Tig Thomas - 2020 Miles in 2020

At the beginning of January, I took on a challenge to walk 2020 miles in 2020, which meant at some point every day I stepped out from the house for two or three hours’ walking. Because I was often treading the same paths, I started scrutinising things more closely, and enjoyed discovering tiny details in my landscape. Sometimes I would walk into Woodbridge taking any footpath or alley I passed, making my way deeper into unknown areas of the town until I finally emerged somewhere I knew. The walk along the Deben gave me broad vistas and the chance to see the many shore birds, including herons and egrets. I found a new bluebell wood with a host of orchids in spring. I watched two foxcubs playing for half an hour, got dodged by a running deer, stood on a bridge observing a small vole eating under a riverbank and learned where the slow worms and grass snakes sunned themselves.  I discovered new mushrooms and flowers: the pyramidal orchid, the heath orchid and the small, uncommon town hall clock with its four-sided flower face. Often, I’d end up walking home by moonlight. Every night I’d go to sleep with a feeling of well-being because I’d walked that day and on the first of December I completed the 2020 miles.  

In the photos below are some of the highlights of my year-long project, each with its own caption.