It was January, and I needed to get out of the house; away from emails and the effects of a seemingly never-ending Christmastide. The punitive bell of Lent was still months away. When my wife said “I’ve never seen you look so unwell,” it was time to act.
I texted an old pal: “My 19-stone body is badly in need of pilgrimage. I’m going to walk Hadrian’s Wall in winter. Can you join? Restoration of body, liver and soul urgently required.”
“I’m with you,” replied my 53-year-old friend Hugh Warrender, a former hedge-fund manager turned music-manager of left-wing American mega rapper Yasiin Bey. “But as you know, I’ve recently had a heart attack. My coronary artery was 99 per cent blocked. I’ll need sign-off from my cardiologist. And I’ve checked the forecast for Northumberland. There’s biblical weather on the way.” A few days later he texted back with the all-clear.
