Walking in the dark

The main reason I go on history walks is because I love history. But local history walks are also a way of getting a sense of place, of connecting with the streets and other spaces around my home. I also meet people on the walks I've met before, another way of being connected, of feeling part of a community.

Yesterday I went on a walk following the route of a Zepplin raid 99 years ago through Leyton and Leytonstone.

We started at 7 pm in the evening, due to finish at 9 pm. David Boote, our walk leader, times his walks and then times by three for the time he expects the led walk to take. Yesterday's walk took longer than expected,

We were expecting some people to leave early, especially as some people wouldn't manage the distance. So at 9.50 20 people had reduced to David and 3 followers, walking in the dark across Wanstead Flats. The ground was very uneven. I have problems going downwards when I can't see where I am placing my feet, so on the dips in the ground, David stopped so I could put my hand on his shoulder before I stepped down. We found one dip with reeds in, but luckily as I was wearing my work shoes, partly thanks to the quick draining surface of that part of the Flats, it was dry.

At the end of the walk one of my male companions praised me for coping without making a fuss. It would seem rather sexist, but, if he doesn't know hikers, etc, all the women he knows could easily be the type who couldn't cope with rough terrain in the dark.

I was brought up in the country so used to rough ground. And little light. The village I was brought up in had only 3 street lamps (according to my mother - I can remember only one). In winter I used to walk along an unlit, mile-long lane with my head in the air, following the light black of the sky against the dark black of the trees on top of the Cornish "hedges".

We then had a quick drink and caught the 58 bus home. A bus home at that time of night is one of the advantages of country living in the city!