Here are a couple of instances of strange but true tales involving walking that have cropped up in the media recently, and the common strand that connects them is walking.

We start by travelling to the Far East and China and find that teenagers are taking up walking vegetables on a lead. When asked one answered that it is better than walking a dog because they don’t bark. However silly it sounds teenagers are seeing it as a way in which they can overcome feelings of depression and loneliness.

By taking this up they get out of the house and are able to meet up with others who are taking cabbages and the like for walks. A leading Chinese psychiatrist has shown that the basic idea is sound, in that as you feel lonely and as simple as a cabbage, then you begin to act like one and then end up befriending one, and that with that acceptance comes change. Some of the people involved feel that it helps the negative feelings they have and after the walk they feel better and more positive about themselves. Literally food for thought.

Closer to home, after receiving a letter from a local ten year old girl who didn’t like the way people shuffled around the shopping centre at weekends  so that you can’t find a way to get round them and the potential this has for accidents, they decided to introduce a fast and slow walkers lane.

The Meadowhall Centre in Sheffield thought that the introduction of, what is essentially an overtaking lane for faster walkers in the mall environment, a great opportunity to help shoppers get to where they wanted to be on time. However, nothing is yet available on the success of this and noticing how well the British public is at using the right driving lane I don’t hold out much hope at them adopting the right lane for walking, but I live in hope.

Down in deepest Dorset one metal detector user had been plying his trade over a local farmer’s cow field all morning with no luck. Deciding to take a break and grab a sandwich he trudged across the field to his bag. Forgetting to switch his machine off it issued a loud beep halfway across the field. Digging down he thought at first he had located nothing more exciting than an old sardine can, yet again.

However, as he unearthed the object his couldn’t believe what he saw, it was yellow, shiny and engraved. He had literally struck gold. He had unearthed a Bronze Age gold lunula in the shape of a crecsent moon, and would have been worn by a priest or leader as a sign of authority, and is one of only five that has been found on the British mainland.

A team of experts are currently examining it but it will be worth thousands of pounds, so the lucky finder will receive some of that along with the farmer, but on the negative side he never got to eat his sandwich.

So wherever you do your walking, whether it’s with a vegetable or with a piece of machinery, wear the right kit such as a sweatshirt or hoodie and see where it takes you.