July has been as close to monsoon weather as we get here in England. And while we haven't been flooded out or needed to barricade ourselves with sandbags, the endless torrential rain has stopped us getting out and walking.
It's also had a detrimental affect on the other fitness activities which is a bit worrying as we've signed up for a 10k run for the Cancer Research people. But we've got a few months before that...
August will be better. The first week sees us in the Eastern Lakes clocking up some more Wainwrights, and the last week we'll be in Yorkshire for the Three Peaks attempt.
Which means we've got our work cut out.
Wednesday, 25 July 2007
The Ridgeway, Part 4 - 17 June 2007
Day 4 was to be a proper day's walking, covering 20 miles and seeing the end of The Ridgeway. We started early and made good progress along what seemed to be a less popular part of the trail, passing fewer people although the scenery was as pleasant as we'd seen.
The same combination of threatening clouds, sun and dryness that we'd had on Saturday kept us company, and the previous day's calm walk had done wonders for morale and the lingering illness.
The stretch between Ashbury and Ogbourne St George (where we planned to find somewhere to eat, having failed to pack ourselves a proper lunch again) was free of incident and we didn't pass much in the way of conurbations. Although we did walk past one field of young pigs and another of poppies.
At Ogbourne we bypassed the unfriendly-looking pub with the violently barking dog outside and continued to the small local hotel. Here we had a good feed, adjusted our dress for cooler conditions and headed on to Smeathe's ridge
The ridge ends in a farm where we came across these stalwart young sheep, doing a sterling job of guarding this stone:
The next few miles were pleasant, but aside from some hacking through patches of nettles, they passed unremarkably. The trail officially ends at Overton Hill, but there's precious little there except a layby where you wouldn't really want to leave your car for two days.
Instead we'd parked at Avebury, and at Overton Down we peeled away from the trail and headed into the village. Fitting that our Ridgeway should end in slightly unorthodox fashion.
In all The Ridgeway is a very pleasant walk, and it comes with the usual advice of taking more time over it than we tried to. The countryside is pleasant downland with occassional forests and villages to stroll through. That's our usual walking country so perhaps we took the path a little for granted, but it recommends itself as a very pretty and peaceful route.
The same combination of threatening clouds, sun and dryness that we'd had on Saturday kept us company, and the previous day's calm walk had done wonders for morale and the lingering illness.
The stretch between Ashbury and Ogbourne St George (where we planned to find somewhere to eat, having failed to pack ourselves a proper lunch again) was free of incident and we didn't pass much in the way of conurbations. Although we did walk past one field of young pigs and another of poppies.
At Ogbourne we bypassed the unfriendly-looking pub with the violently barking dog outside and continued to the small local hotel. Here we had a good feed, adjusted our dress for cooler conditions and headed on to Smeathe's ridge
The ridge ends in a farm where we came across these stalwart young sheep, doing a sterling job of guarding this stone:
The next few miles were pleasant, but aside from some hacking through patches of nettles, they passed unremarkably. The trail officially ends at Overton Hill, but there's precious little there except a layby where you wouldn't really want to leave your car for two days.
Instead we'd parked at Avebury, and at Overton Down we peeled away from the trail and headed into the village. Fitting that our Ridgeway should end in slightly unorthodox fashion.
In all The Ridgeway is a very pleasant walk, and it comes with the usual advice of taking more time over it than we tried to. The countryside is pleasant downland with occassional forests and villages to stroll through. That's our usual walking country so perhaps we took the path a little for granted, but it recommends itself as a very pretty and peaceful route.
The Ridgeway, Part 3 - 16 June 2007
Between Day 2 and Day 3 of The Ridgeway we had nearly two weeks of recuperation. As it turned out, that wasn't enough as one of the team had succumbed to an atypical bout of sickness. We ate and stayed the Friday night at the very pleasant Bull at Streatley and pondered our choices.
Choice A was to go with the original plan - leave the Bull very early on Saturday and walk something in the region of 24 miles to Ashbury, and enjoy a peaceful evening nursing our feet and contemplating the 20 miles still remaining.
Illness and the thought of a miserable day encouraged us towards Choice B - having a bit of a lie-in, driving a good chunk of the way and having a pleasant walk in preparation for the Sunday.
So it turned out. We stopped in Wantage and bought some forgotten supplies, then drove around for some time looking for a suitable parking place. Eventually we left the car in the quiet village of Sparsholt, climbed a hill and rejoined the path as the weather began to threaten:
Our luck held out and the black clouds gradually came and went without shedding gallons of rain on us. The stretch around Uffington took in some good English hallmarks - an Iron Age fort where we stopped to lunch, and one of the unnecessary chalk horses that are popular in this area:
We were keeping a good pace and found ourselves with plenty of spare time on this shortened route, so we stopped at a few more points of interest than our hectic schedule normally allows.
King of these was "Wayland's Smithy" (not to be confused with Waylon Smithers), a Neolithic burial chamber/shrine to the Saxon god of metalwork... Legend has it that the traveller should leave a silver penny on the mound and Wayland would re-shoe his horse. We followed suit, but it remains to be see if our walking boots will last any longer for it.
[Note to selves -go back one day and see if our tenpence is still there. We know where to look, we marked it on our photo]
The rest of the day continued in easy fashion, with the sun making an occasional appearance and the landscape being pretty and comfortable walking. We reached our intended destination - the very excellent Rose and Crown at Ashbury (a bit off the route but serving fantastic food and drink with very pleasant people t olook after you) - at around three o' clock, having walked a meagre six miles.
But we enjoyed a peaceful afternoon and evening, and were thoroughly refreshed for the proper day's walking ahead.
Choice A was to go with the original plan - leave the Bull very early on Saturday and walk something in the region of 24 miles to Ashbury, and enjoy a peaceful evening nursing our feet and contemplating the 20 miles still remaining.
Illness and the thought of a miserable day encouraged us towards Choice B - having a bit of a lie-in, driving a good chunk of the way and having a pleasant walk in preparation for the Sunday.
So it turned out. We stopped in Wantage and bought some forgotten supplies, then drove around for some time looking for a suitable parking place. Eventually we left the car in the quiet village of Sparsholt, climbed a hill and rejoined the path as the weather began to threaten:
Our luck held out and the black clouds gradually came and went without shedding gallons of rain on us. The stretch around Uffington took in some good English hallmarks - an Iron Age fort where we stopped to lunch, and one of the unnecessary chalk horses that are popular in this area:
We were keeping a good pace and found ourselves with plenty of spare time on this shortened route, so we stopped at a few more points of interest than our hectic schedule normally allows.
King of these was "Wayland's Smithy" (not to be confused with Waylon Smithers), a Neolithic burial chamber/shrine to the Saxon god of metalwork... Legend has it that the traveller should leave a silver penny on the mound and Wayland would re-shoe his horse. We followed suit, but it remains to be see if our walking boots will last any longer for it.
[Note to selves -go back one day and see if our tenpence is still there. We know where to look, we marked it on our photo]
The rest of the day continued in easy fashion, with the sun making an occasional appearance and the landscape being pretty and comfortable walking. We reached our intended destination - the very excellent Rose and Crown at Ashbury (a bit off the route but serving fantastic food and drink with very pleasant people t olook after you) - at around three o' clock, having walked a meagre six miles.
But we enjoyed a peaceful afternoon and evening, and were thoroughly refreshed for the proper day's walking ahead.
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