Last week I participated in a walking challenge with several colleagues as part of the Walk For Autism initiative. Our aim was to each do 10,000 steps for 8 consecutive days, helping to raise awareness of autism and some money too, to help support children and adults in the UK who have autism. The challenge is now complete and as a team we've done over 1.9 million steps and as it stands, raised over £1300.

The company I work for are always supportive of charitable and environmental causes and so I have no shortage of opportunity to get involved. However, often I don't feel I have enough time to commit and tend to contribute by donating instead. Some of my colleagues have autistic children, I used to do a lot of walking back in the days when I first got into Ambient music and there's no shortage of public footpaths round here - so I agreed to join!

I had no doubt it'd be a challenge as my average number of daily steps was around 4,000 and I also knew I'd need to get up really early to stand any chance of meeting the goal. I decided that I wanted to document the number of steps I achieved, take a photo each day, listen to an album from a different year and then learn one thing about autism each day. I thought it would be nice to share all of this here in a blog post, along with a diary I'd written each day. It has been an amazing experience that I really enjoyed; I've managed 106,622 steps and learnt so much too.

It's quite a long read so if you want something to listen to, I put together a mix of tracks from the 8 albums referenced. There are also bonus tracks at the end, which are mentioned within the diary - hit the play button below:

DAY 1: 26.03.2025

Steps: 14535
Music: Robin Guthrie & Harold Budd - After The Night Falls [2007]

One fact about autism is that it is a spectrum condition, meaning it affects people in different ways. Some autistic individuals may have strong skills in areas like memory, music, or pattern recognition, while others may find communication or sensory experiences more challenging. No two autistic people are the same!

Diary:
I got up at just after 6am which is unheard of for me. I had a bowl of cereal and then set off for a walk with my dog Monty. We followed some of the footpaths through fields across a couple of villages and it was beautifully quiet, with no traffic at that time of the day. I put on ‘After The Night Falls’ by Robin Guthrie and Harold Budd. I purposefully chose this album as it was out in 2007, the year I discovered ambient music. I used to do a lot of walking and particularly associate the track ‘Avenue of Shapes’ with my walks back then, as it seemed to crop up a lot in the shuffle cycles of my old iPod classic.

During the walk, the weather was mostly dry but with a bit of mist and cloud. There were loads of lambs in one of the fields we crossed and thankfully Monty was pretty well behaved around them. And then in the next field I encountered the biggest hare I’ve ever seen, hopping around a flat, empty field. When we drive around locally I often take note of the public footpath signs and wonder where they go. So it was really nice to get out on foot and explore these properly.

After telling my family about the lambs when I got home they too were eager to see them, so in the evening we went back! There was an amazing sunset which can be seen above and I was also able to show everyone that it's not such a long walk to the pub in the next nearest village! Perhaps we'll all head there in the summer... I think the fresh air and family time has done us all a lot of good today and I've enjoyed it.

DAY 2: 27.03.2025

Steps: 13514
Music: The Green Kingdom - Prismatic [2010]

More than one in 100 people are autistic and there are at least 700,000 autistic adults and children in the UK. These numbers are not the same as the number of people with an autism diagnosis. They are based on research about the true figure, which is likely to be higher (figures from the National Autistic Society)

Diary:
Once again an early start, although I didn’t have quite as much of a spring in my step as yesterday. Getting up at 6am as a one off to start a challenge is new and exciting, but doing it again the next day was pretty tough! Once I had my breakfast and picked an album to listen to, Monty and I got on our way. I also took a can of iced coffee with me so it didn't take long to wake up and get back into it. The weather was cold and overcast and I set off without being too clear on my route. I went in a completely different direction to yesterday, through the village and off towards the woods. At the entrance to one of the fields I saw the sign above - ‘Bull In Field’. It didn’t even say ‘beware of the bull’ or have any of the generic instructions for dog walkers, so I think most people would turn back at this point. But I needed to get lots more steps in so I peered into the field - I couldn’t see any sign of a bull so we braved it! I think it may be an old sign and probably acts as a bit of a deterrent. Thankfully we did not encounter any beast other than a couple of rabbits. We managed to walk as far as the edge of the woods, which is where I used to do a lot of my walking many years back. So listening to The Green Kingdom, an artist whose work I admired back then, I was feeling pretty nostalgic. I bought ‘Prismatic’ in 2010 at a time when I was going mad for CDs. I’ve recently got my ‘physical music collector’s bug’ back and listening to this, I was reminded about what a great album it is. Later I bought Mike’s latest The Green Kingdom album 'Environs' - I couldn’t resist.

On the fact about autism above, one of my colleagues shared this in our Teams chat yesterday so I had this in mind whilst walking. When I got back from the walk, some of the participants shared some stories and insights into their autistic children and it was so nice to help bring to life how this walking challenge can help, by raising money and awareness. The team were sharing updates on the number of steps they'd managed and some photos. Walking in the fields at the crack of dawn is quite a solitary experience, even with a dog by my side (although I don't mind my own company), but it was encouraging to hear from my colleagues on what they're up to and knowing that I wasn't alone.

DAY 3: 28.03.2025

Steps: 12165
Music: Vega Trails - Sierra Tracks [2025]

Autistic people often experience sensory sensitivity, meaning they might be more sensitive to sounds, lights, textures, or smells than others. Some may find bright lights or loud noises overwhelming, while others may seek out certain sensory experiences, like touching different textures or listening to specific sounds.

Diary:
Another early start and again, it felt pretty tricky trying to get out of bed at 6am! In fact I hit snooze for a little bit, so I don’t think I can call these early starts a routine just yet. I had in mind that for today’s walk I’d take a look at the site where there used to be a railway track running through the village until 1965. Since it was Friday, I took a look at some of the new releases out and cued up Vega Trails’ ‘Sierra Tracks’ for listening. I’ve been a big fan and follower of Matthew Halsall and his Gondwana label and always seek out the music he releases. This new record by Vega Trails was a superb listen for my drizzly walk this morning. It’s a combination of orchestral strings arrangements and Spiritual Jazz and there was a nice variety all the way through, which held my attention.

On the walk I saw the old station house and then followed the footpaths. There wasn’t a great deal of evidence of a railway track bar a small brick bridge and the crumbling wall you can see above. It was a good walking route with plenty of nice views back at the village, but not too big a distance covered today. Once back home I got Isla ready for school and since we were early, we went for pastries at Starbucks and then rather than driving to school, we walked!

DAY 4: 29.03.2025

Steps: 17562
Music: Evgeny Grinko - Tiny Mouse Tales [2018]

Autism is not a disease or something that needs to be 'cured'. It's a different way of experiencing the world. Many autistic people and advocates prefer the term 'neurodivergent' to describe their unique way of thinking, sensing, and interacting with others.

Diary:
I planned to get up a little later this morning than on the previous three days, but my eldest daughter Isla was up at 6:30am. She'd been talking to me about my walks during the week and said she wanted to go with me this morning. As we set off we talked about possible routes and Isla wanted to retrace some of the paths I'd walked in the week. We agreed to visit a similar area that I'd seen the day before, walking the other side of the old railway route, entering the fields through a footpath in the village that we'd never explored. It was a really bright morning and skylarks were out in their numbers; luckily we bought the field recorder to capture them. As we went past the rail route, Isla pointed to what she thought was an old engine. As we got closer, we worked out that it was an old digger with continuous tracks. It was in quite a state of disrepair, overgrown with weeds and covered in rust.

Isla asked me about today's autism fact and I realised in all our conversation at breakfast, we didn't actually look for any information. We looked up something new for today whilst on our walk, and chatted about autism a bit. Isla had been learning about neurodiversity at school but also, is very much inspired by Greta Thunberg's story. She remembered in one of her books about Greta, that she is autistic. Isla really cares about the planet and is a proud Eco Warrior in her school, discussing with teachers and other students about ways to help the school care for the environment as best as it can. Isla found a discarded plastic bottle on the floor and insisted I pick it up. This is not unusual... I carried it for over a mile to the nearest bin back in the village.

After the walk we went to watch Isla at her football training and took Emily to watch for the first time. We visited my parents to drop off Mother's Day gifts and bought some grass seed at the neighbouring garden centre. I thought since this morning's was a short walk, cutting the lawn and then sewing the seed would help get the steps up.

Music-wise there was no solitary headphone listening today; I was accompanied on my walk of course and the only things I can listen to when pushing a noisy mower is a podcast or Dance music. On the short drive home after the garden centre, I did put on 'Tiny Mouse Tales' by Evgeny Grinko as Emily saw the cover of the vinyl yesterday and spotted the mouse in the artwork. I find the track 'Carousel' to be quite an earworm and so wanted to play it. It has a lot more movement in it than the introspective music from earlier in the week, but that felt apt after such a busy day.

DAY 5: 30.03.2025

Steps: 13880
Music: Solo Andata - Fyris Swan [2006]

Evidence suggests that autism may be genetic. Scientists have been attempting to identify which genes might be implicated in autism for some years. Autism is likely to have multiple genes responsible rather than a single gene. However, it is not caused by emotional deprivation or the way a person has been brought up.

Diary:
The clocks went forward at midnight, which is a neat marker for the half-way point of this challenge. I didn't exactly spring out of bed, but it's Mother's Day and I wanted to get my walking out of the way so that we could spend time as a family. First thing this morning I took a quick glance at my CD collection. I’d bought in a handful of titles yesterday from an old storage box. It’s got lots of the CDs I bought around 2010 when I was going mad and buying lots of physical editions. However, I couldn’t find many of these on streaming platforms or even Bandcamp, and I've long since got rid of my old discman! I did get thinking about that era and spotted one of my all-time favourites on the shelf; Solo Andata’s Fyris Swan. This is a collection of electro-acoustic pieces, created using loops of acoustic instrument riffs. It’s got a blend of Post Rock, Jazz, Folk and Ambient and I’ve always absolutely loved it. This record was hugely influential on my own music as Spheruleus, as I discovered that making Ambient music wasn't just drones and reverb. It led to me starting to accumulate acoustic instruments of my own and arranging them into LoFi songs. Listening to this record this morning was beautiful as always, as I listened whilst watching the sun rise.

With the clocks going forward, I thought I’d head east into the fens, which is where I recorded my Glåsbird album ‘Fenscapes’. There was a dimness behind the clouds blocking the sun but I could see its rays shining onto the flat fields. It sort of felt symbolic of triumph over challenge. It was a very straight walk which isn’t unusual with the minimal nature of fen routes. I was running out of time and so I got to a point where I had to turn round and followed most of the same route back. I saw some more rabbits and hares, as well as pheasants and a giant bird of prey that I couldn’t quite make out.

Once home I managed to do the rest of my steps indoors! We spent most of the morning and early afternoon tidying the house and I was only too willing to run things upstairs...We had a fun Mother's Day with afternoon tea and a family acrylic painting session which was a first for all of us.

DAY 6: 31.03.2025

Steps: 10711
Music: M. Grig - Mount Carmel [2019]

Just 30% of autistic adults in the UK are in any form of paid employment. This is amongst the lowest rates of employment for people with additional needs or disabilities.

Diary:
After updating this very blog post last night and looking back at the week, I'm starting to feel reflective of this experience as it heads towards the end. I've been wondering whether I'll keep up my early starts, my walks, earlier nights etc. But I do know I've definitely really enjoyed the overall experience. So much so that in bed last night I was searching for music to listen to and wondering what routes I could fit in.

I spotted on the All Trails app that one of the public footpath routes heads North West towards a small wood. I wondered if I could make it to the wood in time before I needed to get back for the school run. I decided I'd give it a go and keep a close eye on the clock. In the morning, I settled on M. Grig's now-classic 12k album 'Mount Carmel' as I suspected it would be a sunny walk. I stepped outside and had to step back in again; it was really cold so I needed to grab my gloves and a snood. There was a frosty dew everywhere and the sun was rising. Not long after setting off, the striking view above presented itself. The walk got warmer and warmer as I passed rabbits, hares and muntjac deer. I crossed the main road and headed towards the wood. I got a march on trying to beat the clock and managed to get into a field overlooking it. It was near enough and I decided to turn round, after a brief pause to soak in the view whilst enjoying M. Grig's incredibly beautiful album. On the way back I got a bit lost and ended up in an overgrown field full of thistles and brambles. Monty, walking slowly, was not impressed - so I carried him for a bit!

Isla was feeling under the weather and didn't go school, but I took Emily in by foot which we both enjoyed. Then there wasn't much opportunity for walking for the rest of the day, apart from the odd trip upstairs or to the supermarket. Today was the lowest step-count so far, but I still managed to surpass the 10k and it was a fantastic walk too. Making it to that wood felt like an achievement.

DAY 7: 01.04.2025

Steps: 13204
Music: Landtitles - Mount Carmel [2022]

More than one in 100 people are autistic and there are at least 700,000 autistic adults and children in the UK. These numbers are not the same as the number of people with an autism diagnosis. They are based on research about the true figure, which is likely to be higher. More research is needed to know for sure. (from Autism.org.uk)

Diary:
Last night I expected it’d be another bright and sunny walk and planned to listen to a record that I now consider a classic; Landtitles’ 2022 album on Polar Seas ‘as the night comes softly down’ - it was in my car CD player for what seemed like ages, after label-owner Brad kindly sent me a free copy when I released on his label the same year. It was the soundtrack to many a bright summer drive. However, this morning started out cold and cloudy. Nevertheless, once again I loved soaking into this lightly glitching sun-soaked electronic ambient album.

I decided today that I’d set off on the usual family route. We often walk through the high street to the main road, and then turn back to an adjacent public footpath through fields. It’s a short scenic route with lots to see, starting with what we call ‘the horse field’ as there’s usually a horse in there. Sometimes I’ll be worried about Monty upsetting it so if the horse is close to the entrance we’ll turn back. There was no horse in the field today, so Monty and I entered and followed a route towards the next village South. I was going to see how close to the village we could get but when we got to a huge field, it had been freshly ploughed including the official foot path that runs through it. I didn’t fancy getting that muddy. I took a look on my app for some other routes and there was supposedly one connecting to an unexplored area near to the old rail track I visited at the weekend. As I got there though, there was a pretty steep dyke and a hedge. No sign of the route. So that I could get the steps up, I decided to walk up the edge of the field in the direction of the original route - and then I spotted a very narrow opening in the hedgerow! This was the path. I lifted Monty to the other side of the dyke and placed him there - seemed a perfect frame for a photo!

By this time the short Landtitles album finished, so I stuck on something completely contrasting. I chose Valgeir Sigurðsson’s soundtrack to Icelandic docu-film ‘Draumalandið’. I was drawn to the cover artwork, as it reminded me of these fields I’ve been roaming in for the last week. It was the first time I properly listened to the album and I really enjoyed it, so it’s now on my vinyl wishlist.

It wasn’t the longest walk so it only got me half way to the target 10,000 steps. So I walked to the shop at lunch and then later we had the dentist and conveniently couldn’t get parked as the fair was on. So that involved a little walk of course.

DAY 8: 02.04.2025

Steps: 11051
Music: Simon Scott - Below Sea Level [2012]

Most autistic people see being autistic as central to who they are. They may need support to succeed in a world designed for the needs of non-autistic people. But it is the barriers they face in society that are an issue, not being autistic. This is known as the ‘social model’ of disability. (from Autism.org.uk)

Diary:
Today is World Autism Awareness day and that's why the team planned for our walking challenge to end today. I've been planning the grand finale all week on where I'd go and what I'd listen to. I always wanted to finish up on the main Fen Road in my village, where I spent a lot of time in Spring last year creating my 'Fenscapes' album. I have fond memories of visits with Monty and the girls, capturing field recordings, photos and videos for the album. So it seemed a fitting way to end this challenge.

I originally planned to listen to my own album properly on this final walk, as it's well known that artists don't often listen to their own work for a good while after it gets released. That's definitely the case for me and I thought it'd be nice to reconnect with my own music in the environment that originally inspired it. But instead, I was reminded of an album by Simon Scott who had a similar theme of creating a soundtrack with sounds from the fens. His was made in Cambridgeshire and was released on 12k back in 2012. I haven't heard it for years, and so it was amazing to hear this again at the crack of dawn. It's a record I can really connect with, living here in amongst the fenland landscape. It is full of beautiful field recordings and this mixed nicely with the sounds that were taking place during the walk too; sometimes it was hard to work out where the sounds were coming from! But that all added to the experience.

The views across the fens were spectacular with the sun glowing against the faded morning mist. It made everything look magical - even bouncing off the moisture in the dark, freshly-ploughed field as you can see above. I could see more rabbits just above this field and you can just about make these out in this picture. I took a video too so that I could show the girls.

On Day 5 I approached the fens from another route and abandoned the route due to its length. I thought since that was a nice walk and it's the last day, I'd push myself and complete the loop back this way, rather than turn around. I had to do the school run and was getting stretched for time - so I jogged the width of the field in my wellies! It was a busy day and I didn't have any time for further walks, so I decided to call it a day on the challenge and thankfully got in some steps in and around the house to get me over the line. Target complete! What an experience and I'm proud to have been part of this. I wonder what habits I'll take with me now the challenge is over? Will I get up so early? Will I make sure to get some fresh air? Will I get out to take more photos and listen to more music outside? We'll see... I've certainly learnt much more about autism than I knew previously and hopefully here, I can share a little of this. I wouldn't rule out a similar charitable walking challenge someday, it's been fun.

If reading this blog post you feel you'd like to support me and my colleagues on this challenge, we'd be thrilled - you can visit the fundraising page HERE!

And if you're intrigued by the pictures above of my local landscape, perhaps you might like my Glåsbird album 'Fenscapes'? You can hit play to listen below, or visit the release page by clicking HERE