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 on the road to Woodbridge taking any footpath or alley I passed, making my way deeper into unknown areas 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 flowers: the small, uncommon town hall clock with its four sided flower face,  the pyramidal orchid, and the heath orchid, and new mushrooms. Often, I’d be 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.