It was a hard choice, to abandon or continue. I came up with a plan. I was going to walk the final leg in my Birkenstock sandals, with socks to remain fashionable obviously. I used the last of my plasters, and delicately fed my foot into the thickest sock I had. I then tested my new setup as I went down to my sixth full English breakfast. I could start feeling the health benefits, not on my blisters, but the cleansing affect of regular fried food on my skin and complexion. It was hard to face the fact I would be back to my normally terrible diet of muesli, avocado, yogurt and fresh fruit tomorrow.

Stepping outside into a rather overcast day revealed a rather big hole in my footwear plans. While waiting for one of us to go back for something they had forgotten, it started to rain – damn. I changed back into my boots in a shop doorway, which was far from ideal, and started limping into the last day of walking. I was too close to give up.

It was a very mixed route, through ancient woodlands, with trackways worn down so low by centuries of people walking this way, and then up onto the highlands and the chalk ridge which could handle the wear. I didn’t take too many photos, and probably didn’t enjoy it too much. The photos show I was always at the back, playing catchup.

We eventually reached Ivinghoe Beacon, which marked the end of the Ridgeway. The weather had been mixed all morning, but as soon as we reached the end point, a viscous squall of wind and rain hit us. This rather cut short any celebration, and it was hoods up retreating along the Ridgeway, towards our travel routes home.

Mick and Paul were heading back to Tring railway station, but decided to drop off the Ridgeway down to Ivinghoe, where I could catch a bus to Luton and a direct train home. This should save me a lot of limping through London. Interestingly, the church in Ivinghoe was being used as a film set, and none of the security would say what it was, other than to suggest it was something low budget (it didn’t look low budget!). Googling now, it was filming for “Wicked”, perhaps I should of have hung around for a glimpse of Ariana Grande.