Day 31: Aughton to Liverpool

Distance: 15.6 miles
Time: 4 hrs 25 mins
Weather: Warm and sunny
Cumulative distance: 536.3 miles

To my native city along the canal in baking sun, panoramic Sunday lunch with guests, new boots, an evening with old friends and sporting success.

Breakfast with Geoff, Heather and Nicola, then Heather joined me for the first few miles of today's walk along the canal. I had a lunch appointment, so accelerated towards Liverpool, my birthplace and spiritual home. This was the warmest day of my journey, but despite having a full load for the first time in several days, it wasn't a struggle.

After extensive experience of canal walking over the last few days, I have concluded that fishermen (they are always men!) are the most unsociable group amongst canal users. Their natural pose is to sit on the canal bank with their heads in a fixed position staring directly at the tip of their rod, so a greeting to cyclists, dog walkers or long distance walkers is an unlikely event. Apologies to any fishermen who do not fit this image.

I arrived at the restaurant, the Panoramique on the 34th floor overlooking Liverpool's waterfront. The ground floor security guard looked at me suspiciously as I headed towards the lift looking like someone who had just walked 15 miles in the heat. Within minutes, after a wash and change in the disabled toilet, I looked reasonably presentable. I had Sunday lunch with my parents and an uncle and aunt who were visiting from Australia, but were returning tomorrow via a tour of USA and Canada. The food was excellent and there were stunning views across Liverpool and beyond. I could see clearly my accommodation for tomorrow night and my walking route for Tuesday, as well as the hills which form part of the Offa's Dyke path.

I quickly checked into my accommodation, the Premier Inn at the Albert Dock (still no donation from them!), then hurried to the shopping centre for a major purchase. Unfortunately, my boots were starting to show signs of wear and tear, particularly around the heel. They'd covered about 750 miles on rough terrain and with the additional weight of my rucksack, so it wasn't really unexpected. As it was unlikely that I would be passing a stockist over the next week or so, I had decided that it would be wise to resolve the problem in Liverpool.

I returned to the hotel to offload some used kit and to receive some fresh clothes and new maps, then switched on the TV just in time to see Andy Murray clinch the Wimbledon title.

Later in the evening, I met up in town with Jeremy and Sarah, some longstanding university friends, but also my hosts for tomorrow night. We had a few drinks and some food, while catching up on our news.