Barefoot Walk to London
On the 16th June 2008, Emmanuel started a barefoot walk from the Derby to London
in a bid to raise awareness of the the Derby for Africa Initiative and it's
aims. (Read about the background here)
He started at the Derby Council House joined by a mass of supporters, media and
on-lookers.
The former Mayor of the City of Derby, Cllr. Pauline Latham OBE was also present
and gave a speech highlighting the need to raise awareness of Derby for Africa
campaign. Two other walkers, Khumbula and Tafi were also present to give
support along the 125 miles to London.
As they set off others took off their shoes and joined them on the first mile
through the city centre, amongst them the Major.
Planning the Route
The route from Derby to London was organised to run over 17 consecautive days.
It was broken down into four stages - each stage comprising of three walking days and one rest day.
The final day will reserved for the the final leg to 10 Downing Street.
A "day co-ordinator" was assigned to each day ....
The stages as planned prior to the walk are summarised below:
Stage 1: Derby to Leicester
Day 1: Derby to Melbourne - 8.5 miles
Start at Market Place, Derby through Corn Market, Victoria Street, Saint Peter's Street, Osmaston Road (A514), Alvaston,
Chellaston, cross A50, A514, Melbourne.
Day 2: Melbourne to Coalville - 8.7 miles
Leave Melbourne, cross A42, Melbourne Road, Gelsmoor Road, Zion Hill, St George's Hill, Swannington.
Spring Lane, Thornborough Road, Coalville
Day 3: Coalville to Leicester - 13.6 miles
Leave Coalville on London Road, A511, A50 to Groby.
Leave Groby along A50 to Leicester.
Day 4: Rest day in Leicester.
Stage 2: Leicester to Northampton
Day 5: Leicester to Husbands Bosworth - 13.9 miles
Leave Leicester on Welford Road (A594 and A5199) through Oadby, Amesby, Knaptoft to Husbands Bosworth.
Day 6: Husbands Bosworth to Spratton - 10.8 miles
Follow the A5199 through Welford, Thornby, Creation to Spratton.
Day 7: Spratton to Northampton - 7.3 miles
Spratton through Chapel Brampton to Northampton.
Day 8: Rest day in Northampton
Stage 3: Northampton to Dunstable
Day 9: Northampton to Gayhurst - 12.0 miles
Leave Northampton on A508 (London Road), cross A45 onto B526 (Newport Pagnell Road).
Hackleton, Horton, Stoke Goldingham arriving at Gayhurst
Day 10: Gayhurst to Woburn - 12.0 miles
Leave Gayhurst through Lathbury, Newport Pagnell, A509/London Road, cross M1, A5130, Woburn Sands, Ashley Heath, Woburn
Day 11: Woburn to Dunstable - 8.6 miles
Leave Woburn on A4012/Bedford Street through Hockliffe, take A5 to Dunstable
Day 12: Rest day somewhere near Dunstable
Stage 4: Dunstable to Elstree
Day 13: Dunstable to Redbourn - 10.1 miles
Dunstable and towards Kensworth, through Markyate to Redbourn. (Route avoids the A5).
Day 14: Redbourn to St Albans - 4.2 miles
Via Redbourn Road
Day 15: St Albans to Elstree - 8.0 miles
Via A5183
Day 16: Rest day somewhere near Elstree
Final Leg: Elstree to 10 Downing Street
Acutal Route
The table below summarises additional information about the actual walk.
Photos were taken largely by the day co-ordinators and can be seen using the
Photos icon: 
.
Khumbula Dube (who walked the journey with Emmanuel) kept a diary of events of the day.
The diary entries were then relayed to Chris Walsh over the phone and who wrote
them up into a blog. Select the Blog icon
to view each entry.
The Map icons 
link to a map of the actual route taken along with the
start and end points of each day. In general the walkers were able to exceed the planned
end point, allowing for more flexibility on rest days etc. and meeting up with
groups en route. Green text indicates a change to the plan during the walk due to unforseen circumstances.
| Date |
Day |
Co-ordinator |
Accomodation |
Photos |
Blog |
Map |
| Mon 16th June |
1 |
walk |
Phil |
Derby |
|
|
|
| Tue 17th |
2 |
walk |
Valerie |
Derby |
|
|
|
| Wed 18th |
3 |
walk |
David |
Derby |
|
|
|
| Thu 19th |
4 |
rest |
Priya |
Derby |
|
|
|
| Fri 20th |
5 |
walk |
Phil |
Derby |
|
|
|
| Sat 21st |
6 |
walk |
Peter |
Derby |
|
|
|
| Sun 22nd |
7 |
walk |
Edwin |
Derby |
|
|
|
| Mon 23rd |
8 |
walk |
Kwasi |
Derby |
|
|
|
| Tue 24th |
9 |
rest |
N/A |
Derby |
|
|
|
| Wed 25th |
10 |
walk |
Lawrence |
St Albans |
|
|
|
| Thu 26th |
11 |
walk |
Chris H |
St Albans |
|
|
|
| Fri 27th |
12 |
walk |
Chris H |
St Albans |
|
|
|
| Sat 28th |
13 |
rest |
N/A |
St Albans |
|
|
|
| Sun 29th |
14 |
rest |
Geoff |
St Albans |
|
|
|
| Mon 30th |
15 |
walk |
Geoff |
St Albans |
|
|
|
| Tue 1st July |
16 |
rest |
--- |
St Albans |
|
|
|
| Wed 2nd |
17 |
end |
Phil |
N/A |
|
|
|
Other Links
 |
Walk to London Blog |
 |
Photos of walk |
 |
ITV Central Interview |
 |
BBC Interview |
|
|