East End Girls on the Thames

June's walk saw the East End girls on another section of the Thames Path, this time from Tilehurst, west of Reading to Cholsey. It was a 12.5 mile route that had a mile trek to the station at the end.

This photo was taken at Pangbourne, from the bridge over the river - it was so still and peaceful. The bridge is a toll bridge but thankfully not to pedestrians.

We had our morning coffee in a lovely deli/coffee shop in the village.

I only noticed when I downloaded the photos, that this one tells a lot of the story so far. This was taken at Mapledurham Lock where we had a loo and refreshment break - vital to walkers wellbeing!

It has to be pointed out though that we did come from further than Central London. In fact rather than starting at the Thames Barrier, we began our quest at the Woolwich foot tunnel and have to date covered approx 103 miles of the 184 mile National Trail - http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/.

Our next section in July will see us pick up the trail at Cholsey and walk to Culham. We hope to have finished by the end of September although the 4 last sections will necessitate a long weekend as public transport is virtually non exsistent.

As usual we had the great walking weather we come to expect and great view and scenery to enjoy.

It was great to welcome Claire Chapman (on the right with Cajsa and Chris) on her first walk and hopefully it won't be her last. It was also good to have our local expert Lindsey, who was able to get us to just the right pub in Goring at lunch time, one we wouldn't necessarilly have found on our own. Thanks.

The chips were great and eating in the frest air is so good , as is knowing that you've earned these and are going to walk them off again after.

Whitchurch on Thames, on the other side of the bridge from Pangbourne, is very pretty. It has a beautiful church - here are the girls in the church yard.

The Thames Path, contrary to what you may believe is not all flat. On this walk, we left the water at Whitchurch on Thames, such a pretty place, and headed up and along a ridge where the path, at times, followed a roller coaster style.

Here's Lindsey, Cajsa and Teresa leading the way up to the ridge. Great to get a different view of the Thames from here, it's changed so much through the course of it's journey.

I wonder what we'll be doing once we finish this challenge.

Maggie's London Night Hike

If you missed out on getting into the Moonwalk, then you might want to try Maggie's London Night Hike. It's 20 as opposed to 26.3 miles long and easier to sign up for. No, I haven't done it but it looks fun and those bacon sannies at the finish line do tempt.

It's on September 18th and kicks off with a party. Sounds like a good night out. Grab a few friends, make up a team and go have some fun knowing you're doing it all for a very good cause. Find out more - http://tinyurl.com/ogp5dt

Story Of London Walking Weekend, London

Bringing London to life with over 150 walks, this weekend of meanders takes in 2,000 years of history, with Blue Badge Guides leading tours that can take you from the Romans to the 2012 Olympics.

It's a case of pick your subject or pick your area of the city, as you can choose between literature, feminism, architecture or medicine, with everywhere from Edmonton to Lambeth covered.

Transport enthusiasts may enjoy Trains, The Tube And Texts, while those with darker tastes can opt for Burnings, Beheadings and Bodysnatchers from St Paul's.

Some walks are being led in Russian, Polish and Japanese.

Find out more - london.gov.uk/storyoflondon

Walking the Petworth House 20 Mile Pink Ribbon Walk

Yes, I need you.

On June 27th, that's just three weeks away, I'm walking 20 miles in one of Breast Cancer Care's Pink Ribbon Walks. This is the first time I've done one of these and my team of 6, including me, have been training hard. We've done as many as 23 miles so we're all going to complete the walk and in the usual East End Girls Style.

We all love to walk and we're also passionate about using our walking talent to help others. We met when I ran training walks to train local women to do the 60K Aviva Breakthrough to Breast Cancer walk in 2006 and as a result of that formed a fabulous women only walking group. Now we walk once a month at least.

We've all had friends or family who have had this disease, some have survived, some haven't. I've seen a couple of female colleagues not even reach their 40th birthday, 2 children at my daughter's primary school left without a mum, and just over a year ago a close friend lost her battle against this disease which takes away too many wonderful women in the prime of their lives when they have so much to give. Happily, I've also seen wonderful women overcome it and bloom even more as a result of having to face their own mortality much earlier than expected.

I need you to sponsor me and help fund services and support, research and publicity so that this tragic loss of life can be prevented.

Just click on this link - http://www.justgiving.com/heatherwaring1 and follow the instructions.

Thanks so much

Heather