Progress not Perfection

Sun_Addict

Makingabobor2 said:

Yes a torch might be a good idea. What about a head torch?  Especially if its bushes on one side, you never know who might be hiding in them. Perhaps talk to yourself, so anybody would think you were on the phone, a lot safer.  Maybe don't put your podcast on till you get to the well lit main road. I won't listen to stuff when I walk across the park. 

There are usually quite a few dog walkers about so I feel relatively safe at that time of the day. My main concerns are tripping over fallen branches or stepping in dog 💩 as you can’t see the pavement or where the kerb goes down. 

Makingabobor2

Sun_Addict said:

Makingabobor2 said:

Yes a torch might be a good idea. What about a head torch?  Especially if its bushes on one side, you never know who might be hiding in them. Perhaps talk to yourself, so anybody would think you were on the phone, a lot safer.  Maybe don't put your podcast on till you get to the well lit main road. I won't listen to stuff when I walk across the park. 

There are usually quite a few dog walkers about so I feel relatively safe at that time of the day. My main concerns are tripping over fallen branches or stepping in dog 💩 as you can’t see the pavement or where the kerb goes down. 

Yes, slipping or tripping is always my main concern since I had 2 falls. Especially at this time of year when there are wet leaves on the pavement. 

doingitanyway

Makingabobor2 said:

Yes a torch might be a good idea. What about a head torch?  Especially if its bushes on one side, you never know who might be hiding in them. Perhaps talk to yourself, so anybody would think you were on the phone, a lot safer.  Maybe don't put your podcast on till you get to the well lit main road. I won't listen to stuff when I walk across the park. 

I second this. Whether you heed it or not stay safe

beanielou

Another vote for a head torch. 

Blackcats

I keep a torch with me during the Autumn and Winter.  I much prefer to know there's a kerb than to stumble inelegantly down a kerb.  

I think you will have to set strict parameters with MrSA when you retire (I know you know this).  Maybe regular classes at the gym and joining groups like book groups will set a structure and get you out of the house regularly as a commitment rather than him thinking you are you having ad hoc time to yourself (which he obviously doesn't like you doing).  Could you understate how much pension you will get and tell him you have to work alternate Fridays and then go out and have fun.

Sun_Addict

I’ve just bought a light up LED running sash which will not only light my way along my road but also make me visible to motorists when I’m crossing roads in the dark. I’ve realised it’s probably best I walk on the park side of the road rather than the bushes side until I get to the bit where there are houses as it’s just railings. I wouldn’t walk that stretch alone at night although as far as I know no one has ever been attacked in the 30 plus years we’ve lived here. It’s just a lonely, dark and scary stretch of road. The most dangerous part of my walk to work is the city centre. I’m pretty certain the shouting raving lunatic I ran away from a couple of years ago was the same bloke who stabbed the students and the caretaker a couple of weeks later. 

Cherryfudge

That's a very scary thought @Sun_Addict, and in the absence of further incidents you may be right. A few times I've come close to some horrible incident either by being in that area a week before the event, or similar - and the thing is, many of us will have had similar close calls that actually came completely to nothing. Yours was a lot more immediate than mine but still, you came away from it undamaged. Thank goodness for your ability to get out of the way fast.

I always feel the most dangerous place to walk alone is the countryside: if I'm in town I reckon I could go and ring a doorbell (even if they didn't answer I could use the time to ring the Police), but in the countryside there might not be that opportunity. I did a safety course ages ago where the Met advised walking in the centre of a city pavement so you can't be grabbed from a car or jumped out at from shadowy nooks between buildings.

That said, I walk alone a lot and haven't had any problems.

badmemory

I also think it has something to do with the manner/purposefulness of your walk.  I have a friend who was mugged between a petrol station shop & getting back to her car.  5"10'  and early thirties but she slouched along with no signs of alertness or awareness of her surroundings.

Cherryfudge

I agree with you @badmemory. I'm not saying it would prevent anything but I imagine it's more tempting to target someone who looks like a potential victim. I did actually get flashed once (while waiting in a station not out walking) and jumped up and yelled at the perpetrator who ran away as fast as he could.