting until recently for nearly forty years. We have new friendships forming. I wonder how these might be tested over the course of the week?

Day one will see us setting off from the historic Ely Cathedral towards Farthing Drove; 12.1 miles. We will be ferried home the first night. Day Two; back to Farthing Drove and head for Brandon where we will stay the night at a B&B. Day Three we will cross Thetford Forest and end up at Larling and stay at The Angel Pub. Day Four we will make for Wymondham before setting out for Norwich on day five. We will stay at the Annesley Hotel on Friday night. We are eating at the Annesley with some friends and family. We will all walk to Carrow Road for our date with Delia at 12.15pm.

Work has been so hectic of late that preparation has gone out of the window, but sights have been set and there's now no turning back. "Listen to this " said June as she read me an article tonight "there are these blokes in their 50s walking 900 miles for charity! Let's not go there! (Yet?).

Encouragement must be the operative word. Tonight June and I visited Ramsey Scouts. They based their Global Awareness Badge on our work with Uganda. The young people found out about the practical care done within the North Kigezi Diocese. Then they held a cake stall at St Thomas a Becket Church and earned £70.70 for our Uganda Fund. We were able to attend their group meeting and receive the cheque and present their badges after showing pictures of the school project in Uganda.

Another encouragement today was a phone call from the Bishop of Norwich's Office. I wrote to him as a matter of courtesy to say I would be walking for Uganda within his Diocese in March. He sent his best wishes and promised to send a small cheque as a token of his support. This is a kind response and it lifts the spirits.

On another note, we were very saddened to hear today about the premature death of a dear friend in Uganda John Muhumuza who is the Diocesan Secretary of the North Kigezi Diocese. The last time we saw John he had a shining, smiling face. We were looking forward to seeing him in August, it is hard to realize he won't be there. Our love and prayers are for his wife, Jolly, and their children. "Forever with the Lord."

The first breath of Spring. June and I walked to Upwood today. What a contrast to a couple of weeks ago when we battled the elements and felt the cold as we walked. Today it must have been about eight degrees, the sun shone and the gentle breeze was a promise of spring. Of course next week might prove me a liar. We paused for a light pub lunch before the return journey.

This week there has been a sense of momentum. There was a meeting earlier in the week with members of the PCC to discuss how money raised already should be given to Uganda. We took advice from a Bishop who has had dealings with Uganda. We felt it important to raise funds independent of sponsorship money to send someone to Uganda to visit the school site, to discuss plans with the people on the ground and to find out first hand the time schedule. We will then release money in stages as schedules are met.

There has also been a lot of good will shown by members of the public who are willing to give their financial support. Alan Howard is also proposing a route to Norwich which looks very sensible and manageable. The first day's walk of 12.1 miles to Farthing Drove is the farthest, the other days are in the region of 11 miles. This will be an encouragement not least to those who can walk with us for a day or even two.

I have just noticed that Captain David Waters our Diocesan Youth Officer has signed up as a follower. It's great to have you on board David!

Welcome to Val Robson and Jim Hewison as followers. Val has very kindly given the walk some generous space on the Diocese of Ely's News Website and our piece has gone out live this week. Jim is a valued member of St Thomas a Becket Church and a former Church Warden.

This has been an exciting week as Delia Smith has come good and agreed to welcome the walkers at Carrow Road on 6th March. There has also been a sense that we are entering the final phase of preparation. Jeremy Summerell (Ramsey) and Alan Howard (Norwich) who as yet have never met but are walking together, have volunteered to work on the exact route from different ends and look into where we can stay en route. If I had been a details man all this would have been sorted out months ago. The good thing is that we are a team with different gifts and we will each play our respective part. I can think of nothing worse than someone like me giving the team a briefing with no space for anybody else to participate. Like the Church we can be a body with different functioning parts but working for the common good.

I went to the gym this morning to review my programme,. The instructor increased the exercises with more of an emphasis on endurance. The bad news is someone said "why are you doing this for Uganda, isn't it one of the richest countries in Africa?" The answer is a resounding no, it's extremely poor. Once I told him about the low average life expectancy, the plight of the orphans, the prevalence of HIV/Aids, malaria, breathing related illnesses to name but a few, he got my point. This is not even to mention the growth of child sacrifice, corruption and some very basic schools. We need to get the message out there that the poor are indeed with us.

It was typical Fenland. The day was grey and cold. There was a mist hanging in the air, the damp was penetrating. The black soil stretched to the flat horizon and we were off on our first reconnoitre. Jeremy Summerell and I walked from Ely to find our way along our first stretch of the Hereward Way in preparation for the real thing on 1st March. With a good map in hand and plenty of warm clothes we walked to the Ely Marina and discovered the track along the river in the direction of Queen Adelaide. The pathway was wet and muddy making the going sticky. Once we reached the old Sugar Beet factory we crossed a rather flimsy looking bridge and onto another section of the Way. This leg brought home the fenness of where we were. There was a hint of madness about tramping along a deserted black field. The sight of llamas running in the distance seemed to confirm it,an apparition or what?

Later in this black wilderness the heaviness of the soil on our boots made progress slow as we searched for another bridge across a drain. Well hidden and even more flimsy than the last bridge, some strange little red structure led us across and onto the other side. After a short while we arrived in Prickwillow where we had parked the second car. Why does a cheese sandwich and a hot cup of coffee taste so wonderful after a trek in the cold and damp? The packet of salt and vinegar crisps might have been off a platter from the Savoy.

Much of the rest of the trip was completed in the car as we traced the route for our first day's walk. Shippea Hill and Sedge Fen, only 30 miles from home, were as strange as if we had been in the American Mid-West. We arrived in Lakenheath, a strangely small town for a home for the military might of the USA. It was hard to realise that the strike on Libya in the 80s was launched from here, and the security of the western world is tied up with this little place.

Delia says yes! I was very excited yesterday to get an email from Delia Smith's PA to say Delia will meet us at Carrow Road on Saturday 6th March. I was asked to ring today to talk through the details for that meeting. Not only has Delia agreed to be photographed with us, she will provide a Norwich City Club photographer and she has invited us to have a meal in the Gunn Club and provided four free tickets for the match, Norwich versus Yeovil.

It seems a long way since those notes back in October when I mused in my first blog about getting Delia Smith on board! Her involvement raises the profile and I'm hoping it will unlock the door for further publicity. However, I want to record my gratitude for her generosity. I am also grateful to Lord Mawhinney, Chairman of the Football League, for helping to obtain Delia's support. A great deal of her time has been spent making a series for the BBC 'Delia through the Decades' so without his influence I don't think we would have succeeded.

Of course, the terrible situation in Haiti must be uppermost in our minds at the moment. However, when the emergency there is over and the TV cameras have gone home there will still be the need for hospitals and schools to be built. This encourages me to think that the ordinary work of helping local communities continues to have high priority.

We have already been able to send (electronically) ten thousand pounds for the Bishop's School in Uganda. We are able to verify that the money has arrived at Barclay's Bank in Kampala. I have spoken by phone to Bishop Edward Muhima to notify him that the money has been sent. He lives seven hours drive away from the bank and so his visits there can only be occasional. This money is tied to providing much needed equipment for the school.

We are now ready to send twenty thousand pounds to the same bank in Kampala. This money will enable the dormitory of the school to be built. Our Church Warden in Ramsey, Jo Latter, has volunteered to travel to Uganda after 12th February at his own expense, Jo is a retired Solicitor. He will visit the Bishop, the school and get an update about how work on the school is progressing. Then in August a party of six, incuding me, will again visit the school and get another update. We are expecting building materials to be brought from Kenya and Kampala. I understand that as long as the money is there materials should not be too long getting to the site.

The new target is fifty thousand pounds, an amount which can provide significant help to the school and the pupils. Sponsor forms are now printed and it will be possible to Gift Aid any gifts. As several people are now walking with me to Norwich it is hoped that a generous sum will be collected.

Today we got our first publicity in a newspaper. The Hunts Post carried a piece under the Community heading. It was a good photograph in colour of myself and June wearing 'Walk for Uganda' tee-shirts leading a conga with Sharon Pollard, Martin Muir and Jeremy Summerell following on. Jeremy was wearing his Norwich City scarf.St Thomas a Becket Church building was in the background. The article by Angela Singer was well written. She mentioned the purpose of the walk but included salient information about those of us going to Uganda in the summer, the fact that June and myself had met the Ugandan President in London and that our local MP Shailesh Vara was giving us his support. I was also pleased that my old mate Alan Howard was mentioned in the article even though he couldn't be in the photograph. Alan, a Norfolk business man, is coming to Uganda with us, and is walking the Ely to Norwich route in March.

The fact that it's the new year and our walk is out there in the public domain means that we are getting our sponsorship forms out. Each person walking will have their own forms to use so we can get wide spread support. I know, for instance, that David Stokes who is a farmer and walking part of the route will get support from the farming community. If anyone else wants to walk even a short way, as Tom Palmer is doing (Tom is in his seventies) please get in touch with me.

It's great to welcome Sharon Palmer as a a follower (it would be good if others too clicked on to become a follower of the blog). I am also grateful to Bishop David Thomson for giving us some further mention in his own blog.

I read in the newspaper today about a prospective MP who decided to walk through the communities of his constituency. He said it gave him a better sense of what those towns and villages were really like. Perhaps I should do the same in my three parishes!

Is there a spiritual something about walking? It requires a slowing down, it provides space, time to observe, to think, pray if we pray or simply to meditate. We need n't think that the world without cars, trains and spacecraft is somehow more spiritual than our own, although it is certainly greener. Yet there is something counter cultural about walking when we walk for a purpose. It doesn't necessarily make the walker a better person, but the combination of slowing our world down and having a worthy aim can be enriching. At one level it gives us time for the people we meet in a world where there is little meaningful encounter. At another level it is an apparently gentle activity which can galvanize and produce companions in a cause. Think of Ghandi walking through India or Martin Luther-King at Selma.

In my own case, as well as raising money for needy children, giving travelling companions and better fitness this exercise has had a mysterious influence on my inner self.

Happy New Year to everyone. It was good for me to get out for a gentle walk today after the relative inactivity of the past few days. I say relative because I have been to the gym twice since Christmas and I had four sevices the Sunday after Christmas. Yet today felt like a new start in a year when I hope our walk to Carrow Road might raise 50 thousand pounds.

It was lovely taking a solitary walk in the direction of Ramsey Marina which is so tucked away and surprising with its Narrow Boats nestling amongst the banks surrounded by acres of flat fen farmland. The day was very cold (-0.5) but the sun was shining from a clear ice blue sky. I had plenty to think about as I walked. I was reminded again of Bishop Cottrell's words about the work I do not being conducive to frenetic activity and about the dangers of trying to dance to everyone's tune in the interests of popularity. This job requires its leaders to be a still centre in a frantic world. I suspect that excellent advice might apply to lots of other people too from very different walks of life. So I sat on a bench and watched a young swan swim beside the boats. One boat with smoke rising from its funnel was called 'ItsGoodEnoughForMe.' That said it all, how the simple can be the most satisfying. I sat wondering what had brought this boat owner to live in such an isolated Fenland refuge.

There is a sense that with the dawning of 2010 comes some serious walking, reconnoitre-ing and hard graft as the 1st March doesn't now seem quite so far away!