 |
| The Silken Trail Tunnel as it joins the Monarch’s Way near Telford – pic by Lee-Stuart Evans |
Depending on the hour you ask me I’ll either tell you I love the Monarch’s Way or utterly hate it.
The Heavy Snow from Storm Emma was horrendous last weekend and myself and 2 friends absolutely should not have gone out for a 30 mile overnight recce of a section of the Monarch’s Way near Telford… But we all agreed we were very pleased we did. What we got was a superb night to test gear, walk in the moonlight for hours with our torches OFF, and follow in the footsteps of a future King on the run from the government. I also rekindled a lost passion for a trail that has become my nemesis in the past year.
 |
| Lee-Stuart Evans , Jason and Kieran Faul set off on the Boscobel Loop on the Monarch’s Way |
The Monarch’s Way is a 625 mile (ish) trail running starting at Worcester and ending in Shoreham following the route of Charles II as he fled his defeat at the battle of Worcester and sought a ship to take him away from England to safety. The route takes in a meandering trail through the midlands, followed by some incredibly scenic scenery including The Cotwolds, Bristol, The Mendips , Dorset coastline , Wiltshire Downs and South Downs.
 |
| Monarch’s Way Guide Books and badge |
The trail is unusual in that it is not a national trail, it is maintained as best they can by a private charitable organisation called the Monarch’s Way Association. A very dedicated bunch who do the best they can on a huge trail to maintain rights of way on a route determined from a book written in the 90s by Trevor Antill. You can find out more here
I have a very VERY weird abusive/ love / hate relationship with this trail. It has huge sections that are very beautiful and vary rarely used which means you can be the only person on the landscape for hours on end. The idea of literally following in the footsteps of a King also has a huge appeal, but …the navigation is not for the feint hearted. Whilst 90% of the route is reasonably easy to follow if you have a GPS and the guidebooks , there are sections where the signs on the ground and book and GPS OS maps don’t agree , and sections where farmers and locals have taken a concerted effort to destroy block or hide the right of way. These sections can be infuriating , especially when you are tired and travelling large distances on it and taking a ‘purist’ view and want to follow the ‘correct’ route. Its actually very hard to completely define what the ‘right’ route really is.
Last year I took part in the Monarch’s Way Ultra. An attempt to complete the entire trail in one go. It didn’t end well for anyone involved and I cover that in much more detail here
The Ultra left an unfairly bad taste in my mouth about the trail as a whole.
But this negative feeling was to entirely change last weekend.
 |
| The Royal Oak pubs are a a result of Charles II and the Monarch’s Way |
My plan for the weekend just gone was to take two friends Kieran and Jason to the Loop that is formed from Boscobel House roughly inbetween Stafford and Wolverhampton. This house is famous for its ‘Royal Oak’ which Charles II famously climbed and hid in when pursued by Cromwells troops. Two of the most popular pub names in the Uk are ‘The Kings Head’ and ‘The Royal Oak’ as a result of this tale.
 |
| Pub sign on the Monarch’s Way near |
We had a number of aims, firstly to test long distance adventure racing kit for Jason and Kieran, much of the gear they were trying out came from recommendations from my blog written here
Kieran and Jason also wanted to get a feel for the challenges presented by navigation on the Monarch’s Way, the challenge of moving through the night without sleep and very very bad weather. It was basically a worst case scenario for anyone looking to do outdoor multi day adventure racing in the UK.
 |
| Lee-Stuart Evans on the Monarch’s Way near Boscobel House |
We set off around 9pm with huge snow storms, driving wind and people in the pub we parked in looking at us like we were totally insane. It was immediately obvious that the snow was reflecting the light from the full moon back up and creating enough ambient light to easily navigate through the fields without a torch. I’ve never before experienced this and thought it was the sort of thing you only read about in Enid Blyton books. The ethereal light throughout the night set the scene for a walk through the countryside that was to be really spectacular.
Jason mainly navigated using the guidebook with extra cut out bits from the website amendments and alterations, meanwhile Kieran got used to the superb Maverick app available free for Android users. Set on the OS explorer option its incredibly useful for cross country runners.
As we moved through the night and pushed through the deep snowdrifts we chatted, and sipped Jaegermesiter at 2am to perk us up. Our combination of clothing was just right for the conditions and the waterproof MVP army socks and Waterproof Altra Lone Peak Neo Mids were ideal for the wet and snowy conditions.
 |
| Sheep on the Monarch’s Way near Shifnal |
At the Golf Course near Telford we finally figured out roughly how to get from the Silken trail to the Monarch’s way ( something I’ve had trouble with 2 times before) and we also made notes of various other fields and sections with contradictory notes/map/book entries. We stopped for a coffee at a service station we went past near Telford ( a huge boost to morale in the cold early hours of the morning) and before we knew it we were nearly back where we started, about 28 miles later.
The sections that were tricky were easier with help. On your own you have to do everything, read the guidebook, keep an eye on the map. look after yourself etc etc so when you reach a point where you have to make a decision or think and apply common sense you are solely responsible for the decision. In a group we found the ‘general consensus’ got it right far more often ( in fact almost always) and having three of us meant we could even split up until one of us found a way through a hedgerow or signs of any path in the darkness.
As the night wore on I was reminded of section after section I had huge trouble with on my own, but this time round we managed to work hard to find solutions and get the route right. Without the pressure of a timed out Ultra Race we could take 20 mins in a field to figure out what was wrong with the map or book. I basically slayed my demons on the trail one by one with help from my friends.
After 12 hours on our feet we discussed the gear that Jason and Kieran had tried out. The overall feedback was they wouldn’t change anything. They both agreed that navigating the Monarch’s Way alone and especially tired or at night was not suitable for most people, but as a team we had cruised round and enjoyed it.
 |
| The Monarch’s Way near Beckbury |
I went into this overnight Ultra expecting it to be awful.
I almost wanted it to be awful.
I wanted to justify my negative feelings towards this trail and have it confirmed by others.
I wanted to laugh and enjoy watching other suffer like I did with difficult navigation, confusing directions and a scattering of shabby urban areas to get through. Instead I smiled , I realised over a hot self heating breakfast as the sun rose that I’d enjoyed the whole night. Every single bit of it.
I’d come to realise that some of the negative elements of the trail were caused by my isolation, not the trail. I’d spent a huge amount of time one the course last year reccing 618 of the 625 miles , and another 245 on my own on the Monarch’s Way Ultra. This was a vast amount of time to manage navigation, health, wellbeing and stay sane.
The key to one day setting a new fastest known time on this trail is not more training and better support, its fellowship. Chris Yeo and Alan Cormack got 150 miles further than me on the Monarch’s Way Ultra for lots of reasons, but one key ingredient was being a team and doing it together.
 |
| Lee-Stuart Evans enjoying a self heating breakfast on the Monarch’s Way near Norton |
After this weekend if you ask me about the Monarch’s Way depending on the hour I’ll either tell you I love it or I only hate it sometimes. Its a small change but a significant one.
UPDATE – Ive now set the fastest known time on the Monarch’s Way ! read the blog about it here
