Final awards

At the start of this march and blog I said I would report on certain things along the route. Below are the final awards categories mentioned at the start:

Best local beers:
A difficult choice between 'Saltaire Blonde' of the Shipley Brewery in Bradford, and 'Hoplite' of Hogsback Brewery in Salisbury. My head says Hoplite but my Yorkshire heart says Saltaire.

An honorable mention to the Wye Valley Brewery which provided us with many a fine pint through Herefordshire, Wales and Gloucestershire.

Highest number of 4x4s:
There has been a personal plee from one of my hosts for Farnham to get this award. Northallerton was also mentioned earlier in the blog. But honesty must report that the site of huge numbers of 4x4s travelling to and from Richmond park in London has to win both for the number and the complete pointlessness of massive vehicles in a crammed city.

Friendliest town:
We have received brilliant welcomes from local supporters everwhere we have gone, along with amazing food and shelter. The welcome from passers-by has differred though. Newcastle, Bradford and Wales are places the marchers would mention as the most welcoming. But I think a straw pole would reveal that Bradford just wins...

Messiest roadkill:
The hedgehogs, rabbits and pheasants all blend into one in the memory. The largest roadkill was a deer north of Northallerton. But the messiest was definitely a badger as we entered Wales. It was so well decapitated, Rachel mistook it for a dog. The smell stayed with us for hours.