Icy roads and pavements suggested a bicycle might not be such a good idea, so I decided to be a pedestrian today, grabbed my walking boots and set off for the woods surrounding Newbattle Abbey, where I knew there was about a dozen or so zones I’d yet to take.
Ten minutes’ walk brought me to the Sun Inn, a great place for a good Sunday lunch, where I joined Lady Lothian Walk to reach my first take of the morning, TheRedWoods (185 points), located at the foot of an old spoil heap, left over from Newbattle brickworks, now long gone and serving as a football field.
The path continues through Lady Lothian’s Plantation and across the B703 to a footpath running uphill beside Campbell Park, taking TheSouthPath (185 points) on the way. The path then turns left and heads off downhill, taking zones Mary and TheNorthPath, both with 185 points. Away from turfing for a second, I noticed a Nuthatch climbing down a tree head first. From there I walked downstream to the Maiden Bridge, taking zone SouthEsk (185 points), as I crossed.
Next I spend a good 45 minutes taking half a dozen zones in what would have once been in the manicured grounds and access roads to Newbattle Abbey, including BattleForrest, BattleAbbey, NewBattle, RecentBattle, OldBattle and AncientBattle, all awarding me 185 points each.
With my task for the morning now complete I headed back home and some lunch, happy with my achievements for the day. My points tally was now over 22,200 upping my rank to Rank 12 – Experienced Explorer, and I’d also added a pair of medals to the collection, 50 Unique and Greed-40.
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- Greed-40 – The greedy turfer who holds at least 40 zones at the same time is awarded this medal.
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- 50 Unique – This medal is worn by the turf-fellow who has grabbed at least fifty (50) different zones.
Copyright ©2020 Gary Buckham. All rights reserved.
