Anyone doubting George Hutchinson's walk

[Brenda]

I was debating where to place this thread, Pub Talk seemed like the best place.

To anyone having doubts as to whether George Hutchinson could have walked 14 miles from Romford, there's this guy....

http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/03/us/detroit-man-walks-21-miles-for-daily-commute/index.html

[barnflatwyngarde]

I was debating where to place this thread, Pub Talk seemed like the best place.

To anyone having doubts as to whether George Hutchinson could have walked 14 miles from Romford, there's this guy....

http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/03/us/det...ute/index.html

Brenda,
Yeah I saw this article.

I think Hutchinson was there that night, but his "Astrakhan Man" was, in my opinion, a complete fabrication.

I think a 14 mile trek by Hutchinson is certainly achievable.

At School we used to do fairly regular 20 mile charity walks.

The only caveat I have is whether his footwear would have been up to the job without leaving his feet bloodied and blistered.

[Ginger]

The only caveat I have is whether his footwear would have been up to the job without leaving his feet bloodied and blistered.

If he normally wore ill-fitting or decrepit shoes, it may well be that his feet were calloused.

[Rosella]

Didn't John Kelly and Kate Eddowes go hop-picking near Maidstone in Kent in September 1888? That's a walk of some 30 miles there and the same back. Kelly bought a pair of boots in Maidstone for the journey back to Whitechapel. Until the Second World War hop-pickers would regularly walk long distances from London.

[GUT]

Didn't John Kelly and Kate Eddowes go hop-picking near Maidstone in Kent in September 1888? That's a walk of some 30 miles there and the same back. Kelly bought a pair of boots in Maidstone for the journey back to Whitechapel. Until the Second World War hop-pickers would regularly walk long distances from London.

Yep and there's been talk in the news this week about a bloke who walks 33 miles each way to and from work 5 days a week, someone has been Crowd Funding for him and raised a couple of hundred thousand, in the USA I think they said.

[Sally]

There's nothing implausible about Hutchinson's claim to have walked the distance from Romford to Whitechapel in and of itself.

I've seen contemporary records pertaining to a number of others who did the very same thing; so clearly, it wasn't remarkable.

The questionable aspect of the walk might rather be why he decided to set off for London at night; alone, in inclement weather and apparently without the benefit of alcohol to cloud his judgement. Why not wait until dawn at least?

Well, perhaps he wanted to see the Lord Mayors' Show - or whatever.

But still, it should be noted that of those that I've seen who made the walk from Romford to London set off at night.

[Robert]

Bob Hinton's explanation for the walk is that GH was enamoured of MJK and wanted to see her.

[Sally]

Perhaps he wanted to take her with him to the non-public-holiday Lord Mayor's Show?

At any event, the walk itself seems not to have been brought into question - at least not in the public domain; so he presumably had an explanation for it that was deemed satisfactory.

[Robert]

I dare say that, in those days, a passing horse and cart (even at night there must have been a few) would give a lift to a bloke in the rain, if he looked OK. The only part of the walk that would have been particularly unpleasant would have been the rain, and in my opinion GH must have had a strong reason for subjecting himself to it, though what it was I can't say.