It was hard not to feel a little blessed as I waited for opening time at The Watermark in Ivybridge. It was the first day of October, I had a day off work during the week and had been lucky enough to choose one in the calm before the first of the season's proper named storms. With a coffee in hand, I had time to take a look at the map properly

It was back in February that I picked up a leaflet in my local library publicising the Two Moors Way. I recalled seeing signs for this during previous walks in the area but hadn't much of an idea about the route in its entirety. Now, having just moved to South Devon, an opportunity to take on a new challenge had presented itself.

Newcomers to London take the Tube everywhere. When I first moved here, you could catch me getting on at Embankment to reach Charing Cross – at least doubling what is a five-minute walk above ground. But when, God bless ‘em, the TFL workers went on strike, I found a route to the office via Hyde Park, put my A to Z in my pocket and never looked back.