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BB2619 : Sauntering?
Wednesday
10th June 2026
Whilst
doing some research for today's adventure,
I was taken by surprise when Uncle Google decided to put the following
on my screen:`
That
was John Muir talking. Born in Scotland
in 1838,
he emigrated to the USA where he became
recognised as a naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist, and early advocate for the preservation of wilderness in the United States.
But not necessarily an etymologist
as the Sainte Terre story is not widely
accepted. It seems that it was propagated
by the same Samuel Johnson whom we encountered
on BB2618
: Capital
Reminiscences
Neither
hike nor saunter was in our minds when we
met at the Hare & Hounds at Levens.
The weather forecast had gone off
and heavy rain was confidently forecast
for the morning, light rain in the afternoon.
So it was with a degree of frustration
(but only a degree) as we got stuck into
our gammon, egg, chips and ale to agree
that actually it hadn't rained and we could
have gone walking. Or hiking. Or
even sauntering.
Lunch
finished, Tony, Martin, Stephen and Robin
all made their excuses to depart leaving
Robert and I to uphold the ethos of the
BOOTboys.
The threatened rain still hadn't made
an appearance and didn't look as if it would
so we set off for what was definitely more
like a saunter than a hike.
Robert
took me up a farm track that I had never
previously walked, hiked or sauntered. It
led over the A591 down to Low Levens Farm
with its ancient farmhouse .....
.....
and Nissen Hut outbuildings.
Not
much further on was a bridge over a dyke
where Mr and Mrs Swan were looking after
their very healthy looking brood.
At
the end of the road is what used to be called
Low Sampool caravan site but its name has
been changed to Lakesway Holiday Home & Lodge Park.
I was curious so, as we were now firmly
in saunter mode, there was no reason not
to have a nosey around. Judging by
the smart state of the site, with all the
caravans looking very new, this must have
been a fairly recent acquisition and redevelopment.
It
also has a pub about which I was totally
unaware though somehow I doubt if it will
be one of our regular haunts.
Site
saunter completed, we strolled the track
that leads to the A591.....
.....
took our lives in our hands as we crossed
over then enjoyed a relaxed wander, passing
the field growing the fairground crop.....
.....
and back to the car which fortunately was
still outside the pub.
So
was that a saunter? It was only part
way through my research that I remembered
John Self and his website entitled Saunterings.
John seems to regard the title as
having become somewhat inappropriate as
few of his walks are what he really considers
to have been saunters, being less aimless
than he originally expected. However
he continues to publish reports regularly
under that name. The nature of his reports
is different to the general "we did
this / we did that" sort of blog. Here
is what he has to say:
In Saunterings I will give few details of my walks. The walk is not the point. I rarely go for a walk just for a walk, or for the scenery, or for exercise. I go because I have some topic, issue, angle, aspect, theme, subject or concern that I want to look into. The walk provides a context or a framework for discussing whatever is on my mind. I want, if possible, to learn something while preparing for the walk, during the walk itself, and in reflecting on the walk later.
Click
on his rainbow banner above if you have
never dipped into Saunterings, I thoroughly
recommend it.
Now
for the BIG
NEWS. I
don't know if John is aware (he probably
is; as you will have gathered, he is a learned
chap) but June 19th is World Sauntering
Day.
Click
on the picture below to discover more.
So
now you know. I was going to say "Make
your plans for it," but John Muir might
have retorted along the lines of "If
you had too much of a plan it wouldn't be
a saunter, would it?"
Don,
Wednesday 10th June 2026
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